Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment

It's About Time The Psycho Killers Met Their Match

Published Sun, 01 Nov 2015 12:00:14 -0600

Last updated Sun, 01 Nov 2015 13:29:45 -0600

by Cassidy Lee Phillips Twitter Facebook.

I've always wondered what would happen if horror movie villains were faced with action movie heroes instead of the usual teenage victims. I love those movies and I wanted to see some sort of competition for the "slasher film vs sports film" divisional title!

Champion Killers is the story of what happens when highly trained professional warriors are ambushed by anarchist psycho killers in the wilderness, in glossy full-color!

Marcus "Pay The" Toll, the North American Heavyweight Champion, is days away from the fight of his dreams: the World Heavyweight Championship. At 26 years old, it's Marcus' time to shine. After passing on an invitation to the Olympics to turn pro at 19 years old, Marcus won the 190 pound Cruiserweight title within 3 months, then moved up to 225 pounds in pursuit of the Heavyweight belts.

His professional record is sterling at 22 wins, 22 KOs, 0 losses. He's the biggest character in sports since Michael Jordan, with multi-million dollar endorsement deals for everything from fast food to cologne, despite his cranky persona.

Marcus is in top condition for the big fight, but he has one weakness: he's afraid of flying. Which means he and his entourage are traveling in his luxury motorcoach, the "Toll Bus". Onboard for this trip are Marcus' Trainer, long retired 175 pound champion Leonard "Leo Murder" Muir, chief of security Court Sabbath, rap star "Glide", conditioning coach Caleb "Win" Wynant, bodyguard "Crane", his cut man, manager, two security men, three young female fans, and Marcus' ten year old son Achilles "Chill" Toll.

Cruising along a rural interstate in the western United States, far outside of cell phone range, the bus is forced to detour from the main road by a massive fallen pine tree. Eventually, the detour devolves into a dirt road through pine forest and the group seeks a working phone at a lit cabin off the path.

Before long, everything has been turned upside down and the Heavyweight Champ and crew are fighting for their lives against backwoods psychopaths. We quickly find that Marcus isn't the only fighter on this bus: his security team is composed of military veterans and his conditioning coach is a martial arts master. This isn't going to be a simple slashfest for our psychos.

Comedy is inevitable when you put a huge ego like Marcus "Pay The" Toll in the room with over-the-top axe-murdering enemies, but I can assure you there will be authentic action for the martial arts and horror fans. My father started me on boxing when I was just four, thus ruining my ability to enjoy most choreographed fight scenes for the rest of my life. There will be real left hooks and overhand rights in this book. Real head movement and proper foot positioning.

For the horror fans: you will fear for the Champ and his crew. Tension will be in the air.

For gore-hounds: I will be breaking out the anatomy books to make sure I draw those intestines correctly.

Super powers and Zombies? Not this time. I love that stuff but this is NOT that kind of story: this is pugilistic mastery versus murderous carpentry skills!

An exclusive look into the Champion Killers themselves:

Exactly what kinds of nutjobs are crazy enough to attack a Heavyweight Champion's tour bus?

The "Free Americans" are a group of anti-government militants who went off the grid in the 1950's and haven't been a part of society since. They have supported themselves by selling lumber and livestock from their land–as well as the occasional highway robbery. This disconnect from modern culture will be apparent by careful inspection of their weapons, which are either updated items from 60 years ago or are completely handmade by the Free Americans themselves. While they are possibly insane, these villains are not stupid. What do they want with Heavyweight Champ Marcus Toll? You'll have to read the book for that!

The BLEEDING COOL EXCLUSIVE doesn't end there: Every Bleeding Cool reader who backs Champion killers on Kickstarter at or above the $30 "Student Of The Game" Reward Level will receive an "Extra Bloody Cool" 11×17 pin-up of the Toll Bus passengers geared up, battle bloodied, and ready for more. *Bleeding Cool readers can back at any level below $30 and receive the "Extra Bloody Cool" pin-up as a high resolution digital image file.

Champion Killers 1-3 Hardcover Collected Edition:

77 glossy full color pages of sequential art containing the complete first Champion Killers story arc (no cliffhangers here!).
Extra pages with behind-the-scenes sketches and notes!
Backers who pledge $30 or more will have their name printed in the Thank You section of the book, in addition to their selected reward items!
The 6.625" x 10.25" hardcover book reward will be signed and numbered exclusively for Kickstarter Backers!

I need you in my camp!

The advantage to being a one-man-show is that there will be no creator disputes during the production of Champion Killers or massive editorial notes from a corner office upstairs. This also means that I will be the one personally scripting, penciling, and coloring the entire 77-pages of sequential art, tripling the production time of a book in which the work would be performed by a team in tandem. To give this project the respect it deserves will require my full attention for an estimated six months.

Rewards for fight fans of any ranking:

I'm creating a variety of great items to reward everyone who backs this project, ranging from digital copies of the comic books to the signed and numbered hardcover collected edition to t-shirts and even original Champion Killers pencil art from the comic.

This story cannot be told without YOU: my fellow comic book fans! Let the world know that you want to see this kind of old school, R-rated, horror action! Help me make this gory little adventure a reality, in full-color. And spread the word, so that you and your friends can all sit ringside for Champion Killers!

Don't forget about your exclusive:

Every Bleeding Cool reader who backs Champion killers on Kickstarter at or above the $30 "Student Of The Game" Reward Level will receive an EXCLUSIVE extra bloody 11×17 pin-up of the Toll Bus passengers geared up, battle bloodied, and ready for more. *Bleeding Cool readers can back at any level below $30 and receive the "Extra Bloody Cool" pin-up as a high resolution digital image file.