Love Dark Horse’s Aliens comics from the 90’s, Seven and Jurassic Park are on your favourite movie list - then ARKS is for you.
Catch up on the series with the full colour comic, containing stunning artwork, a brand new world building story inspired and based on real science, wrapped around a diamond hard sci-fi police procedural set in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve meets Alien!
Plus there's a behind the scenes look into the art and science of ARKS, with every issue in the Arks Appendix and our brand new spin off story Proximan - to take you deeper into the ARKS universe!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Smokey surveys away - digital rewards are here!
over 1 year ago
– Sun, Jul 21, 2024 at 06:56:41 AM
Hello gang! Just a quick one to say check your inboxes /‘spam and promo folders as the Backerkit surveys should be landing in your inboxes as I type.
Digital rewards that we have completed can be downloaded at the end of your survey - so that’s Arks Volume one, Arks issue four and Arks Proximan.
Once we have issue five and the Polyptych we’ll upload them to your surveys but that won’t be until the end of the year.
We’ll obviously be keeping you updated on the comics progress with a monthly update!
Thanks everyone - and as ever - any queries with Backerkit drop me a DM and I'll look into with them.
Cheers & happy downloading Holly
Backerkit Surveys Inbound!
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Jul 17, 2024 at 03:35:49 AM
Hello everyone! Backerkit surveys with your digital rewards will be hitting inboxes this week🤞
We are just making some adjustments following feedback from Backerkit, we'll then have the smoke test (where 5% of surveys are sent as a test) and that all being well, the rest will follow at the end of the week/early next!
I'll drop another update to confirm when all surveys have been sent just incase the email ends up in your spam/promo and junk folders!
More stuff about Backerkit
I've put a bit more information about what Backerkit actually is, a note on shipping the physical comics & shipping fees, charging cards as all of that will be happening later in the year...
Backerkit, what is it then?
It's a neat survey system to finalise your reward preferences as well as shipping details & postage, helping us to ensure that we get everyone their pledges.
Everyone can easily check what their original pledge was, and if they have something digital to download you can see it/find it via your survey.
It's also where we will add any new digital content like the Polytpych screensaver and the pdf of Issue Five.
In the past we've had brilliantly timely responses, allowing us to get, names added to the comics, print totals calculated etc. So once they hit your inboxes if you could check & complete as soon as possible, even though we are ahead of the game, that would be really appreciated. The emails will look something like below (and def check your spam/junk mail too).
Charging cards & Arks Issue Five digital
As we are fairly early with our survey, we won't be charging any cards for postage, or additional items until we are closer to shipping the physical comics later in the year around December. The survey will stillprompt you to update all your details to help check counts on orders and getting names in the comic and card details etc But no payment will be taken and we'll send out an email before we do so next year.
Once Arks Issue Five is completed we'll upload the digital version to Backerkit too - but we'll drop a note to let everyone know about that nearer the time and before charging any cards.
Arks Pre-order Store is coming!
Getting the survey out in the next week does mean that our Pre-order store will be opening shortly too so any folks who missed the campaign, can pick up copies (digital /print both available) - we'll share the link in the next update!
Whole order shipping means more space!
Last bit on this! Promise! We're using whole order shipping weights again. We feel that it offers the best value to you guys, what with postage prices on the rise, and as our comics have a fair few pages, it means they can just edge over into the next weight once you include packaging. Leaving a fair bit of unused postal 'space' before reaching the tier above.
But that does mean that you may be able to add (if wanted) additional copies, without seeing (on occasion depending on whats selected) the postage price changing at checkout. Worth a look.
Questions just drop me a DM!
Think that's it for now, but if anyone has any questions please feel free to DM me, especially anyone who is new to Backerkit, I'm happy to try and help ;-) and if I can't I'll check in with the amazing Backerkit team (cos I'm still learning all the ways of Backerkit!)
Thanks so much!
Holly
Six in Five!
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, Jun 18, 2024 at 04:10:25 AM
Hey everyone!
In a few hours another Kickstarter will come to an end and Andrew, Holly and myself will disappear like Christmas elves to make you a comic book.
We started work on this Kickstarter in December last year and we plan to have Arks Issue Five in your hands this December.
Ahead of the campaigns end we just wanted to say thank you, to all of you, new and returning, for giving us your hard earn bucks in exchange for what screenwriting dweebs call the ‘all is lost moment’. The 2nd act climax where our character is as far away as possible from achieving his or her goal- to trigger them into action. But what if their goal is horror. What if their action traps the human race in hell and they do it for a good reason. The last six panels of Arks Issue Five is the reason i'm making comic books and I can wait for you all to read it.
