FRONTIER by Guillaume Singelin

Still aiming for late June/early July
4 months ago – Mon, May 13, 2024 at 04:02:07 AM

Hi everyone!

A number of you have requested an update, which I'm writing from abroad during a much overdue holiday:

Things are still on track as of the last update, looking good for a late-June/early-July fulfillment.

The books are still crossing the Pacific Ocean, and the various swag items are still on their way from their respective factories as well. No new photos to share yet, but there may be a few advance copies waiting for me when I get back from travel later this week.

Don't worry, we'll keep you posted! If you're not sure where the current target dates lie, please check the previous updates! We'll be sure to post once something is either confirmed or changes.

Have a great week, everyone! Stay excited! :D

Just a few days left to check out our current Kickstarter, MONTE CRISTO!
5 months ago – Sun, Apr 07, 2024 at 11:08:27 AM

Hi everyone!

As hinted at in the last update, we wanted to share this link to our current Kickstarter for MONTE CRISTO by Jordan Mechner (creator of the PRINCE OF PERSIA video game series) and artist Mario Alberti. If you are interested in slick, contemporary political intrigue, tales of revenge, or have an interest in video game history, you'll probably find this campaign intriguing!

Imagine the perfect life, a booming career, and a beautiful spouse.
Imagine all of that taken away in an instant as you're accused of a crime you didn't commit.
Imagine spending 20 years in a distant prison compound with nothing but time...
...to plan your revenge on those who framed you...

This modern reimagining of Alexandre Dumas's classic novel THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO is brought into post-9/11 America by writer JORDAN MECHNER, the creator of the hit video game franchise PRINCE OF PERSIA, which has spawned over a dozen spinoffs across 40 different video game platforms, and even became a Jerry Bruckheimer Disney film starring Jake Gyllenhaal!

Not only are we showcasing some rather premium editions of MONTE CRISTO, but you can add video game history to your pledge with two CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT DIARIES written by Jordan in the 1980s during his making of the trend-setting video game classics KARATEKA (the first fighting game that inspired STREET FIGHTER, MORTAL KOMBAT, and more) and the very first PRINCE OF PERSIA!

These personal journals shine a light on what it was like being a video game developer in those nascent days of technology long before the first PlayStation or Xbox was even a pipe dream... (Tiny bit of trivia: I began my career as a video game artist and designer in 1992, and one of my very first projects was the Macintosh "high-resolution" edition of Prince of Persia... at an astounding 640x480 pixels!) 🤩

If you haven't checked out the campaign yet, please give it a look before it ends on Friday! We're excited to bring MONTE CRISTO to readers as well as these limited-edition historical journals!

Thanks!

Lots of pretty pictures!!! 😲😍
5 months ago – Tue, Apr 02, 2024 at 05:08:48 PM

Hi everyone!

Hope you're doing well and having a great week! Ours was FANTASTIC, primarily because we received some GORGEOUS advance copies of the books...! Get ready for a flood of eye-candy starting with our spontaneous unboxing video of the slipcase --

Sketchbook!

Softcover!

THA SLIPCASE!

In addition to the advance copies of the books we also got some photos from the factory making the coins and pins --

Energy Token:

Metal Traveler ticket bookmark:

We are SO EXCITED by how nice all of this stuff is turning out... the schedule has ballooned a bit, but the results are totally worth the wait!

We're trying to get a fulfillment schedule in place, though it is a bit tricky with so many moving pieces still in transit. At this point, we're hoping to have everything in hand to start shipping at the end of June or early July. Yes, later than expected, but this campaign has turned into so much MORE than any of us imagined!

We were going to post a full, informative spotlight on our current Kickstarter, but frankly, the above has probably dazzled you senseless, so we'll give you a day or two to soak it all in and recover. (But if you're curious, please check it out -- we'll showcase it a bit more in another update in a day or two...)

Thanks for your excitement and support, everyone! More soon!

