– An anthology of 16 stories, by different creators across four continents! – Over 150 pages of content! – It’s celebration of indie creators: all profits from this project go to the creators who submitted (and they did not pay to submit!). – Each story is new for 2024 – it was either released in the last 12 months or has not yet been released! – It’s the fourth New Year, New Stories Anthology (and you can get the first three as well if you want them! – Check the Rewards and the Add-Ons!). – Physical UK and European copies will ship from the UK!
I hope that you’ll join us in bringing these stories to life, and who knows? You may find your new favourite writer!
Think Galaxy Quest meets Mission Impossible with a superhero twist – I guarantee you’ll be trying to figure out whether the code to the door really was 1, 2, 3, 4 by the end!
Written by Johnathan Lewis and Ed Jowett, with art by Chucks Jo Seph II and lettering by Jahch, the third issue of Penumbra Adventures brings the story of everyone’s favourite shadow-controlling thief to a close for now… as told by Penumbra.
This campaign is to raise funds to print and ship Penumbra Adventures #3 (and offer you a chance to get the other books as well, if you want!).
If you want to get caught up with our other series like Empowered, Empowered Outsiders, TheBug War and DISARMed, we have tiers for that too!
Claudette is the daughter of an extremely wealthy father, who has lived in privilege all her life… if slightly lonely.
However, when her abilities manifested, she quickly found herself overwhelmed.
Deciding to leave the rest of the world behind for some peace and quiet, she leaves on a long trip…
However, she runs into an unexpected (and perhaps familiar) face, which changes her life for ever.
Her free will removed, she is turned into a weapon by Jan.
This story is my twist on the “Hulk story”
When a person has an amount of power that makes it hard to be around others, they often find themselves wanting to retreat from the world.
While Vigilance’s power is not physical strength, her access to almost infinite knowledge is just as dangerous to the people targeted by her or her controller…
But it’s not possible to keep anyone under control for ever…
I’m pleased and proud to be able to tell you about our latest Kickstarter, which is a major new direction for Shades of Vengeance, Era: The Empowered and me personally!
OCCUPIED has been brought to life by an amazing team, which includes old favourites such as Jennifer Martin’s writing (Era: The Empowered, Era: Survival) and Leo Cosh as Production Assistant (EraScapes)… as well as brand new people who I am thrilled to add to the team!
This short movie takes place in the Empowered universe, during the time when the Old Gods have risen, claiming the world (“Event Four”).
We’re very grateful for everyone’s support of New Year, New Stories 2023, but we’re still hoping to grow further and give all of these amazing creators more money.
I wanted to take a moment today to talk about the back issues, and remind you that they are obtainable, both in Digital and Physical formats.
These anthologies are an attempt to help indie creators bring their comics to life and they have more or less succeeded in doing that! We’ve been able to give just under $1500 to creators across these two projects, helping them to create more stories for you to enjoy, or even just paying that bill.
At SoV Comics, we believe in good stories, and New Year, New Stories is a great way to help creators who we know well or have never met before bring them to you!
Thanks again for your support, and I’ll be back soon with another update!
New Year, New Stories is a celebration of indie creators, and all profits from it go to the creators who submit. No-one has to pay to be a part of it, either! This project aims to give a voice to amazingly talented people who might otherwise be ignored.
You will find 15 stories in this anthology (and we’ll look at all of them over the next several days!). With creators from SoV Comics affiliated to friends to people we only just got to know, it’s a tour de force from many amazing people. Whether you like superheroes, sci-fi, fantasy, noire or legends in your comics, you’ll love this book!
The anthology book itself will be around 150 pages long, printed on full gloss paper with a finish that will make you smile!
We hope you’ll join us for this project to help support talented but underrated creators across the world (4 continents!).
Hi everyone! Today, we’re continuing our series of posts about what’s coming for the rest of this year. Today, I’m talking about each exciting comic that is on its way from SoVComics!
We’ve had a great year already, with Kickstarter funding New Year, New Stories 2022 and Melqart. There’s a lot more to come, though…
I’m finally ready to announce all remaining comic titles that will be part of what we have dubbed “Phase One”!
Comics in Phase 1 so far…
You might be trying to remember all of the comics we have delivered so far, so I thought I’d help!
