ASTER OF PAN: a post-apocalyptic graphic novel by Merwan
Created by Neurobellum Productions
THE HUNGER GAMES meets DODGE BALL in this lushly painted, action-packed blockbuster with exclusive variant cover by PEACH MOMOKO.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Get ready for what's next...!
over 3 years ago
– Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 08:43:39 PM
Hey everyone!
Just a quick update on the latest ASTER news:
Vinyl is being etched now. The posters and sleeves are printed and on their way!
All of the printed bonus items (sketchbook, prints, POP posters, etc) are all being delivered next week.
The books should arrive by New Years Eve.
The last item to arrive looks to be the lapel pin. They are saying we'll have them by New Years Eve, but we'll see... Fingers crossed! Pushing them hard!
With everything in hand just after New Year's Day, we should have a much more streamlined process down (from our learning lessons on PARIS 2119), so everything should be able to go out that first or second week. The international portion should go right along with the domestic shipments this time since we'll have our VAT in place. So we're still on track for you to have your stuff in January.
So what can you do in the meantime...?
You can check out our NEXT CAMPAIGN LAUNCHING ON TUESDAY...!
We are bringing not one but TWO new graphic novels from the award-winning creative team of FRÉDÉRIC BRRÉMAUD and FEDERICO BERTOLUCCI:
BRINDILLE and LOVE: THE MASTIFF!
A young girl wakes up in the midst of a raging forest fire, with no memory of who she is or how she got there. After being rescued by a nearby village of elf-like creatures, she sets out on a magical journey in search of answers to questions she doesn’t even know how to ask. Along the way, she befriends a talking wolf who takes on the role of guide and guardian on this strange, epic adventure.
Filled with magic, monsters, mystery, and mermaids, this dark fantasy will dazzle readers with its breathtaking beauty and wonder.
A loyal hunting dog finds himself alone in the wild outback of Australia when his master is struck down by a poisonous snake during an expedition. Now he must make his way through the dangers and obstacles of the magnificent wilderness, relying on instincts that no amount of domestication can fully suppress…
The fifth and newest volume in the world-renowned, award-winning LOVE series of wordless wildlife graphic novels, this beautiful, all-ages series explores genuine natural behavior through the dramatic lens of Disney-esque storytelling, like a nature documentary in illustration.
We're also offering EXCLUSIVE LIMITED EDITION COLLECTORS BOXED SETS of Brremaud and Bertolucci's celebrated LOVE and LITTLE TAILS series! These will notbe distributed through retail and will only be produced in quantity determined by this campaign!
CHECK IT OUT HERE AND PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING US OUT ON DAY ONE!
Pieces snapping together like legos...
over 3 years ago
– Mon, Dec 07, 2020 at 12:51:04 AM
Hi all!
Hope you had a good weekend. We spent ours putting together our next awesome Kickstarter campaign debuting a week from Tuesday... but more on that later...
In the meantime, as of now, we've locked down all of the Backerkit surveys filled out so far. That means you can't make any more adjustments to your package other than last minute address changes up until we lock those down at the end of the month. (But if you REALLY need to make an adjustment, message us and we'll see what we can do manually...)
With those orders now locked, we'll start running your credit cards at 5p CST tomorrow. Please make sure your registered card is good, otherwise un-charged orders will linger unfulfilled until corrected.
We're sorry to say we couldn't find any better shipping rates to Australia for this campaign. We looked into a couple of different options, but the cost of shipping the bulk goods pumped the price right back to around where we are now. But we're still on the hunt for WAHCOMMO and our next project coming up a week from Tuesday! (Did we already hint at that?)
We are happy to announce the lucky random winner of the Post-campaign questionnaire (from Update #13): CONGRATS KAE PETRIN!
Speaking of that questionnaire -- and the credit promised for filling it out: YES, we did add the $.50 credit to those backer accounts who filled it out! So you will see the final charge placed on your card will be $.50 less than what you might have seen on Friday. :)
The dodge balls, signed book plates, and original sketches have all arrived. We're now just waiting on the sketchbooks, pins, vinyl singles, and, oh yeah... the books themselves. :) But they're all on track to have by New Years, so we're almost there!
What to do with ourselves in the meantime...?
...how about we get ready for the next AMAZING MAGNETICKICKSTARTER?
STAY TUNED!
24 hours left until we lock down Backerkit!
over 3 years ago
– Fri, Dec 04, 2020 at 02:56:12 AM
Hi everyone!
Just a very quick update to remind everyone that we will be locking down Backerkit tomorrow evening (5pm CST), so PLEASE complete your surveys and orders by then so we can be ready for a smooth fulfillment in a few weeks! :)
If you're not sure if you filled yours out, or if you can't find your link, you can go to https://aster-of-pan.backerkit.com to log in and check.
We'll have more news in tomorrow night's update!
Survey reminder! Friday deadline!
over 3 years ago
– Mon, Nov 30, 2020 at 04:13:33 PM
Hi everyone!
Hope you all had a great holiday (here in the states -- everyone else: hope you're having a great weekend)!
