Posted in: Comics, Image | Tagged: body bags, Jason Pearson, kickstarter, scott dunbier

Jason Pearson's Artist's Edition Fulfilled 2015 Body Bags Kickstarter

Jason Pearson's Body Bags Artist's Edition fulfilled his abandoned Kickstarter crowd funder from 2015

Published Sat, 07 Feb 2026 07:58:08 -0600

Last updated Mon, 16 Feb 2026 04:30:59 -0600

Article Summary

Jason Pearson's Body Bags Artist's Edition will honor pledges from the abandoned 2015 Kickstarter.
The new Artist's Edition is produced by Skybound, Act 4 Publishing, and 12-Gauge Comics.
Kevin Gardner clarifies Pearson loved his Body Bags characters and prized the original pages.
The successful campaign was approved by Pearson’s mother, ensuring backers get full credit.

Yesterday, writing about the Artist's Edition of Jason Pearson's Body Bags from Skybound and Image Comics in partnership with Scott Dunbier's Act 4 Publishing and Keven Gardner's 12-Gauge Comics, I wrote that it was "a reproduction of the original artwork from the nineties series Body Bags by Jason Pearson from Dark Horse Comics, which both raised his reputation in the industry and later led to his depression over his inability to live up to his own work and his fans' demands. And he ended up hating the originals that are now being reproduced in such detail, linking to an earlier article on Bleeding Cool where the late artist told me of the Kickstarter-funded, very later and ultimately unfilled Body Bags he was working on that "I'm writing and drawing pages for a series that I really hated doing and didn't amount to much." He died five years later, and the Kickstarter was unfilled. UPDATE: See new article here for greater nuance.

Jason Pearson's Body Bags Artist's Edition

Kevin Gardner wrote to comment on the above. He said; "I did want to let you know that the quote you referenced leading you to believe he "ended up hating the originals" is an incorrect interpretation. Did he hate the process of creating that series? Sometimes, yes. But he also loved it when he cracked a story or finished a page. So, yes, at times he hated the creative process, but he never hated those characters. Clownface and Panda were his babies, and those original BODY BAGS pages were some of his most prized possessions, which is why he never sold a single page of artwork from the series. He sold just about all his other artwork for Marvel, DC, etc., but never even one of the pages or covers from BODY BAGS."

"Also, since you linked to your story about his failed 2015 Kickstarter, it might be worth noting that Scott Dunbier and I, with the blessing and support of Jason's mother, created a new Kickstarter campaign to fund the first printing of this Artist's Edition. One of the main reasons we went the crowdfunding route was so we could give every backer of the unfulfilled 2015 campaign full credit for whatever they pledged then on the Artist's Edition or any of the other items offered in our campaign (we offered two ancillary books, a card set, prints, digital rewards, etc.). And it was because that campaign was so successful that this mass release is now happening, as it showed Jason still has a ton of fans. Long story short, he did not end up hating his originals. If anything, he cared too much about them, because he could have sold the pages and made a lot of money (money that could have made his life easier)."

After Jason Pearson's tragic early death from a stroke at the age of 52, his Kickstarter backers naturally presumed that would be the end of that. It is quite remarkable that this wasn't the case, and a tribute to those who put this project together.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!