Of course, these three were combined into the Empowered Volume 1 Trade Paperback!
Blue-Shift #2: Mindgames
Violete #2: Backlash
Penumbra: Tide
These three were combined into the Empowered Volume 2Trade Paperback
Fauna: Community
Lobo: Dauntless
Melqart: Unity
Penumbra Adventures #1 (originally published as Penumbra #1)
Penumbra Adventures #2 (originally published as Penumbra #2: Rise of the Bunny Lord)
Kazuki and the Deathseekers
Cascade, Part 1 Penumbra, Lacuna, Violete and Blue-Shift team up to fight a giant robot in the first of a 3-part series!
And now, onto the new…
Previously Announced Comics: Cascade Parts 2 and 3
We have already announced that Cascade is a 3-part series!
We have completed the Part 2 script, and are writing Part 3. We’re giving our hard-working artist Rahmad Wisnubroto a break for a short while (keep reading to find out why!).
We hope to deliver you Part 2 by the end of the year, assuming schedules allow! We have no wish to work with any other artist, as Rahmad has defined our Empowered Comics from the start.
Cascade is going to be the crowning glory of Phase 1, but it’s far from the only thing we’re working on!
Drift: Heroism (Upcoming Comic)
“Captain Speed”, her city’s favourite hero, makes everything worse! He continually tells her that she should give up – it’s much too dangerous, being a hero.
But the call of heroism is strong for Jessica. Will she choose to give up, or keep trying, despite repeated humiliations? And what’s really behind Captain Speed’s attitude?
The opening of this comic appeared in ‘New Year, New Stories’, but the full comic will be on Kickstarter soon!
Vigilance: Escape (Upcoming Comic)
Ever since she guest-starred in Penumbra: Tide, we’ve been asked more about Vigilance. This comic is set before her first known appearance, and explores not how she got her powers (I’m well-known for disliking origin stories!), but how she donned the green outfit and learned to fight, given her background.
Claudette begins her adventure by heading out into a remote area. She hopes to avoid using her powers by accident – knowing everything about everyone is not a lot of fun.
However, when she meets a familiar face, she is profoundly affected…
Lobo 2: Suppression (Upcoming Comic)
That’s right, he’s back! Everyone’s favourite non-Empowered intends to tangle with the Empress of Bones once again.
However, he’s learned his lesson in direct combat, so he goes out to find help. He doesn’t want to team up with someone famous, known to the Empress – he wants the advantage of surprise. As a result, that help takes the form of Savannah, a talented fighter and relatively unknown Empowered.
The Empress of Bones has not been sitting idle during Lobo’s search for help, however. After outfitting her people with a new weapon, based on her own powers, she plans to take over the other cartels and rule the city.
Lobo has to contend with not just her plans, but Savannah’s mysterious secret…
Penumbra Adventures #3 (Upcoming Comic)
We left Penumbra in a precarious position at the end of her second “Adventures” comic. John and I felt strongly that we wanted to finish that story, as well as introduce some more characters.
We’ve written the script and I’m looking for the right artist to finish off this short series. That means you can expect it to come out soon!
Fauna #2: Rampage (Upcoming Comic)
Fauna’s in a bit of a fix in his latest comic. His sister remembers everything since Jan released her from the mind control, so she now knows his secret.
That’s not going to stop him helping his community, of course. But stories of a man-sized lizard attacking people in the city has everyone concerned, even Fauna himself.
Could he be sleep-changing and giving in to his feral instincts?
And, if he is, what will Jasmine do about it?
Empowered Comics Phase Two
Of course, that’s not all we have planned. Once the above comics are all complete, we’ll be pushing on into Phase Two.
Things are going to change for many of the characters. We’ll see the return of Violete for a three-issue arc, Blue-Shift for two adventures, and Lobo and Fauna will be back of course.
Penumbra won’t be far away, and we’ll have a few new characters joining as well, including Bastion and Wallflower, who will be known to fans of the Era: The Empowered RPG.
We’re very excited for what’s coming, so keep an eye out for some amazing stories!
I’ll be back next week with information about our upcoming RPG releases, so watch this space and I’ll see you then!
Hi everyone! Our latest comic brings a new hero to life, as we explore the life of Jessica in Drift: Heroism!
