Black Mirror meets Blade Runner in this deluxe graphic novel by Zep and Dominique Bertail with exclusive variant cover by Peach Momoko.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Backer sketches! (Spoiler alert if you're one of the lucky recipients...)
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Sep 12, 2020 at 12:17:41 PM
Hey everyone!
Dominique has been working on the backer sketches for those of you who pledged at that exclusive level, and I gotta say... wow, you all SCORED! He's pouring a ton of love into these!
Spoiler alert if you're one of those lucky backers and don't want to see yours ahead of time, but these are just too pretty not to show off with the rest of the community!
We'll post more as they come in!
Our next project is now live! ASTER OF PAN - a post-apocalyptic graphic novel by Merwan
over 3 years ago
– Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 02:44:07 AM
Hi everyone,
Just a quick note to share the link to our next Kickstarter project, ASTER OF PAN! It launched at 10am this morning and was fully funded in the first 90 minutes!
"It's like THE HUNGER GAMES meets DODGEBALL as if animated by Katsuhiro Otomo."
The gallery-quality 8.5"x11” hardcover edition of this 200-page work of art will feature a campaign-exclusive variant cover by celebrated illustrator PEACH MOMOKO (@peachmomoko60). This variant and any additional stretch goal items will only be available through this campaign. (The standard retail edition featuring Merwan’s original cover will also be available as an add-on after the campaign.)
READ THE FULL 8-PAGE OPENING PROLOGUE SEQUENCE HERE!
(More pages will be added to this link throughout the campaign!)
So hop over to the campaign today to see more, including the trailer video and a link to sample pages. This amazing book is really something you have to see to believe! Don't worry -- this will have NO BEARING ON OUR DELIVERY OF PARIS 2119! This is how we fill time while Paris is printing... we prep another awesome book for you! Everything is on track and looking great...
Get ready for more!
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 06:07:06 PM
Hi everybody!
It has been a very busy week here (for very exciting reasons we'll get to in a second), and even Dominique has been busy with the original sketches for those lucky backers who pledged at that tier. Here's a peek at two of them that Dominique shared with us just last night:
You lucky 20 really are getting something special! We can't wait to see the rest ourselves, and will share them here if/when we get more preview pics from Dominique as he works through the list...
We also got the Collectible Coins in from the mint!
These things are solid and HEFTY! (Don't worry, our shipping weight estimates won't change, so the rates set in Backerkit won't change either...) They did a pretty amazing job converting Peach's flat 2D drawing into a sculpted 3D bas relief. We're already talking with them about doing more coins for future projects...
...and speaking of future projects...
...what are these "very exciting reasons" for our "very busy week"?
We are so incredibly stoked for this project and campaign, we can't even put it into words... ASTER OF PAN is THE HUNGER GAMES meets DODGE BALL in a lushly painted, action-packed 200-page hardcover blockbuster by writer/artist/animator Merwan. It has all of the adrenaline and feels of a big-budget sci-fi action film, with a hand-painted watercolor style that mixes the best of Katsuhiro Otomo, Naoki Urasawa, and Tim Sale.
And we've even teamed up with PEACH MOMOKO again for another gorgeous, exclusive variant cover:
Believe us when we say "THIS BOOK WILL BLOW YOU AWAY AND BECOME YOUR MOST FAVORITE GRAPHIC NOVEL EVER." We say that because it is ours. And we've got so many favorites (including PARIS 2119...)
So head over to www.asterofpan.com to pre-register (for a bonus reward) today, and then come back next Tuesday morning for the launch and debut of the trailer video! We really would love your support on this one!
Wait, wait, wait... another Kickstater? Already?
Well... yes. Let us explain...
As we mentioned in the PARIS 2119 campaign, the publishing landscape has changed dramatically in the past 6 months. Traditional distribution channels have narrowed, brick-and-mortar store traffic is greatly reduced, and many of the old ways of getting books into readers' hands have dried up. Not entirely, but significantly enough to have a real impact on smaller, indie publishers such as us. By reaching out directly to the consumers through our webstore and Kickstarter, we have a chance to fill in some of that financial gap created by this pandemic.
Sure, but why so soon?
Short answer: why not? Production and fulfillment are part of our normal business model, and we routinely have multiple titles in various stages of production. Adding an exclusive variant and promotional campaign for a handful of the most interesting, top-tier titles doesn't add that much more to the basic equation. We truly have no concerns about meeting all of our promises and making sure all of our backers are satisfied.
We're looking ahead at a slate of some amazing new books that we think the discerning Kickstarter audience will absolutely love, so yes -- we will be running more campaigns after this one. Each book will have a different style and story, and may appeal to different types of readers, but they all have that premium "Magnetic quality" stamp of approval, so you know they will all be something very special.
Are we worried about burning ourselves out? Nah. These titles energize us. Seeing them find new fans feeds our soul.
