UPDATE: The Rising Rebels Kickstarter was a huge success and the book is actually available in my web store!
Last year my buddy Jay Fotos and his crew started a new comic series called Rising Rebels. The series wrapped up but they put together a collected edition of the floppy issues as well as a new story that picks up where the series left off.
Rising Rebels…what’s it all about?
In a dusty attic corner, in an old cardboard box, young Evan stumbles upon his Dad’s vintage 1980’s stash. VHS…three magic letters right there on the worn paper sleeves that boast some of the coolest artwork he has ever seen! Machine-gun toting, bronzed bikini babes, mutated sea creatures, aliens from space…and that one tape…way at the bottom of the box. The tape with the BLOOD RED lettering. “Please, Dad! Let’s watch this one! ” His finger presses PLAY…and it’s already too late!
Classic 80’s MONSTER Horror!!!
Rising Rebels is a time machine ride, transporting you back to the glory days of 1980’s style, over-the-top cinematic home video horror by the creative team of Jay Fotos, Mark Kidwell, and Jeff Zornow. The film opens as southern rebel raider, Colonel Abel Knox refuses to accept that the Civil War is over and continues his murderous spree in the deep south. Cornered by the Union’s first Special Forces Unit, Knox faces his final fate at the clawed hands of a mysterious curse and is dragged into the muck of the Louisiana Bayou by the spirits of those he has slain!
But that’s only the beginning…!
Fast-forward to 1983, when a commercial real estate developer, planning to drain the swamp and erect an upscale country club resort, accidentally gives rise to the long-forgotten curse! A curse guarded by a swamp-dwelling, squatter family of voodoo witches that holds at bay a muck-encrusted army of mutated rebel revenants. At the head of the ghostly host… the resurrected Colonel Knox astride his undead mount, Rosie!!! Find out what happens when the bloodline of an age-old, vengeful curse clashes with the murderous specters of history! We promise you… all Hell breaks loose, deep down in Dixie!
(Whatta you get for your hard-earned rebel dollar?) A 130+ page, glossy, full color, perfect bound graphic novel that presents all the original material and covers from the limited mini-series, along with the bonus article segments: “Making Monsters” (a look behind the curtain at all the magic that goes into making the series), “80s, Once upon a time…” (a retrospective of all things we love about the 1980’s!) From movies, video games, toys, comics and all that wacky candy we grew up on…and of course the brand new exclusive to this edition, “KNOX’S REVENGE“… the sequel (in true 80’s horror-film fashion) that provides that added, extra gut-punch that you just can’t miss!
My little part in all this mayhem is a series I did in each issue called 80s Once Upon a Time. It’s a nostalgic look back on the decade that brought us the coolest stuff; From the movies, video games, toys, candy and most of all… the Ninjas! The articles I did were featured in each issue will also be featured in the graphic novel set. They are sure to bring a smile on my fellow pop culture geeks. Grab a copy here!
