We're funded!! Here's our stretch goals!
£3,000 - all £10+ backers get a Vessels keyring
£3,600 - all £20+ backers get a Vessels t-shirt
£4,000 - all backers get a bonus 10-page prequel comic starring Marillon called Marillon's Big Score by Dave Cook and Gary Kelly.
Who will enjoy Vessels #2?
- Fans of the Dark Souls videogame series
- Game of Thrones fans
- Fans of Doctor Strange and Inception, or anything that's a bit trippy and weird for that matter!
- Followers of the new Mark Millar series Reborn
- RPG and JRPG fans, ranging from Skyrim to Final Fantasy
Neat, But What's It About ?
Inspired largely by the Dark Souls videogame series, Vessels is a dark fantasy saga that chronicles the final days of a Medieval world on the verge of collapse. The realm of dreams - the Veil - has crashed head-first into the waking world, causing the laws of reality and reason to implode.
Our hero - a legendary warrior named Wake - and her companions G'Dala and Marillon must travel the land to halt the decay of reality itself, and unravel the mystery of the Vessels - five bloodthirsty knights hell-bent on stopping Wake from completing her goal.
Already tempted? Why not read the first four pages of Vessels #2 free here.
In Vessels #2 - we introduce our fourth hero D'Saahl, see the rise of a deadly plague ravaging the land of Cairnthala, master thief Marillon gets in deep with an old band of mercenaries and our heroes formulate their plan to slay the Eye-God, which causes a rift with the Mind Keeper order.
On top of this, the Vessels - five deadly knights that are the living embodiment of the five senses - are closing in on Wake. They have been charged with capturing her before she can slay the Eye, but to what end?
So what's the overall plot about?
Vessels is the brainchild of comic writer and multi award-winning videogame critic Dave Cook AKA Card Shark Comics, and is a love letter to RPG gaming - most notably the From Software series Dark Souls.
It stars Wake, a gifted warrior with the ability to enter the realm of dreams and bend it to her will. She and her comrades G'Dala (a skilled mage) and Marillon (a master thief with a motor mouth - like Deadpool!) and tank-class D'Saahl set off to halt the imminent death of their world.
However, the laws of reality are breaking down as the Veil seeps into the waking world. Logic, physics and time are becoming convoluted, with weird and deadly effects, such as the giant teddy above which falls from the sky in issue #2.
Issue #1 got huge reviews last year
Our debut issue went down very well with the critics, which was insanely humbling. Here's all our reviews from 2016 to show you the level of quality you can expect in issue #2:
What do I get by backing?
For our £5 entry tier you get Vessels #2: Digital and physical issue (37 pages) - with a named thank you in the inside back cover.
We have other bonuses available at different tiers, including:
An exclusive print of Marillon and her spirit wolf by Lou Ho AKA 'Naniiebim'
Copies of our debut series, the post apocalyptic road trip saga Bust, inspired by Mad Max.
An exclusive 'Battle' print, showing all three of our heroes, by Rafael Desquitado Jr. and Dennis Lehmann
A 'Pixels' print by Michael Philp:
A three-card tarot pack featuring all three of our heroes, by Craig Paton:
And more if we hit our stretch goals!
A little more about our heroes:
Our lead character Wake has no memory of who she is, or how she got to the fantasy realm of Cairnthala, but she has spent her days stalked by a demon known as the Eye-God - a giant eye in the sky that obliterates anything under its stare. Wherever Wake goes, it follows, leaving death and destruction in its path.
During her time in Stratum, Wake encounters her two co-stars. First is Marillon, a cocky hunter-turned-master thief who is in prison with Wake, and joins her on her quest to slay the Eye-God. She's our comic relief, a total wise-ass - think of her like a medieval Deadpool/Spider-Man. She has a hidden agenda though (more on that later!)
Next up is G'Dala, a skilled Mind Keeper who has honed his consciousness with years of training - enabling him to enter the real of dreams, allowing him the ability to see into the future and use his 'inner light' in combat (our term for magic!). He is staunchly religious and believes Wake is a legendary hero who is destined to guide Cairnthala to a new age. Is he right? Well, you'll find out soon enough...
In Vessels #2 issue each of our characters have their faith and resolve tested, we see more of the Vessels in action and we meet our fourth hero - the fierce warrior D'Saahl, who has a connection to Stratum's Mind Keepers - but all signs suggests the connection is not a happy one. He will be a major player in our series who will develop a lot over time.
Who are the creative team?
Vessels is created by a team of talented creatives from around the world. Here's a little bit about who we are and what we've worked on previously.
Dave Cook (creator, writer)
Based in Edinburgh Scotland, Dave is the founder of Card Shark Comics, the indie production unit behind post-apocalyptic road trip series Bust and dark thriller Feather - currently featuring in new UK anthology Comichaus. He has also penned shorts for FutureQuake, The Grime, Overload and anti-bullying anthology You Are Not Alone.
Rafael Desquitado Jr. (Artist)
Based in California, Rafael is has worked on a variety of indie projects, most recently sci-fi epic The Slip and Vessels #1. He crafts all artistic elements of our series, from the pencils, through to inks and shading, and is also a big Dark Souls fan.
Dennis Lehmann (Colours)
Born and living in Germany, Dennis has worked as colourist for indie publisher Plem Plem Productions since 2012 - home of The Changer and Mr. Kill. He has also coloured a range of critically-acclaimed indie titles around the world, such as Three Swords, Salvagers, Astronauts, Psychonauts, Savage Dragon, Upstarts and of course, Vessels.
Micah Myers (Letters)
Micah Myers is a freelance comic book letterer from Portsmouth, Va. Micah has lettered comics for Action Lab, Zenescope, Scout, and Devil's Due Entertainment. Micah has also ventured into the world of writing with a supervillain team book called "The Disasters" for Loophole Comics.
Why Kickstarter?
We're returning to Kickstarter to help us fund production and printing of Vessels #2 and to ensure that everyone who backed us the first time has a way of pre-ordering and receiving the second issue.
This is our fifth campaign, we've had four out of four funded so far, and we truly believe this is the best way to get right in front of the fans, talk with them transparently about production, the effort that goes into these books and to be with them every step of the way as we bring the work to life.
We always deliver on time, update fans regularly and never jack up prices just to get funded quicker - so don't expect to pay £10 for a 30 page comic here folks! We're not fans of that approach at all.
So we have a proven track record of doing this, and we hope you will enjoy Vessels #2 - this is just the start of our tale with much more to come!
Risks and challenges
There are always risks with Kickstarters but this is our fifth campaign - we've launched four and had them all funded - so we know how to run a reasonably priced, transparent and most of all - fun - campaign for all concerned. We never jack up prices just o get funded quicker - some creators will charge you £10 for a single issue and we just don't believe that's ethical - so you'll get exactly what you pay for with us with no nonsense.
We're also open to discussion - we talk with our fans on the Card Shark Comics Facebook page and over Kickstarter messaging to make sure all questions are answered and everyone knows how production is going.
So with our team you have nothing to fear, we've become deadly efficient at this, and you can be sure of a high quality comic by the end of our campaign.
If you want to ask us anything at all, email cardsharkcomics@gmail.com
Thanks everyone - Dave!
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Funding period
- (30 days)