Our FINAL STRETCH GOAL: 2nd panel of the Polyptych UNLOCKED!
Our final full-page tease of Arks Issue Five! SPOILER-ISH WARNING in the copy below
This page shows Lilith using Optogenetic simulation to read Joseph's memories. You pump light-sensitive algae into a living human brain, which attach themselves to individual neurons and then you 'light up' the subject's memories, allowing you to effectively, read someone's thoughts. It's real cutting-edge neuroscience never before depicted (in any comic, film etc) and you get it learn about it first in Arks Issue Five ;)
Arks Issue Five Page 30
Thank you all again!
We'll be back in July with an update ;) Until then, here are some cool campaigns on KS to check out!
We met Trevor at The Thought Bubble last year who was over from the US for his first UK con and is coming back to TBF this year. It's so great to be able to meet creators IRL and now be able to share his latest release too!
RISE follows Jonathan A. Prufrock as he delves into what it really means to be a good man while attempting to be super. The first two issues combine for a whopping 74+ pages and explores one male's ego through the elevated life of a superhero attempting to navigate the pressures of what it really means to be a good man.
David Wilburn the writer of Plainer Jane is another creator we crossed over with on Kickstarter when we first dipped our toe onto the site so it's nice to be able to share this new story - The Ghost System is a cyberpunk thriller set in Manchester, a place that has a spot in my heart from when I was at uni there!
The THE GHOST SYSTEM is back from writer David Wilburn, following the sucess of Plainer Jane, David has now created a gripping cyberpunk thriller. Set in Manchester, 2045. Catch up on the series and get the latest book here!
Thane's The Clockwork Knight, whose past campaign we shared a while back, stunning and super inventive as ever it was for a foldable comic and he's back with a choose your own story adventure graphic novel. I used to love these as a kid, bet I would still as an adult.
THIS IS NO ORDINARY GRAPHICNOVEL! The Pyramid of Doom is a choose your own adventure story. In this book, you are Quick the Clockwork Knight. You must rely on your wits, your courage, and your puzzle-solving ability to make the right decisions that will lead you through this adventure to its ultimate conclusion. This is a full-color, complete, 148-page, single-volume Graphic Novel. But unlike a regular book, this story can be read over and over again with a different story each time. Can you escape the Pyramid of Doom? Adventure awaits! Are you ready? Check it outhere.
T-minus 6 days!
almost 2 years ago
– Wed, Jun 12, 2024 at 04:40:39 AM
Well here we are turning the corner into the last week and we are 310 strong at the time of writing and closing in on our second stretch goal - our A5 Art Print; The Blufords of Proxima B! And the next piece in the Polytych poster puzzle!
We can't thank you all enough for returning and joining! WE ARE EXCITED.
Especially as there is still time - so if you can share a like or tweet (thank you to you all who have already) or tell / email a friend it helps us massively.
The flip side - Comic Press Praise
We have also been getting some brilliant coverage from 3Million Years, Comic Book News UK, The Pullbox, Go Collect, Fanbase Press, First Issue Club, Comic Scene UK,Comic Book Yeti- all worth checking out for your comic daily dose. Especially as they are really are the unsung heroes supporting and shining a light on the indie comic scene - more often than not by writing, reading and reviewing comics, from major publishers to indies, in and around theirday jobs. It is amazing!
No comics allowed at work, time for a podcast!
I know loads of us now can WFH some days of the week, but when you can't, then you can always check out Part Time Fan Boy's podcast conversation with Rory about what's coming up for our characters Joseph and Lilith and why if he had to end the series at issue 5, he'd be kinda okay with that - check it here
HIGH COLOUR ACTION for looky looky!
Enough from us over to other creators currently live on KS at the moment...here's what they had to say....
Quantum Marmalade an indie sci-fi comic by Danny Walker. Is an action-packed follow-up to the first three chapters, continuing the story of several cyborg warriors (A-9s) as they seek to rescue their friend from the clutches of an alien madman. Quantum Marmalade’s world draws inspiration from stories like Star Wars, Dune, and Halo. Tonally, the story goes for ridiculous (Futurama) with a side of gritty realism (Invincible). It looks incredible and you can catch up on past issues and the new one over on the project page here
A vibrant, new take on the Chinese classic, “Journey to the West” - follows the legend of Monkey as he’s hatched from a dinosaur egg in the middle of the Nevada Desert at the height of the Cold War. Monkey is a rebellious anti-hero with unlimited power and the US government’s attempts to destroy him will lead to World War 3, taking our story to a post-apocalyptic wasteland 500 years later. Think of this story as Forest Gump meets Tank Girl — We have the Cold War, the Hot War, and the anachronistic mashup between real historical figures and our unruly hero, Monkey — reimagine history with a loving sneer. It looks stunning and you can back it here
Born into the outcast breed of werewolves known as the Monoki, eighteen-year-old Rodney Marcelli is reluctantly pulled into an ancient war between good and evil, during a modern time where the line has blurred. Rod must learn to master his newly found lycanthropy and mysterious kinetic energy power to avenge his friends and family, and to save the girl he loves.
