Dread Gods: Olympian Edition Kickstarter Spotlight

Bart Sears, Ron Marz, and Tom Raney have teamed up once again to put out a complete collection of their Dread Gods series, originally published in single issues through IDW Publishing and the creators’ Ominous Press imprint.

The Dread Gods: Olympian Edition is a 196-page titan, including the full original series as well as 70 pages of all-new content, all now for backing now on Kickstarter. Dread Gods is based on a concept by Bart Sears, written by Ron Marz, drawn by Tom Raney, and colored by Nanjan Jamberi.

For those who never checked out Dread Gods in its original run (to my shame, I only read the first two issues myself), it takes place in a dystopian future where the common communal activity is plugging one’s mind into a virtual reality to witness the adventures of the Olympian Gods, led by Zeus and Hera. However, a man named Carver discovers that the gods might be in danger, and the gods themselves they may be more monsters than heroes.

It’s a compelling and creative sci-fi/fantasy story, and I enjoyed what I read of it. 

In addition to that story, there is a new and exclusive 10-page story by Marz and Raney, 50-pages of behind-the-scenes artwork in part done by Raney and Sears, and a variant cover gallery featuring the work of legends like Neal Adams, Kenneth Rocafort, Kevin Maguire, Cully Hamner, Kelley Jones, Andy Smith, as well as Sears and Raney themselves.

The Kickstarter campaign ends on July 18th, and, as of this writing, it is almost a third of the way to its goal of $14,500 USD. A $15.00 USD pledge gets you the digital edition of the comic, with $40 getting you both the digital and the physical edition. Further up the ladder, $60 also gets you a Bart Sears poster in addition to both editions, $100 adds on six variant editions of the single issues, $175 gets you the physical and digital editions as well as Ominous Press Black Book collections of art from Bart Sears, Andy Smith, Jim Starlin, Graham Nolan, and Darryl Banks, and, finally, at $300 you get the physical and digital editions plus a page of the original Tom Raney art from Dread Gods.

So, if you enjoyed the Dread Gods series or missed out on it but are intrigued by the premise, consider checking out the Dread Gods: Olympian Edition Kickstarter.