The War for Kaleb Kickstarter Launched!

We launched the Kickstarter campaign today for the collected edition of The War for Kaleb!  The graphic novel will include a brand new epic cover, new content not in the original single issues such as a forward by Shelley Briggs Callahan, author of House of Life, an extensive gallery with many talented individuals, a sketch gallery, and behind the scenes section, and an afterward by myself.

Pinups by Adam Walmsley (Left) and Jim Kettner (Right)

The idea of creating a graphic novel has always been something exciting for me, as it is my preferred way to read comics.  I love having the entire story in one place, and I adore the format.  I love seeing the collection of graphic novel spines on my bookshelf, thumbing through them, and finding the gem that I’m in the mood for at the time. 

The final book will come in at 104 pages, and will have a run of 1500 copies. 

Graphic Novel Cover Mockup

Also with the launch of the Kickstarter is a special movie style trailer, and mini documentary about the book, with original music, and editing by Dan Schepleng!  Ever since I saw the comic book trailer for Ultimate X-Men in the early 2000’s I wanted to do something similar, and I feel The War for Kaleb trailer came out wonderful.  The music is epic and truly captures Kaleb’s internal conflict turmoil. 

The Kickstarter will last until April 21^st so there is plenty of time to get in on it if you desire.  If you can’t pledge, please share, share, share!  The true strength of crowdfunding comes from word of mouth, so I can’t thank everyone enough for just simply spreading the word!

Thank you everyone for your support in the past, and hopefully for the Kickstarter!

THEWARFORKALEB.COM

As a bonus the fine folks over at A Place to Hang Your Cape, has written a flattering review of The War for Kaleb #2, just in time for the Kickstarter launch!

"In every aspect, The War for Kaleb #2 is an improvement on an already stellar original. It escalates, complicates, and deftly prepares for the story’s finale. It is bittersweet then, that Issue #3 will be the last for this extraordinary comic."

-Ezekiel Maben

The War for Kaleb Graphic Novel Cover and Podcast with Victims and Villains

I’ve finished the cover for the graphic novel collection for The War for Kaleb.  I’ve been struggling for a while to figure out exactly what I wanted to do for the cover of the collected edition.  I knew that because this is going to be the final book, with all the bells and whistles going forward once it releases, it needed to be big, and eye catching.  At first I was thinking of typical movie poster format, with all the characters on the cover.  I didn’t like that idea, not necessarily that it had been done before, but mainly that it wouldn’t express what the book was about.  And this has always been the face value dilemma of TWFK: how to express in one image that this is NOT a book about superheroes, but really about a person suffering from an anxiety disorder. 

I figured since Kaleb suffers from social anxiety, and particularly from the loss of control he gets from the actions of others, I thought of this idea of a tidal wave of people, similar to the zombies from the World War Z movie.  Kaleb rides atop of the tsunami of people, some that seem aware of the chaos, and others that don’t care, or even doing run of the mill everyday things; i.e. drinking coffee, checking email, taking selfies, etc.  The sky is a blistering red, with the dark Kaleb sitting in the sky commanding control of Kaleb’s emotional state, with the light Kaleb being engulfed by the wave of people crashing down on his head, to extinguish the light Kaleb for good. 

I’m hoping that when sitting on a comic book store shelf this image will stand out.  I’ve gotten some good feedback so far, and am feeling good about this image as the cover.  I’m hoping I can get the graphic novel out by the end of the year, or beginning of next, as the final issue is on track to be done end of August-beginning of Sept.

Also this week, I was on a podcast for victimsandvillains.net, where I discuss The War for Kaleb, where I’ve come from as a cartoonist, and a little where I’m heading.  We also talk about a few comic book, and pop culture topics, such as James Gunn’s influence of the Cosmic Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the loss of Adam West.

Victims and Villains a podcast that is dedicated to suicide, and depression awareness, relating to comic books and popculture 

You can listen to the podcast clicking HERE.