We just wanted to hop on the mic real quick to remind everyone that we will be locking down Backerkit surveys this Friday Dec 4th! So you have until then to: a) fill out your survey if you haven't already, b) make any changes/additions to your package, and c) make sure your account is set up to complete the order. We won't begin fulfillment until probably the first week of January (pending the books' arrival at the end of the month), so you will still have until thatinitial ship date to change your address. But we really need to lock down the orders themselves next week so that we can confirm our production counts and have everything ready to go as quickly as possible.
If you don't fill out your survey we won't know where to send stuff! Including your digital downloads (more on that below...)
Canadian shipping rates
Good news for our Canadian backers! One nice change we will be making this week: Canadian shipping rates will be somewhat adjusted down thanks to a postal forwarding service we have identified!
...but unfortunately, that will only affect packages over 6lbs.
Once we take into account the cost of pre-packing and dropshipping the freight of 50-ish packages, even the lower postage doesn't bring the cost of lighter packages down from the current rate. Over 6lbs, however, and the savings is incrementally better: $10-16 less!
So if you are a Canadian backer, you might see some difference in the shipping due when your order is locked next week. If we can squeeze some more of the costs out of the process before Friday, we will absolutely let you know!
Australia and others... we're still trying, but nothing has presented itself at any rates better than what we've got up currently... still looking though! We'll keep you posted!
Campaign Questionnaire reminder
If you haven't answered our feedback questionnaire, we will be closing that survey on Friday Dec 4th as well. In case you missed it from an earlier update:
"We have put together a questionnaire that we would really appreciate if you could take a few minutes to fill out. Mostly opinion questions, but things that will help us fine tune as we look ahead at future campaign ideas. And as incentive to hopefully nudge you into responding, we'll add $.50 cents in credit to your Backerkit account (once those are live... soon...). That might not sound like much, but it can help offset shipping costs or add-ons you might be interested in. Plus, we will randomly select one person from all survey responses to receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card. How's that for incentive?
So please, take a couple of minutes and follow this link to share your thoughts. We'll be selecting the random winner next weekend after the survey is closed!
A couple of you have asked about digital files -- they will be distributed through Backerkit when the rest of fulfillment begins. This not only keeps all of our processing and messaging neatly organized in our fulfillment process, but, well... we also need a few weeks to finish some stuff up! While the book itself is done (and printed, as the last update's photos showed), the sketchbook and soundtrack are still in production. Releasing everything at the same time gives us a uniform deadline for final deliveries.
Right now that looks like it will begin the first week of January, but we'll keep everyone posted.
And for those of you who have followed us from our PARIS 2119 campaign: fear not, we will be distributing the digital files through Backerkit and Gumroad again this time. No more experimental channels -- we'll stick with what seems to be working well. :)
Thanks again, everyone! More news soon!
PROGRESS PICTURES GALORE!
over 3 years ago
– Wed, Nov 25, 2020 at 03:17:31 PM
Hey everyone!
You would not believe what a busy month it has been! I was shocked to see that a whole month has passed since the last update. But fear not -- that silence does not mean inactivity! Quite the opposite in fact!
The coins have been delivered, the patches should arrive this week, the vinyl is being engraved, and the pins are in production. Oh, and the book is done. Completely printed and on their way to our warehouse. Don't believe me? Here are some pix of the first advance copies!
They turned out AMAZING, and we cannot wait to get them into your hands! They're scheduled to reach our warehouse the last week of December, and hopefully the holidays won't introduce too much delay...
On top of that exciting eye-candy, Merwan has signed all of the bookplates and completed all of the original sketches for those backers who pledged at that tier. With their gracious permission, we're gonna share a peek at them here...!
(And just for the record, I have no idea which one was made for who, so...)
We weren't sure what to expect in terms of level of detail and rendering, but he brought a feast of FULL COLOR WASH AND INK to the table, and I'm jealous of all of you lucky backers. I wants to keeps them alls... ;)
So what's the timetable at this stage?
Aside from laying out the artbook and vinyl sleeve, the rest of production is wrapping up and will be in our warehouse shortly. We will be locking down the Backerkit orders on DECEMBER 4th -- one week from this Friday.
That means you have until then to make any adjustment to your pledge packages and to confirm payment method for any balance due (including shipping). All credit cards will be charged at that point, and if any charges fail, Backerkit will contact you in an effort to correct things. Please make sure your payment info is good! We can't ship anything to you if we can't complete your order!
Canadian Backers, we have found a postal forwarding option in Ontario, so we will be adjusting those rates before lockdown! We'll let you know how those adjustments look once we have calculated the cost difference. It should save you a few loonies, at least...
Australian Backers, we are still looking for a fulfillment provider to help you with the cost... if we can manage to lock someone down and plug in some better rates before the 4th, we will let you know! Otherwise, the current rates will have to stand, and we'll continue investigating options for the next campaign...
We are hoping we can get all items into our warehouse before December 31st so we can start shipping before New Years Day. But... there are a lot of things right on the cusp of that date. The pins might come in just after the 1st. Or the vinyl. Maybe even the books (if they get delayed at port). So the more realistic shipping start date is looking like early January... which is what we posted from the start, so we're right on schedule.
One final little teaser...
We just secured rights to publish one of Merwan's earlier epics next year. We won't say which yet, but it is ANOTHER AWESOME ACTION SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER. If you like ASTER, you will love this one next year...
