Connect with us

Comics

[Give It A Kickstart] 44 Flood Launches ‘TOME 2: MELANCHOLIA’

Published

11 years ago

on

Last year, 44 FLOOD, a new company started by Ben Templesmith, menton3, Kasra Ghanbari, and Nick Idell, launched a Kickstarter campaign for their first annual edition of their anthology series “TOME”. The first volume focused on the theme of vampirism and was crowd funded in under 24 hours. The product was a beast of an art book featuring work from some of the best artists in the world. It truly is a magnificent sight to behold and it is a testament of the passion these guys put into their projects.

The gang at 44 FLOOD has just launched the Kickstarter for “TOME 2: MELANCHOLIA”, and it’s already well on it’s way to being successfully funded. The book is planned to be 12×18″ and 200 pages with an inserted music CD. The list of artists involved is just insane (see it on their campaign page). As always, the backing options are wicked including original artwork and prints from the artists involved.

From the Kickstarter:

TOME is a biennial anthology in an oversized format showcasing world-class and emerging artists from diverse disciplines as they explore a single, esoteric theme. TOME is made by artists with artists for the artist within us all.

The book is a massive 12×18″ and 200 pages with an inserted music CD! This large format lets the art be presented and experienced in a way that would be almost impossible outside of standing in front of the original work itself.

For TOME Volume 2, we will focus on the theme of MELANCHOLIA, the condition more akin to the alchemical phases the psyche passes through for our individuation and evolution…aka NOT depression or mourning, but something far more essential and ultimately beneficial to us all. The artist is born into a state of inspired MELANCHOLIA and exists within it. They bring back their experiences to us, providing those images, symbols, and light posts for our collective benefit, so that we may learn and not have to go through what it is that they have gone through. Our belief is that this influences the collective in a deeply meaningful and critical way, that this determines a society and culture’s ultimate health, well-being, growth, and relevance.

Featured Artists in TOME 2 will each have 6-8 pages to present to us their “Hero’s Journey” taken on our collective behalf. The works presented in TOME 2 will be a meticulous selection of pieces by artists leading up to a current piece or pieces that they’re working on, completing a compressed arc in an attempt to at least in part represent their individual journey, discoveries, and resolutions to date.

And as part of each Featured Artist’s contribution, they’ll have an interview or discussion with another artist to continue the articulation of their artistic exploration as related to the theme.

Our goal at 44FLOOD is to get you involved through this Kickstarter campaign to help make TOME 2 a reality, just like you did so incredibly with TOME Volume 1! We’re asking for your support through pre-ordering TOME 2 and it’s companion book EXPLICITUS EST LIBER 2 at a big discount to their retail price, as well as purchasing the offered art and prints, selecting from the special rewards offered, or even making a donation.

Thank you so much for your time, consideration, and support!

Related Topics:
Advertisement
Click to comment

Comics

‘The Toxic Avenger’ Returns with Cover Artwork for First Issue of New Comic Book Series [Exclusive]

Published

22 hours ago

on

May 13, 2024

By

With a remake on the way and a new 4K restoration of the original classic now streaming, it’s a good time to be a fan of Troma’s The Toxic Avenger. Additionally, Matt Bors — the founder of The Nib and a political cartoonist who has twice been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist —and acclaimed artist Fred Harper (Snelson) are collaborating on an all-new 5-issue comic book series starring the satirical superhero of the Troma Films cult classic films!

TOXIC AVENGER #1 will land in stores on October 9, 2024.

While you wait, you can exclusively check out the issue #1 cover art from Fred Harper below, along with a set of emojis designed by Harper for the extremely online teens of Tromaville.

“The Toxic Avenger delivers what Troma fans want,” said AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer. “The series has violent action, gross mutations, bursting pustules, eye-popping visuals, and trenchant humor.” 

“If there was ever a superhuman hero for these toxic, miserable times, Toxie is the one!” said Lloyd Kaufman. “Only AHOY Comics and Bors & Harper could pull this off…er…mop this up! Toxie and the Troma Team can’t wait ‘til you read -no, experience – the art and stories that the Toxic Avenger Comic Book will explode in your brain, your soul, and your heart. Above all, remember – Toxie loves you and so do I.”

“This series will combine elements of the original films with the Toxic Crusaders cartoon and characters in familiar ways, updated to tell a story of environmental devastation, corporate control, and social media mutation,” said Bors. “The Toxic Avenger is first and foremost an environmental satire, one about a small town and its unremarkable people trapped and transformed by circumstances they don’t control. The story Fred Harper and I are telling is about people frustrated by authorities telling them not to worry about their life, that things are fine, even as their dog mutates in front of their eyes. And at its core it is about a powerless boy, Melvin, who finds out he can be incredibly strong, hideously mutated, well-admired, and incredibly heroic… but still ultimately powerless over human behavior.”

In The Toxic Avenger, teenager Melvin Junko helps run his parent’s junkyard in Tromaville, a small town in New Jersey where nothing much ever happens — until an ill-timed train derailment of toxic waste transforms Melvin into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength: the Toxic Avenger!

Under a media blackout imposed by Biohazard Solutions (BS) and their PR-spewing Chairwoman Lindsay Flick, Melvin emerges as a hero fighting against BS and the mutated threats that keep popping up around Tromaville.

Eventually Melvin uncovers a vast conspiracy more far-reaching than he could have ever imagined — but he knows if everyone is simply made aware of the crisis, they’ll act to stop it. Right?

Continue Reading