Canadian Comic Book Alliance member Mark Allard-Will has recently launched his latest Kickstart Project, The Burning Black: Legend of Black Shuck. Below are all the juicy details from the Kickstarter page.
What’s in the story?
Tudor-era England, the deeply rural county of Suffolk, to be specific. Queen Elizabeth I is on the Throne. In the small village of Bungay, life sits in an undisturbed status quo; Peasants labour over backbreaking work tilling the fields by hand, the Merchant Class preside over looms and textile traders and Bungay Castle lays peacefully dormant as it has for the centuries passed since Hugh Bigod was pulled from it by Royal Guard to face execution after a failed rebellion against King Henry II…
…but one fateful early August night in 1577, peace is disturbed in this unassuming village, when a Beast tears through the Church doors; leaving claw marks that appear to be scorched into the Wood with an intense heat, claw marks that can be seen to this very day. Inside the Church, the Beast is said to have feasted upon four unsuspecting worshippers.
Some say the Beast is a big Demon Dog, eight-feet-tall when on all-fours with fur as black as tar. Others say its Eyes burn with the white-hot flames of Hell itself. Rumours abound and before you know it perhaps the most legendary of all British mythical beasts are born: Black Shuck
What makes the book unique?
Many people have told the story of Black Shuck before, but it’s usually compounded into a mere retelling of the professed events and sighting in St. Mary’s Church, Bungay, Suffolk on the 4th of August 1577. In The Burning Black: Legend of Black Shuck, Suffolk born and bred Comic Book Writer, Mark Allard-Will, attempts to do the impossible and give Black Shuck a back story set against the backdrop of England’s long-rooted history of Christian suppression of the Pagan cultures that once roamed the lands in a relative peace; turning the story of Black Shuck from simple retelling into a tense, edge-of-your-seat Historical Fiction with all the Horror trimmings you’d expect.
Beginning in the long and hard-fought battle for supremacy over Britain’s shores between the pagan Vikings and the devotedly Christian Saxons of the late 800s and ending in the Tudor-era of 1577, Mark’s reimagining of the story of Black Shuck will take you on a journey from the Horrors of War to the echoes of a simpler past, all set to the backdrop of a Beast that has come to define storytelling in rural England and around the English-speaking World.
What happens after you’ve chosen to support The Burning Black: Legend of Black Shuck?
ART: Ryan Howe, the Artist is best known for his adventure Graphic Novel series Daisy Black: Pilot for Hire (Soaring Penguin Press), is currently several pages in to the Artwork of The Burning Black: Legend of Black Shuck; BUT that’s why we need you, as a career Artist Ryan needs to get paid to continue working. With the money generated from the Kickstarter, Ryan will be able to finish the project’s Artwork and hand it over it the Colourist and Letterer.
COLOURING AND LETTERING: Once Art is complete, all finished Comic Pages are handed over to the project’s Colourist and Letterer, Elaine M. Will. Elaine is best known for her work on Look Straight Ahead and Dust-Ship Glory (Renegade Arts Entertainment). The completion of Colouring and Lettering will see the project be ready for Book Layout and Proofing.
BOOK LAYOUT/DESIGN AND PROOF-READING: Once Elaine has all the Colours and Lettering finished, the Book will then be ready for the process of preparing the Book into its finalised layout for both Print and Digital Downloads. After completing the layout/design of the finalised Book, a proof-reading process will occur to be sure that no errors remain before sending the finished Book off to the Printers.
PRINTING AND FULFILMENT (APRIL 2019): Once proof-reading is completed, the Book will be sent off to the Printers for printing; once received back we will begin the process of mailing out your pledges to you (estimated April 2019).
Physical copies of the graphic novel are available at the $20CAD reward level so super affordable. Check it out and pledge HERE
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