Long-running web-comic Warbirds of Mars is changing its format and asking for your support to help fund the completion of a lengthy ‘new-pulp’, dieselpunk graphic novel. Inspired by the comics and films of yesteryear, Warbirds has already tackled comics, a radio show, a short-story anthology and cheesecake pinups to help tell its tale. Now its creators are taking it to the next level.
Set in an alternate World War II, the story features a cast of heroes fighting for freedom against the race of aliens that invaded on D-Day who now occupy much of the globe. Being the 1940s, the invaders are simply referred to as ‘Martians’ (Think War of the Worlds meets Mars Attacks with a dash of The Rocketeer or The Shadow). They attacked the Earth and superseded WWII, taking over many of the major cities of the world. The resistance forces struggle to re-unite the ragged and dispersed militaries of the planet in the hopes of fighting back with new technology.
This pulp-style sci-fi adventure was created and drawn by Scott P. ‘Doc’ Vaughn and written by Amazon.com best-selling author Kane Gilmour. Initially formatted like an old-school weekly newspaper strip, the graphic novel will feature the reprinted run of the web series then switch gears to ‘golden-age’ style comics. There will be somewhere between 60 – 100 new color pages that help complete the current story arc.
For the past four years, ‘Doc’ and Kane have taken the Martian Killers and their struggle from New York to the West, to Europe and back again. They further expanded the Warbirds Universe by publishing Warbirds of Mars: Stories of the Fight! via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other platforms, in paperback as well as in ebook formats. The book has been nominated for seven New Pulp Awards this year and features stories by Jeff Mariotte, Sean Ellis and Ron Fortier (among others) as well as illustrations by artists like Mike Debalfo, Bill Farmer, John Lucas and Dan Parsons.
“For me,” says Doc, “combining the likes of Mars Attacks, War of the Worlds and World War II seemed logical. Regardless of originality, I wanted a crack at all of these concepts combined, hopefully in a new light. I approached my friend Kane Gilmour with these ideas, pitching it to him as a web-comic. To my eternal glee and gratitude, Kane ran with it, and the still-developing results are here for you to see. I hope you enjoy Warbirds of Mars and that it leads you on your own journey of discover or a trip down memory lane.”
You can see more of WARBIRDS at www.warbirdsofmars.com
The Kickstarter and its Newsreel-themed intro video can be supported at www.kickstarter.com
