Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Arcadia, Damon Vecchiarelli, Dan Kroenung, Erika Chan, weta

Come Visit Arcadia, Just Make Sure To Avoid A Meltdown

Published Sat, 03 Aug 2013 11:00:29 -0500

Dan Kroenung writes for Bleeding Cool:

6^th Grade: My father was called in to meet with my English teacher over "something" that I had done. I was unaware that I had actually done anything because I was a lame ass little do-gooder, and a professional at doing "nothing" since I was born. What was so bad that she had to call my father in to talk to in person?

Well, my father stormed out of the meeting and informed me that she accused HIM of doing MY homework for me. I then was called in to discuss what it was that I "didn't do". It turns out that she had just read the book that I had written for our annual book fair, and determined that there was no way that somebody at my age level could be this good of a writer. She told me point blank that I had plagiarized my book!

That witch.

She proceeded to read aloud to me a passage that I fondly remember writing because I had just discovered how to "show, not tell" in my writing. I was proud of myself when I wrote that paragraph in my story, but in that moment I felt about as small as a mouse.

Present Day: That accusation ended up being the best compliment I've ever received. I just didn't realize it until many years, and drinks, later. I am now at the point where I have dug myself out of a pit of despair and all-night Jaeger Bombs into a quest to put out more of my written work. I have already written two full-length screenplays and various short stories, but I feel that now it's time tackle an epic comic book adventure.

I am collaborating with my good friend, Damon Vecchiarelli, on a story too big and crazy for just one man to handle. Due to the sheer scope and character designs involved, we had to make sure to bring on the very best and most unique artist we could find. That artist is Erika Chan whom we discovered far up in the urban highlands of San Francisco. Her work with The San Francisco Zoo, National Geographic, and Weta amazed us! So we hired her. Yeah, "hired" her, which means that she is being paid and will continue to be (there has been some good discussion going on about this on Twitter).

Our comic book series is called ARCADIA, and we have set up a Kickstarter to help fund the first 4 issues of the story arc. It is a post-apocalyptic story about mutants who have been living in a bunker city since the 1950's, and the unlucky wanderer named Exo who discovers it. Our main characters are a young teenage greaser, his half-puma/half-human girlfriend, and his brother the Baboon Soldier. If you are hungry for a truly unique and fun comic book experience, check us out!

We will be setting up a "special" Stretch Goal over the weekend for Bleeding Cool readers. If we can hit at least $15,000 by 12 AM Monday morning we will have Erika Chan draw a portrait of Rich Johnston as whichever type of mutant or half-breed creature you decide on (in a popular vote). This will be a "Thank You" to all of our Bleeding Cool fans, which will be available as a print to own, and will be featured in the back of the first issue.