About this project
UNGROUNDED: An Expansive Comic Book
$6,040
204
STRETCH GOAL #2 UNLOCKED
$5,000 - 5 Page Story: "Game Theory." When Solenoid is called before congress, Vivian and Virgil deal with Coin Op, the demented Crown Prince of Amusement.
STRETCH GOAL #1: UNLOCKED
$4,000 – 5 Page Story: "Mister Solenoid, The Enigma Unfolded!" See how milquetoast Onto-Physicist Joseph Danner became the Prince of Polarity! This increases the page count of all editions sent to backers by 5 pages! Art by Eryck Webb!
Everyone's book just got 5 pages bigger. The next stretch goal unlocks at $5000 and is another 5 pages. Tell your friends!
UPDATE! Lettered Pages from Larime:
UPDATE! The First 4 Pages:
What is UNGROUNDED?
UNGROUNDED is a profoundly weird but still all ages appropriate comic book I created, originally with my friend Jim Ritchey III (THE GREEN LLAMA) in mind as the artist, adapted from the pieces of a pitch I hired Lou Manna (THE PHANTOM) to do sample pages for back in 2006. Finding the right artist was a process that took time, energy, and timing and it was only through a stroke of luck that I discovered the kinetic and vibrant work of Eryck Webb.
UNGROUNDED follows onto-physicist Joseph Danner, who sought to unravel the mysteries of creation with a mechanism designed to fold him across the tenth dimension and beyond. Returning from his journey, he discovered he had gained mastery of electricity and magnetism. However, while his powers made him invulnerable to anything shy of the impact of a planetary collision, he cannot fly. Fortunately, he gets by with the aid of his flying polar bear companion Ulysses, who he met in his travels. As the C-list costumed hero known as Mister Solenoid, he scours the corners of the cosmos in an effort to guide his world's evolution to become the perfect world.
Mister Solenoid and Ulysses are joined in their travels by Solenoid's girlfriend, private sector astronaut Vivian Von Valiant. Vivian is a two-fisted adventurer with a heart of gold (literally!) and her half-brother, Virgil Von Valiant, has a Popular Culture studies degree which makes him a surprisingly valuable asset in their adventures.
The lead story in this volume focuses on the master plan of one Doktor Bleak, a super-villain who cannot tolerate the absurdity and optimism that Mister Solenoid stands for. Bleak has vowed to destroy Solenoid, no matter the cost.
If it helps to think of it this way, I'd say the tone of the book is somewhere between EDISON REX, NEXTWAVE, and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN.
Who is the UNGROUNDED team?
Patrick Gerard (that's me) is a writer, academic, sometimes philosopher, and prizewinning performance storyteller. Rather than sing his (my) praises, I'll let one of his (my) heroes do the talking. Veteran comics scribe and author Marty Pasko once described Patrick as "the smartest, most talented aspiring comics writer I know." Patrick's writing has been compared to to the work of Terry Gilliam and Douglas Adams and he has also been described as "the lovechild of Grant Morrison and Steve Ditko." He (still me) is often concerned with approaching relevance irreverently and has been labeled "thoroughly post-modern" and "post-modern as #%^&." (I dispute this!)
Eryck Webb is a professional graphic artist. His
prior comic book work includes LAKE MICHIGAN BLUES and CARTEL. He is the creator behind the online web series JUMPING BOY and BUMP ON A LOG. He was also the artist behind the web series POSSESSED. He has a rich background in both comic books and advertising. Eryck has been running his own professional studio and turning out top notch work for a variety of clients for over five years.
Larime Taylor has been kind enough to provide assistance with lettering. He is currently writing, drawing, and
producing his own Kickstarter-financed comic book ALONE IN THE DARK.
Why back UNGROUNDED?
UNGROUNDED is a unique book with a unique worldview, the kind that doesn't find a home at a traditional publisher easily. In particular, I think many in comics are uncomfortable with humor and super-heroes mixing and this is a book that doesn't take itself exceedingly seriously, while also striving to be philosophically clever. If I wasn't crushed under the weight of student loan debt, I would probably finance the book myself. In any event, this book is probably a bit too off-kilter for many traditional publishers. However, it can come to life if YOU help out and decide to back it. Because YOU, dear reader, have a quirky sense of humor and like things that at least strive for cleverness. I hope.
Backing UNGROUNDED allows me to pay the artist for his work and print copies of the comic. It also helps support the cost of the Kickstarter rewards.
