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
The first Empowered team-up faces down Cascade, a robot with seemingly unlimited powers…
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)
Drift takes off to fly over her city with her power of density adjustment! Her comic is coming soon.
“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)
Claudette’s journey to become Vigilance is not as easy, or voluntary as you might imagine… Find out more in this 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)
Lobo is back, and he’s not alone. In this comic, he has allies to help take his fight to the Empress…
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)
Penumbra was in a fix at the end of #2…
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)
Quinn / Fauna returns in another comic, following his previous adventure.
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!)
As Amy said in her last post, I (Ed) am taking over for a month, while she has a bit of a holiday!
I’m going to talk to you about three amazing comics today…
Firstly, there’s the Bug War. Some of you may remember the Bug War 2 Kickstarter, which ran at the end of last year: it told the story of Liam, a James Bond-type hero who infiltrated a Ximian hive and, unfortunately, got captured, even though the information was returned!
Well, there’s more to his story and we’re going to be telling it on Kickstarter before long, so watch this space for that to appear! There will also be a chance to get hold of the previous Bug War comics, so don’t worry about catching up on the story, either…
Secondly, there’s Lobo! This comic has already been pencilled and inked, and the first few colours are coming in. I think you’ll love this story of non-Empowered in a world of people with abilities. He still chooses to stand against crime in an inspiring and unstoppable way.
You can expect to see Lobo on Kickstarter relatively soon, so keep an eye out. Oh, and I used an image from that as the featured image today! The pencils and inks are by Pramit Santra and the colours are by Bryan Arfel Magnaye.
Finally for today, I’m going to talk about Fauna. This comic is probably the most anticipated of the three, but it’s also the one with the most work still to do! The first 3 pages have been pencilled and inked by the incomparable Kellik, and they are looking fantastic!
This story is about a shapeshifter who can take the form of several different animals. Those of you who have played Era: The Empowered with us at conventions may know him through his alternate universe personality of “Shifter”. He’s going to have to protect his community from themselves in this comic, when he comes across a powerful mind controller!
Well, that’s it from me today – three awesome comics! If you want to know more, keep an eye out right here for when they are released and available… it won’t be long!
You can expect more on this in the weeks and months ahead, but in the meantime look out tomorrow for some information on Era: The Chosen, and on Monday for the second of our Stiletto 447CE Podcasts.
Now that our back-to-back run of convention appearances is over we’re full speed ahead on the creation of our two favorite things, games and comics. Those of you who stopped by at either MCM or UKGE these past two weeks will certainly have noticed that the amount of comics we have on offer is getting substantial. Still, Ed and the Comics Team have plans to ramp up production even more!
We’re developing a large and interconnected sequence of comic story-lines which will allow each character their own feature comics as well as a chance to appear in combined stories. Some of these characters you’ve already met and others will be brand-new to you. We’ll be creating some new adventures for a couple of our fan favorites; Blue-Shift, Violete, Lacuna, and Penumbra as well as giving you a chance to meet new characters such as Shifter, Tornado, and K’Jarr.
It’s not just the world of the Empowered that is going to get a boost in comics. We’ll also be bringing you a whole new science fiction series based out of the Consortium! This series of stories will sit alongside the Bug War Anthology and has the working title DISARMed. Fans of the Consortium should know exactly what this title is hinting at… Giant Mechs! There are few things more fun in the science fiction universe than getting to operate a massive mechanical beast like the DISARM and I have a feeling this new comic series will showcase just how impressive that can be.
That’s all I have for you today in the field of breaking news. If you haven’t already checked it out, stop by our Evil Overlord Kickstarter and join the over 160 people who are giving that game a try. All the feedback we’ve received from folks who’ve played is that it’s a fun, fast-paced and addictive game. We’ve already passed our funding goal and marched through several Stretch goals so all you need to do is stop in and pick out your reward level!
Well folks, we’re gathering ourselves together for another amazing MCM experience. In just over three short weeks time we’ll be answering questions, meeting fans, and running sessions of our most popular games. We will be inside N4 with all our Era games and N1 with our collection of comics for the entire 3 day event. It’s going to be spectacular!
The team is ready to go and we’re looking forward to seeing every one of you. Not that you don’t already have a million great reasons to come visit us, but I heard that Ed is hoping to have a sneak peek of some upcoming projects for those who stop by so you’ll definitely want to spare some time in your day for us.
This year, Ed and John are going to be running two panels. So, you’ll have another chance to catch our team in action! Whether you’re interested in knowing more about World Building, want some advice on how to get creative and stay there, or maybe you just want to hear Ed and John talk for 45 minutes I encourage you to come by and see what they have to say.
Shades of Vengeance Presents – World Building: A How-To Guide – Ed Jowett and Johnathan Lewis of Shades of Vengeance discuss the definition of creative universes – building a world within the creators chosen themes and how to create something that others will enjoy, whether it’s a game, comic or novel.
