About
HUGO BROYLER: a high-speed, sci-fi, grindhouse graphic novel
$10,298
173
Help us COLORIZE and remaster this hotrod for print!
AND CHECK OUT THESE A-LIST CONTRIBUTORS!
• EDUARDO RISSO (100 Bullets) • RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE (American Vampire, Blue Beetle) • LEANDRO FERNANDEZ (Punisher, Hulk, The Names) • MARCELO FRUSIN (Hellblazer, Loveless) • GERMAN PERALTA (Moon Knight, Axis: Carnage) • MAX FIUMARA (BPRD, Abe Sapien) • RENATO GUEDES (Wolverine, Superman) • CAIO OLIVEIRA (Super-Ego, No More Heroes) • BENGAL (Batgirl, Naja) • DJET (Poet Anderson) • MATTEO DE LONGIS (VOX) • FRANCISCO RUIZ VELASCO (Pacific Rim, Hellboy) • NATHAN FOX (DMZ, Haunt, Blue Estate) • BEN CALDWELL (Prez, Dare Detectives) • BEN TEMPLESMITH (30 Days of Night, Wormwood, Squidder) • ZACH HOWARD (Wild Blue Yonder, The Cape) • DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON (Ghost Fleet, Space Mullet) • BRYNDON EVERETT (The World of Cassyno) • MICHAEL O'HARE (Birds of Prey, He-Man) • FEDERICO DALLOCCHIO (Suicide Squad, Hawken) • BRENT MCKEE (Bowery Boys, Drones).
And YES, you can help with Paypal! Check out this update to see how!
UPDATES:
- UPDATE #12: 48hrs left! New art from MARCELO FRUSIN and DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON! Oh, and hey -- the movie poster will be TWO-SIDED now, with BOTH designs on it!
- UPDATE #11: The Final Four (days and artists)! Talent spotlight on NATHAN FOX, BEN CALDWELL, BRENT MCKEE, and FEDERICO DALLOCCHIO!
- UPDATE #9: New artists and a la carte options added! Plus: talent spotlight on MICHAEL O'HARE, ZACH HOWARD, BRYNDON EVERETT, and DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON!
- UPDATE #8: MAGNETIC PRESS 50% off discount codes for all physical reward backers!!! Plus: talent spotlight on BEN TEMPLESMITH, FRANCISCO RUIZ VELASCO, and CAIO OLIVEIRA, and the history of Ittogami Sports Levitation!
- UPDATE #7: Paypal, hats, and talent spotlight on BENGAL, DJET, and MATTEO DE LONGIS! Plus: the History of Engels Staticsport Racing!
- UPDATE #6: Pinups from RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE and RENATO GUEDES! Plus: Talent spotlight on MARCELO FRUSIN, MAX FIUMARA, and GERMAN PERALTA, and the History of Steed Corona Racing!
- UPDATE #5: COLORS! Plus: Talent spotlight on RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE, LEANDRO FERNANDEZ, and RENATO GUEDES, and the History of Mega-corporation Ubiquo!
- UPDATE #4: Talent spotlight on RISSO, PARONZINI, and KENNEDY! Plus: The History of SVL (Static Velocity Levitation) technology and the birth of SVL Racing!
- UPDATE #3: The PDF of the original 80 page story is now FREE! Note: it is black-and white lineart only -- back the campaign to help us colorize, re-letter, and supplement the volume with 24 NEW pages by the amazing list of artists above! Click here to download the ebook for free! Then come back and support the re-mastered, expanded print edition! Plus: New rewards added!
"holy hell writer Mike Kennedy managed to jam a ton of story into 80 short pages! ...beautiful and fun, and if you have any love for that Miller style, you will love what Paronzini does here. " -- THEOUTHOUSERS.com
HUGO BROYLER is a tech-noir thriller set in a future where the top sport in the world is Static Velocity Levitation Racing, an internationally sponsored competition in which both mega-corporations and sovereign nations vie against one another for global market share. Frictionless cars streak by at ludicrous speeds, controlled via neural feeds that allow drivers to steer with sheer instinct and impulse. Racers risk life and limb for fame and fortune, all in service to the glory of their sponsors. And the trophy for second place is as attainable as a closed-casket funeral.
Hugo Broyler was a career wheelman who almost placed second once, but things went sour. And now, after two years of reconstructive surgery and physical recovery, he’s back on the circuit looking to reclaim his shot at the cup.
