Posted in: Comics | Tagged: art thibert, kickstarter

Art Thibert Hits Kickstarter With Chronos Mechanics

Published Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:05:54 -0600

You may know Art Thibert as inker on Uncanny X-Men and X-Factor, Ultimate Spider-Man and Bishop, but he also created the Black And White series from Image and Chrono Mechanics, first published by Image, then Alias.

Well, it appears that it's back. If you're willing that is. Art Thibert tells Bleeding Cool;

Hi everyone, I'm here with some exciting news! I have a Kickstarter campaign in the works that I would like you all to check out. The Kickstarter campaign for my indie book is called, Chrono Mechanics: 'Potholes in the Cosmic Road.' If you haven't read the original Chrono Mechanics stories, now is a perfect time for you to catch up on a great action/adventure sci-fi humor ride that will take you out of this world!

The concept of Chrono Mechanics is simple. Time is a huge machine that was built into the very fabric of the universe. It was turned on and . . . promptly broke down. At that point the bigwigs realized they had made a mistake so they created a huge sign that read, 'TIME – DO NOT TOUCH,' and then they went out for an extended coffee break. Luckily, before heading off, they also created a corporation to keep Time in good working order.

You can imagine the panic that would occur when the machine breaks down and timelines begin to merge in a chaotic manner. Imagine a T-Rex on your local freeway which gives a whole new meaning to the term 'road rage,' or think of Attila the Hun suddenly appearing in Nordstrom during the holiday rush. (I personally believe Attila & his crew would lose on that one; I've seen those women fight for 75% off tube socks!) So to keep mass hysteria from erupting (and men everywhere in tube socks), a corporation was created to keep Time in good working order. Chrono, Inc. hires and trains diversely different people (and some that aren't human) from an infinite number of time lines to become Time Repairmen!

Chrono Mechanics is about Team 9.2 of Sector 7. These four individuals are the best darned mechanics to ever punch a time card! When they're not fixing the world, Oot is a prehistoric Donald Trump, Caravaggio is a frustrated artist and inventor, and Zyn is an intergalactic child philosopher. Now into this crazy threesome comes Doug, a 70's rock legend with crazy dumb good luck and absolutely no idea how to follow the company manual (except as it relates to his lunch breaks!).

I'm sure your mind has already seen the endless possibilities for fun! There are plenty of 3 Stooges-type fights, lost guitar picks, tech-eating carnivores, death, and oh, yeah, Pablo Picasso stops by to mess with reality too. These guys may not be superheroes, but they are heroes!

Why go to Kickstarter you may ask? Well, for me, Kickstarter is a great avenue for artists and their creator-owned projects. As a creator of comic properties, I realize how hard it can be to get a comic published through the mainstream channels.

Way too often, publishing companies want high up-front fees just to publish the comic, and those fees can leave the artist/creator with next to nothing to show for their passion, time and commitment. But money isn't the only thing that can be stripped away. The publishing company can sometimes want part ownership and control of the project, but all the while the artist/creator has to accept all the liability. Yet many of us have gone this route just so our visions have the chance to be put in the public's hands (Oftentimes with little to no advertising to even let people know it's out there!). So I'm at Kickstarter because there are no 'up-front' fees, no ownership and control of my project. They do take a fee, but it's on the backend and it's only after the project has been successfully funded. Also, Kickstarter has an international fan base so I can potentially reach more people.

I'm also at Kickstarter because I love good comics, good adventures, good stories, and good artwork. I want to keep the dream alive not just for a new generation of readers but also for a new generation of creators just like me with a dream and the drive to create new worlds and new characters! I believe in creator's rights and the creative spirit!

And then, these stories are too good not to republish in a collected trade! 'Potholes,' if funded, will be all the Chrono Mechanics stories that I've published so far alongside numerous extras such as pinups by some industry greats like Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, Joe Bennett, Sam Liu, Fred Hembeck and Tom Bancroft. The original four covers from the series will be featured in a cover gallery, and if we exceed our goal, I would like to add a sketchbook section that is called, 'Under Construction' with some never before seen developmental sketches and drawings. This book will be around 140 pages of sheer wacky-ness and inspiration.

I hope everyone takes this chance to step outside of this world and grab onto the Chrono world with both hands! Thank you so much for taking the time to check out this campaign. I don't think you'll be disappointed!