I’m delighted to report British independent publisher B7 Comics first title, Pilgrim – Secrets and Lies has successfully completed its Kickstarter campaign, and the first issue will get its launch at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival next month.
In the opening issue of Pilgrim – Secrets and Lies, written by me, John Freeman, with art by Neil Edwards, coloured by Martin Baines and lettered by Jim Campbell, with covers by Alex Ronald and Neil Edwards, a mission to the Antarctic unearths something… completely unknown. Dormant since long before the dinosaurs, it’s incomprehensible, ancient – and alien…
B7 Comics is a brand-new comics imprint from UK indie B7 Media, the company best known for a new wave of cinematic sounding audio drama, including I, Robot, Blake’s 7, Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures, Venna’s Planet and dramas for the BBC and Audible, including The Effect, The Martian Chronicles, The Space Race and Mahabharata Now.
We achieved our funding goal last weekend thanks to many backers, a huge number of people who kindly shared the project across the web, including social media, and fantastic news coverage. Thank you, all. (I’ll be available to sign copies at the Lakes Festival in Bowness-on-Windermere (14th – 16th October), on the B7 Comics stand at the event’s free to enter Lakeview Comics Marketplace in the Lakeview Bar & Grill overlooking Lake Windermere.
We’re not resting on our laurels, of course! We’ve got big plans for Pilgrim, with work on #2 underway, and #3 is being scripted.
A thrilling original four-issue mini-series based on the universe created by Bev Doyle, Richard Kurti (The Martian Chronicles, I, Robot, Going Postal) and Andrew Mark Sewell (I, Robot, Blake’s 7, Dan Dare), Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies is the first comic from UK indie B7 Media’s comics imprint, B7 Comics.
It will be followed by Tony Hancock: The Lad Himself, a 288-page graphic biographical novel about the much-loved comedian, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page, to be released in 2023.
The Pilgrim comic project kicked off last year, with a special teaser story exclusively published in SHIFT Magazine, drawn by Wam Nick and available to read on the Pilgrim2121.com web site.
• Please do check out the official website – www.pilgrim2121.com – for more news and background to the project and do keep spreading the word
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.
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