Lords of the Cosmos is a comic book. But it's more than that - it's a labor of love. More of a love letter, actually.
A love letter to action figures, Saturday morning cartoons, prizes in cereal boxes, and cheap comic books your mom would throw out. This is our nod to the days of heroes and villains, of monsters and mayhem.
Whether you’re just getting old or you were an old soul born forty years too late, this comic is for you – in all its overblown, heavy-handed glory. We call Lords of the Cosmos a “1980’s fever dream,” where the bad guys wore impractical armor and the soundtracks were rocking. By the powers of Greyskull and all that is truly outrageous, we hope you enjoy reading this first issue as much as we did making it.
So, pour some sugar cereal and sit too close to the TV. Or, ask one of your “old” friends; they’ll tell you of this magical time, decades ago. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll get a little weepy eyed for the original Transformers movie. Yeah, it was a cartoon, and it was awesome.
Sincerely,
The Creators of Lords Of The Cosmos
Fine. Enough memory lane.
We're raising money to complete Lords of the Cosmos #1, a super-issue of comic mayhem for fans of those great 1980's action-adventure properties that influence so much of what modern comics, movies, and toys have become.
The story so far
Lords Of The Cosmos is the tale of the exotic planet Aiden, a planet lost to space and time, where all manner of escaped supervillains, heinous inter-dimensional demons, exiled Earth gods, ancient biowiazrds and corrupt war kings struggle on a hostile world that is the under the control of a sentient, planet-wide machine. Sound fun? It isn't. But it makes for a heckuva story.
We've assembled a team of artists, inkers, comic book publishers, sci-fi authors, Hollywood screenwriters, graphic wizards, independent toy makers, and some seriously hardcore fans who are giving their time and resources to bring you a double-sized issue that's the opening salvo to an EPIC story.
A year ago, Jason Lenox, UGLI STUDIOS owner and creator, released a small anthology - 14 pages of which were a comic about evil supervillains, and those few pages were so well received, we decided to open the vaults, dig into our sketchbooks and character designs, and unleash on the world the true breadth and scope of this science fiction/fantasy universe we've lovingly created.
What's included in issue #1
- a 21-page main story, featuring seven pages of brand new material, along with an increased backstory and new lettering for all the pages.
- three brand new stand alone short stories that total 14 pages. featuring some of the side characters and historical events from the world of Aiden (which is the planet where Lords Of The Cosmos takes place, if you're keeping track)
- brand new pinups, variant sketch covers and full-color toy packaging are also included in this first issue
Talk is cheap. Lemme see for myself.
Alright, enough talk. Here's what we've got crawling out of our imaginations and computer screens.
Check out some unlettered pages, sketchbook designs and works in progress:
That's just a bit of the cosmic mayhem we'll be unleashing in issue #1 (with some awesome pinups, too!)
Plunder. Loot. Treasure. One-eyed Willie's rich stuff, ya know?
Look to your right, dear traveler, and feast your eyes on our rewards! There are plenty of ways to pick up some original art and sketch covers while backing this campaign at the same time. There are also some really unique opportunities to have Jason Lenox conduct private portfolio reviews or art classes for your group.
We've got a chance to get custom made characters drawn up based on our own backers, even got an option to appear IN issue four. You can even pick what side you want to be on, depending on how heroic (or villainous) you're feeling.
Jason Lenox, being a benevolent overlord, is even sharing some of his private stock of artist t-shirts from his aggressively-titled "Draw or Die" collection.
For the "hand-drawn" crowd, UGLI COMICS founder Jason Lenox will also be doing variant sketch covers with your own, personalized cover of issue #1. He's a madman with his pen and ink, and you won't be disappointed!
And, for the first time ever, you can get custom handmade toys based on the Lords of the Cosmos! They even come with display-worthy custom toy packaging art (not an actual package) to whisk you back in time to when you would stand in the toy isle, lusting over that new action figure - before mom would tell you "Put it down! I'm not buying you anymore ugly monster toys!"
Well, mom, you can't stop me now. Here are some samples of the work:
There are lots of heroes and villains you can choose from, and we're proud to partner with custom toy maker Erich Adie, who's been hard at work like a mad scientist in his garage, crafting mayhem.
If we reach $8000: ISSUE 2!
Issue two has already been penciled, we just need to ink and letter it. But be warned, Earthling - things take a dark turn in issue #2, as Umex and his vicious cohorts attack the peaceful planet Aiden. If we reach $8000, issue 2 gets fast-tracked into production and upon completion, will be mailed free to all backers of $25 or more!
All 1980's nostalgia and battlelust aside, this is a comic created by professionals - we take this seriously, even though we're having fun. The project creators come from around the country, all united under the Lords Of The Cosmos banner. Below is our personal rogue's gallery:
- Jason Lenox - co-creator/pencils main story/cover inks- LOTC #1 is Jason's 5th comic book. He has done work for independent comics, roleplaying games, freelance projects, as well as having art appear in an independent tribeca film. He specializes in horror, sci fi and dark fantasy artwork
- Jason Palmatier - co-creator/writer - Jason is a science fiction author from State College, PA. His short fiction can be found in the anthology Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs Aliens. Jason is co-creator of the epic historical fantasy series "Plague" and is currently finishing off his near-future, sci-fi novel, War Mind
- DF Marin - main story/cover inks
- Dani Kaulakis - cover colors and layout
- Dave Sharpe- letterer
- Joe Freistuhler- Bonesaw backup artist
- Dave Newbold- Shredtooth backup artist
- Zachary Brunner - Cycorn backup artist
- Chris Ring- pinup artist
- DJ Coffman- pinup artist
- areyoshi- pinup artist
- Erich Adie- custom toy creation
- Jim Russell - mechanical and architectural designs
- Keith Krick - toy photography
- Jared Brown - toy packaging graphic design
- Enrico Carnevale- Kickstarter header illustrations
- Taylor Bieliecki- digital layout interiors
- Norman Benford- proofreader, editor, marketing support
Risks and challenges
Lords of the Cosmos #1 is approximately 90% complete. The money used from this campaign will pay for inking, printing, rewards shipping, letterers, and writing.
Jason Lenox has successfully funded SEVEN Kickstarter campaigns, delivering them all on time as promised. You are backing the work of a team of passionate professionals who love this project, treasure our childhood memories, and want to share our passion with a new generation of comic fans.
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Funding period
- (34 days)