The Healer’s Blade #1: PROLOGUE | Fantasy/Action Comic Book
Created by J. Michael Miller
What if an instrument of death was designed to heal instead?
(Sword in the Stone meets Wonder Woman)
Latest Updates from Our Project:
100 BACKERS!
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Jun 22, 2023 at 02:38:09 PM
Thank You!
We are now sitting at 102 backers with only $181 until we reach our next stretch goal! We still have a little over a week left, so I'm confident we can unlock free copies of Kid Cretaceous for all physical backers!
Once we reach 150 backers, all physical backers will receive an exclusive sticker! This sticker is not part of the sheet and is not available as an add-on.
Art is done!
Terri has been hard at work on the last pages of The Healer's Blade PROLOGUE, but I have good news. She finished the art this week! The pages have been sent to Taylor, our letterer, for the next step in our comic making process. Lettering will start around the first or second week of July, unless there are any changes.
Once he's finished, Brittany will review the letters and provide any editing notes. After any lettering edits, they'll get sent to the designer to complete the final layout of the book before we send it to the printer!
Marcus Jimenez is an amazing artist. Who else could tackle an Amazing Spider-Man? That's why I reached out to Marcus, earlier this year, to create a two-page comic featuring your favorite wallcrawler. Take a look at this amazing commission artwork! You can find the original commission here.
Since we reached 100 backers, I should tell you about this two-page Spider-Man story you were promised. I had a completed script for a Spider-Man story centered around the winter holidays. This was the comic we originally planned to make. Unfortunately, I decided to scrap that and save it for another time.
I've felt like the spark of my soul has been reinvigorated this year. It's been a wonderful journey. It's been this experience that made me want to take this web-slinging story in a more personal, but similar direction. I've just about wrapped the new script up and suspect this short comic will be finished around the time fulfillment starts for The Healer's Blade.
In the meantime, you can chuckle at some of my scribbles I made as layout suggestions and the summary below. And yes, these were also drawn during our bedtime activity with the kids too.
Literally forgot how to draw a lightning bolt in the middle of this
"Engaged in an epic battle against Electro, Spider-Man must summon his inner strength to save the city and stop Francine Frye siphoning scheme before the city's power grid surges!"
The old Imperator is dead! And the new Imperator is out for blood. The only thing that stands between him and conquering the entire ocean is an ex-Imperial agent and a pair of down on their luck scoundrels.
Into the Deep is a 100+ page action-adventure, sci-fi graphic novel following Imperial Wayfinder Kor as she fights back against the empire that created her. This is one campaign you'll want to dive into!
Current Progress (Update #8)
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Jun 17, 2023 at 11:04:15 AM
We have 94 backers and are 166% funded! We are only $254 away from unlocking free copies of Kid Cretaceous #1 for all physical backers and only 6 backers away from everyone receiving a free two-page comic I'm creating with Marcus Jimenez.
Don't forget to add a digital sketch, from interior artist Mariateresa Susca, to your pledge before the remaining SIX spots are taken!
Faux homage concept I created with artwork by Terri Susca (not a real cover)
The following updates have been made to the campaign:
Updated campaign text with additional information and to reflect changes below
We have lowered the regular price for M. Sorcier's art nouveau variant (Cover B) by $1
We have added a new Kid Cretaceous retailer bundle tier that includes 10 copies of Kid Cretaceous #1 and 1 copy of The Healer's Blade
Editing Services has been changed to a tier reward rather than an add-on
Next Goals
🔒100 Backers (only six backers away!)
At 100 backers, every backer will also receive my upcoming two-page Spider-Man comic with art by Marcus Jimenez and letters by Lucas Gattoni. If you want to see more of Marcus' art, go look at his Spider-Punk commission and everything else on his profile!
Artwork by Marcus Jimenez (not from our short comic)
🔒$2,100 Free Comic
Every physical backer will receive a physical copy of Kid Cretaceous #1
Kid Cretaceous wished her toy dinosaur, Ty Rex, could save her dad during an auto accident. Now, Ty Rex is her hero and best friend. But superheroes can't smash mandated therapy away... or can they?
🔒$2,500 The Healer's Blade digital short comic
Once we reach $2,500, we'll take a look inside the pages of Matilda's journal and share a poem, while we see some of her past!
Indie Comics Bundle penultimate reveal!
Backers at every single level get the indie bundle full of 20+ digital comics. It's time to reveal the next four comics, increasing the total to 15 comics revealed. Towards the end of next week, an update will include our final announcement revealing the entire indie bundle!
Vault Comics is currently one of the best publishers in the industry and they are known for telling terrific tales & are continuing to create some of the coolest content out there. I've had a chance to read advanced copies of a some of their series (such as Fox & Hare, Mindset, Barbaric: Axe to Grind, and End After End) and I can guarantee this is NOT a story you want to miss.
From the creative minds of Steve Orlando and Giopota comes a sexy time-travel romance too powerful to be contained to a single era!
New York City, 1907. Malcolm "Mac" Irina is the greatest inventor the world’s never heard of, and his lover, John Wolf, is the toughest fighter in the world of underground boxing.
Despite their love, they are forced to keep their relationship a secret due to fear of reprisals. When Irina's lab is raided by members of a shadowy organization known as The Pilgrims, the pair escapes through Irina's newest untested invention--a time machine. But where have they ended up?!
Can the two lost lovers find each other again in the confusing future? Will their relationship survive their evolving understanding of sexuality? Who are The Pilgrims? And did someone say bathhouses?