This hero’s journey is a little different to the ones we usually see: while her life is pretty much as perfect as anyone could hope for – friends, good grades in college, and so on – being a superhero is… less than perfect.
The Plot of Drift: Heroism
With only limited ability to control her powers, the city’s favourite hero Captain Speed always telling her to go home to be safe and a lowly mugger outdoing her seemingly at every turn, everything is not simple for Drift.
But there are those who want to see her succeed, as well… and dark secrets that she will uncover about the way crime is fought in this city if she continues.
–It’s celebration of indie comics which are new for 2022!
The project was conceived as a way to raise awareness of the indie comic artists who would normally rely on conventions to spread the word about their work.
With 2019 and 2020 seeing loads of cancelled conventions, the SoV Comics team came together with several other indie creators to share their expertise in crowdfunding and generate the deserved excitement about some of the stories that you probably didn’t even know were published!
–An anthology of 15 comics between 6 and 12 pages long.
That’s right, there are 15 separate stories in this anthology, which comes to 156 pages in total!
These are just a taste of the work of these amazing creators – each story also features a “links page” which allows you to find out more about your favourite creators in the anthology.
And don’t worry, there is plenty of material from me, including sneak peeks at the upcoming Vigilance: Escape and Drift: Heroism Empowered comics, and a re-write of the older Kazuki and the Deathseekers, which I was never entirely happy with!
There’s loads more detail on the Kickstarter page, so check it out to learn more about the stories.
–It’s the second anthology of its type.
The level of support that appeared for the indie creators who submitted to the anthology last year was amazing! Don’t worry if you missed it, we’re offering the chance to catch up by getting hold of New Year, New Stories 2021 through this Kickstarter…
Check the Kickstarter to see photos of the previous print, giving you an idea of what to expect from 2022’s anthology!
–They all came out during 2021 or are yet to be released…
Every story in New Year, New Stories 2022 either came out in the last twelve months… or hasn’t been published at all elsewhere yet!
Nothing’s stopping the creators doing that, if they wish, but these are some of the freshest stories from these amazing creators, so check them out and help bring them to reality!
A lot of anthologies have a theme, a shared style or shared characters, but that’s not what this anthology is about. Instead, it’s about bringing you work from multiple creators, so that you can enjoy one of their stories and find more if you’re interested.
All profits from this project are split between the creators who brought stories to it (which includes me, my fantastic co-writer Johnathan Lewis, the amazing Dorphise Jean, the always-positive Adit Permana, my fellow Sci-Fi fan Danny Gorny and several others!), meaning that you’re directly supporting indie creators who are struggling during the pandemic. We knew that was important at the beginning of this year and plan to move forward with another issue next year!*
However, the first attempt was a little rushed, and we thought it would be fun to include some elements that are a little quirky, a little more unique to us. We came up with the idea of using Shayde, our mascot to introduce you to the stories! He was redrawn several times with different props to bring character and fun to the covers of the various stories which are in the anthology.
I hope you’ll consider joining us for New Year, New Stories 2021, especially if you didn’t hear about it in January. And in case you need another incentive, there’s a sneak peek at my upcoming (and first solo written) comic, Melqart!
*Want to submit a comic to us for New Year, New Stories 2022? It needs to be PG-13 and either have been released this year or be yet to be released! There are no other requirements apart from quality, so reach out if you’d like to join in!
We’ve been publishing comics for some years now, and I’ve spoken several times on interviews about Lacuna, Blue-Shift, Violete and Penumbra being destined for a convergence. It was important to the entire Empowered team, however, that this didn’t happen too soon.
We have been more patient than I ever imagined possible, waiting five years to reach this moment! From Lacuna’s first appearance, through two comics with Blue-Shift, two more with Violete, Penumbra: Tide, which pushed us the last little way and now we’re there.
Cascade is going to be a three-issue arc, written by Johnathan Lewis and I, with contribution by Amy Allworden and Jennifer Martin to ensure that all of the characters we have written together are consistent and true to themselves. Rahmad Wisnubroto, who has illustrated all of the comics that lead up to this, has returned to bring this adventure to life in vivid detail.
