ON MARS, a graphic novel about colonization and conflict

Surveys away! Check your email! And BOOKPLATES WILL BE SIGNED!
20 days ago – Mon, Oct 07, 2024 at 10:16:21 AM

Hi all!

As mentioned on Friday, the smoke test went well, so the rest of the surveys have gone out this morning! Please watch for those emails from Backerkit with your unique invite code. You can also try to log into Backerkit proactively at https://on-mars.backerkit.com/, but the email will give you more direct access.

We'll leave the Backerkit open until mid-December so you can make adjustments to your order as much as you'd like until then. We will be sure to give you plenty of heads-up as that date approaches.

Digital files will be sent out in January, and we hope to lock addresses in February so that we can ship in March.

BIG UPGRADE ANNOUNCEMENT!

We had hoped to confirm this while the campaign was still live, but we have since been able to figure things out with Sylvain and Grun to sign the numbered ON MARS bookplates! They will both be at the Angouleme FIBD in January, and we will make time to grab a beer together where they will both sign the bookplates. So yes...

THE ON MARS BOOKPLATES WILL BE SIGNED!

These are included with the (campaign-exclusive) Slipcase Set, so if you are interested in one, but are in one of the lower tiers, you may want to consider adjusting your pledge in Backerkit before orders are locked. 😊 The slipcases will NOT be reprinted, so get them now while you can...!

That's all for now -- thanks everyone for your support!

ON MARS Smoke Test Surveys are a go!
23 days ago – Fri, Oct 04, 2024 at 01:52:17 PM

Happy Friday, everyone!

Just a brief update to let you know that we have initiated the smoke test surveys.

If you're not sure what that means, it is a small set of surveys that have been sent to a random selection of backers in order to test the survey system on Backerkit. If there are any bugs or confusing questions, the smoke test will weed them out so that the rest of the surveys go out smoothly.

Please watch for an email from us (on behalf of Backerkit) with your survey link, and if you are one of those lucky few to get a smoke test invitation, please try to fill it out as promptly as you can. Backerkit recommends that we wait until 75% of those smoke test surveys are complete before sending the rest.

Assuming things go well, we expect the rest of the surveys will be sent at some point this weekend. We'll post another update as soon as we do!

Thanks, everyone! More news soon!

You got the coin!
about 1 month ago – Fri, Sep 20, 2024 at 05:03:40 PM

Hi, everyone!

What a great finish! You unlocked the final stretch goal so every physical package will be getting a commemorative Drop Coin for FREE!

Next steps are setting up the Backerkit Pledge Manager next week so we can get your surveys out. We'll follow up shortly with news on that once its ready. But for now, we celebrate! WOOOT!

Third bonus art print unlocked! Final goal: Mars Drop Group coin!
about 1 month ago – Thu, Sep 19, 2024 at 08:07:28 AM

Hi, everyone!

If you hadn't noticed the changes on the campaign page yesterday, we've unlocked the third linen cardstock art print by Gun stretch goal! Just look at all this stuff we've added to your pledges FOR FREE!

Next up -- the final stretch goal: a Drop Group Commemorative Coin!

This 2" metal coin is designed as a token assigned to each group of prisoners dropped on Mars during the construction phase of the colony project. In the story universe, these would have been assigned before landing and exchanged upon arrival for appropriate gear and quarters. But in this universe, it's a cool golden die-struck commemorative coin made exclusively for this campaign. And a really nice final stretch goal to make these closing 48 hours more exciting. 😊

If you're unfamiliar with our previous campaign challenge coins, we've been producing these since our PARIS 2119 campaign in 2020 and have produced nearly two dozen coins for various campaigns to date. Here's a pic of just a few of them over the years --

Take it from me (or any of the many repeat backers who have built up a collection of these over the years) -- these are REALLY NICE BONUSES. Are they necessary to enjoy the book? Nope, but none of the stretch goals are, if we're being honest. The books are awesome on their own; these collectible bonus items are meant to enhance your package as thanks for your support. (If you don't want any of these bonus items cluttering your home or office, just let us know that you don't want any stretch goals and we'll remove them from your package...)

Only 32 hours until planet fall!

Spread the word and let's unlock those tokens!

Thanks, everyone!

Gatefold endpapers unlocked! And a Sylvain Runberg spotlight!
about 1 month ago – Mon, Sep 16, 2024 at 04:03:08 PM

Hi, everyone!

Right on! We blew through the $70k stretch goal! We'll now turn the hardcover back endpapers into a 3-panel gatefold!

"What does that mean? What's a gatefold?" you ask? A gatefold is when a book or magazine has a fold-out section of pages, sort of like this:

So what this means is we will turn the back endpapers of ON MARS (the sheet of paper lining the inside of a hardcover book) into a 3-panel fold-out design!

(Note that this will be unique to the hardcover edition of ON MARS -- softcover paperbacks don't have endpapers.)

Next up: Once we hit $75k, we'll unlock a third bonus linen cardstock print by Grun, which will be added to all physical pledges for FREE. And if we can make one last final push before the campaign ends on Friday, at $85k, we'll unlock a 2" metal DROP GROUP ID Commemorative Coin!

The third print image was the cover of the first volume/chapter of the original French series as pitched by Sylvain Runberg. If it wasn't explained clearly in the campaign, our new English edition collects all 3 volumes/chapters of the original French series, collected into a single deluxe edition.

Sylvain is no stranger to space dramas, as evident in WARSHIP JOLLY ROGER (also available in this campaign with a NEW, EXCLUSIVE SLIPCASE). He has penned numerous other notable books as well. He started his career as an editor for legendary titans Moebius and Enki Bilal! Talk about on-the-job training... he was schooled by THE BEST!

ORBITAL

His longest-running series might be ORBITAL, illustrated by Serge Pellé. It tells the story of Caleb and Mézoké, the first time a human and an alien have been partnered in the interstellar police force. Humans are still the unpredictable low-life sentients in this universe, and Caleb has a tough job ahead of him proving human value.

Full of action and out-of-this-world concepts, ORBITAL drew the best elements from classic Euro sci-fi such as The Incal and Valerian and gave it a gritty blockbuster twist. Eight volumes were published between 2006 and 2019, and it has since continued in a spin-off series called OUTLAWS.

MILLENNIUM SAGA

Sylvain gained massive renown when he adapted Stieg Larsson's popular MILLENNIUM TRILOGY, including THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, and THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST. With artwork by José Homs, this trilogy was widely celebrated, adding to the success of the best-selling novels.

In fact, his adaptations were so well-received that he was invited by Stieg Larsson's estate to write an original story of Lisbeth Salander, illustrated by Belen Ortega: THE GIRL WHO DANCED WITH DEATH!

CONAN

After his success adapting such well-known novels as Larsson's trilogy, Sylvain was invited to adapt one of Robert E Howard's CONAN novels for Glenat's graphic novel series. Choosing the complex "People of the Black Circle", this unrestrained tale of the infamous Cimmerian was illustrated by Jae Kwang Park.

WATCHDOGS

With such a firm grip on successfully adapting pre-existing properties, Sylvain tackled some massively popular video game franchises as well -- including Ubisoft's WATCH DOGS: LEGION. Feeding off of the near-future tech that he implemented so expertly in previous projects such as DRONES and OPTIC SQUAD, it seemed like a simple connection to tap Sylvain to write an adventure set in the high-tech tomorrow of WATCH DOGS...

All of those books mentioned above barely scratch the surface of Sylvain's bibliography... with over 50 titles published in 15 languages, his oeuvre includes historical thrillers, fantasy, speculative sci-fi, horror... the man is a beast. And that doesn't even count his work in television and video games! We’ve got more in the works with Sylvain that you’ll hear about in the months ahead!

In the meantime, let’s unlock that 3rd bonus print and the final coin!