runnersuniverse.com

Kickstarter Print Selection

Sean Wang — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:33:28 +0000

With the Kickstarter campaign now officially over, I am now in process of sending out Kickstarter surveys to gather information from backers. For those who have selected rewards with prints, please use the following guide to select which print(s) you would like. You will also be able to specify if you want any of prints A-C signed.

A: Runners: The Big Snow Job Chapter 1 cover

B: Runners: The Big Snow Job Chapter 3 cover

C: Runners: The Big Snow Job graphic novel cover

D: Runners: Bad Goods pinup by David Petersen (Mouse Guard)

E: Runners: The Big Snow Job pinup by David Petersen (Mouse Guard)

AICN, CBR, and Part-Time Fanboy Coverage!

Sean Wang — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:18:16 +0000

Runners recently got a bit of coverage online, with an interview, a review, and an hour-long conversation!

First up, I did a really fun interview for Ain’t It Cool News, in which I give a tiny hint about my plans for the “political dynamics” of the series.

I also received a really nice review of the new Runners story on Comic Book Resources! It’s a very positive review with only one (very valid) criticism.

Finally, I had a long talk with Kristian Horn for his great comic podcast, Part-Time Fanboy, where we discuss everything from my work on the Tick and Runners, to the webcomic business model, to my bet with my wife that resulted in her now having to watch Star Trek II. It’s a very fun and very in-depth interview, so if you ever wanted to hear me talk shop for an hour(!), check out the Episode 40 interview!

Kickstarter Stretch Goals: Bonus Pages & Hardcovers!

Sean Wang — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:06:39 +0000

Two new stretch goals have recently been added to the Runners: The Big Snow Job Kickstarter project!

At $18,000, I will add 8 extra pages of Bonus Content to the graphic novel, bringing the page count from 168 to 176 pages! Content will include character turnarounds for all six main characters as well as other additional content, to be announced!

At $22,000, a hardcover option of the new book will be unlocked! All backers at the $25 level and higher will have the option of upgrading their copy of the new book from paperback to hardcover FOR FREE!

The campaign is now in its last 10 days, so get your pledge in now!

NEW Kickstarter Reward: David Petersen Prints

Sean Wang — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:55:50 +0000

I am very excited to announce a new Reward tier for the Runners Kickstarter project that features the amazing artwork of good friend and Mouse Guard creator David Petersen. I’m a huge fan of his work and he is a fan of Runners as well, so a while back, we traded pinups. He did an awesome pinup of the flashback Runners crew from volume 1: Bad Goods. I never had the chance to include that with the first graphic novel, so I decided to include it in the printing of the new one. But since all the other pinups in the new book have a snow theme, David was generous enough to do a SECOND pinup, this time featuring the crew in snow gear!

When I told David about my Kickstarter project, he very graciously suggested the option of including prints of his two pinups as reward items. Personally, I love the idea of making these available to fans of David’s work, and he was excited about the idea of helping me with my campaign, so there is now a new $49 Reward, appropriately called the “Guard” level, that includes both of his pinups as 11″ x 17″ prints.

These prints are also available as add-ons for backers of other tiers who would like to include either (or both) of his prints with their current rewards.

New Kickstarter Stretch Goal: Battle Royale Print!

Sean Wang — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 17:41:11 +0000

The Runners: The Big Snow Job Kickstarter project recently passed the $12,000 mark, officially DOUBLING the initial goal amount! Woo-hoo! That is very exciting!

To commemorate the milestone, I am officially announcing the next Kickstarter Stretch Goal for $13,500, which will be a “Battle Royale” print!! This is a really fun piece as it features ALL the major and minor characters from the story arc in cartoony style in one big slugfest. Here are the pencils.

The final image will be 11″ x 17″ and fully inked and colored. It will be issued as a PDF to ALL backers and as a physical print to everyone at the $35 reward level and higher. So please help me in continuing to spread the word about the project so that we can meet the next stretch goal, and check out the Kickstarter page shortly for more announcements, including additional stretch goals and some new reward tiers.

Oh yeah, as a side note, before I launched the campaign, my wife and I had a little bet since we had absolutely no idea how the project would do. She bet it would end under $13,ooo, and if it did, I would give up condiments (mostly ketchup, which she hates) for a full month. I bet it would go over $13,000, in which case she would finally have to stop resisting and watch Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I am delighted to report that with the passing of the $13k benchmark, my wife will now see one of my top 10 movies. And Ricardo Montalban’s top two pecs.

