WARNING: PICTURES OF EXTREME VIOLENCE SHOWN BELOW!

So I was puttering around on Kickstarter and I found this.

This rather intense poster is cover art for a comic called Schismatic which is currently looking for funding on Kickstarter.  The comic is about an epic fantasy world that was devastated by two moons playing havoc with the tides is currently trying to recover.  While the main characters are nominally pacifist there is a religious sect that has no qualms about killing people in very violent ways.  And when I say violent I mean…

really violent and when this religious order kidnaps the children of two parents it is up to them to escape from prison and attempt to rescue them.

Kickstarter campaign link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewadams/schismatic-a-comic-book-mini-series

Why I like it:

Here’s the tagline for the Kickstarter campaign:

What if [Quentin] Tarantino wrote fantasy comics?

Here’s my reaction to the tagline:

It got me so curious that I became a backer and actually got to read the first issue (if you donate $5 you can read the first issue) and I liked it, I liked it a lot.

From a story telling perspective it’s a solid tale with top notch writing.  The comic was created and written by a gentleman named Andrew Adams and he knows his stuff.  The setting and environment is well crafted, the story does a great job getting a lot of information across quickly and in a way that isn’t boring, it has a great flow and is very well paced, the characters are well thought out, and you get a real sense of everyone’s motivation and place in the world.  But perhaps most importantly, the first issue left me wanting more and eager to see this project succeed.

And then there is the art.  The comic is brilliantly drawn, inked, and colored by a lady named Rachel Briner and I’ll just let the art speak for itself.

Another thing I really love about the comic is how it reveals so much about the world by just showing things.  For example, while the main characters dress plainly to reflect their beliefs in pacifism and humble living the murderous religious sect takes its cues from the deep ocean in a cruel reflection of the tides and floods that decimated humanity.  They look like this.

Like I said, the artwork is brilliant.

Why you should donate:

While I say that I really like this comic for its great story telling and artwork the biggest reason I think people should donate to this project is because it is an important one.  The comic deals with some very heavy handed stuff in a very special way that deserves more attention from comic book readers and the comic book industry as well.

Let me explain.  I stated above that the comic is about a society that is rebuilding itself after an apocalyptic event and the majority of the population is being oppressed by an extremely violent religious cult.  While it is easy to take this at face value digging a little deeper will reveal that this story isn’t just really good but incredibly significant.  While religion helps provide comfort and hope for the masses these jerks in the comic are using to justify extreme acts of violence and killing thousands.  And where have we seen that before?

The comic also talks about family, revenge, and the struggle to maintain a pacifist belief in an increasingly violent world but its treatment of religion is what really stood out to me.

Besides all this there’s one final reason why you should donate.  If you like what you read and want to read the first issue of the comic all you have to do is donate $5.  You’ll be helping this comic series up and running and you’ll be getting a great reward without too much of a commitment.

Schismatic is a well written, well drawn, and surprisingly deep comic that is well worth you time, money, and attention.  Let’s make this happen.

Kickstarter campaign link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewadams/schismatic-a-comic-book-mini-series