It's up to Irina and Wolf to protect queer history from those who would try to erase it. Ricochet through time with Irina and Wolf as they explore new eras, new friends, and some wild new positions in Steve Orlando and Giopota's gorgeous new creator-owned comic, SAINTED LOVE.
A curious and upbeat 12-year-old girl stumbles upon a cabin in the woods where she finds a friendly necromancer hiding with an ancient secret. But her presence has revealed his location and now she must learn to raise the dead herself to prevent the forces of evil from obtaining the ultimate power: the literal Hand of Death itself.
Issue #1 Cover (Logo by Tim Daniel)
In this premiere issue, Jessie follows Bibbits (her best friend and pet flying lizard) into the woods when he is chased by a raven. But soon they find themselves in the middle of an ancient battle of the undead. Will they make it out alive? Or will they learn the hardest lesson of being a Necromancer's apprentice?
Easter Eggs in June?? (Update #7)
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 02:07:59 PM
New Add-on!
Due to demand, we have added SIX digital sketches from Mariateresa Susca in the add-on section! These will be available until the end of the campaign or until all of them have been claimed.
Backer Update
Thank you for continuing to share the campaign and show us support. We have reached 90 backers and 157% funding. I can't wait for us to reach our next stretch goal!
Easter egg or future king?
You may have seen page two in the campaign details, but I'd like to highlight the last panel. These two may seem to be innocuous farmers headed to town. The dialogue reveals this boy's name.
This is the story of Matilda and not a tale of a boy named Arthur. I've hinted at who he could become, but this is left ambiguous intentionally. Maybe this boy becomes King Arthur; maybe a different Arthur has already been king; or perhaps the legend of King Arthur is merely myth.
To quote Juliet, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet." This is not a legend of King Arthur, but the story of Matilda & the sojourn of her spirit.
One True Love is packed with genius art by J. Schiek, marvelous writing from Mario Candelaria, and is printed in a lovely landscape format that enhances the story's atmosphere!
After pulling off the score of a lifetime, two East Coast mobsters named Peter and Paul try to lay low at their childhood friend Matthew's home in the Hollywood Hills until the heat dies down. Paranoia and mistrust quickly ramp up when Matthew's daughter Amber unexpectedly returns home, adding a chaotic element to their plan that fractures the crew.
Two hundred years after their world was devastated by a magical war, the heroes of a new age seek to recover the forgotten legacies of their lost home. Thrown together by fate, this ragtag band of adventurers are charged with an impossible mission: survive a thousand miles of haunted dungeons, bizarre monsters, ruined castles, and magical traps -- or see their world die!
Slicing in (Update #6)
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Jun 13, 2023 at 10:11:54 AM
I almost don't know what to say in these anymore. You've already broken records and unlocked the originally announced stretch goals. Now, we are only ONE backer away from reaching 90 backers and you just broke my record for most raised in a single campaign! We are, also, currently 147% funded. It means so much to me, to see you all so excited about this story. We might not have gotten the badge that we're a "Project We Love" from Kickstarter, but you have all helped me feel like this is a project you love.
While creating The Healer's Blade...
We play card/board games, read, draw, paint, play hide & seek, etc. with both of my daughters before their bedtime. One night, my oldest picked to draw and color. That's when I came up with the first words you see in page one of The Healer's Blade! The art for this and the next paragraph's image inspired the ending of our prologue.
A week or two later, she decided we should paint. As you can tell, there's a reason I'm the writer and not the artist, but I think it's important to show others some of the process that goes into making projects like this.
Next Stretch Goals
At $2,100, every physical backer will receive a copy of Kid Cretaceous #1!
At $2,500, we'll take a look inside the pages of Matilda's journal and share a poem, while we see some of her past!
106 pages from the students of Scott Snyder's comic writing class!
Volume 2 marks the return of the multi-genre anthology, filled with 18 short comics that are sure to bring the thrills, chills, and feels, by students of Scott Snyder's comics writing class!
Bookmarks and Bundle Announcements! (Update #5)
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Jun 09, 2023 at 07:50:53 PM
First off, I'm sorry it's been a couple of days since the last update. I had a few family things to take care of and a power outage for a while. I'm happy to share some news with you!
FREE BOOKMARKS!
As people have shuffled around their pledges in the beginning of the campaign, all 84 of you backers have come together and helped us reach 136% funding. This means we've passed $1,500 and unlocked free bookmarks for all backers who pledge at any physical level!
Indie Comic Bundle Reveal
Backers at every single level get the indie bundle full of 20+ digital comics. It's time to reveal the next six comics!
Raze Comics #1 by Samuel Willis & Tremayne Primm
Tokyo Blade Detectives Vol. 1, by Todd Black, which features the first four issues!
Bullproof Chicken #1 by Jon Westhoff
New Reward Tier and New Add-on!
Introducing a new tier available only this week:
featuring the holo-chrome variant AND a digital sketch - $19 (LIMIT of 7)
And a new add-on:
Kid Cretaceous retailer bundle - $30 (10 copies of Kid Cretaceous - any cover)
She came to Vermont to find a missing person. Something else found her instead.
Cassie Aubert searches for all kinds of missing people. Driven by her brother's disappearance, Cassie has spent her life tracking runaways, kidnappees, and truants. But until now, Cassie's never been on the trail of a pagan cultist - or been hunted by one of their gods.
