British comic creator Chris McAuley has just launched a new, free web comic via Facebook, Cyberpunk Apocalypse, with artist Simon Hodgkiss-Rogers, with a full debut planned at Omagh Comic Festival this weekend.
In Cyberpunk Apocalypse, corporations now govern Earth, the largest of these are the United Federation of the Americas and EuroAsia Corp. Citizens are implanted with chip technology at birth dictating allegiance to their corporation and projecting a version of Utopia into their consciousness, an illusion which paints over the dark, dismal and chemically rotting streets of their cities.
These corporations wage war on each other for territory. This ranges from espionage to assassinations. Employed for this use are cyborg units, former citizens whose memories are as altered as their bodies.
A new faction has arisen, however, tampering with the chips and societal structure. The corporations must work together to find this enemy and remove them before it’s too late…
“I wrote the script and did lettering, and created the cover image and the last panel of the first two pages,” Chris, a game designer, who also writes for Popular Retro and whose comic credits include colouring the strip The Long Walk Hame, written by Peter Watson, and who recently founded the gaming company Retrobytes.
“It’s my first venture as a comic book writer and artist. Simon Hodgkiss-Rogers has created the stunning panel art (he has been working with Pat Mills on Spacewarp recently).
“I hope that everyone who reads it enjoys it! We aim to release four panels every week.”
Chris recently received high praise from Peter Watson, so give this new project a look.
“The colouring job on the comic was incredibly complicated,” notes Peter of The Long Walk Hame, “as it had artwork from over a dozen artists weaving a tale that bridged fantasy and reality.
“Chris offered his services as colourist and I was blown away by the work he did on the project. He breathed life into what was once a daft notion in my head.”
• Check out Cyberpunk Apocalypse here on Facebook
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
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: Digital Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
This reminds me of the UK today. So many things apparently there for everyone – for example the ‘ free at the point of delivery NHS’ – but the truth is very different.