Hey, it’s Zack!
Did I say I was gonna do more newsletters?
Uh. Er.
Look, it’s been a crazy busy year for me, and if you sit by your inbox waiting to read this sub stack, yeah you, the one guy right there, well - my apologies! I’ve been doing the other thing you love - which is making comics. Some pretty damn good ones.
And the good news is, I got a newsletter today. And a new comic.
Because today is RELEASE DAY for Vault Comics' BEYOND REAL #1!
Okay, it was San Diego Comic Con a couple years ago, when I first pitched BEYOND REAL to Vault Comic’s Adrian Wassel. It was a hot day at a hotel pool with a tiki hut. I had this crazy idea for a series with 7 artists, a series about simulation theory but artistic, a sci-fi surreal adventure story that would blow reader’s minds. But the real reason I was pitching Vault was because Vault’s mission statement was to create a positive community around creators, to tell adventurous stories that pushed boundaries and I believed it was a perfect fit. Thank god, Adrian was all in. He brought it in and we got to work with all of Vault making this series. From crafting the story to bringing on this talented assortment of creatives, it took years to put this series together. It was ambitious, challenging and a damn hard secret to keep. But finally - it’s come together, and now you can read it yourself!
I don’t think I’m the only one to feel there is surreal energy in the air on this series! Wow, the hype is REAL and non-stop! Just check out a few of our early reviews --
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 10/10 “VISUALLY ARRESTING, UNLIKE ANYTHING I’VE SEEN BEFORE.” - KABOOOOOM!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 10/10 “AS CLOSE TO A PERFECT OPENING ISSUE AS MAY BE POSSIBLE.” - THE PULLBOX
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 10/10 "I WANT THIS TO BE MY REALITY." - MONKEYS FIGHTING ROBOTS
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 9.5/10 “A VISUAL FEAST.” - AIPT
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 9/10 “MIND-BLOWING AND VISUALLY STUNNING.”
- CAPES AND TIGHTS
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 9/10 “A SCI-FI MINDF*CK IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY.” - DERBY COMICS
And in case you missed the news on the pre-orders, the numbers blew us away. I mean, I hoped. You see, Vault Comics decided to give BEYOND REAL #1 to retailers-for-free, in an effort to support comic shops. With this initiative, I dreamed of getting this comic in as many freaking hands as we could, but I didn't know we'd do this...
BEYOND REAL asks the question -- what if we are living in a simulation, but instead of a Matrix style computer/digital simulation, it's an artistic simulation. One far beyond our imagination and comprehension. The story follows the struggling artist June after an accident leaves her boyfriend in a coma and causes her to experience bizarre visual phenomena. When she discovers that the world she considers “reality” may in fact be a computer simulation, she must set out on a perilous journey through metaphysical layers of the simulation to reach the true creator and save her love from death.
Our series has seven different interior artists and two additional colorists across the five issue miniseries...Fabiana Mascolo (Alice Ever After, Firefly), Jorge Corona (Me You Love in the Dark, Middlewest), Toni Fejzula (The Forgotten Blade, Dead Inside), Liana Kangas(Know Your Station, She Said Destroy), Dennis Menheere (Etheres, Stardust), Vincenzo Riccardi (Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons), and Luana Vecchio (Lovesick, Bolero). With the legendary Eisner-winning colorist Jordie Bellaire (Redlands, W0rldTr33), colorist Mattia Iocono (Daredevil, Venom, Star Wars), the incredible Eisner-winner and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (First Knife, Mindset) and A covers from Eisner-winning artist John J Pearson (Mindset, Department of Truth), and designer Tim Daniel.
In all honesty, just go into your comic shop and subscribe to the entire five issue series. You do not want to miss a single issue of this - each issue is absolutely breath-taking and mind-blowing.
There’s so much else going on! I have another new series on the horizon - DARK HORSE COMICS’ KILL ALL IMMORTALS, a supernatural action series about a family of immortal Vikings, modern day, in a power struggle like no other.
My time travel adventure series Scout Comics’ FOREVER FORWARD is finally coming to graphic novel next February. I can’t wait for you all to see it.
And I have a new series set to announce in January. Yeah. Get ready.
But for now, enjoy BEYOND REAL!
And thanks for reading!
Zack Kaplan
12.13.20