Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, kickstarter, patrick neighly, supernaturalists

Vampires Are Boring

Patrick Neighly writes;

Vampires are boring.

There, I said it.

They're played out. They're either grotesque pedophiles inexplicably attracted to high school students or mincing clotheshorses moaning about having to live forever young and fabulously wealthy. The only thing that makes sense about them, glittering or otherwise, is that I'd have to be dead to wear a velvet pirate shirt.

Why, then, did I write a book about vampires?

Because, in the words of one vampire or another, "There's no such thing as a bad idea. Only poorly executed awesome ones."

And so I wrote The Supernaturalists a few years ago. Could I make vampires interesting – or at least, interesting to me? The answer, it turns out, is yes. I ditched the pantaloons, ditched the glitter, ditched pretty much everything that makes a vampire a vampire. Relocated to 1920s New York circa 1960s pulp novels, with nary a fogbound castle or tween model in sight.

What came out of those late nights at the keyboard was a Prohibition cocktail of witty banter and exciting action scenes, pinned on a plot that repeatedly subverts our understanding of popular vampire mythos. Near Dark meets Boardwalk Empire, gorgeously illustrated by the late Argentinian artist Jorge Heufemann in a vintage two-fisted style.

The story is a Jazz Age murder mystery, with vampires. Only vampires don't exist, do they? Hard luck detective Edgar Drake must grapple with the impossible in order to solve a string of grisly murders, but sometimes even the impossible isn't what it seems. Backed by a glittering socialite and a traveling jazz musician, Edgar races against time to save New York City from a diabolical killer.

People seemed to enjoy it. Steven Grant, creator of current Hollywood hit 2Guns, admitted that he "…didn't think there was an interesting vampire tale left to tell, but The Supernaturalists is it. A deftly told blend of crime and horror genres… with confident pacing, strong characters and snappy, efficient dialog."

Jorge and I sold out of our small print run, which was a nice gift to share with him before he sadly passed away. And that was that… until someone recently asked for a copy, and I realized I didn't have one to give them. But then someone else pointed out that I still had the digital files, and suggested giving Kickstarter a shot.

So I decided to launch a campaign to get the book back into print after all these years. Only, if I was going to do it, I was going to do it right. A nice hardcover edition that felt like a Jazz Age object itself. Heavy paper to show off Jorge's art. Go big or go home – after all, The Comics Journal did once call me "an author who knows when to damn the torpedoes and move ahead at full steam."

The plan presented one small problem. How to get noticed among the dozens of other – equally deserving – projects out there, especially without a notable online presence or installed fan base?

And that's where it gets interesting, because people have been discovering the Kickstarter initiative on their own. Every day brings new patrons to the fold, complete strangers who've watched the video or read the sample pages and decided to support the reprint from other cities and countries. It's a moving testament to the power of the Internet, and the crowdsourcing culture. And thanks to Bleeding Cool, I have the opportunity to share the book with you.

I've added a special Bleeding Cool backing tier, giving readers bonus swag including free comics, graphic novels and wallpapers for just $30. As an added incentive, if we reach the halfway mark for our campaign by Friday, all backers at all levels will receive an exclusive signed print in addition to their other rewards.

Crowdfunding our way back from the past – what could be more appropriate for a book about vampires?

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!