John McCrea, world-famous Eisner Award-winning comic artist known for his work on characters such as Spider-Man, Batman, the Hulk, Superman and Hitman, is back with another Kickstarter, and if you managed to snag his previous book, The Mighty World of McCrea, you’d already know to be ready for a high quality, entertaining publication the upcoming crowdfunding campaign is a success.
This time out, John’s bringing together all the artwork from the first four issues of Dead Eyes, along with original sketches, the entire script, commentary on the drawing process and details on the creation of Dead Eyes’ into a brand new Dead Eyes Art Book.
Roughly 200 pages long and cased in a beautiful hardcover designed by none-other than Rian Hughes, designer of logos and books for Marvel, DC and pretty much everyone else, the Kickstarter launches on Wednesday 28th April 2021.
Dead Eyes is a bleak, comedic crime thriller from the pen of Gerry Duggan and pencil of John McCrea, the series first published by Image Comics. A character who was once a prolific stick-up man and hoodlum in Boston in the 1990s, until he took down one last big score – Dead Eyes retired to be with the love of his life. But now she’s sick, and he’s broke, and has to come out of retirement. But the world is different and he is older, and no one – not his wife, the Mafia, or the cops – is happy that he’s back in action.
“I love a good art book that shows the artwork at its best, black and white with no lettering,” John tells us,” so I can see all the details. This book will do just that, with Gerry’s script printed on the other page, along with commentary about the process of drawing the art, unseen pages and layouts, photos and more. This book is also the lead into a new Dead Eyes series coming later in the year from Image.”
“I’m grateful that everyone will get to experience John’s beautiful inks of a bleak world.,” ads Gerry Duggan, currently writing Cable for Marvel and whose credits include Analog, Deadpool and X-Men.
“Everything is bigger on these pages: the laughs, the heartbreak — and the hope. Apologies to our wonderful children, but this is the best thing either of us have brought into the world.”
The Kickstarter will offer fans the opportunity to pick up a couple of pieces of original one of a kind ‘Dead Eyes’ artwork from Issue 2 of its original run, along with sketch upgrades for people who would still like some original art but on a budget.
A number of tiers to suit every budget are planned, and, as with Mighty World Of McCrea – which is one of the best Kickstarter collections I’ve seen – once again includes some incredible stretch goals to grab yourself a bonus extra, such as a digital colouring book and an exclusive print.
You will also be able to pick up a copy of the popular Mighty World Of McCrea here too, if you missed out on last year’s Kickstarter. (Did I mention it was one of the best Kickstarter collections I’ve see? Oh, yes. So I did).
There is no guarantee that this The Dead Eyes Art Book will be available after the Kickstarter has ended, so if you’re a fan of the character, John and Gerry, make sure to support to you get a copy of this highly anticipated art book.
• The Dead Eyes Art Book Kickstarter launches on the 28th April 2021 at 7.00pm and you can follow it in advance here. It will finish on the 29th May at 7.00pm
WEB LINKS
• John McCrea is online at johnmccrea.co.uk | Twitter: @mccreaman | Instagram: @mccreaman1 | Facebook
• Gerry Duggan is inline at gerryduggan.com | Twitter | Instagram
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, Books, Comic Art, Crowd Funding Projects, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds