Kickstarter Spotlight: Undad Season 2
by Shane W Smith
Hi! My name is Shane W Smith, and I’m a graphic novelist based in Australia. I’m here today to share with you some information about my latest project, Undad. This post is divided into sections that outline different aspects of the book, and I’m confident that there’s something in here that will appeal to you.
Thank you for your time.
About the book
Undad is a comic series spanning eight issues of 40 pages apiece. Every issue has a different artist attached, each one carefully selected for their skill, professionalism, and ability to draw out all the subtextual nuances of the script.
The series was created and written by two-time Aurealis Award finalist Shane W Smith.
The first volume of Undad, collecting issues 1-4, was published on May 1st, 2015 by Australian publisher Deeper Meanings. The second and final volume of Undad, collecting issues 5-8 (and possibly a bonus issue as well), is currently being funded on Kickstarter.
The elevator pitch
This is Undad’s back cover blurb:
A chance encounter with a ragged homeless man leaves Brett Buckley with deep teeth marks in his arm, and a sudden ravenous hunger for living flesh. Unable to control these urges, he consumes the hamster that belongs to his son’s class.
Fearing that losing his family might cost him the last of his dwindling humanity, Brett must win back their love and respect, all the while attempting to find his new place in the world and reconcile his vegetarian morals with his insatiable appetite for live meat…
More than just another zombie story, Undad is about the challenges of being a husband and father while being (literally) dead inside.
Undad Volume Two continues this story:
Brett always knew his days were numbered. But he wasn’t expecting that number to be so small. Someone has discovered his hidden stash of live food. He is facing animal abuse charges. His job is hanging by a thread. His kids and wife are facing public humiliation.
And that’s just the small stuff. Over the course of the miniseries, Brett’s daughter will be picked up for shoplifting, his son will start to exhibit some strange and deviant behaviour, his wife will learn to adjust to life without him, and his layabout brother will blow into town to complicate matters just that little bit more…
As Brett’s stable bases and safety nets drop away one by one, he realizes that un-life can’t go on in the way that he’d hoped. Big changes are coming for Brett… none of them good.
But on the other hand, he may discover that he’s not quite as alone as he’d assumed…
The zombie metaphor
The very best of classic zombie fiction acts as a critique of human nature, of the collective human experience, a witty indictment of mob mentality, and presents at its very core a species vainly struggling against extinction at the hand of its own darker nature.
Undad subscribes to this ethos, but gives it a little twist. Undad is not about the apocalypse. It’s not about the decay of humanity. It’s about one man who struggles to keep his own darker nature at bay and his family together, while feeling (literally) dead inside. His world begins and ends in the family home; its implosion is the apocalypse he is struggling to avoid.
In Undad Volume Two, the metaphor will be pushed ever further. Zombie fiction revels in dehumanising the undead, presenting them as other. Brett will experience this social segregation firsthand, and will be forced to reconsider his place in the world.
The meaning of Undad
In the first volume of Undad, every chance Brett had to shine as a husband or father was undermined by the ongoing lie of his condition. The first book was all about Brett, about remaining in good stead with his loved ones, about not losing his last link to his human life.
Now, with Undad Volume Two, it’s time to take things a little deeper.
Life with an undead man was never going to be easy. Brett might now be feeling strong enough to handle what’s coming, but everyone else is falling apart. His seven-year-old son, Jason, has started biting people. His teenage daughter, Katrina, is enduring public humiliation and social quarantine because of him, and is about to rebel in a self-destructive way. And his wife, Veronica, is starting to think about life without him in the picture at all.
Where Undad was about managing relationships, juggling lies, facing the truth, and the difficulties involved in asking your loved ones for help, Undad Volume Two is about the sacrifices of parenthood, and the ongoing struggle to be a worthy role model.
About the creative team
Undad Volume Two has an astonishingly talented creative team that I’m thrilled to be working with. Here’s some information about them, and their wide and diverse experience in the world of comics.
TEAM DIAVERIK is composed of graphic designers, illustrators, sequential and concept artists TSUBASA YOZORA and ANDRES BAQUERIZO, graduates of the Savannah College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in Sequential Art. They have worked with Bluewater Productions and Viper Entertainment, Inc. in titles such as Hell House, World War Hack, Odyssey: God War, and biographical comics Female Force, and Political Power. Team Diaverik will produce the artwork for the first issue in Undad Volume Two.
DIMA DERZHAVIN is an enthusiastic, up-and-coming illustrator, concept artist, comic book artist and pretty much all-things-art person. Dima will produce the artwork for the second issue in Undad Volume Two.
DEBORAH CARITÁ HOLLAND is a Brazilian illustrator who worked most of her career for American publishers of comics. She has worked as a penciler for Dynamite Entertainment (N.J., USA) on the book Warlord of Mars – Dejah Thoris (2012-2014), and as a colorist on Project Superpowers, under the direction of Alex Ross (2008-2010). She has also worked as an artist or colorist for DC (Wonder Woman, 2007), Marvel (Arana & Spiderman, 2006), and IDW (Gene Simmon´s Dominatrix 1-6). Deborah will be producing the artwork for the third issue in Undad Volume Two.
PAUL SCHULTZ is a graduate from the Illustration program at Sheridan Tech. So far his illustrations haunt the pages of four children’s books and five graphic novels. When drawing comics his major influences are Berni Wrightson and Mike Mignola. He lives with his most awesome wife and daughter and their three cats in Ontario, Canada. He loves the darker side of things and has a curious affinity for frogs. Paul will be producing the artwork for a bonus issue of Undad, which will only be made if this Kickstarter campaign raises $5500.
SHANE W SMITH is an Australian graphic novelist who has been writing since he could hold a pen. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing, and a number of published graphic novels, including the Aurealis Award finalists Peaceful Tomorrows and The Game. His oddest achievement is getting a comic published in a refereed academic journal in 2007. Shane is the writer of every issue of Undad, and will be producing the artwork for the final issue in Undad Volume Two.
About the Kickstarter campaign
(Bear in mind that the prices mentioned below are in Australian dollars. For US backers, 1 Australian dollar is approximately equivalent to $0.80 US.)
At present, the Undad Volume Two Kickstarter campaign is already over one third funded, with still almost a full month to run.
Thanks to Creative Partnerships Australia’s MATCH program, every dollar pledged to this campaign will be matched dollar for dollar, provided we reach our campaign target of $3,500. This additional financial backing has given me a chance to set a realistic funding goal, and also to hire some great artists for the book and to really push up against the boundaries of what small-time indie publications can ordinarily achieve.
Rewards for backers start at just $1, and every tier includes at least one reward or benefit that is exclusive to the Kickstarter campaign.
For backers not in Australia, digital rewards might be preferable, and there are plenty on offer: you can get Undad Volume Two for just $5, and all eight issues of Undad for just $10, along with an exclusive and gorgeous digital artbook of some 260 pages.
I’ve also made my entire back catalogue of graphic novels (almost 2200 pages of content) available for just $40, including an exclusive high-res version of Academaesthetics (2007) and the two books that were shortlisted in the Aurealis Awards for best graphic novel (Peaceful Tomorrows, and The Game).
This campaign is by far the cheapest place to get copies of these titles.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading this post. I hope I’ve convinced you that Undad is a book worth owning. Thank you also to Brett from Graphic Policy for allowing me to post here.
I’m very happy to field any questions or concerns. Also happy to accept bribes. Shoot everything over to shane@shanewsmith.com
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