Let’s Kickstart This! Citizens- A Steampunk Graphic Novel

By Nolan P. Smith

It has been far too long, so let me welcome you back to another awesome look at crowdfunding greatness with the next installment of Let’s Kickstart This!

Who doesn’t love comic books? The sequential art medium is on the rise in popularity, and has always been an art form to tell any type of story; action, mystery, horror, romance, humor, you name it. Now, how about Steampunk? The sub pop culture phenomenon has been growing bigger and bigger every year, as stories of an alternative world where the power of steam is harnessed in every which way. Roland Mann and Joe Badon bring this and more in Citizens.

What’s it about? Here’s directly from their Kickstarter page:

Citizens is the story of Bedford Tanner, a young man who enters the army on the promise from the government that he would earn his citizenship when the war is over.

Unfortunately for Bedford, a new party takes control of the government, stops the war and brings the soldiers home, only to renege on the promise of citizenship. Now a physically deformed veteran, Bedford must come to grips with the reality that “citizens” hate him for being a soldier, and that citizenship may be beyond his grasp.

Unless…

Unless he agrees to accept a biofab body…essentially, an untested biologically fabricated body supplied by the new government.

So with Citizens, there’s a little something for everyone: war, political intrigue, romance, cool steampunk art. And while we feel the ideas/themes are advanced, the material is accessible to all ages. We’re not aiming this at your eight year old brother, but if he picked it up when you weren’t looking, he’d neither see nor read anything that would be inappropriate. I mean, hey! Joe and I are aiming for the widest appeal possible.

Now, I am familiar with both of the creators: Mann was actually an instructor at the college I got my B.A. from (Full Sail!), and I backed Badon’s last project, Terra Kaiju, which was amazing! I already backed this, I want to see this book happen, but it needs your support! Find it on Kickstarter at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1504363079/citizens-steampunk-graphic-novel and check it out! As a fan, we have the power to make the projects we like turn into reality, so let’s make this happen!