ON MARS, a graphic novel about colonization and conflict

Third bonus art print unlocked! Final goal: Mars Drop Group coin!
2 months 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!
2 months 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!

ID tags unlocked!
2 months ago – Thu, Sep 12, 2024 at 02:05:22 PM

Hi everyone!

With just a little more than one week left, we've unlocked another bonus stretch goal reward -- the plastic Mars ID badge (which conveniently doubles as a luggage tag, complete with a fillable backside for you to write your information with a sharpie.)

These glossy plastic tags are what all residents of Mars require when proof of ID is called for. (Okay, these may not be embedded with the RFID account chips with biometric DNA records that actual Mars IDs will probably carry, but they look pretty authentic and cool nonetheless…)

Next up: if we hit $70k, we will turn the ON MARS hardcover edition back endpapers into a 3-panel gatefold! If you’re not sure what that means, it is when pages of a book are printed as a much longer page, and then folded accordion-style to fit back into the book along side the other pages… So in this case, the back endpapers (those sheets between the contents of a book and the back cover) will unfold into a 3-panel mini-poster!

We don't have a mockup to share just yet, but trust us -- it’ll be cool. 😊

That’s all for now, but keep spreading the word and we’ll be back soon with more stuff!

Bonus print #2 unlocked! plus: a Grun Galler
2 months ago – Tue, Sep 10, 2024 at 06:26:17 PM

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the delay with this update -- you've unlocked another bonus art print! Now, all physical pledges will receive a second linen cardstock art print by Grun for FREE!

Speaking of Grun, have you seen this guy’s OTHER STUFF? It’s absolutely amazing…

Seen even more at this site: https://characterdesignreferences.com/artist-of-the-week-13/grun

ON MARS isn’t the only book by Grun we’ve got in the works… if we have anything to say about it, it’s just the beginning!

Next up is the “ID Tag” stretch goal… This’ll definitely come in handy when your ticket is called to make that interplanetary jump to Mars!

Thanks, everyone! More soon!

Gold Leaf added to bookplates and orange gilding added to Hardcover pages!
3 months ago – Sat, Sep 07, 2024 at 05:14:02 AM

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the delay in posting this update - by total coincidence, the entire team is off in different directions this weekend (Rose City Con, Disney World, etc), so this update is being posted from the road on a cel phone… hopefully it comes through! 

We just wanted to say: Nice job! In honor of hitting that $50k milestone yesterday, you’ve helped us unlock not one but TWO material upgrades:

First, we will add golden foil to the ON MARS bookplates to make the extra luxurious! We don't have a mockup of that just yet, but we'll post it before the campaign has ended! It will look very nice. 😊

A few of you have asked if the bookplates will be signed as well as numbered… that’s a tricky issue, considering that the authors live across the ocean and in separate countries from each other, too! Bit we’re discussing how we might be able to coordinate signatures for this campaign in late January when we might all be in the same city for a weekend… if we can make that happen, we’ll announce that bonus! Stay tuned! 😊

The second material upgrade we’re now unlocking is color gilding on the page edges of the ON MARS Hardcovers! (Including the Art book that comes with the Slipcase Edition!) If you’re not sure what color gilding is, it’s a printing process that just colorizes the edges of the page block on a book. We’ve done it on a bunch of previous titles, and it looks something like this:

Note: this will only be applied to the limited hardcover edition, not the softcover. The color will be an appropriate red planet sand color that will suit the cover design nicely.

Up next is another beautiful linen cardstock art print by Grun. At $55k, every physical pledge will receive a copy for FREE.

Stay tuned for the next update! At this rate, we’ll hopefully hit it soon!