We couldn’t ask for a better team, and I know you’ll love the world we’ve built. If you want to catch up, we have the ability to get hold of all of the comics, both from our store and from the Kickstarter itself.
This is the final comic before a crossover between characters we have been planning for 5 years, and I can’t wait to bring this into the world so that we can then show you what’s yet to come, the “Cascade” event!
I hope you’ll consider joining the campaign to fund this issue, because you’ll definitely want it when we reach the crossover!
Today, I wanted to take a moment out of your day to talk about something that I believe is very important.
Sometimes, you need to extend beyond what you would normally do. There are a number of ways you can do this, and I try to do as many of them as I can as often as I can:
Step outside your normal medium – Audio Dramas Yes, really! Audio Dramas are not something I find inherently comfortable yet… doubly so if I’m acting in them. A Titan’s Rise was very educational in that sense, and Infiltration: The Bug War #2 (still on Kickstarter for a few more days, so please support it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/erascapes/infiltration-bug-war-2-audio?ref=5pafkr) has been very difficult in the way I had to tell a story that primarily relied on a massive amount of visuals in the comic format.
I think we’ve done really well on each EraScapes project, but I would not call it a comfortable thing at this stage, so I’ll be continuing for some time. We have a lot more amazing audio for you to enjoy!
Try a new genre – Era: Dragonsong, DISARMed While I won’t try to claim that the fantasy genre is a complete unknown to me, actually delivering things in that genre is relatively new to me. I’ve never done a full High Fantasy Core Rulebook in the way that Era: Dragonsong is going to be. Instead, I’ve always dodged around it and done something to subvert the genre (Era: Lyres, Era: Silence). Era: Dragonsong is going to be a real challenge and, while I can’t wait, I am also a little nervous as we get started on the worldbuilding.
There’s more, though. DISARMed, our next comic, is a genre that I’m not very familiar with beyond the aesthetic. It’s not a secret that I am not a big animé consumer – I have nothing against it, it’s just not the way my life has gone, and now I’m a little short on time to catch up with everything I don’t have experience of. One of the ways you can get around a lack of knowledge like this is to have a team to work with, as I did on DISARMed. Even if you don’t know much about what you’re doing, you’ll learn very quickly from others! You can sign up to follow DISARMed, ready for launch, if you like: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sovcomics/disarmed/
Increase / standardise your volume of work – EraMo We recently finished the Shades of Vengeance version of NaNoWriMo, which we call EraMo. A large number of the community got involved, which was truly inspiring to me. I, personally, wrote almost 100,000 words during the month of November, primarily focused on the Era: Survival Expansions and writing one session per day for one of our games, along with a few other bits and pieces. The members of the community roughly doubled that, coming to a total of around 180,000 words and 45 total sessions written! It can be very challenging to increase the amount you are writing, but also extremely rewarding to put the time aside and see what results from it.
There are no right or wrong answers in the quest to push yourself creatively. Find something that’s different for you and try – you never know, you might even like it more than what you’re trying to do now!
I’m tremendously looking forward to this comic, which is the first I’ve ever written completely alone, coming out on Kickstarter.
With the help of the amazing Robert Nix on artwork and Keith A Johnston on lettering, I have started to see a semi-Sci-Fi story in my superhero universe come to life… and there’s basically nothing better than that!
Melqart: Unity will hit Kickstarter next year with the aim of delivering a 12-page comic and a 24-page comic as the Stretch Goal. I hope people will support it, because I think it’s one of the best comic arcs I have ever written!
If you want to know more about it, make sure you tune into Wayne’s Comic’s this Sunday (with Wayne Arthur Hall), where I speak about it a little!
We’ve been busy all through COVID-19, and various other factors have brought a number of projects together at the same time. This is both good and bad, but I don’t think any of it is going to affect delivery in a significant way: I’m still only working on one thing personally (Era: Survival Expansions).
So, what’s this whole load of stuff going on?
A Titan’s Rise Audio Drama Credits We’ve had A Titan’s Rise ready since before the Kickstarter, except for the credits, which could be influenced by the backers. On Monday this week, I recorded the credits and they are now with our editor, Zulian. I expect to have the final version of A Titan’s Rise pretty soon – perhaps within a week or two? That’s looking to beat the expected delivery date by quite a lot, so I’m very pleased!