Saturday on the Creator Stage 17:45pm-18:30pm
Shades of Vengeance Presents-How to Be Creative – Shades of Vengeance Ed Jowett and Johnathan Lewis discuss how they begin creative projects, cope with writer’s block and address the common pitfalls in large creative projects. If you’re a budding creative then this is the panel for you.
I hope you’ve bought your tickets and made your plans to come see us May 25th to May 27th because we can’t wait to show you what we’ve been creating!
I’ll catch you back here on Saturday for more Consortium news!
-A
Last week I gave you all a brief rundown of what we’ve done so far with our Empowered comics. Today I have a chance to do the same for our Era: The Consortium comics series. The Consortium was the first title in the Era line of games and it’s only right that it was also the place we started when we began to make our first forays into the world of comic book creation. Some of you might remember our earliest books but even if you’re entirely new this should be a fun way to reminisce and get a glimpse of things yet to come. So, let’s start with our very first comic…
The Last Stand of Stiletto Unit is the epic story of how 8 people changed the Consortium. If you’ve sat with us at a convention and played a Consortium session you’ll likely recognize this story and its cast of memorable heroes. We even have a collection of miniature Stiletto Unit figures coming soon!
The next comic that we created was Counting Down From One. In this story a group of time travellers attempt to stop the powers that control the Consortium from taking complete control. If the idea of time travel sounds like something you’re interested in you should definitely check out our Patreon campaign for more timeline shifting action.
We also have a series of comics that follow the events of the Bug War. In Bug War #1, Hai_Xang Hayden, who is a well-known party girl, is put into the highest position in the Consortium when her mother dies at alien hands. This story centers on her overcoming challenges in the hopes she can convince people to fight the war she knows is coming. In Bug War #2, a Shade named Liam is sent by Hai-Xang Hayden to find out more about the Ximians. This is an action packed sequel that will decide Liam’s fate and determine if he will escape with both the information and his life! We also have Bug War #3 coming soon. This story will follow a starship, a hopeless battle, and the order to retreat. Two men with opposing views will have a choice to make whether to follow the order, or save the Consortium. Plenty of drama and action in this series to keep you up late at night!
Another comic on its way through development is DISARMed, created by Johnathan Lewis, our Head of Comics. This story is about a group of mech pilots who have a disagreement… with disastrous consequences!
Ed and Johnathan have plenty more ideas to fill out the Consortium universe so keep a close eye out and you’ll see quite a few more Consortium comics coming your way!
That’s all I have for you today, come back on Saturday for a look at the upcoming titles Ed is considering for the Consortium. You’ll even have a chance to give us some feedback on where we should go next!
In just a few weeks Shades of Vengeance will be appearing at MCM Comicon in London with our first-ever booth inside the Comics Village. In celebration of our upcoming comic book showcase I’m going to take today and talk entirely about what we’ve already created as well as where we’re heading in the world of Era: The Empowered Comics.
As some of you might remember, our first Empowered comic was about Chris ‘Lacuna’ Jameson and his life-changing encounter with two other Empowered. In his debut comic, Lacuna learned that he had to use more than brute force to defeat some enemies and even allies sometimes come with secrets. Lacuna was our first foray into superpowered comics and we’ve been on a roll ever since!
The Blue-Shift: Frenemies comic recently completed a run through Kickstarter and has already been finished and sent out to backers. Our resident speedster has proven to be a very popular character and Ed is currently planning her next adventure. Another comic which has recently completed a successful Kickstarter event is Violete: Unstoppable. The support for this book was so fantastic that we ended up reaching the double-length goal! This means we’ll all have twice as much fun and action to enjoy.
Ed has plans to combine these three comics into a Trade Paperback which will be available for the first time at MCM Comicon! That’s just one more great reason to come visit us in the Comics Village.
Of course, no discussion of Empowered comics could be complete without talking about Penumbra, one of our mainstay characters. Penumbra already has issue #1 and #2 released which are spin-off stories involving her various heists and exploits as she roams the world of the Empowered, stealing for the highest bidder. These two titles aren’t related to each other or the storyline of the rulebook. However, there is another Penumbra comic in the works which will follow the series of Lacuna, Blue-Shift and Violete. We’re planning to lead these comics toward a fantastic crossover story for all these characters.
Things are just warming up in terms of Empowered comics and Ed has plans for many more titles, some of which will include all new characters that you haven’t seen before such as Lobo (our unempowered martial artist) and Melqart (the cybernetically-enhanced creation of a madman). There’s also another adventure on the way for Lacuna. There are plenty of reasons to love Empowered comics and we don’t plan on cutting back any time soon so stick around and I’ll keep you up to date with each book as it develops!
That’s it for today. I’ll have a quick Consortium update for you on Saturday so be sure to come back and check out where we’re heading!
-A
