Main site at http://RuneStoneComic.com. In the DARKHAN CITY AWESOME COMICS CULTURE PODCAST, the Pantyhose Ninjas (ELDERS OF THE RUNESTONE creators Quinn Johnson & Robert Atkins, plus editor Troy Johnson) discuss comics, movies, TV and video games, all with a healthy dose of comedy. This is the place for exclusive interviews with the best professional talent in the entertainment industry, and for discussions on the best ways to break in yourself! Also on iTunes and Zune.net!
Okay, as of this writing we are actually at $9990. Close enough!
To keep things moving as we enter the last week of funding, we are announcing a BONUSGIFT to everyone who has pledged or will pledge at least $5 IF we hit the $12,000 stretch-goal.
If we hit our $12,000 funding stretch-goal, then in addition to sending a PDF of Issue #1 to everyone who has pledged any amount of $5 or more, we will also send a PDF of ISSUE #2! Believe us, the cliffhanger at the end of Issue #1
will make you beg for more, and Issue #2 is ACTION-PACKED! There are
still a lot of awesome rewards to be claimed, including the chance to
get your last name used for one of the main heroes for the entire duration of the series!
We hope that this new bonus incentive will give you a good reason to
increase your pledge and to further help us to spread the word!
Our funding cut-off date
is coming up fast, so let's do this! And again, thank you with all our
hearts for making this dream a reality and helping us get this far!!
And for an extra bonus, check out another page from Issue #1 below!
Welcome to Episode #81 of the Darkhan City Awesome Comics Culture Podcast!
(click HERE to Subscribe and / or Listen, or HERE to download the individual episode)
Dreams come true! Thanks to all our amazing fans, followers, and friends and to the genius of Kickstarter.com, Elders of the RuneStone is on its way to full production and release! With fellow SCAD alumnus and successful Kickstarter.com beneficiary Bryan Tillman, the Pantyhose Ninjas discuss how to make Kickstarter.com work for you. Now THAT's better than eight simultaneous Chuck Norris boots to the face.
Our new funding goal is $12,000! The first four-issue miniseries ends
on a HUGE cliffhanger. If we hit this next funding goal, we can produce
ISSUE #5! The closer we get to this new goal, the more exclusive
rewards will become available, including more chances to have your name
and / or likeness inserted into the story! Please help us spread the
word! And let us know of any new rewards you'd like to see, we're totally open to your ideas!
Also look below for another page from Issue #1 to whet your appetite, and get a load of Ryan Landvatter's incredible fan art of Adder! (See more of Ryan's awesome work at his website, http://itsokaytobeanerd.blogspot.com/.
Feast your eyes below on our ALL-NEW OFFICIAL LOGO for Elders of the RuneStone by the esteemed Chad Keyes! It went through a few different versions to nail just the right feel and look for the series, but when we saw it, we knew it!
Also be sure to check out a finished page from Issue #1 below! More to come!
(Psst...we passed our ORIGINAL funding goal of $9000 today!)
"IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAND!!!" (That was for you, Travis!)
But we're nowherenear
stopping yet! We've still got 18 days and tons of awesome rewards left!
If we can hit $12,000, then that's another issue we can produce for the
first major story arc. The more issues we can produce, the more
opportunities we'll have to release even more rewards, including more
chances to see your face and / or name in the pages of Elders of the
RuneStone! More to come on that!
Last of all, a big thank you to
all of you backers who have made this dream a reality. There are not
words adequate to express our deep appreciation. Please keep spreading
the word and let's take this series to the next level! (And a big thank
you to Planet-Pulp.com for kindly giving us promotion space on their website. Be sure to check it out for awesome artwork by many stellar artists!)
