Coming soon to Kickstarter from independent British comic publisher Mad Robot Comics is a glorious widescreen, cinematic sci-fi epic, After Darkfall, written by Diana Lock, drawn by the incredibly talented Italian artist, Gabriele Barsotti.
A tale of corruption, power, mixed loyalties and the journey to your true self, After Darkfall has been published as a WebToon series and will launch soon on Kickstarter with the aim of deliver a 132-page collected edition, which Diana, who, so far, has funded the project from her own pocket, is hoping will cover the costs to finish the full story.
The story is set in a world transformed after artificial intelligence shuts down Earth’s power grid to prevent climate catastrophe, a moment that becomes known as Darkfall.
As the world slowly recovers, humanity divides and societies are drawn to a mysterious energy source called Arantium, but it is not what it seems.
After Darkfall – completed episodes available to read at afterdarkfall.com – is set in a reality split in two: the neon towers of Dalliss City and the wild, haunted Spiritlands, locked in a struggle over this one remaining source of energy on a troubled world.
Caught between them are Vekka and Etu, fate-crossed potential lovers standing on opposite sides of the divide. When the world goes dark, love and war ignite.
The first few chapters are free to read online right now, the story based on a screenplay by Diana, unfolding with a real flare for world building and personal drama against an increasingly sinister backdrop. The characters are edgy and well written, the word building that has gone into this astonishing – and Gabriele Barsotti’s art, perfectly suited to telling this story, is absolutely jaw dropping.
The upcoming Kickstarter aims to bring After Darkfall to print as a beautiful graphic novel, with covers, prints and original art you will not find anywhere else.
Marvel and DC Comics veteran Andy Lanning is part of the talented creative team, who’s been helping Diana Lock adapt her screenplay into a comic series.
“Diana met Ant Williams at the Hastings Comic Con last year,” Andy tells us, “and he put her in touch with me so we could explain the comic process and help her turn the screenplay (with a very small chance of ever being made into a movie) into a comic, which we have done over the last year or so.
“Diana has funded this from her own pocket as she just wants to see the story out in the world.”
At its core, After Darkfall explores the consequences of humanity’s relationship with power, energy, and the planet.
Set in a future shaped by climate collapse and artificial intelligence, the story imagines a world divided by opposing philosophies on survival. Some societies cling to old systems of control, while others seek harmony with the Earth, yet all are drawn to the same dangerous resource: Arantium.
Through the journey of Vekka and Etu, two enemies from opposing worlds, After Darkfall tells an enemies-to-lovers story about conflict, sacrifice, and the difficult choices required to build a future worth living in.
Strap yourself in for this and head to Kickstarter to be notified of launch. It looks phenomenal, the story unfolding like a complex origami into something far greater than the whole, over the chapters you can read online. Well worth a look…
• Check out After Darkfall, the story so far, at afterdarkfall.com
• Head to Kickstarter and sign up to be notified of launch
The Team…
Diana Locke is a writer and screenwriter whose original screenplay After Darkfall draws on her background in the sustainability sector before becoming a full-time writer.
A lifelong science-fiction fan, Diana cites Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein and Julian May among her influences, alongside fantasy authors Rebecca Yarros, Sarah J. Maas and Jennifer L. Armentrout. She wrote many short stories before venturing into the world of screenwriting, gravitating towards the immediacy of the medium.
Global environmental themes – global conflict, and humanity’s relationship with natural resources – weave through all of her work, and After Darkfall was inspired by the everlasting struggle between nations and their insatiable desire for land and natural resources.
Gabriele Barsotti is an Italian comic artist and graduate of Milan’s renowned Scuola del Fumetto. Working across the French, American and Italian comics markets, he has contributed to titles including Iceworld, The Mandalorian and Mad Mab.
Gabriele has also been a member of Orb Art Studio for several years, while also teaching aspiring artists at the Scuola del Fumetto, sharing his expertise in comics and visual storytelling.
Andy Lanning has worked for over thirty years as a writer and artist creating characters and story worlds across many platforms: comics, books, video games, TV and film. He is best known for his work writing Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy comic series, the source material for the smash hit movies, but his credits span much more, right back to co-creating The Sleeze Brothers with John Carnell at Marvel UK through to recent work such as One Path Book One published by Mad Cave, created by Greg Broadmore, working alongside Nick Boshier and Mad Cave Studios’ Rob Jones, a talented creator in his own right who is also lettering After Darkfall.
Other titles he has written include Superman, Batman, The X-Men and Iron Man.
Andy spent eight years as the Executive Creative Director for Magic Leap, helping to define the company’s creative ethos and spearheading partnerships with some of the world’s leading creative practitioners from The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Imaginarium Studios, as well as with Sigur Ros, Weta Workshop and the Royal Opera House.
After leaving Magic Leap in 2020, he helped found QXR Studios with a team of fellow ex-Leapers. The studio specialises in creating AR experiences using cutting edge machine-learning technology.
Rob Jones is a freelance, UK-based award nominated writer and award winning letterer of comic books. His lettering work can be found in the pages of various titles from Image, Humanoids, Heavy Metal, Scout, Behemoth, A Wave Blue World, BHP Comics, DC Thomson, Comichaus, Comicscene, Shift and many, many more.
In 2021 Andy teamed up with fellow comic creator Ant Williams to form Ideas&Inks, a studio that helps companies develop their storyworlds using the tools and language of comics.
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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.
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