Being a big Ed Benes fan, I've been waiting a while for his first, creator owned comic to drop - Nina e Ariel. So excited for this!
I've wracked up so many contributions already this year, but this one I just couldn't help myself. I wanted to pledge to all the perks in all honesty... but I went the sensible route and picked up the variant cover version. For some reason that one stands out to me a little more than the original cover.
I also love that a digital version of the comic is included with the printed copies of the book. That's a super cool idea. It means you can re-read the digital version as many times as you like, without wearing out the physical comic. Here's a quick description of what Nina & Ariel is all about from Ed Benes himself - "This is a passion project over 14 years in the making! First conceived back in 2004 during his work on Birds of Prey, NINA AND ARIEL is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi series inspired by my love of Heavy Metal Magazine and similar European comics of the time, and also the work of Frank Frazetta (Fire & Ice, etc). For years, Nina & Ariel has had to take a back seat to my regular professional deadlines - and now, I'm has finally dedicated myself to giving these characters the attention that they deserve!
Me and my team of artists need help to get this gorgeous #1-issue a post-apocalyptic sci-fi tale get some extra traction!
The Indiegogo campaign is going to help us cover all print costs, and will also allow us to pay the creators, and to get issue 2 into production as soon as possible! With your help, this will only be the beginning for Nina & Ariel!"
Nina & Ariel was successfully funded via Kickstarter earlier this year. We believe that # 1 edition can still offer much more than it has been offered. We started a new campaign with extra material and news that we would like to share with you. This new campaign will be our "golden goose" and now we have 100% autonomy throughout the process. We all know practice makes perfect so our intention is to create a strong project and make you happy to continue with us on the journey to launch Nina & Ariel # 2. SPOILER ALERT: It's almost ready for launch!" -ED BENES
Needless to say, Ed's art is absolutely breathtaking. You can see why I had to snap this up while the campaign was still open. I've been inspired by many artists over the years, and he was definitely one of them.
If you're as buzzed as I am for this book, you can check the Nina & Ariel campaign out for yourself here: https://igg.me/at/nina-ariel/x/20658139#/
-Clayton