What might be considered somewhat novel is that I'm prepared to expand the page count dramatically in a way that benefits all backers. While the goal is set for a single full length comic book, through achieving stretch goals, we can increase the page count and amount of content sent out to all backers. I hope this encourages you to donate generously and to urge your friends to back the project as well. If any of the requested donation levels seem steep, consider that the more people back this project, the bigger the comic you receive will be.
The Stretch Goals (Revised and Updated)
$4,000 – 5 Page Story: "Mister Solenoid, The Enigma Unfolded!" See how milquetoast Onto-Physicist Joseph Danner became the Prince of Polarity! This increases the page count of all editions sent to backers by 5 pages! Art by Eryck Webb!
$5,000 - 5 Page Story: "Game Theory." When Solenoid is called before congress, Vivian and Virgil deal with Coin Op, the demented Crown Prince of Amusement.
$6,000 - 5 Page Story: "The Bear Facts." The Enigma of Ulysses the Polar Bear is revealed! Witness the fall of his frozen kingdom and the tale of what propelled him into the wild world of UNGROUNDED! This increases the page count of all editions sent to backers by 5 pages! Art by Eryck Webb!
$7,000 – 5 Page Story: "Behold… Sister Solenoid!" In a gender-swapped universe, it’s time for adventure! Tau Mu the Alien All-Seer is our guide into this alternate reality. This increases the page count of all editions sent to backers by 5 pages! Art by Eryck Webb!
$8,000 - 10 Page Story. "The Form of a Question..." Master Rheomode, Mister Solenoid’s distorted, faceless echo, is a hard-boiled detective on the underbelly of creation. But what happens if he cracks the ultimate case? Will he find answers? This increases the page count of all editions sent to backers by 10 pages! Art by Eryck Webb!
$10,000 - 20 Page Story. "Enter... The Moon Marshall!" Mister Solenoid teams up with the cowboy who guards the moon against a Martian invasion. Just how DID a 19th century cowboy wind up patrolling the lunar Sea of Tranquility on hoseback? This increases the page count of all editions sent to backers by 20 pages! Art by Eryck Webb!
$11,000 - 10 Page Story. "Bleak Romance." Doktor Bleak gets the spotlight in a 1950s Romance comic inspired tale that highlights his path to villainy! This increases the page count of all editions sent to backers by 10 pages! Art by Eryck Webb!
$12,000 - 20 Pages of Content. To be announced as we get closer!
$15,000 - 5 Page Parody Back-Up Feature! We supply the pages, unlettered and Mr. Ian Boothby will supply dialogue however he sees fit. Ian Boothby is an Eisner Award winning comic book writer, best known for SIMPSONS COMICS and FUTURAMA COMICS. Some may know him from DC Comics' INFINITE HOLIDAY SPECIAL. Others may know him as the husband of comic book artist Pia Guerra. He's also an amazing improv comedian and a good friend. If he can dish it out, we can take it!
...
$117,661– 20 Pages. "We Broke The Record!" Bonus Swimsuit Spectacular! The cast hits the beach! With bonus gorillas on every page! This increases the page count of all editions sent to backers by 20 pages! Artist TBA.
The Covers
Risks and challenges
I've yet to make a living from comics. I'm fortunate enough to have been solicited to pitch at a few publishers before (DC, CrossGen, Mirage) and I've worked on putting together 5 page sample books before but developing and promoting a full length book like this is a new challenge. I've received moral support, practical advice, and encouragement over the years from luminaries such as Jeph Loeb, Grant Morrison, Ron Marz, Marty Pasko, Gail Simone, and countless others. I like to think the faith that's been extended to me is well placed, and I regret that it's taken so long to get to this point. This is a challenge I'm eager for and I feel as though I've had the world's best coaches and advisers.
On a practical level, I'm hiring the artist, Eryck Webb, for this. He's a talented creator who I feel has brought his A-game to the project but he remains a sought after commercial artist. There has been concern that he could fall behind because he tries to balance a range of projects. To deal with this, I've been working with him on setting realistic and reasonable deadlines for production. We've discussed the idea of fill-in artwork in the event of a catastrophic emergency but I'm genuinely committed to maintaining and supporting Eryck in realizing the fair and reasonable deadlines we have in place, based on discussions of his workload and speed. I am committed to seeing this through with Eryck as my collaborator. The production timeline we've set with a September release is partly to be absolutely sure that we honor our commitments if we get funding and succeed in creating printed and digital products of the highest quality.
I believe that all of us, together, can make this comic book a reality.
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Funding period
- (30 days)