We’re back! Issue 2 of NESS, the Del Toro/Lovecraft-inspired cosmic horror comic set in Scotland. A big monster movie in a comic.
NESS ISSUE TWO!
What is NESS?
NESS is a four-part, full colour comic miniseries set in Scotland, on the world-famous shores of Loch Ness. It has monsters, action, adventure, scares, creepy bad guys, a good dose of Lovecraftian cosmic horror, and a lot of twisted Scottish mythology.
Back in April we successfully Kickstarted ISSUE ONE. Take a look at that campaign here. It went incredibly well, and now that all the rewards have been posted out we figured it was high time we released Issue Two.
I wanted to give the UK its very own giant monster (Japan has Godzilla, America has Cloverfield and, er, sometimes Godzilla…) because giant monsters are endlessly fascinating to me. Where better to set the story than the home of everyone’s favourite cryptozoological creature, the Loch Ness Monster?
Loch Ness is one of the most inspiring places I’ve ever been. It’s an excellent location and I’m excited to set a story there. Real-world buildings and areas will show up in the story, though some bits have been invented/adapted.
This Kickstarter is to fund the SECOND issue (which is 22 pages of story + pin up gallery and extras).
Here’s the ‘Original’ cover of ISSUE TWO by Rob and Dee:
And here’s the CASPAR WIJNGAARD Exclusive Variant cover, only available via Kickstarter. You won’t be able to get this from me at cons.
Caspar is the co-creator of LIMBO from Image Comics and is currently doing an incredible job on the ASSASSIN’S CREED comic from Titan.
NESS is the story of CEIT and her friends on a trip to the Loch to scatter the ashes of Ceit’s late mother. They just so happen to arrive the morning after the Loch’s final protector is killed by one of the many beasts he and his small tribe have been warding off. He was the last member of a local cult dedicated to keeping the monsters in check, and with him and his kind now gone, the things that lurk in the deep, dark waters, and hide in the surrounding hills, are free to run riot…
Issue One got some nice reviews:
“One issue down and I’m already clambering for the next three.” – Gary Watson, Comics Anonymous
“NESS is still a fast-paced, energetic monster tale with some truly impressive visual moments.” – Ceej, Big Comic Page
ISSUE TWO picks up right where the first ends, following the group further into the nightmare of real monsters lurking in the Loch. They’re beaten, bruised and bloodied, and… honestly, to say any more would be spoilery.
Here’s the preview pages for Issue Two to whet your whistle. If you want to go in cold, or if you haven’t read Issue One yet, I recommend scrolling right past ’em.
The book pics up right from the end of Issue One!
That’s the preview! All pages for Issue Two are INKED and LETTERED, just Dee’s colours and printing to go before the book is ALL DONE.
I’ll post another page for each £500 we hit in the original goal.
Funds raised via Kickstarter will go toward the cost of inks, colours, lettering, printing, Kickstarter’s fees, producing the rewards, and posting it all out to you.
(Note: All pages are still a work in progress, and may change slightly between now and print).
As with Issue One, we’ve got an awesome array of artistic talent on board, providing some of the best pin-ups in the biz.
You can get these as high-quality A4 prints, either take your pic of one or grab all six. Take a look, then select the appropriate reward level!
1. ANDY BLOOR, co-creator of Midnight Man. Find him at andrewbloor.blogspot.com or@AndyBloor
2. MO ALI, also a co-creator of Midnight Man! Find him at moali.co.uk or @mo_ali
3. VINCE HUNT, creator of The Red Mask From Mars. Find him at theredmaskfrommars.com or @jesterdiablo
4. DAN BUTCHER, creator of Vanguard! Find him at VanguardComic.com or @VanguardComic
5. YASMIN SHEIKH, creator of LUNA THE SPACE VAMPIRE! Find her at nerderella.com or @Nerderella
6. ANDREW SCAIFE, creator of the pixel art book Point + Click! Find him at http://andrewscaife.tumblr.com or @andrewscaife
Oh ho ho ho, there’ll be stretch goals alright. Don’t you worry about that. But I’d like to focus on the original goal first!
We’re cooking up a few ideas involving high-concept art cards and various other things, so expect an announcement if it looks like we’re going to hit the £2222 goal.
