Magnetic Press and Oni Press will soon launch a Kickstarter for Urbance, a sci-fi adventure series by Internationally acclaimed writer, artist, and director Joël Dos Reis Viegas, the co-founder of Steambot Studios whose media credits includeinclude work on video games like Batman: Arkham Origins, Brink, and Thief; tv series including Black Dynamite and Siren; and the 2014 film Godzilla. Fans can sign up on the Kickstarter prelaunch page to receive an email when the campaign launches.
Urbance is a bio-punk Romeo & Juliet in the neon-lit style of Aeon Flux in a Jet Set Radio future city. It’s described as a kinetic fusion of urban cyberpunk, gender‑charged tension, and high‑style action, it’s a story about rebellion, identity, and the dangerous power of connection in a world designed to keep the population divided.
Urbance welcomes readers to Neopolis, a futuristic neon‑drenched city where physical desire has become deadly. A mysterious virus has infected every human at birth, making intimate contact between the sexes instantly fatal. To survive, society enforces absolute abstinence and segregation: boys and girls are raised apart, conditioned to fear, even hate, one another. A colossal wall cuts the city in two, and entire youth cultures have evolved in isolation, fueled by tribal identity, coded fashion, and explosive street‑clan rivalries. But a new underground drug, N‑Dorphin, which is rumored to bypass the virus’s lethal effects, begins circulating through the streets and destabilizes the fragile balance of power in Neopolis, igniting turf wars and paranoia as factions scramble for control. Kenzell and Lesya, two teens from opposite sides who defy the rules and risk everything to cross the divide, are caught in the crossfire. Together, they uncover a conspiracy far bigger than any clan feud, and their forbidden alliance becomes a spark in a city ready to explode.
Urbance began as a high‑style, hyper‑urban adult animated project created by Joël Dos Reis Viegas and developed at Steambot Studios. Following a smash-hit Kickstarter campaign backed by thousands of fans worldwide, Steambot partnered with Yapiko Animation in Tokyo in 2015 to complete the 8-minute animated short film.
The Urbance Saga is 828 pages of cyber-slick, dynamic adventure. Fans can collect the complete series as a set of four premium 6×9” softcover books featuring the full story in dynamic black‑and‑white artwork with full‑color opening sequences in every volume. The series is also available as a pair of deluxe limited edition hardcover collections.
We have the exclusive reveal of the limited-edition resin statue that will be available with the crowdfunding campaign. Take a look below and sign up now so you don’t miss out on when it launches.
Actual final resin color may vary (from this mockup)