A Titan’s Rise Script Book Another from the Kickstarter, the script book for our latest Audio Drama is just awaiting the money to arrive from Kickstarter so that I can kick off the print run with our usual printer! It’s looking great, and I can’t wait to get that sent to me.
Era: The Consortium Short Story Collection Novel This is the stuff dreams are made of – a 612 page novel which has every Era: The Consortium story we’ve ever written, in chronological order in standard novel format. I’ve sent the files off to a new printer today and am looking forward to a proof within a week or so! Honestly, I can’t wait…
A Titan’s Rise OST This is sitting on my computer ready to go at this moment! There are 14 amazing, unique tracks that were specially written for A Titan’s Rise that are ready to go as soon as other rewards go out.
A Titan’s Rise Art Book This is still being laid out by Keith Draws, but we’re ready to print it as soon as he’s done with that! I think it’s going to really show the beautiful artwork that is synonymous with the Consortium well when it’s ready.
Violete: Backlash The second comic in Violete’s series (as well as the rest of the series that led to this point!) is on Kickstarter right now: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sovcomics/violete-2-backlash?ref=77zohq. I have been waiting for a year or more to release this comic, and it’s one of my favourites I have ever written. People seem to agree, because it’s already blasted through Funded and the first Stretch Goal, as well as being chosen by Kickstarter as a Project We Love. It’s well worth a look if you didn’t already!
Era: Survival – Foundation Campaign These session books are currently being proofread by our team, and are going very well. I’ve only got the changes to do, then sending them off to the printer, so it should be very straightforward to finish these two!
Era: Survival – Diaries of a Madman Jennifer Martin has now written all of the stories for this book, and is now doing her second draft pass. I expect that to be done soon, so I will pick up the adventure seeds and Equipment parts of the book after I am done with…
Era: Survival – Settlements & People This expansion is going really well! It’s got my primary focus at the moment, and I’ll be also working on it as my first task during EraMo (I’ll be writing more about that next month!). I’m looking forward to finishing it, as it’s the last large expanse of writing for these expansions that’s still to come.
Era: Forbidden – Core Rulebook I’m still doing interviews and conversations about our latest Core Rulebook, which is on Kickstarter at the moment: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/era-forbidden-an-rpg-of-hope-in-an-invaded-world?ref=plx5bx. Support for this game has been fantastic, it’s been an absolute pleasure to run this Kickstarter and talk about it. We’re also seeing games played across the Discord server, so feel free to join us if you’d like to try it or any other Era game!
Era: Lost Legend Core Rulebook (Paperback) and Players Guide These now have signed-off proofs and I’m looking forward to receiving them from the printers in the next 7 working days. Unfortunately, there’s been a bit of a row over the design, because they took a few iterations to follow instructions, but we’re finally there, and I know everyone will love our latest game!
Era: Lost Legend Core Rulebook (Hardback) I’ve also just signed this off this morning, but the print run will take a little longer, so I’ll be waiting more like 3 weeks for these. I’m equally looking forward to them – I think this will be a really nice-looking book.
Penumbra: Heist Lettering Keith Draws is working on the lettering for our next comic in his off time, between his various other ongoing work. It’s looking good so far – I’m certain you’ll love it!
Infiltration: The Bug War #2 Audio Drama The sequel to our welcomed Era: The Consortium Audio Drama is now edited and will be ready to go on Kickstarter when I’ve delivered A Titan’s Rise and its rewards! It’s come out really nicely, and I’m very pleased with it!
Recording Radio Free Taranis, Season 2 The second season of our audio drama set on Taranis is now fully recorded by Leo Cosh and I (who are the only two main characters in that series). We’ll be on the lookout for people who want to record brief (scripted) messages to “call into the show” with, but otherwise, we’re very happy with what we have, and will be working on editing it in the near future!
Blue-Shift and Lacuna Audio Dramas Both of these are being edited at the moment by two very talented editors, and you can look forward to adding superheroes to Sci-Fi for the EraScapes portfolio very soon!