MELTDOWN Available at Comixology

Sean Wang — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:00:31 +0000

In between the two volumes of Runners: Bad Goods and Runners: The Big Snow Job, I did a side project for Image Comics called Meltdown. It was written by David B. Schwartz, a good friend of mine, and is a fantastic story about a superhero whose fire-based powers are killing him. As his powers slowly build beyond his ability to control, he starts to re-evaluate his life and what he wants to do with it before the end. Does he finally take down his arch-nemesis? Does he try to reconcile with his ex-wife? Or does he try to change the world in some small but significant way? Personally, I would eat chicken wings and play board games, but then that’s why I’m not a super-hero.

I had a great time working with David on the project and especially had a blast doing the art, which traverses a number of styles depending on the era of the hero’s life: his more innocent, childhood days are done in a lighter, cartoonier style, which gradually devolves into a darker and grittier style as the story progresses. Fun!

Both 48-page issues are now published by Aspen and available digitally through Comixology for just $2.99 each. I highly recommend them! Plus, covers by Chris Bachalo and Greg Horn!

And you’ll also want to check out David B. Schwartz’s new series, Idolized, the story of girl with super-powers and a dark past, who seeks revenge, and ultimately finds redemption, over the course of competing in a TV super-hero competition reality show. It’s a great concept with really nice artwork by Micah Gunnell!

Kickstarter Project Funded in 2 Days!

Sean Wang — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:48:01 +0000

I am ecstatic to report that the Runners Kickstarter project has achieved its initial goal of $6000 in just 2 days! That has far exceeded my expectations and I am extremely thankful for everyone who has pledged to date to make that happen. The project still has 28 days to go, so hopefully it will hit its next goal of $8500, which will bring the print job here to the U.S.

STAPLE! Show Appearance This Weekend, Austin TX

Sean Wang — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:51:13 +0000

If anyone’s going to be in the Austin, TX area this weekend, I will be set up as a Guest at STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo! Not just a comic show, STAPLE! is an event that promotes a variety of independent creative media that includes comics, art, animation, and self-published literature. Check it out and I hope to see some of you there.

Kickstarter Project Begins NOW!!

Sean Wang — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:36:45 +0000

And now the moment of truth! The official Kickstarter campaign to fund the printing of Runners: The Big Snow Job is now LIVE!! The campaign will run for the next 30 days, but hopefully it will at least meet the initial goal relatively quickly so I don’t have to suffer the stress of waiting for the entire duration. Visit the project now by clicking the image below!

Kickstarter Rewards: Original Cover Art

Sean Wang — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 04:49:28 +0000

And here are the last of the Reward Items (for now!). These are the higher tier rewards of the actual original art used for the 5 chapter cover images for Runners: The Big Snow Job, as well as the cover image for the graphic novel itself. Each piece is 11″ x 17″ inked over blue pencil on bristol board. As an extra bonus, each piece of original art will also come with an 11″ x 17″ color print of the image. Three of the color images are also available as Prints, but the other three are only available paired with the original art. Obviously, there is only one of each piece of original art, so if you’re interested, you’ll probably want to act quickly.

Kickstarter Rewards: Expanded Sketchbook

Sean Wang — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 02:10:18 +0000

Here are some sample pages from the Runners: The Big Snow Job Sketchbook, one of the many Kickstarter rewards available. While the actual graphic novel will have 10 pages of select sketchbook content, this expanded stand-alone sketchbook will contain much more material. It will be a 64-page, perfect bound, comic-sized book chockful of concept sketches and designs for the various aliens, costumes, props, weapons, environments, and space yak that appear in the story. Each page will also include plenty of commentary describing the thought process that went into the designs. Much of the content and commentary has also been posted here at www.runnersuniverse.com over the course of the story, but I figured it’d be nice to have a single printed volume of the work to save people the effort of all that pesky clicking.

Kickstarter Rewards: Prints

Sean Wang — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 01:36:03 +0000

Here are the three 11″ x 17″ prints that I will be offering as part of the Kickstarter campaign. They are the images originally done for The Big Snow Job chapter cover #1, chapter cover #3, and the graphic novel front cover.