Honored samurai, ruthless ronin, wayward vagabonds, shadowy ninja and helpless villagers... welcome.
Opening Volley
I love comics, but I hate crowdfunding comics. I’ve been burned. Like corporate-ICE-gone-rogue burned. I keep swearing I’ll never touch another terminal loaded with dubious entertainware again.
And then there was Scrimshaw!
Main Event
Amazon description
Follow Hans and the crew of the Runaway Horse as they make their way in the New Pacific, a world of ruthless business, uneasy truces, and shifting alliances—a world abided by steel, marked by mutation, and at the mercy of the violent sea. A genre-mixing science and swordplay adventure on the high seas, Scrimshaw tells the story of a possible future in which the world has been affected global warming, genetic and agricultural manipulation, and conflict between so-called superpowers. With members hailing from Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, and American Samoa, the crew of the Runaway Horse has a colorful past and an uncertain future. Tackling issues like global warming, overfishing, corporate exploitation, political over-reach, and race relations head-on, Scrimshaw also revolves around one of the oldest and most maligned traits that mankind possesses: our ability to make war.
A mash cyberpunk, biopunk, ecopunk and samuraipunk, Scrimshaw is ambitious and hits every single note to give the readers its absolute best. The art is reminiscent of 90s Jim Lee (to be honest, that was the last decade I read comics with any regularity), the colors are bold and tell a story of their own, the lettering is easily legible, and the story moves at a perfect pace. Eric and his crew are as skilled and professional as the crew of the Runaway Horse. Boldly blending cultures, languages, tropes, genres, and everything including the kitchen sink (I swear I saw one on page 15 of vol. 2!), they have published a masterpiece in the original 10 issues and I've bet my money (literally) this next 4-issue series is going to be just as great, if not better!
Series creator Eric Borden: “I've had a love for feudal Japan since I first saw James Clavell's Shogun in the 80's. That idea of a foreigner entering the world of the Samurai and embracing the culture while trying to find where he fits. Plus Toshiro Mifune is a whole mood in that show and it really made an impression on me. Scrimshaw started with a script called A Thousand Bursting Sunflowers that I wrote while participating in the NYC Midnight writing contest. It was there that I concepted the main character Hans and his mutant powered sidekick Saigo. A little while later the larger Scrimshaw world emerged when lightning struck during a conversation with a friend and the rest of the crew was born.”
The original 10-issue run of the comic is already available through online retailers like Amazon, but don’t jump over there to get it, because Eric Borden
has a deal on Kickstarter to pick up every issue (1 - 10) of the original series PLUS the first issue of the new series for as low as a USD $1 apiece! I jumped faster than a rabbit in a hat with a bat to snap them them up!
The description on Kickstarter:
Creator and writer Eric Borden launches the epic world of Scrimshaw in this latest chapter which promises epic feudal Japan inspired storytelling - exclusively through Kickstarter.
The polar ice caps melted and the oceans rose. Nations were swept away in the deluge. World governments were fractured by war and corporations filled the void. Resources dwindled. Millions died. Mankind was nearly destroyed. But life clawed back through science and blood.
Follow Hans and the crew of the Runaway Horse as they make their way in the New Pacific, a world of ruthless business, uneasy truces and shifting alliances. A world abided by steel, marked by mutation and at the mercy of the violent sea.
Scrimshaw: Battle for Flower Palace is a four issue arc that continues the series.
Eric Borden is a writer for both comics and film. He's known for the post-apocalyptic, sci-fi comic series Scrimshaw as well as Lead City published by Red 5 Comics. Eric currently lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife, son, and one love starved Chihuahua. You can keep up with Eric on his website - ericborden.com.
We never meet without parting
Next issue... sumpthin-sumpthin-sumpthin-sumpthin...
Until then!
Made in DNA
This looks awesome
I'm an unrepentant Kickstarter addict and this looks cool as hell. Gonna pledge after payday.