About
"One heart. One life.
Told from the perspective of those around him, enter the story of a man as he struggles through the decades to do what all of us must – simply live. Nandor Fox Shaffer (SEASONS) presents Lifeline, a one-of-a-kind 96 page full-color collaborative graphic novel project with seven uniquely skillful artists with ranging styles from around the world to tell a captivating drama of family, legacy, and reflection.
We only have one life. How will you live it?"
Lifeline is a love letter to comics as a collaborative medium. After seeing many gifted artists produce their own beautiful work and be a part of individual amazing projects, I had an exciting thought: what if I brought them all together for one complete story? Seven chapters, seven different artists, each with their own personal style — ranging from traditional water colors to all digital — but a cohesive narrative that can be read from beginning to end. And so, Lifeline was born. Purely from the desire to team-up with some of the most talented indie comic book artists in the world right now and put together a project worthy of their knack for sequential storytelling, I wrote a story with seven of my favorite artists in mind. Thankfully, they all said "yes" to the project.
Throughout 2018, I’ve been working with these seven astounding illustrators on Lifeline, and I’m finally ready to share with the world the innovative creative comic magic we’ve been conjuring up for the past year. I couldn’t think of any better platform other than Kickstarter to do so.
Lifeline records the life story of Lewis Wakefield through the eyes of his father, wife, best friend, daughter, a stranger, and his grandson. Each chapter takes place in a different decade of his life, concentrating on Lewis’ relationship with one person or more, and the chapters progress in a chronological order, from Lewis as a young boy to Lewis as an aged, elderly man. As the story unfolds, alternating from the present day to the past, the reader will piece together Lewis’ hopes, fears, dreams, insecurities, successes and failures through defining situations and conversations. Layers of his personality will be revealed until we come to the end of his life, where Lewis will ask himself one of the most important questions anyone could: “Was my life worth living?”
The art and story of this project go hand-in-hand. Because every chapter in Lifeline is told from the perspective of a different character in Lewis’ life, I needed the chapters to look, feel, and be completely distinguishable from one another to visually convey the differing perspectives, but all the while still retain the highest quality possible. These seven brilliant artists from around the world went above and beyond to accomplish that experimental vision.
READ THE FOURTEEN PAGE PREVIEW...
FUNDING
I need $5,500 to completely fund this campaign and below I’ve laid out the percentages and specifics for how much everything will cost. This way backers know exactly what their support will be used towards. As of today, 80% of the entire book has been completed. I just need that final push for the printing and shipping costs, which is what 85% of the funds will be going towards. The rest is for the additional fees and taxes that come up as well as paying for the final stages of production for the book (each expense in rounded up to its nearest figure and are the most accurate estimations I was able to gather). Remember that Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing crowdfunding system, so if we don't hit the goal, I won't get any of the funds to make the book.
We have only have 31 days to do this, guys! Let's bring in the new year with an all-new project that will blow everyone away!
SHIPPING
*Important information for backers*
FREE shipping for all single graphic novel domestic orders!
All international orders will be charged an additional $25
I apologize for how much extra shipping requires for international backers. I wish there was some way to get around this, but, unfortunately, there isn’t. The upside to this is that all of the additional cost goes towards the funding goal! Note: These prices pertain to shipping one single hardcover graphic novel. The shipping cost for the original art tier ($350) and the $55 and $60 tiers will require a higher shipping fee.
TIMELINE
From my estimation, the earliest I would getting the books would be around May-June. It takes about four to five months of back and forth with the printing company before I’ll actually receive all the copies on my doorstep. The reason why so long is because 20% of the art still needs to be completed, and Lifeline will be printed overseas in China through the one of the leading printing companies, PrintNinja. I went through Print Ninja for my previous Kickstarter campaign, and I couldn’t have been happier with how the books turned out. Printing overseas takes longer — thus the months of waiting — but the costs are cheaper than printing in the U.S. and the professional quality will be worth the wait as well. During those months, I’ll be reviewing their progress and the hard copy proofs they’ll be sending me. I’ll definitely be updating everyone on how everything is going through this entire process.
Curious to know what PrintNinja is all about? Feel free to click on the banner below to check out their website and resources.
WHY BACK THIS KICKSTARTER?
A project as big as Lifeline is why Kickstarter exists: bringing dreams to life that otherwise wouldn’t be made. If this campaign is funded, not only will we have created a one-in-a-million collaborative story, but a total of nine people’s lives will be made a little better by getting their work published and into the hands of readers everywhere. By the end of getting Lifeline off the ground and ready to print, I will be spending over $7,000 of my own money out of pocket towards the art, lettering/design, and marketing. This campaign is solely to print and ship the book and share all of our art with the world, not to make money. It’s been an honor to work with such a handful of experienced, gifted illustrators and projects like Lifeline only come once in a lifetime. Garnering enough support would mean more to us than you could know. So let’s make this dream happen together!
ABOUT ME
Nandor Fox Shaffer grew up with superheroes, Star Wars, movies, video games, music and comic books coursing through his veins and spinning about in his imagination. It wasn’t only until a few years ago where he heard the call to be a writer and creator, wanting to tell stories that really meant something and that touched people. Inspired by the likes of George Lucas, Jonathan Hickman, Steven Moffat, Ed Brubaker, Scott McCloud and a few other talents, he couldn’t resist how powerful the art of storytelling could be. At the age of 20, he published his first graphic novel, SEASONS Volume 1: Spring. He lives in Jefferson City, Missouri and plans to write and create for as long as he lives.
Risks and challenges
Time is the biggest challenge here. 20% of the book is yet to be finished, so while there is a minimal chance that the book will be arriving a little later than expected, I genuinely doubt that will happen. My last Kickstarter campaign ran very smoothly and all of the books were shipped and received on time. Writing stories and making comics is my passion, and you can trust me to orchestrate this big project with much care and efficiency.
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