So as this Kickstarter project has been going
along, we've kept a close eye on which rewards have been the most
popular. Besides getting an actual copy of the collected graphic novel,
undoubtedly the fastest to be grabbed were those that let backers BE in
the story, either to be drawn into at least one panel, or have their
name inserted into the dialogue (or even to be killed off!). Well if you
missed your chance the first time around...you're in luck!! We've added
NEW rewards that are now up for grabs! Check 'em out:
-NEW! Pledge $45 or more (limited reward of 30): Get a copy of the collected graphic novel, AND a limited
black & white sketchbook with Elders of theRuneStone art, story
notes and interviews! Sketchbook includes pre-production art from both series
artist Robert Atkins (G.I. Joe, X-Men
Forever, Amazing Spider-man) and series
writer Quinn Johnson (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kung Fu Panda, Megamind) that established the look of the series, with
revealing behind-the-scenes commentary! Both the graphic novel and the
sketchbook are hand-numbered and signed by Quinn, and Robert will also sign the
sketchook. AND get a PDF (special “Kickstarter Team” edition) of the double-sized first issue, AND get
your name printed in the “Thank You’s” at the end of the book and on the Elders
of the RuneStone website under the “Silver
Contributors” section!
-NEW! Pledge $50 or more (limited reward of 4): Get a random original inked page from the series, signed by
comics inker Juan Castro (Elders of the RuneStone, G.I. Joe)! AND get a
PDF (special “Kickstarter Team”
edition) of the double-sized first issue, AND get your name printed in the
“Thank You’s” at the end of the book and on the Elders of the
RuneStone website under the “Silver
Contributors” section!
-NEW! Pledge $60 or more (limited reward of 9): Your name (not likeness) will be used for a minor character
that appears briefly in Elders of the RuneStone before getting killed! AND you’ll get a copy of the collected graphic
novel, hand-numbered and signed by series writer Quinn Johnson (Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kung Fu
Panda, Megamind)! AND get a PDF (special “Kickstarter
Team” edition) of the double-sized first
issue, AND get your name printed in the “Thank You’s” at the end of the book
and on the Elders of the RuneStone
website under the “Silver Contributors” section!
-NEW! Pledge $75 or more (limited reward of 5): The artist will hand-draw you into at least one panel of an
issue of Elders of the RuneStone! AND
you’ll get a copy of the collected graphic novel, hand-numbered and signed by series
writer Quinn Johnson (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kung Fu Panda, Megamind)! AND get a PDF (special “Kickstarter Team” edition) of the double-sized first issue, AND get
your name printed in the “Thank You’s” at the end of the book and on the Elders
of the RuneStone website under the “Gold
Contributors” section!
-NEW! Pledge $200 or more (limited reward of 1): Get a promotional inked illustration featuring all five
heroes from Elders of the RuneStone,
with art by series artist Robert Atkins (G.I. Joe, X-Men Forever, Amazing Spider-man)! AND get a PDF (special “Kickstarter Team” edition) of the double-sized first issue, AND get
your name printed in the “Thank You’s” at the end of the book and on the Elders
of the RuneStone website under the “Gold
Contributors” section!
-NEW! ULTIMATE REWARD! Pledge $500 or more (limited
reward of 2): Original cover art by series artist Robert Atkins (G.I.
Joe, X-Men Forever, Amazing
Spider-man) from one of the first four
issues! It’s 11 x 17” original art inked on illustration board. AND a copy of
the collected graphic novel, signed and hand-numbered by series writer Quinn
Johnson (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kung Fu Panda, Megamind).
AND get a PDF (special “Kickstarter Team” edition) of the double-sized first issue, AND get your name printed
in the “Thank You’s” at the end of the book and on the Elders of the
RuneStone website under the “Gold
Contributors” section!
-NEW! ULTIMATE HERO REWARD! Pledge $500 or more (limited
reward of 4): Your surname will be used for one of the main characters
(Scott, Jenny, Kat or Dain) in Elders of the RuneStone! That’s right! For the entire run of the series
(beyond the first four-issue miniseries) your last name will belong to one of
the core heroes! (Creators reserve the right to choose which surname is the
most appropriate for which character.) AND you’ll get a copy of the collected
graphic novel, hand-numbered and signed by series writer Quinn Johnson (Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kung Fu
Panda, Megamind)! AND get a PDF (special “Kickstarter
Team” edition) of the double-sized first
issue, AND get your name printed in the “Thank You’s” at the end of the book
and on the Elders of the RuneStone
website under the “Gold Contributors” section!
-NEW!
