Ax-Wielder Jon

Story

 

A savage journey into the heart of a man driven mad. By love. By hate. By power… FULL POWER! Hounded by hordes of relentless enemies who will stop at nothing to reclaim what he has stolen, Jon must hack his way to freedom and the source of his desires, wading through the blood and entrails of anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. Ax-Wielder Jon is a touching gaze into the soul of a barbarian – an exploration of action, mystery, death, destruction, pain, and ultimately, love. Writer/Artist Nick Pitarra has enjoyed some acclaim working for major publishers in the past, but Ax-Wielder Jon is the first time he’s been allowed to work completely unfettered by outside interference. He channels the likes of Geof Darrow and Frank Quitely, while at the same time utilizing a uniquely original eye – and knack, for narrative storytelling in the vein of Moebius and other great European comic artists to create a stunningly unique visual spectacle absolutely unlike anything else on the stands. Join the battle and pick up your ax today! Along with a copy of the book of course. -@jerkcomic

 

"AX-WIELDER JON is my passion project and I can't thank you all enough for your support. Jon came to me when I needed a hero most, when my daughter was in the hospital. People would basically say you have to give it over to God, or trust the doctors, and you do, but there is still a big part of you that wants to make things better yourself, and you can’t no matter how hard you wish you could. I thought it’d be cool to have a character be put in that same situation, albeit a sci-fi fantasy setting. Basically an overdetermined, pig-headed character that always fixes his problems his way, and his way is wielding axes. But, if you then give him somebody else’s problem to fix, a problem where chopping it in two won’t make it go away, now you have the seed of a story. When I started this book I knew I wasn’t going to ask for permission to make it. I’ve spent the last year and a half writing and drawing it while assembling what I believe is the perfect creative team and funding the book myself. I wanted to bring this product directly to the fans and Zoop's crowdfunding platform, with their printing, distribution, and support built-in, was the perfect choice." - Nick Pitarra

The 'Buzz'

In the months leading up to its launch, AX-WIELDER JON has stirred the imagination of the comics community, garnering a wide range of advanced praise from industry titans to aspiring creators, readers, and art fans alike. Jonathan Hickman, Yuko Shimizu, Frank Quitely, Geoff Darrow, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jae Lee, Michael Allred, and Paul Pope have all lauded Pitarra’s vision. 

 

 

 

Dozens of artists, ranging from established superstars Chris Samnee, David Marquez and Rob Guillory to folks drawing their first ever comic, have lent Jon life through tributes that have spread the spirit, joy, and dazzling character designs of AX-WIELDER JON. Nick says "Waking up to find different artists posting their takes on Jon like this means the world to me. Putting together a book by myself has been a ton of fun, but also a ton of stress -- these little surprises and gifts are a real pick me up. I can’t tell you what these kind gestures mean to me, when they take time out of their day to draw my silly character…it’s just super cool."

 

Preview Pages

 

 

Book + Extras

Front cover by Das Pastoras / back cover by Nick Derington (design not final)

 

Example remarque

 

Hand-drawn bookplates

 

Artist Proofs for the 22 X 30 lithograph hand made by @asa_fisher, a fantastic lithographer and brother to the late great Seth Fisher! This is Jon’s first appearance double page spread. They are hand made and one of a kind. We will do a very limited signed and numbered run of these. My art has never been offered for sale at this size and I couldn’t be prouder to team up with Asa for this one.

 

Das Pastoras Giclees

 

3" M.U.S.C.L.E. figure

 

Trading Cards

The Team

AX-WIELDER JON is created, written, and drawn by Nick Pitarra, the Eisner-nominated and New York Times bestselling co-creator of the Manhattan Projects. Known for his hyper-detailed and dynamic art, he has assembled a top tier team, with colors by frequent collaborator and Image and Marvel Comics colorist Mike Garland, letters by Eisner-nominated Ferran Delgado, book design by Little Bird’s Ben Didier. The production is edited by multiple Eisner Award Winner Chris Stevens and features a cover by legendary Spanish painter Das Pastoras and a back cover by modern master Nick Derington.

 

Original Art

A big part of the campaign will be original art sales. Here is our plan to do something special for art collectors:

 

After giving everyone a chance to sign up for the event through grabbing the free 'Felix Comic Art Original Art Drop' add-on above for the first 96 hours of the campaign, we'll be setting up a live 'show and tell' through Felix Comic Art. Everyone that signs up will have an exclusive opportunity to purchase Ax-Wielder Jon original art pages (they are NOT guaranteed any art, though).

 

Each PANEL of the project is drawn on its own 11x17-size art board. For comparison, usually every PAGE of a comic is drawn on its own 11x17 art board. So the pages are just HUGE. Here's a little taste:

 

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Stretch Goals

Timeline

Most of the book is complete, and the line art will be completely done by campaign's end. From there, the final coloring, lettering & book design should take another month, but we should be headed to the printers by July. Printing and shipping should take around three to four months, so delivery of rewards is expected to be done around October 2022.

 

The pandemic has shown that certain conditions are simply out of anybody’s hands. However, Zoop will always be here to communicate with backers should any delays occur, if there’s confusion about delivery, or if any other concerns pop up.