Ace comic creator Monty Nero is releasing a brand new series this year – Death Sentence Cyberpunk – in three prestige format books of 48 pages each, with an initial Kickstarter launching this February.
It’s a standalone story in the critically acclaimed Death Sentence series, which is published by Titan, set 100 years in the future, full of new characters, worlds, and ideas.
“I’ve been writing this cyberpunk tale for years,” explains Marvel and Titan writer Monty Nero, “incorporating all kinds of original ideas about the future. So it’s not your typical scenario.”
For instance, It’s illegal to speak to anyone in the street without first making an online appointment. And there’s no state and no mega corps.”
Democracy is instant and interactive, via social media, leading to sudden, brutal, or mischievous changes in rules and conventions. And everyone’s freelance, including the cops.
Future sex is enhanced digitally through apps and Husks. “Skinfreaks” – people trying to touch each or fall in love naturally – are hunted down like dangerous virus-spreading vermin.”
The first story, “Chrome Roses”, features Kramm, an outcast detective, tracking down Gossama, a punk vigilante, to unlock the mystery of an eerie conspiracy surrounding some skinfreak zero-G murders.
Art for the whole comic is hand drawn by Nero with pencils, ink, copics, airbrush and acrylic paint.
“Last year my car got rammed in the back at 70mph on the M1, spinning across all four lanes, and I only survived by blind chance, ” says Nero. “It shook me up, and the car was a write-off, and claiming the insurance was a nightmare. When I finally got home I went upstairs, shut the door and started drawing this for hours and hours. It was pure instinct, an escape from all the stress, putting everything I had into the art, using traditional techniques and airbrush. It healed my mind and my body, making this comic, losing myself in the details month after month, inventing this future world from scratch. Each panel was a celebration of still being alive, and it seemed more important than ever to put all my humanity into what I was making.”
Consequently, the art has a kinetic hand-drawn energy, a lot of detail, and an original silver, black, and blue art style.
“I think after something like that it’s vital not to waste time making anything you don’t utterly love or isn’t original. If it wasn’t for the crash, I wouldn’t have taken this hand-drawn approach, which is more time-consuming. As I get older, the way the world’s going, I’m less interested in what computers can do anyway. I love the feel of paper under my fingers and writing my own stuff with a biro – it has a punk DIY energy. It‘s more imaginative for me and the readers.
“I also wanted to channel the vibe of classic 1980s cyberpunk, William Gibson and Phillip K Dick, while inventing something that looks and feels new.
“Thematically, it’s about retaining your humanity in a chaotic and oppressive world. Something we can all relate to. Everything I felt after the crash added a lot of emotion to the work.
“It’s influenced by the atmosphere of Blade Runner, Hellboy comics and film noir,” he expands, “All those heavy black shadows, kinetic widescreen action, and a mix of short and longer stories which interlink to form a complex narrative.
“It’s my dream project. I hope readers love it as much as I do, because I’ve already plotted out more stories in this world.”
• You can find the Death Sentence cyberpunk Kickstarter here
• Follow Monty Nero on Instagram | Facebook | Substack | Mailing List
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: British Comics, Comic Previews, Comics, Creating Comics, Crowd Funding Projects, downthetubes Comics News
Falcon comic team tease second issue, due for release in October 
Crowdfunding Spotlight: UNIT 666 Volume 1 
Crowdfunding Spotlight: Sherlock Holmes and The Empire Builders 
Crowdfunding Spotlight: Brightside, a spy-fi adventure by Stu Perrins and Nico Valdez