Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, Kane Gilmour, kickstarter, Scott Vaughn, Warbirds Of Mars

A Dieselpunk Comic In Which Aliens Invade WWII

Published Sun, 25 May 2014 14:00:08 -0500

Scott P. "Doc" Vaughn writes for Bleeding Cool:

The all-new, exciting first issue of the retro-scifi comic series, continuing the successful Dieselpunk web-comic in which aliens invaded WWII!

There's a certain special 'something' about inspiration and fandom. The two are linked. They can lead you on fantastic journeys of discovery through new wonders and the old ideas that encouraged them.

With 'Warbirds of Mars' I was influenced primarily by the pop culture of the 1930's and 40's. I've loved 'pulp' style imagery for as long as I can remember, probably starting with my early enjoyment of the original King Kong (1933) and Weissmuller Tarzan movies. But if there's one specific format that set the tone for 'Warbirds' as a comic, then it goes back to the Sunday and daily newspaper adventure 'strips'.

On a trip to Disneyland more than a decade ago (ok, maybe almost two), I walked into an art gallery and fell in love with a print of the original Alex Raymond Flash Gordon strip. It was a single panel from the 1930's blown up into a giant lithograph, the brush strokes simple and expressive, colors enflamed to dots of primary hue. His art was fantastic; classic illustration. It led me on a trek from Mark Schultz and Gary Gianni to Norman Saunders, Al Williamson, Milt Caniff, Dave Stevens and still so much more.

'Warbirds of Mars' is an extension of all of those ideals, creations and illustrators. Set in an alternate World War II, the story features a cast of heroes fighting for freedom against the race of aliens that invaded on D-Day who now occupy much of the globe. Being the 1940s, the invaders are simply referred to as 'Martians' (Think War of the Worlds meets Mars Attacks, with a dash of The Rocketeer or The Shadow). The tale runs the gamut from inner-city pulp heroics, romance, horror and adventure to all-out battle as the war for control of the Earth comes to a head!

Issue Number One (Our Kickstarter Project) picks up where the web-comic leaves off with a brand new story for unfamiliar readers. The format will be a 'Golden-Age' comic book style with fully rendered/inked comic pages and a cool, subdued color scheme. The book will include a full 22 or so pages of art, plus more retro-pulpy material, pinups, and other surprises. We've created an entire website around WoM that features 1940s Radio episodes, a 400 page, fully illustrated short-story anthology, collected print editions of the webcomics, T-shirts and more. With the new Issue Number One, we hope to take it to the next level as a fully-fledged comic available to readers everywhere!

I hope you enjoy Warbirds of Mars and that it leads you on your own journey of discover or trip down memory lane.