PopCultHQ’s Kickstarter Spotlight: ‘Athena Voltaire: The Ongoing Adventures’ by Steve Bryant & Action Lab Entertainment

Welcome to another edition of PopCultHQ’s Kickstarter Spotlight!

Our intent is to help raise awareness of Kickstarter campaigns by indie creators of ones we feel you should be aware, hot titles or issues to watch, or ones WE support and think YOU should too! From unknown publishers to creators with tenure…doesn’t matter! This is about helping promote the creators involved and their vision.

Today, PopCultHQ has the privilege in sharing with you a recently-launched Kickstarter campaign from Steve Bryant and Action Lab Entertainment that after its first day is already over 50% funded!

Get ready for…

The Eisner nominated series is ready to take flight as a new ongoing series from Action Lab Entertainment & creator Steve Bryant!

 

Set in the 1930s, Athena Voltaire is a knuckle-dusting style, classic pulp adventure featuring a courageous, globetrotting aviatrix who takes on Nazis, zombies, and unspeakable occult creatures!

Previously published at APE Entertainment and Dark Horse Comics, the digital comic earned an Eisner Award nomination back in 2005 for Best Digital Comic. Steve’s most recent mini-series Athena Voltaire and the Volcano Goddess and the Athena Voltaire Compendium were published through Action Lab Entertainment.

Steve is joined by up-and-coming artist Ismael Canales for Athena Voltaire and the Sorcerer Pope, the first arc in the new series!

High-flying aviatrix and swashbuckling adventurer Athena Voltaire crosses the globe dodging poisons, traps, and creatures, battling adversaries old and new! And now she’ll be doing it in a brand-new ongoing series from creator Steve Bryant and Action Lab Entertainment!

After launching with a Kickstarter campaign, Athena Voltaire and the Sorcerer Pope—the first in the ongoing collection of mini-series-—will hit comic shops in fall 2017. The Kickstarter launched on Wednesday, April 5th, 2017, and will run until May 5th, 2017, with a goal of $5,000.

“When Action Lab approached me about doing Athena Voltaire as a monthly ongoing, I was thrilled,” Bryant said. “I have a huge over-arching storyline that I started building back when I wrote new material for the Athena Voltaire Compendium. Knowing that we have a brilliant artist like Ismael Canales on board makes it easier for me to relinquish some of the drawing duties.”

Bryant will write the series and provide covers. Additionally, he’ll be sharing art duties with Canales, who provides visuals for the first mini-series. “The idea is for me to draw some of the miniseries,” Bryant said. “But I’ve gotten slower, so it makes sense to bring another artist on board to make sure we can get the book out on a regular schedule without compromising the quality of the art.”

Athena Voltaire and the Sorcerer Pope will be the first four issue mini-series in the ongoing series, joining the 96-page trade paperback Athena Voltaire and the Volcano Goddess and the 224-page hardcover Athena Voltaire Compendium in the Action Lab library. Upcoming releases include a one-shot special and a prose collection, Athena Voltaire Pulp Tales, featuring some of the best writers in comics today. With its period setting, rapid-fire action, and strong female lead, the series is sure to appeal to fans of Indiana Jones, the Rocketeer, and Black Widow.


From creator Steve Bryant:

Hello, all!

I wanted to let you know that Action Lab, Athena Voltaire’s publishing home, has launched a Kickstarter for the ongoing Athena Voltaire series.

Here’s the skinny: I have a bunch of AV story arcs that comprise an overall arc for the character and her world. I also know that with my limitations (slow artist, day job, back in school), there’s no way I’ll have time to draw all of these stories—unless we’re willing to wait YEARS and YEARS for the story to be completed.

Make no mistake—this is still MY baby, and I’ll be involved, writing and providing covers, as well as drawing some of the arcs.

That’s where Action Lab (and this Kickstarter) comes in. If this new campaign is successful, we’ll have the money to pay the contributors for the first arc and launch the book. Having his nest egg will help us to work well in advance and give the series the the time it needs to find its footing in a competitive direct market.

We’ll release the series monthly, in 4-issue arcs. The first arc, Athena Voltaire and the Sorcerer Pope is written, and artist Ismael Canales is done drawing the first issue and is ramping up on issue two. I’m currently writing the second arc, titled Athena Voltaire and the Terror on the Orient Express.

What people are saying about Athena Voltaire:

“…Imagine if the likes of The Mummy and Van Helsing were actually, you know, good.”
— Warren Ellis (Hellblazer, Planetary, The Authority)

“Athena Voltaire is just my kind of glorious pulp epic. A comic lover’s comic book if there ever was one,
full of everything that makes comic books worth loving.”
— Matt Fraction (Invincible Iron Man, Uncanny X-Men, The Immortal Iron Fist)

“Athena Voltaire has been around for over a decade and her adventures have always been true to her character.
This issue keeps it going.”
(Major Spoilers)

“If you like games like Uncharted or Tomb Raider, you’ll dig this book.”
(Horror Talk)

 


Steve Bryant
is the Eisner, Manning, and Harvey Award-nominated writer/artist of Athena Voltaire from Action Lab Entertainment, and the writer/co-creator of Ghoul Scouts, also published by Action Lab. He has also completed projects for Dark Horse Comics, IDW, Boom! Studios, Ape Entertainment, and others, as well as extensive work in the roleplaying game industry.

Awards and Special Recognition

2004  Included in The Year’s Best Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga, St Martins Press, Athena Voltaire webcomic.
2005    Eisner Award Nomination: Best Digital Comic, Athena Voltaire webcomic.
2007    Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award Nomination.
2015 Harvey Award Nominations: Best Cartoonist, Most Promising New Talent, Best Original Graphic Album (Athena Voltaire Compendium)

Steve Bryant Online:

 

 

 

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Athena Voltaire Online:

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Action Lab Entertainment:
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Not much risk here!

Action Lab and Steve are fully committed to producing Athena Voltaire
as an ongoing series of episodic minis.

This Kickstarter is designed to help Steve and a full team
of creative team produce this beloved series!

Be sure to check out Athena Voltaire: The Ongoing Adventures on Kickstarter NOW
and get in on this soon-to-be funded campaign!

#SupportIndieComics

New to Kickstarter? Signing up is a breeze!
Click HERE to enroll and be able to back any Kickstarter campaign,
most importantly Athena Voltaire: The Ongoing Adventures!

Campaigns last 30 days and are an “All or Nothing” campaign. If a campaign does not meet its goal by completion, the campaign is not funded and backers are not charged. Upon a successful campaign’s completion, you will be charged the amount you backed. What’s even better, once you’ve backed a successfully funded campaign, the creator will send you periodic updates as to its progress and stays connected with you until your comic(s) arrive!