KICKSTARTER KING REWARD! Pledge $1000 or more (limited reward of 1): Series artist Robert Atkins (G.I. Joe, X-Men Forever, Amazing Spider-man) will custom draw 11 x 17” original art inked on
illustration board of YOU (or anyone of your choosing) posing with the heroes
from Elders of the RuneStone!
This illustration will then be colored and included in the collected graphic
novel! AND get a copy of the collected graphic novel, signed and hand-numbered
by series writer Quinn Johnson (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kung Fu Panda, Megamind). AND get a PDF (special “Kickstarter Team” edition) of the double-sized first issue, AND get
your name printed in the “Thank You’s” at the end of the book and on the Elders
of the RuneStone website under the
“Platinum Contributors” section!
Yes, you read correctly! Your last name can become the surname of one of FOUR OF THE MAIN HEROES for the entire life of the series!
We've pretty much had their names picked out for almost 20 years, but
if it helps the series to make it into the hands of fans worldwide, we
will change them to your last name!
Again, thanks to all those
who have been so generous in their backing and who have done so much to
spread the word. It is very, very appreciated. We still have a long way
to go, so please continue to do all you can to share the video and the
link to this project with whomever you can.
*And if you've
already pledged and would like to pledge again and grab another reward,
you can create a second Kickstarter account and go for it!
We've
got some awesome stuff to show off in the new few updates, including
sneak peeks at finished pages of the series and our BRAND NEW LOGO! But
until then, feast your eyes on the FINISHED ADDER ACTION FIGURE
custom-created by the incredible Doug Brown. As a special surprise, he even added a custom-created figure of one of the psychotic Smiley killers from the series! As the creators of the character, we can tell you this is pretty mind-blowing! You can contact Doug at dbr3470@yahoo.com.
Well, the first week of Elders of the RuneStone
on Kickstarter has been astounding to say the least. Right now we're
sitting at just shy of $6000, 2/3 of the way to make the project and its
rewards official. Thanks again to all who have been so incredibly
generous thus far!
Statistically Kickstarter projects tend to
slow down in the middle, and we've still got a good ways to go, so any
efforts in continuing to spread the word are awesome. Comics Experience just sent out their electronic newsletter and included a section on us, reaching over 1000 people! Also check out Michael's ComicsBoom network, which he was kind enough to feature our video on! Thanks so much guys!
Also a heads up to check out the awesome art blog Periodic Heroes, which is featuring Elders of the RuneStone as their theme this week. Thanks to Phil Sevy, creator of Heartless Dark!
Also
remember that we've still got a ton of fantastic rewards for pledges,
including personal art and writing critiques from series artist Robert Atkins and myself! Here's a little note from Michelle, who grabbed one of these rewards for herself:
"This is very exciting! I hope you do manage to raise the full $9,000 ~
and I can't wait to read this comic! I might be able to pledge more,
later on. I think it is fantastic that these types of options exist for
getting a comic book published. My fingers are crossed that your project
goes through without a hitch!
"(I don't have a script yet... (eeek!) I've just finished the Comics
Experience 'Intro to Comic Book Writing' so I'm JUST learning how to
write scripts. I'll get to work as soon as I can!!)
"Have a lovely day! ~Michelle"
Can't wait to see your stuff, Michelle!
And last of all, here are more pics of Doug Brown's incredible process of custom-creating the Adder action figure! Check out his process of creating and molding Adder's kunai (throwing knives). You can contact Doug at dbr3470@yahoo.com.
Ryan Landvatter, a good friend and supporter of this Kickstarter project (and an amazing artist, check out his website http://itsokaytobeanerd.blogspot.com), sent in the following message:
"Quinn,
My 4 year old son Jonas asked me to send you these pictures
because he wants to help too. I read a few of your comics to him and he
drew these pictures yesterday. He wanted me to send the drawings to you
and he said, 'They are totally rad, Dad!'
-Ryan and Jonas"
So here we present Jonas's awesome artwork of Elders of the RuneStone heroes Kat and Dain in his Gremlin form. *Just
a reminder that included in the rewards is the chance for your child to
get his or her artwork inked or colored by the amazing Juan Castro and Bob Pedroza, who handle inks and colors on the series!*
And here are more pics detailing the creation of Doug Brown's incredible custom-made Adder action figure. In Doug's own words: "I'm using liquid green stuff to build up the stitches [on the mask]. It's easier
to control the sculpting material with a brush, but you have to build
it up in layers....The MU arms have a slighty different construction than the Joe parts so I
had to create a spacer using a styrene tube to give the new arms a
tighter fit." Talk about dedication to detail! Contact Doug at dbr3470@yahoo.com.
