Posted in: Comics, Indie Comics | Tagged: arks, kickstarter, sci-fi

Kickstarter Dweeb Accidentally Creates New Genre Of Science Fiction

Collins Holly wants to tell you about a young couple, lost, naked, and starving in a wood, who have a terrible decision to make: burn to death or drown in the oxygen. And also how they invented a new genre of science-fiction. They write;

I am that dweeb. And this is the 'new' genre – science faction; 'Actual scientific discoveries or inventions that are so hard to believe as to be commonly mistaken for science fiction.' 

It was a total accident. I read a brief history of time and had my heartbroken when I discovered that the conventional idea of us traveling between distant planets in spaceships is entirely impossible (extrasolar travel for the nerds). But I love spaceships. Putting it aside, I became fascinated with the topic of extrasolar travel and continued to research into it, which is now where you find me, halfway through our first Kickstarter for our comic ARKS. Which might just be, maybe, the first science faction comic….or at least that's my story, and I'm running with it for now anyway.

Let's take a look at why I'm going for that claim….

It is based on a scientific theory that is so weird that the entire world seems to have overlooked it. Despite the theory existing for over 50 years and scientists now quietly admitting that it might be the only method we have for extrasolar travel – its name… Directed Panspermia.

I know it has the word sperm in it, so laughing aside – you're hardly likely to forget it once told it. But it remains one of the most bonkers, incredible ideas you've never heard of. Tick.

Tell me more you say, well okay then……thanks to recent advances in the field of genomics the simplest way for us to travel across the stars might be to fold human DNA into the DNA of bacteria and fire it at habitable planets in the goldilocks zone of their system's star.  We basically create a life form that, frozen, could survive the unbelievably difficult journey across space and have it boot us up on the other side.  Tick. Tick.

Most sci-fi stories, even the ones I love, like Star Trek and aliens, etc., take a very maritime view of how we'll travel across the stars. But what if we travel across the stars the same way as plants pollinate. This was my Jurassic park, dinosaur blood in the mosquito moment. Tick, tick, tick!

So I wrote a script, it was optioned by a movie studio, but wanting to see the story realized in my lifetime, and being a professional illustrator, I decided to turn the story into a graphic novel. Initially, I was going to produce it in my spare time, but enough people hassled me that I have taken the plunge, and we're on Kickstarter. We are looking to bring our take on science faction to the comics community.

Our Kickstarter was fully funded in 24 hours (I know!). So we've now had the obvious thought, what if we can raise enough money to have a second artist work on the comic and get started on the 2nd issue. With just over a week to go, we'd have to smash through 6 more stretch goals. With the help of Bleeding Cool readers, anything is possible, right?

Plus, we've got a little promo for any Bleeding Cool readers who back ARKS. You'll have exclusive access to early concept artwork, which won't be released anywhere else – just let us know you're Bleeding Cool via a DM when you pledge or at the Backerkit checkout.  Plus, just think if you back ARKS, you'll be helping to create a new sci-fi genre. Tick, tick, tick, TICK! ;-)

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