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Crowdfunding Spotlight: Brightside, a spy-fi adventure by Stu Perrins and Nico Valdez

By John Freeman on June 27, 2023

If you’re into spy-fi comics, then a creative team led by writer Stu Perrins and artist Nico Valdez (aka Nico Queme) may have something you’ll enjoy – Brightside, an action-packed steampunk-styled adventure title, Issue #1 published by Markosia last year, the creators now currently seeking support for #2 on Kickstarter.

The cover for Markosia's Brightside #2, a spy-fi adventure by Stu Perrins, art by Nico Valdez — *The cover for Markosia’s Brightside #2, a spy-fi adventure by Stu Perrins, art by Nico Valdez, covered by Pixelina*

Born in mysterious circumstances, Amelia is raised by her adoptive Father, Sir Augustus Brightside (aka The Head of Her Majesty’s Special Defences Department) to become the British Secret Services Super Spy Supreme – and protect the world from tyrannical lunatic Gideon Silver. Will she succeed? And how will she deal with gun totting housekeepers, steam powered voyager discs and karate lessons before breakfast?

Written by Stu Perrins (Chrono-Cat, Megatomic Battle Rabbit) with art by Nico Valdez (aka Nico Queme), the cover coloured by Argentinian illustrator and game developer Pixelina, with interior letters and colours by Atholl Buchan (of Buchan Comics), Brightside answers the question – “What would happen if James Bond was a steampunk Audrey Hepburn?”

Brightside #1 was published by Markosia last year – you can grab the Kindle edition of #1 here – and Stu tells downthetubes they’re fully committed to the project, if it gains its modest crowdfunding target for #2.

Comic.con reviewer Benjamin Hall felt the project “had potential” on release, with a few caveats.

“With favourable comparisons to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Luther Arkwright, we really need your help in helping us complete Amelia’s first adventure,” asks Stu.

Nico’s Instagram offers some enjoyable work outside of this project, and sample pages teased for #2 indicate it has promise, now the set up for the story is out the way. If you’re a steampunk spy fan, this could be one for you to check out.

• Check out Brightside here on Kickstarter

• Stu has created some tie-in Brightside merchandise, including t-shirts, which you can check out here

• Follow Stu Perrins on Twitter

• Follow Nico Valdez on Instagram

• Follow Pixelina on Instagram

• Follow Atholl Buchan on Twitter

John Freeman

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.