Keanu Reeves is writing his first comic book and you can make a cameo—for a price
Iconic actor Keanu Reeves, with best-selling writers and artists, has successfully launched on Kickstarter his first comic book and graphic novel series BRZRKR.
BRZRKR is a story about an immortal warrior’s life of fighting through the centuries of wandering the Earth.
According to the global crowdfunding platform, BRZRKR is Reeves’ “comic book writing debut alongside New York Times best-selling co-writer Matt Kindt (Folklords, Justice League of America), superstar artist Ron Garney (Wolverine, Captain America), Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated colorist Bill Crabtree (BPRD), and letterer Clem Robins (Hellboy) in a brutally violent new series about one immortal warrior’s fight through the ages.”
“The man known only as Berzerker is half-mortal and half-God, cursed and compelled to violence…even at the sacrifice of his sanity. But after wandering the world for centuries, Berzerker may have finally found a refuge—working for the US government to fight the battles too violent and too dangerous for anyone else. In exchange, Berzerker will be granted the one thing he desires—the truth about his endless blood-soaked existence…and how to end it,” Kickstarter said.
“If you love intense, savage characters with mysterious pasts like Wolverine and John Wick, Berzerker is sure to be your next favorite warrior!”
It described BRZRKR as “an action-packed, high octane comic book series with depictions of graphic violence, blood, and gore” to be published by BOOM! Studios, which has been publishing comic books and graphic novels for over 15 years including original award-winning works.
“When we partnered with Keanu Reeves on his first comic book, we knew we had an amazing opportunity to reach new audiences. We’re excited to join forces with Kickstarter to introduce people who have never read a comic book or bought a graphic novel to the endless world of storytelling possibilities of comics,” BOOM! Studios said.
The studio also pledged $100 to all live Kickstarter projects from first-time comic creators.
As of Oct. 22, some 14,571 backers have pledged $1,447,212 to support the project. Reeves and fellow project creators have also tapped Crowd Ox to help them manage their campaign and accept late backers.
According to writer Oriana Leckert, 2020 is “the best year yet for comics on Kickstarter” with $22 million raised with some help from Reeves’ BRZRKR campaign, which she said became the most-funded comics project of all time.
“We know, we know, this year is Very Bad. But let’s take a moment to celebrate our Comics creators, who have raised more this year than in any year prior, bringing the category’s all-time numbers to $127 million pledged, and over 10,000 comics projects successfully funded,” Leckert said in her article at Kickstarter.
BRZRKR will be released in 12 epic comic book chapters and collected in three graphic novel volumes, each containing four comic book chapters or issues for a total of 384 pages with various softcover and hardcover editions.
One can back the project for as low as $50 at “Tier 1” for a three-volume graphic novel soft cover set while hardcover set starts at $99 or at Tier 3.
What quickly sold out—in a matter of hours from the start of the launch—were Tier 5, and Tiers 7 to Tier 10.
For only 50 backers, Tier 9 is BRZRKR signed “Platinum Immortal Kickstarter exclusive limited edition Deluxe Boxed Set with each slipcased hardcover volume having exclusive cover art all encased in a collectible “platinum” box. Plus, Kickstarter exclusive print signed by no less than Reeves, Kindt, and Garney.
Super exclusive to ONLY five fans worldwide is Tier 10 at $2,499” or the “Platinum Immortal” where the backer appears in the BRZRKR comic books and graphic novels.
“You cannot get more BRZRK than making an official cameo in the comic books and graphic novels. Fans who pre-order this tier will have their likeness drawn into an issue of BRZRKR, their name mentioned in a caption or word balloon, and have their own line of dialogue in the issue in which they appear. Claim your immortality!”
“Wave 1” or the project or Volume 1 of BRZRKR is expected to ship to the doorsteps of all backers in September 2021; “Wave 2” will come on April 2022, while “Wave 3” is expected to roll out in September 2022.