Only five days in and we are almost at $5500! Thanks again to
everyone for your incredible support and generosity. Not much further
until our $9000 goal is reached and this project becomes official!
(Can't wait to start sending out your rewards!)
WOW! Less than three days in and we've broken
$4500--halfway to our goal of $9000! You backers are AMAZING!! This
seriously would not be possible without your kind support. Thank you all
again, and I am excited for you to soon be enjoying the rewards we have
in store! Now all we have to do it bring in that other $4500...
Also
thanks to all those of you who are spreading the word--it makes a HUGE
difference and has gotten a lot more people to join the team.
Just a little side note: Robert's been in the UK the past few days at the "Roll Out Roll Call" 2012 convention. Dave at All the Cool Stuff, a
comic shop there, was nice enough to invite him to the show as a guest and
meet the GI JOE and Action Force fans over in the UK. Read more about it on Robert's art blog, http://robertatkinsart.blogspot.com. Not much rest for me either, as I've also been hard at work writing the script for issue #5 of Archie and Bongo Comics artist Bill Galvan's co-created series The Scrapyard Detectives. It's been a total blast, and it's awesome any time I get to work with Bill. He's one fantastic guy!
Alrighty, enough from me. Here are a few more pics of the step-by-step process of Doug Brown's awesome custom-made Adder
action figure. Check out the painstaking process of adding the finest
detail, including sculpting the stitches on Adder's mask! Once again,
you can contact Doug and lavish him with praise and questions at dbr3470@yahoo.com.
Wow! Less than two days in and we've already
reached $3300! That's $1300 just since last night! I am simply astounded
and extremely humbled. Thanks so much to all of you who have been so
generous, and also for doing so much to spread the word!
I will
not lie, I'm exhausted! Working a full-time job, then coming home and
tackling all the tasks inherent to running this project takes it out of
you. (I've really been trying to send a personal note to each person who
pledges, you are fantastic.) Plus I hadn't counted on being so wired
these last couple days what with putting ourselves out there and seeing
how the world reacts to Elders of the RuneStone--it's affected my sleeping for sure. (Yes, I've been having Kickstarter
dreams.) It's extremely exciting and totally worth it! I think I'll
breathe easier when we hit that holy $9000 mark and this whole thing
becomes official. :)
Here are six more pics of Doug Brown's unbelievably awesome custom-made Adder
action figure. Check out his amazing process as he picks out just the
right parts from existing action figures, assembles them, then adds his
sculpting magic to make it look perfect! More to come after this! Once
again, you can contact Doug at dbr3470@yahoo.com.
After years of working on Elders of the RuneStone
and months of preparing for our Kickstarter fundraiser, I finally hit
the "Launch" button last night at about 10:30pm. Naturally I was feeling
pretty anxious. What would happen?
When I finally went to bed
about an hour and a half later, we were already at $775. When I left
this morning for my day job, we were already at $1200. Talk about an
awesome start! I drove to work in somewhat of a daze; after years of
struggling to find some way to fund this project, it finally began to
hit me: "Holy cow. This series is actually going to happen!"
Now, less than 24 hours after launch, we're at over $1600.
All
I can say to all of you who have pledged so far is THANK YOU. I am
truly touched and humbled by your kindness and for believing in this
series. It means more than you can imagine.
We still have a long
way to go, so please keep spreading the word! Posting the link to this
project on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and forums, etc. is extremely
appreciated! The more money we raise, the more story we'll be able to
produce! It'll be worth it, I can promise you!
As seen in the following pics, the amazing Doug Brown was inspired by Robert's awesome
artwork and has used his customizing genius to create an action figure
of Elders of the RuneStone's very own ADDER! I'll be releasing more photos of the process in the coming days as the project continues. Contact Doug as dbr3470@yahoo.com and let him know how awesome he is!
