Silence in the Library Publishing hopes to raise $20,000 to produce an illustrated edition of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Artist Janet Lee has signed on to create the interior artwork and illustrator Jean Masetti will design the cover. We’ve embedded a video about the project above.
Here’s more from the Kickstarter page: “For our initial goal, Janet is producing twelve full-color, full page illustrations of critical scenes from Pride and Prejudice. She’s also producing twenty partial-page black and white illustrations that will flow with the text of the book…As we reach stretch goals, we’ll be adding full-color, full-page illustrations and black and white partial page illustrations to the book, until we’ve reached a total of twenty-four full-page illustrations and thirty partial page illustrations.”
Welcome to our Kickstarter Publishing Project of the Week, a feature exploring how authors and publishers are using the fundraising site to raise money for book projects. If you want to start your own project, check out How To Use Kickstarter to Fund Your Publishing Project.
When Marvel announced Girl Comics four years ago it unleashed a firestorm of outrage (just check out the comments if you care in the link). Now they are announcing a whole month of variant covers by female artists and everyone thinks it’s A-OK! Because suddenly women read comics.
The event will celebrate Women’s History Month in March but also spotlight some of Marvel’s most popular artists. “2014 was a huge year for Women of Marvel, both in our comics and behind the scenes,” says Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso in a statement. “Marvel now has more titles starring female leads than ever before, the Women of Marvel panel is one of the most highly attended at conventions, and the weekly Women of Marvel podcast continues to grow. In 2015, we intend to continue that tradition, and March’s Women of Marvel variant covers — featuring 20 of the best female artists in the industry – is just the beginning.”
Here’s the complete list…and eight covers released so far, by some of the top cover artists out there such as Sana Takeda, Sara PIchelli, Colleen Doran, Amanda Conner and MORE. Can’t wait to see the whole list!
- All-New Captain America #5 by TBD
- All-New Hawkeye #1 by SHO MURASE
- All-New X-Men #39 by FAITH ERIN HICKS
- Amazing Spider-Man #16 by MING DOYLE
- Ant-Man #3 by KATIE COOK
- Avengers #42 by TBD
- Black Widow #16 by VANESA DEL REY
- Captain Marvel #13 by AFUA RICHARDSON
- Deadpool #43 by TBD
- Guardians of the Galaxy #25 by ERICA HENDERSON
- Inhuman #13 by JILL THOMPSON
- Legendary Star-Lord #10 by SANA TAKEDA
- Ms. Marvel #13 by TBD
- New Avengers #31 by SARA PICHELLI
- Rocket Raccoon #9 by JANET LEE
- S.H.I.E.L.D. #4 by COLLEEN DORAN
- Superior Iron Man #6 by TBD
- Thor #6 by TBD (Above image by Stephanie Hans)
- Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #3 by GURIHIRU
- Uncanny Avengers #3 by AMANDA CONNER
- Uncanny X-Men #33 by STACEY LEE
Reuniting the team behind the Eisner award winning Return of the Dapper Men, Lost Vegas is a fun mix of science fiction space play and hustler inspired shenanigans Oh, and it is very, very pretty.
Writer Jim McCann is perhaps best known for his work at Marvel, and of course for Return of the Dapper Men with its whimsical world where time is broken, populated by some rather unique protagonists. The artwork was breathtakingly beautiful, Janet Lee using a decoupage style to produce something wholly magical. Lee has also worked on Jane Austen adaptations, The Wonderland Alphabet book, and – not to be sniffed at – one of my most favourite illustrations in the world. Featuring a giraffe.
Sassy.
What would happen if this dynamic duo were given a more mainstream outlet for their imagination? Well, an explosion of awesome, obviously. Image Comics have snapped up the potential, and the result is really quite delicious: Lost Vegas, a huge bruiser of a space station, a luxury casino that travels the stars and entraps the gullible and weak. Can’t pay your debts? No worries! Indentured servitude is the way forward, no matter your shape or size. Such is the fate of Roland, a charming yet roguish gent who wants to game the system. But the house always wins. Right?
The setting is spectacular, with the sheer variety of imaginative life forms giving Lee plenty to play with. As a latecomer to Star Wars, my favourite part – minus the Ewoks, obviously – was always the cantina scene, where we got to see a myriad of different beings, all shiny and colourful and enticing. It’s a fleeting moment. For a space opera, Star Wars is pretty lacking in the non-humanoid department, apart from hairy dudes, slave girls and that one guy with a frog head. Ah, Admiral Frog Head. I liked him. (My boyfriend has such a look of horror on his face reading this over my shoulder.)
Dan McDaid Variant
But so much potential was squandered in favour of boring old humans. It troubles me. Not so here! Characters include, but are not limited to, a sentient being made of ink, a ten foot stag, and various reptilian thugs. Background characters range from the cute to the creepy (the one-eyed cat monster on the cover is both, and I want one!), and some clever sci-fi technology is employed to ensure that customers aboard never guess… well, you’ll have to read to find out. And there are a number of female characters, one who looks set to play a major part in future issues.
Roland of course is our Paul Newman, our Danny Ocean, our… Han Solo. But more Newman I think. I’m not entirely sure whether I’m rooting for him. I’m not entirely sure that I’m supposed to. What I am rooting for is issue 2 as I desperately need to know what happens next, as well as needing more of Lee’s simply gorgeous art.
The pacing is pretty spot on too, with events moving along at a canter and the inner monologuing made to sound authentic due to the characters motivations. The entire premise is highly enjoyable – heist movie meets Fifth Element meets space opera – and the whole issue is beautifully drawn.
Don’t take my word for it though, check out the following (un-lettered) pages, then go grab issue 1 tomorrow and try it out!
Last Vegas #1
Writer: Jim McCann
Artist: Janet Lee
Colourist: Janet Lee
Cover Artist: Janet Lee, Dan McDaid
Publisher: Image
Released: March 6
If you like, try: Starstruck, Return of the Dapper Men
This is an experiment that will either get some good comics some good exposure…or melt our bandwidth! Every day it seems we get a preview of a comic that is worthy of some attention and exposure. So for the next 30 days we’re going to try to post one a day. Please, share via Facebook or retweet or link or whatever.
We kick things off with a dandy: Return of the Dapper Men
by James McCann and Janet Lee. If you’ve been out on the convention trail you may have seen Lee’s incredibly collage artwork, sculpted from thick, heavy blocks of wood. Transporting the original art takes super strength. But beyond her stunning imagery there’s a sweet fantasy story by McCann that touches on classic themes and images of children’s literature while giving it its own unique spin.
Archaia just made the first 15 pages available for preview, and without further ado — here they are.
1 Comments on A Month of Previews: The Return of the Dapper Men, last added: 11/2/2010
That shield cover is out of this world good.
Are these going to be sold like the recent DC variant covers where retailers can order in equal amounts or are they 1 in 25/50/100 type variant covers? I would like to get some but my retailer does not buy the “1 in xx” type very often. He is a good retailer, he claims that it’s hard to justify the expense on the “1 in xx” type.
If you are willing to pay for it, I don’t see why he wouldn’t order it.