But there are outside forces who would use his talents in other ways, not the least of which is a voice inside his own head. Convinced its just his imagination, phantom thoughts stemming from crash-related brain injuries, he takes a job from a known drug lord for the promise of a new circuit sponsorship. But the voice is growing louder, and increasingly insistent. Is it really the ghost of his former racing rival, or a nearby hacker tapping into his head? Or is he just going insane?
Doesn't matter. He's got a championship to win.
HUGO BROYLER is a 104-page full-color hardcover graphic novel written by Mike Kennedy (Star Wars: Underworld, Superman: Infinite City, Lone Wolf 2100, Bleedout) and illustrated by Francisco Paronzini (Stormwatch PHD, The Immortal Iron Fist, Star Wars Tales). It's got a cyber-grindhouse vibe, tossing the gritty cinematic style of the 70s and 80s a hundred years into a future where everything is wired.
This introductory tale is the first in a trilogy of hardcover graphic novels exploring an underworld saturated in high-tech crime, following Hugo through the seedy underside of the global tech industry as he fights his way back onto the circuit of SVL Racing. This book is just the first piece in what we hope will introduce an exciting, action-packed world full of future stories, books, role playing and table top games, and much more.
This first 80-page story is COMPLETE, we just need finishing funds to colorize, re-letter, and print.
The book will collect the first, complete, 80-page story, plus a brand new 4-page epilogue and 16 additional pages of supplementary, world-building backmatter featuring artwork contributed by some of the comic industry’s best artists from Argentina, Brazil, France, Italy, Mexico, and America. And the entire collection will be wrapped in a gorgeous cover by the astounding Eduardo Risso (100 Bullets, Spaceman, Jonny Double), with embossed logo and spot-UV on a smooth, rubbery satin matte.
Or, if you prefer the economy version of the luxury sedan, you can go for the trade paperback edition. Just don't let that $5 you saved burn a hole in your pocket:
Regardless of format, this book will include a wealth of illustrations from a list of absolutely AMAZING ARTISTS who have offered to contribute to the world-building backmatter. Just check out this line-up:
As stated above, the 80-page main story is complete (as you can see on www.sequentialink.com), but we need help raising finishing funds to colorize and re-letter the pages, and to pay for a modest print run. We want this to be a spectacular ride through an exciting, high-speed future, delivered in an equally spectacular hardcover volume.
Although the existing pages are currently black-and-white, the book will be printed in full-color, and we want the core story to have an engaging, eye-popping, and unique look. We're trying different things with some really talented colorists -- minimal palettes, controlled hues, monotones and desaturated washes -- and we're excited to do something cooler and more interesting than just another four-color funnybook.
All of the backmatter and guest art will be full-color and magnificent, as you would expect from any of them.
As an independent, creator-owned work, we really need your support to control the quality and production of this title before we can even think about distribution options. With your help, we proudly completed and produced Caio Oliveira’s SUPER-EGO, as well as Bengal's WORLD OF CASSYNO, and now we’re hoping you can help us do it again.
In addition to copies of the book itself, we’re offering some branded extras to help immerse yourself in the dark, future-world of corporate SVL Racing:
- JUST ADDED!!: Everyone who bids for a physical reward (book or above) gets a 50% OFF Discount code from Magnetic Press's entire webstore! This code can be applied to an order of ANY SIZE, so could be worth literally HUNDREDS of dollars in savings!
- ADDED!!: Everyone who bids for a physical reward (book or above) gets a race day ball cap! Seriously! We can't update the Tier descriptions, but if you pledge $21 or more for a physical reward, you will get one of these!
- LEAGUE STICKERS: Everyone who bids for a physical reward (book or above) gets a set of corporate league logo stickers featuring the top seven regional teams: Pearson Taft Capital, Kaipara Al-Emirate, Dumonde Vitesse, Cipriani, Engles Staticsport, Ittogami Sports Levitation, and Steed Corona. Also featured in this logo set is the league commission itself, Fédération Internationale De La Vitesse Électrostatique (FIVE).
- RETRO MOVIE ONE-SHEET: Remember that awesome movie version of HUGO BROYLER from when you were growing up, and how bad-ass it was? Commemorate that fictional event with this classic one-sheet style movie poster. Oh, and it'll be TWO-SIDED with these two awesome designs:
- WORLD SVL CUP CHAMPIONSHIP KEYCHAIN: SVL might not exist (yet), but you can feel like a veteran of the circuit with this hefty, plated copper keychain sporting the World SVL Cup logo, from the 2072 Championship races. Only surviving drivers got one!