Fans of stories that encompass elements of horror, magic, and science and of shows like Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Underworld, and other anti-hero monster horror stories - you should hurry as its ending in 2 days so you've not got long to check it out here
1st Stretch Goal Unlocked & The Blufords of Eos One
almost 2 years ago
– Wed, Jun 05, 2024 at 01:49:51 PM
1st stretch Goal unlocked!
The 'Shitty grandchildren and the war of light' appendix page has been UNLOCKED! WOO HOO
Whenever I give the elevator pitch for Arks people often then ask...
"Why are they doing this directed panspermia thing? Is it because there is a meteor about to hit the earth!?" Or "Is it because the robots are about to take over?"
I say "Nope. Governments would never invest in a directed panspermia survey- too expensive and abstract. But a trillionaire troll who wanted to smite his progeny by divesting their inheritance into a project that could see him rebooted on another world in ten thousands years - NOW WE ARE TALKING!"
This first appendix page of ArksIssue Five will go into the details of how an absolute b&stard trillionaire accidentally perpetuated the light of human civilisation!
It'll go a 'little' into the politics of Directed Panspermia.
The science of how the Mnemosyne bacteria became the projects hero organism and not its competitor life forms the Nematodes, Rotifers and tardigrades.
And how the whole world refused to invest or allow one person to decide the fate of the species, even when the alternative was oblivion.
It will be great and will now be included in the print and digital of Arks Issue Five.
The next appendix page is our £10,000 stretch goal and it is called Mnemosyne: The fattest bacteria. This comparison chart will show how the Mnemosyne bacteria wasn't just the largest ever bacteria ever with an 11 mile genome, but it was bigger than some eukaryotic lifeforms. A human is a eukaryote. A very BIG one.
Next stretch Goal - The Bluford of Eos One.
Before that though, our next stretch goal is the 2nd panel of Polyptych at 8k. It's called: The Blufords of Eos One. This panel will connect on the left of the central panel which you can also see below.
This frame teases Arks Proximan #2 as Odd and Stella begin a treacherous journey that will end with Earths destruction. Or the destruction of the species.
Next Stretch Goal: The 2nd panel of the Polyptych: 'The Blufords of Eos One'.
This shows you how the Polyptychs will join up.
Another full-page tease of Arks Issue Five! SPOILER-ISH WARNING....in the copy below
This frame shows the moment Joseph discovers the skeleton of a dead Ark. Readers of Arks Proximan #1 might recognize something on this page that others will not.
Arks Issue Five Page 24
Thanks so much everyone we are really chuffed to be adding the extra content to the comic.
Has a super cool concept and of course looks stunning - the premise an app called ADAGIO allows users to post their dreams online - so they can be watched by millions across the world bringing the end of produced entertainment as we know it today. No more movies, TV shows, TikToks, streaming services, all people watch now are DREAMS! Super cool. Written by Felipe Cagno Adagio is a graphic novel that helps us reflect about social media, fleeting fame, dreams, relationships and human behaviour. All that packed into a cyberpunk book that imagines a future that doesn't look like is that far away. Check it out here
Steven Prince over at Monster Matador, is absolutely killing it with his series...and when we launched our first campaign we found the Matador (and Steve) and have been following ever since! Born from out love of Mad-Max, Kaiju and Santo and... telenovelas! The Monster Matador is an action-packed mash-up of all those things. And all he needs to defeat giant-sized-Kaiju monsters, his cape and sword obviously! Sporting a Kickstarter We Love badge we're certain you will too. You can pick up the series here
Who doesn't love Norse mythology - as creator Marek says the "The Völsung Saga" is one of the most significant and influential Nordic sagas, playing a central role in Scandinavian literature and mythology. It tells the legend of the Völsung clan, filled with tragic fates, heroic deeds, and supernatural interventions - it's A4 size, full colour over 50 pages you can check it out here