Patreon Release 2020-10-25 This is all done now, but I thought it was worth mentioning, as I did it earlier this week! You can get the latest session (which is the start of a Resistance Campaign intended for the Living Campaign), as well as nearly 100 other Era: The Consortium, Era: Survival and Era: The Empowered sessions right here: https://www.patreon.com/SoV
That’s pretty much all I have active right now. You’ll see that I’m waiting on other people for most of this (especially the printers), so I’m not really moving much forward except what I am writing, Settlements & People!
Thank you for reading! I hope that was an interesting insight into how I’m able to juggle so many projects, and feel free to let me know if you have any questions! I’ll be back next week to talk about EraMo in some more detail, so I’ll see you then!
A year ago, Blue-Shift launched on Kickstarter, speeding onto our shelves and into our hearts. Her adventure with Shira, Daniel, Cosh and the Necromancer has received critical acclaim from many and it has become one of the most sought-after comics we have ever written.
“Blue-Shift #2: Mindgames” is the first in our “sequel” trilogy, which follows up on our favourite speedster, as well as Violete and gives Penumbra her own issue in this section of the continuity.
Of course, that gives us (at least) four characters, which means we’re going to be heading for…
Well, I’ll leave that to your imagination! But check out Blue-Shift #2 if you want not only an awesome comic, but to follow the next steps in our journey through the Empowered universe!
I wanted to give you a quick insight into what to expect from SoV Comics this year, now that Mobilisation: The Bug War #3’s Kickstarter is over!
We have a lot more planned, from Blue-Shift #2 (title image pin-up by Chinedu Campbell) and Violete #2 to a new Era: The Consortium comic called DISARMed, about a group of mech pilots!
Add to that some more independent Empowered, such as Fauna, and a new entry for Penumbra to prepare for that elusive team-up issue you’ve all been waiting for, and it’s an exciting time!
If you’re not currently up to date, don’t forget to check out our store for most of the comics we’ve published in both Digital and Physical format: https://sovcomics.com/store
Isn’t the question of what’s coming next from us what the Thursday posts are really all about?
Well, AetherCon has asked the team (including me!) to do a Q&A about exactly that! You can join us there by getting a (free) ticket from AetherCon to watch, ask questions and more…
We’ll be talking about what we expect to be working on in 2019, the things you can look forward to and what we have in longer-term development as well!
Johnathan Lewis, long-time writer and creator for SoV Comics, along with being one of the writers for Era: The Consortium and many others, has done an interview on our latest comic on Kickstarter, Kazuki and the Deathseekers!
We’ve just finished setup for our latest MC Comicon – it’s our 4th year doing that!
Once again, we’re doing both games (including demos) and also we have a comics stand, devoted to the Era: The Empowered and Era: The Consortium comics.
See the Featured image for a map of where we will be – N5 and N3!
Violete became a fast favourite earlier this year when the Kickstarter was released. If you missed the ride, you should definitely check the comic out, because Violete’s story is inspiring and exciting.
If there’s one thing no-one can deny about Penumbra, it’s that she gets around. That’s the story of the “Penumbra Adventures” miniseries Johnathan Lewis and I have been working on.
The first issue has already been released, but did you know there’s also a second?
Today, I wanted to remind everyone about our first full-length Era: The Consortium comic, Counting Down From One!
With themes around time travel, how immutable the timeline is and how much people really care about what happens around them, this comic is pretty unforgettable – I still get people quoting it at me at conventions!
We’ve just released Declaration: The Bug War #1 on DriveThruComics, so you can grab the story which describes the start of the Bug War in Digital format there right now!
I’m pleased to announce that our leading lady of the Empowered Universe, Penumbra (have you noticed she shows up everywhere?!), has her first comic available on DriveThruComics!
Violete is a superhero with super strength and flight, but that doesn’t mean life is easy. She thought “the hero thing” wouldn’t be a problem apart from the late nights.
When an ordinary criminal she has defeated multiple times gets enhanced by an unknown party, she is left facing something that’s no longer Human.
How can she defeat an enemy specifically designed to defeat her?
Our latest comic follows the story of Liam Paine to its conclusion.
Captured by the Ximians at the end of the last issue, he was trapped and hopeless, his only solace that the data had been delivered to Hai-Xang Hayden.
Can he escape? Will he survive the bombardment he identified the targets for? Will he ever return to the Consortium?
(And, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, you can catch up with all of our Era: The Consortium comics for a collection special price in this Kickstarter!)