- SUNGLASSES AND TEE-SHIRT: Couldn't make it to the 2069 Invitational in Dubai? Don't worry -- you can fake it with this authentic and official race day swag from that amazing event. Only a few escaped the fires undamaged and made it onto the internet auction blocks!
- Original sketch by Paronzini - Francisco will draw an 8.5x11" pen-and-ink drawing of the character of your choice, even one of your own design!
- An original page from the book - Believe it or not, in this age of digital everything, this book was drawn on paper first. And you can own one of the original pages for yourself! So many action sequences worth framing, guaranteed to make any wall avante garde.
- Make a cameo appearance in the brand new epilogue! - You can appear in the brand new epilogue that will be created for this book, and you will even get the original page of art with your appearance to commemorate your immortalization. Be a league racer, corporate suit, or shady tech-ops agent! Only five spots to fill -- be one of 'em!
NEW REWARDS JUST ADDED!
- Paronzini will draw YOUR 5pg story or project pitch! Looking for a solid artist to turn your idea into actual comic pages? Look no further. Pancho's your man, if you step to the plate. UPDATE: you can increase the number of pages at this tier at an additional $100/pg! Just set your pledge at the corresponding amount for the number of pages you'd like and we'll consider those extra pages "a la carte"!
- Be a league sponsor with YOUR LOGO plastered throughout the book! Could be your actual business logo or a fake one you made up, either way, it will be used as an auto decal, track ad, jumpsuit patch or other fictional brand within the book! Plus, get a retro-sci-fi raceday TEE SHIRT with your logo! If you want to actually promote that logo, we'll include a link to your website of choice in the book itself!
- Signed copies of STAR WARS: UNDERWORLD or SUPERMAN: INFINITE-CITY! Beautifully illustrated by the late, great CARLOS MEGLIA, these books are out of print, and signed by Mike Kennedy (the author)! If you aren't familiar with Meglia's amazing work, you owe it to yourself to learn! Each is a full-length, complete graphic novel.
YOU CAN ADD ITEMS TO YOUR PACKAGE "A LA CARTE":
- Logo stickers: $5
- Keychain: $8
- Sunglasses: $8
- Retro movie poster: $10
- Softcover book: $15
- Hardcover book: $20
- WSLR Tshirt: $20
- Original Sketch: $100
- Original Page: $150
- ...and for anyone at the $500 level, you can add extra original pages to your 5pg package at $100 per page. So for example, you can get 8 pages total for an extra $300 on top of the $500 base price, or $800 total pledge).
To add "a la carte" items to your package, simply increase your pledge by the appropriate amount for the additional items you'd like, then message us with those add-on requests, and we'll include them when shipping your other physical rewards. If you are adding items to a pledge tier with no physical rewards (ie. below $21), please add base shipping!
- Domestic U.S. shipping: $5
- International shipping: $18
This base shipping amount is fixed, regardless of how many items you add to your pledge!
If you have any questions or find any of this confusing, please feel free to message us and we'll clarify as quickly and thoroughly as we can!
We don’t want to set stretch goals, as that tends to put the cart way ahead of the horse. We’re happy to simply reach our goal to complete the project, and maybe a little extra to compensate the artists for their time. Francisco and I have created the content completely out of pocket in our spare time, so even a little extra will go a long way towards validating the time spent so far.
That said, we’ve got other brewing ideas set within the world of HUGO BROYLER, the first of which is a fun, high-speed SVL Racing card-game that we’re already starting to playtest. Perhaps if we reach our core goal, we can make those rules, or even a printed deck, available as a pledge bonus or a new backer tier. We’re also talking to some miniature prototypers about creating versions of SVL cars featured in the book for desktop display, or perhaps even for use in an expanded tabletop board game version of the card-game. There is a ton of world history and lore behind this story that would make a great, unique, sci-fi RPG. There are so many things we’d like to bring to this world, and to an interested community of backers, but this book is the primary introductory piece on our radar.
Please help us reach the finish line!
Risks and challenges
Having produced and printed several books, including our first Kickstarted project, SUPER-EGO, and the recently completed WORLD OF CASSYNO card game set, we see no risk in the completion and fulfillment of this project, should we hit our goal. We have vendors and a pipeline already in place.
The only unforeseeable delay might be in collecting all of the pieces from busy contributing guest artists, but we’ve already received half of them, with the other half hinging on the success of the campaign. They’re all friends we’ve worked with before, however, so we’re pretty confident they’ll come through in a timely manner. And if for some reason they can’t, we will look for suitable replacements rather than hold up production for an unreasonable duration.
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Funding period
- (30 days)