Things are rolling!
6 months ago – Mon, Mar 04, 2024 at 02:09:11 PM

Hi everyone!

We've been rockin' and rolling on the FRONTIER extras while the books continue their way through the printing process. Guillaume finished up the original artwork pieces for those who backed at that tier, and they are AWESOME -- 

We covered up the recipient names so they'll still be surprised when they arrive.

The factory has also been working on the statuettes, and they look pretty sweet too! Here's a brief video showing their LOW-REZ test prints just to confirm sizing and support so we can measure out the box sizes for design. The final pieces will be much cleaner and sharper than what is shown here. We hope to have full-resolution images from them soon.

We also have the metal "ticket" bookmarks in production now, and they're promising to come out really cool too -- 

We're still waiting on physical proofs of the books and slipcase from the printer to confirm the designs are accurate -- they've been a bit behind since coming back from Chinese New Year, and we all want to be sure these books turn out great and not rushed. To that end, it's possible that fulfillment could slip into June, but we'll have a much better idea once they can update us on their progress. 

Thanks, everyone!  We hope to have more to show in the coming weeks! 

Locking orders this weekend! And FRONTIER wins in Angouleme!
7 months ago – Sat, Feb 03, 2024 at 09:29:39 AM

Hi everyone!

Yow, I'm embarrassed to realize the last update was LAST YEAR... HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Between the holidays and our recent travel to the FIBD (festival international de la bande dessinée -- France's version of Comic-Con) in Angouleme, France, we have been running around spinning plates like crazy people getting stuff done... It sounds chaotic, but it has all been productive and exciting, albeit at the expense of keeping up on updates here...! HUGE apologies!

We mentioned it in the last update but wanted to remind everyone that we are locking orders this weekend!

We are initiating the "Lock Order" command on Backerkit this afternoon, at which point they will initiate a 48-hour countdown for you to make any final changes to your orders: add-on selections, address changes, payment methods, etc. (And if you haven't filled out your survey at all yet, now is the time to do so! If you can't find your email with the unique invitation link, try logging into this link with your Kickstarter-associated email address:

If you still have trouble getting in, send us a message here and we'll be happy to help you out.

When the 48-hour window expires, your order will be locked and we will process any charges due on Monday.

You will still have an opportunity to update your shipping address before we send out packages (estimated to start in late April). We will send more information about that final address-lock deadline closer to that date.

For those international backers who requested bundling with your MIDNIGHT ORDER and/or CASSEGRAIN COLLECTION pledges, you will find the calculated savings applied to one or more of those pledges as Backerkit Credit.

If you have any questions, let us know.

We had a great time in Angouleme, and spent quite a bit of time with Guillaume and the other guys from label 619. Guillaume signed all of the bookplates while we talked and he'll start working on the original drawings right away. He is, understandably, enjoying the success of FRONTIER, especially after winning this year's RAJA Eco-Fauve award at the show!

https://majorspoilers.com/2024/02/02/award-frontier-wins-eco-fauve-raja-award/

This is one of 11 major awards given at the festival, which celebrated its 51st year, awarded to titles promoting outstanding comics with environmental themes.

Here's a clip of Guillaume accepting the award (for those of you who speak French... sorry I can't figure out how to add subtitles...)

I took depressingly few photos during the show, but here's a pic of me talking with Guillaume and Mathieu Bablet about... plans. Lots of plans. And their next project (which they're creating TOGETHER)... 

We had a lot of great conversations with all of the folks at label 619 (and their parent publisher Rue de Sevres). Hopefully those talks are the beginning of something big for all parties involved................... Stay tuned for news as it solidifies!

The books have all been approved for printing, and we hope to have some proofs in the next couple of weeks. Chinese New Year has now officially closed the plant for about 2 weeks, so we probably won't see anything before they're back, but we'll be sure to share stuff as soon as we have it!

Thanks, everyone!