The cover of Issue 1 of "Orgasmageddon," with art by Jonathan Brandon Sawyer, color by Josh Jensen (Image courtesy Matt Miner)
Intergalactic rock gods and local legends GWAR are taking their long and storied mythos into the comic book world with "GWAR: Orgasmageddon," a new four-issue series currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter.
The campaign is asking for $39,000, and with 11 days to go as of this writing, it's poised to reach its goal with more than $35,000 raised from nearly 500 backers. Like many Kickstarter campaigns, one of the main draws for contributors are the unique and outlandish backer rewards, and GWAR’s campaign doesn’t disappoint.
The prizes range from a digital copy of the first issue for $6, to a stage prop of Mitt Romney’s decapitated head used in the band’s 2012 tour in exchange for a $1,750 donation.
Matt Miner, co-writer for the comic and organizer for the crowdfunding campaign, says that he first heard the band when he was 16 years old, and he hasn't looked back since.
“Someone gave me a cassette tape of 'Scumdogs of the Universe,' and I just kind of fell in love,” says Miner.
Last year, after Miner had four successful comic book series and multiple years in the business under his belt, he approached GWAR with the idea of a comic book based on the backstory that has built up around the band’s many members.
“When I first got into comics, I knew I really wanted to make a GWAR comic,” says Miner. “I absolutely respect the GWAR mythos and the story thus far, so it’s definitely been a labor of love.”
A wraparound comic book cover to be signed by the members of GWAR is among the prizes for contributors to the Kickstarter effort. (Image courtesy Matt Miner)
Miner is writing the comic along with GWAR, with past collaborators Jonathan Brandon Sawyer, Taylor Esposito and Brendan Wright handling the art, lettering and editing, respectively. When Miner was assembling his team, he says their GWAR fandom was one of the most important things he was looking for.
“My first question before approaching anyone to work on this was, ‘Are you a GWAR fan?’ says Miner. “I wanted anybody working on this to be a fan of the band, and to know what’s going on.”
The series will track GWAR’s adventures through time, with each issue showing the band wreaking havoc on a different point in history. Each issue will also feature art and short stories from members of Slave Pit, GWAR’s art collective, or from the band themselves.
“Think of it as 'Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,' but if Bill and Ted went on an alcohol bender and killed everything in their path,” said Miner.
Miner says the response to the crowdfunding project has been tremendous, and that Kickstarter’s success could be partly due to the crossover between metal fans and comic book fans.
“The response has been incredible,” said Miner. “We saw articles come up from all over, from metal sites to big comic outlets.”
You can see the project for yourself and donate on Kickstarter.