For Issue 1, we created a Tourist Map of the Loch which seemed to go down really well. We’ll be aiming for a similar reaction from the new items.
The first one will unlock around £2666, if we get that far!
Why Kickstarter? Kickstarter is ace. Used correctly, it’s an incredible tool for creators and fans alike. We want to make stuff, and you fine folks decide if it looks good enough or not. Hopefully you’ll like it enough to kick some funds our way and we can go on to finish this series.
It’s also A LOT OF FUN. Coming up with the rewards and generally interacting with everyone is a blast. I’ve used Kickstarter for other projects (WART and DOC DINO) and deeply value the connections I’ve made through those campaigns. Now I’m hoping to take that experience and know-how to fund this four-part series about big monsters at Loch Ness. It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever written (so far…), I’m super proud of it, and the whole art team is doing amazing work – with your help we can continue this series, which I wouldn’t be able to do on my own. That’s exciting. I’m excited.
Chris Welsh – Chris is a comic/screenplay writer who co-created WART, DOC DINO and is now responsible for NESS. No one has produced any of his screenplays. YET. He lives in Liverpool, England with his beloved laptop and too many books. He drinks rum. @C_W_Writes
Robert Carey – Rob is an illustrator from Dublin, Ireland and has worked on a variety of projects, including comics published in Lightning Strike anthology, North Bend, The Life and Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and Afterworld. @Mansloth
Dee Cunniffe – Dee has worked for nearly every publisher as a flatter/colour assistant to some of the world’s top colour artists. Recent credits include The Wicked + The Divine and ODY-C.@Deezoid
Robin Jones – Rob is a British comic writer, part of the publishing misfits Madius Comics, and letterer. He is always the nominee, never the winner, and the proud owner of both of his kneecaps. You can find him on Facebook at his lettering page RobJonesLetters, or harrass him on Twitter at: @RobJonesWrites
Big thanks to James McCulloch for going over the script and making sure I didn’t mess up too much of the Scottish dialect.
Here are some comments from a few awesome people who backed the first book:
(I hope you don’t mind being quoted… if you do, let me know and I’ll edit you out.)
“I’m so happy to have backed this project. I will be backing all the issues. Great work, gents.” – Nicholas B
“Got my copy today, great looks, story, monster. Look forward to backing the next three issues.” – Jon B
“No spoilers, but the story is great – pacey and dark with a nice tension throughout. Looking forward to the other books!” – Kevin C
“I just finished reading Ness and what can I say only WELL DONE! It’s a fantastically put together comic. I will be raving about it.” – Ciaran M
“This is fine but have you considered replacing the main character with a guy named Wart?” – Ammar Al-C
“Chris is so much better than me in every way that counts.” – Tom W
Oh, also, a big THANKS to Gav Mitchell for being rad and helping out with the video up top. I tried to do it myself and I should have known better. For all kickass art and video making needs, nudge him at @BobGoblynn
This isn’t my first Kickstarter rodeo, but I know from experience how things can get a bit hectic.
So far I’ve successfully run (and delivered on) two campaigns for my main series WART, one for the dinosaur-buddy-cop-surgical-drama DOC DINO, and obviously the first NESS campaign.
I’ve also been involved in the campaign for the horror anthology THE GRIME Issue One.
With Ness #1 we hit a couple of small stumbling blocks that delayed the book’s release by a month, but this time we’ve streamlined and learnt from previous mistakes, so there shouldn’t be any such issues this time around.
With that experience, I’m confident I can deliver Ness- Issue Two in a timely fashion, as promised, with my usual high-standards in place.
The scripts are completed for each issue in the four-part series and Rob Carey is finishing the last few pages of inks for the whole darn series. Your money will go to colours, finishing the inks, lettering, printing, producing the Kickstarter prints and extras, Kickstarter’s fees, and postage. Any extra cash raised will go back into the series, hopefully lowering the already-low goal for future issues.
I’ve already put up my own cash to fund the completed preview and the majority of the inks, as well as the production of pin ups and extra artwork. I don’t anticipate getting this back, but I strongly believe the investment in this book was worth it.
If there are any hiccups along the way to production, I promise to take responsibility, keep everyone in the loop, and work hard to get this book finished and out there. Having said that, I don’t foresee any, unless one of the team is eaten by a giant sinister water-dwelling creature (or drowns whilst hunting one).