Are we worried about burning out our followers? ... a little? I mean, some of you will hopefully come back for more while some of you might not. But we also hope each title will bring in new followers. So while hopefully our pace won't be too much for those of you who want to ride this train from station to station, we understand that there will be new passengers for each trip.
You do too much. You're not Superman...
Thanks, Aunt May. But really, as we mentioned, we're doing most of this work behind the scenes anyway. By offering these exclusives and extras to the eager Kickstarter audience, we better justify all of that hard work that might otherwise have a hard time finding an audience.
We really, really, really would love your support on Day One!
Surveys out!
over 3 years ago
– Wed, Aug 12, 2020 at 10:58:25 AM
Hey everyone!
Real quick update to let you know that all of the Backerkit surveys have now gone out to EVERYBODY. So check your email over the next day or so for that notification with your unique link, arriving from "Neurobellum Productions" (but sent by Backerkit.com). If you haven't seen it yet, check your spam folder. If you haven't gotten it by the end of this week, message us and we'll look it up for you directly.
We've also applied the first batch of Backerkit credit to those of you who pre-registered as part of our pre-launch promotional landing page. If you missed out on that early offer, you can still earn .50$ in Backerkit credit by filling out our post-mortem interest survey here:
About 30% of you have answered those questions so far, but we'd love to get as many answers as possible to get the clearest, most complete snapshot to learn from for next time. So please take just a few minutes to follow the link and reply!
One other thing:
You may have noticed that the Kickstarter page has taken on a slightly different look, with a "pre-order" button now available. This is so that others who may have missed the campaign can still hop on board and pick up a copy. They missed out on a bunch of the exclusive backer bonuses (like the coin, etc), but we'll happily welcome anyone and everyone into the fold!
So if you'd like to bring some friends or family to the project, feel free to direct them to PARIS2119.com-- that simple URL will link straight to the KS page where they can get caught up on all the coolness.
Okay -- we gotta get back to work on the next batch of cool stuff now...
Have a great week, everyone!
Backerkit is up and running!
over 3 years ago
– Mon, Aug 10, 2020 at 06:44:41 PM
Hey everyone!
Happy Saturday! We just sent out the first set of Backerkit surveys to a random 5% of you -- Backerkit calls this a "smoke test" to make sure the surveys are set up properly and that all of the information being provided is clear and not confusing to you once inside. They suggest giving that smoke test 24 hours to spotlight anything that needs fixing, but if no flags are raised, then the rest will go out to the remaining 95% of you!
Frankly, there aren't many questions for the majority of pledge tiers, so this is mostly collecting your shipping address and factoring any extra stuff you might want to add to your package.
So how does this Backerkit thing work exactly?
If you haven't used Backerkit before, don't worry -- it may sound complicated at first, but it's really super-simple.
You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey. You will be sent a unique Backerkit link to whatever email address you use to log into Kickstarter. If you need to use a different email address, you can change that contact information once you've first logged into the account. (If you need that initial link sent to a different email address to begin with, contact us and we'll forward it to you there manually.)
When you receive the email notification, click the survey link to respond. This link will be unique to you and your pledge details! So don't lose it, and only share it with that in mind. (You can bookmark that page for future fast-access once you're in.)
There, you will be able to answer any questions we've sent about your reward preferences, provide your shipping information, and purchase any add-on items you'd like included in your shipment.
You will be able to modify your answers at any time, up until two key deadlines:
1) Order Cut-off, which is when Backerkit will actually charge your credit card for any additional items and shipping balances due. This will happen in early October so that we know how much final stuff to produce. If Backerkit has trouble charging your cards, they will notify you to fix this information as soon as you can. Your package won't ship if there is any open balance due on your pledge.
2) Lock-down, which is when we will lock all shipping addresses for final fulfillment processing. You will have until that date to finalize any changes to the shipping address. So if you aren't sure where you might be in November today, you'll be able to change your answers up until that final date. This will happen in late October about a week before we start shipping.
We will make a very clear announcements to everyone ahead of each of those dates.
Again, you don't have to decide on everything as soon as you get the survey link, but it would help us a lot to know how much we should anticipate producing/shipping as soon as possible. So please consider answering sooner than later...!
Don't worry if you haven't gotten your survey link yet -- it might take 24-48 hours to reach you, but please watch for an email from "s.backerkit.com" on behalf of us (Neurobellum Productions). If you haven't received it by, say, Tuesday or Wednesday, feel free to message us and we'll look up the link for you directly.
In the meantime, you can access the Paris 2119 project page on Backerkit at https://paris-2119.backerkit.com. (But visiting that URL directly won't contain your unique backer information... you will need your unique link for that...)
Hope that's not too confusing, and hope you're as excited as we are! :D As always -- THANK YOU!!!
