Wild Stars & Cirsova Updates

I spent all day Saturday at The Comic Book Store, stuffing boxes.

10 AM

5 PM

Today, I’ll be shuttling these to the post office.

The Cirsova Kickstarter is doing mediocre–there’s no other word for it. We’ve got less than 2 weeks left, but we still need to raise $2.5k more to fund. I set a $5k goal because I wanted to actually see if we could get sustainable support after establishing a successful track record of delivering a quality product and delivering it on time. Given the success of other anthologies and magazines at this level (sometimes even vastly exceeding it), it’s not outside the realm of possible.

But hey, at least our first volume lasted longer than Skelos (given it’s $15 retail price and the fact that it crapped out after 3 issues, that $125 lifetime subscription is not looking like such a hot investment).

I don’t think it’s unpossible for us to reach our $5K goal, but please understand this is a Xanatos Gambit–

Funds: I have enough money to take submissions for 2019, and I spend days entering fulfillment for 200ish subscribers.

Doesn’t Fund: I just upload everything the way I normally do; people have to buy Cirsova from Amazon. Even with the attrition from people who backed the kickstarter but don’t end up buying on Amazon right away, people who go ahead and buy anyway will boost the issues’ Amazon profiles with sales they’d otherwise never see. I won’t take submissions for 2019, so will have some extra time for my own writing. I’ll possibly be able to bankroll a Volume 2 on the tentative success of Illustrated Stark.

So, will there be a volume 2? Will it be out in 2019? Really, that’s going to be up to our fans and readers. Stark is happening. That’s my main focus for 2019. I’ve also spoken with a couple of our other contributors about possibly putting out anthologies of their work. That would be an interesting opportunity for us to branch out as a publisher, moving beyond just a periodical fiction anthology.

Anyway, if you DO want volume 2 to pick up right away in 2019, here is where you can throw your money.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1161542777/cirsova-vol-1-final-issues-9-and-10

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Michael Tierney’s Wild Stars (Backer Reward Breakdown + Add-Ons)

We’re on track to hopefully raise $4000 for Michael Tierney’s Wild Stars.

We’ve unlocked a LOT of stretch goals, and I think we will hit more, so I wanted to highlight what it is we’re offering and what you’ll get for backing:

$5

• Electronic copy of the new Wild Stars novella

$10

• Electronic and softcover copy the new Wild Stars novella
•  All 7 issues of the 2002 Wild Stars comic run*
• The Force Majeure: Prairie Bay comic*

$15

• All of the above
• Multiversal Scribe Magazine

$25

• All of the above
• The 1984 & 1988 Wild Star Comics, Erlik and First Marker.

$45 (ONE LEFT!)

• All of the above
• Across the Distance and Wild Stars art portfolios

Add Ons:

• Spider-Raft Variant Cover ($10)**
• Hardcover ($30 US, $35 non-US)***

*:Free to US backers; due to international postage rates, non-US backers will need to increase their pledge by an additional $40 to receive these comics.

**: Backers may choose from either cover or pledge an additional $10 to receive both copies (no additional S&H)

***: Hardcovers may be shipped/fulfilled separately—this allows us to save on international shipping to make them more affordable to non-US backers.

Good First Weekend for Wild Stars!

Over the first weekend of our kickstarter, we’ve hit the first and nearly the second stretch goals (Backers will receive free copies of the entire 2002 run of Wild Stars). If you haven’t backed yet, now would be a great time to do so, especially while we still have a couple of the Ultimate Fan Packages left.

Domestic US backers will receive all stretch rewards comics for free with their copies of Wild Stars III: Time Warmageddon.

International backers will have the option to pledge an additional amount to cover the shipping and handling for these comics (Sorry, but mailing a 6 lb box of comics overseas costs significantly more than whatever deals Amazon & Lulu have cut for their dropshipment rates.)

I’ll have the shipping and handling figured out for overseas backers soonish (hopefully today).

Art by Mark Wheatley

Wild Stars III: Time Warmageddon–Available for Pre-Order Now!

Pre-Orders for Michael Tierney’s Wild Stars III: Time Warmageddon are live now!

Faster-than-light scouts are arriving at distant suns to discover that they have been “replaced” by white dwarfs and their planets have gone missing… Terraformers find a world that shows signs of previous human colonization: who were those people and where did they go? The saga of the Wild Stars continues as former-President Bully Bravo seeks to solve these mysteries while pursued by an evil pirate queen and a rogue time-traveler trying to create a god.

Time Warmageddon is a fully illustrated novel by Michael Tierney, featuring cover art by Tim Lim (Donald Thump, My Hero Magademia) and interior art by Mark Wheatley (Jonny Quest, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall).

This edition of Wild Stars III: Time Warmageddon will be a Kickstarter exclusive and will ship in September. This pulp-style magazine printing will be manufactured strictly to order and will be “sold out” upon release.

Over the last 35 years, the world of the Wild Stars has come to encompass multiple comics, novels, art folios, and a zine, and it has featured work by comic industry veterans Frank Brunner (Doctor Strange, Howard the Duck), Dave Simons (Ghost Rider), Armando Gil (Ka-Zar the Savage, Conan the King), and David Brewer (Cable, Deadpool). To celebrate this new entry into the franchise, Cirsova Publishing and Little Rocket Publications will be making an extensive catalog of older Wild Stars material, including some of the few remaining original Wild Stars comics and art portfolios from the 1980s, available to new fans and old.

Michael Tierney has been involved in comics and the publishing industry since the 70s. Owner and proprietor of both The Comic Book Store and Collector’s Edition, Michael was a Finalist for both the Star*Reach Comics Retailer of the Year Award in 1985 and the Will Eisner Spirit of the Comics Retailer of the Year Award in 1999, has been an Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide Advisor since the 1990s, and is a staple of Central Arkansas’ comic scene.  A former journeyman printer and printing division manager, he’s written, published, and at times even penciled, inked, and printed his own comics. He is currently writing, lettering, and coloring Edgar Rice Burroughs® Beyond the Farthest StarTM. Wild Stars III: Time Warmageddon comes right on the heels of his four volume Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology published by Chenault & Gray. Michael has been a regular contributor to Cirsova Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine.

For more information about Michael Tierney and the history of the Wilds Stars, be sure to visit his website: http://thewildstars.com

 

Cirsova 8 Paperback and Hardback Out Now!

All subscriber copies have been sent to fulfillment.*

Paperback copies of Cirsova #8 are available now through Amazon.

Hardcover copies of Cirsova # 8 are available now through Lulu.

Kindle copies will be available June 1st.

*:If we had your address. If you haven’t sent us your address, we haven’t sent you your magazines!

Projects Update! Wild Stars III and Cirsova #8 & #9

 

First, we’re gearing up for Wild Stars III: Time Warmaggedon.

This is a high-octane space and time-travel in the vein of Gardner F. Fox, Albert DePina, and Raymond F. Jones. Written by Michael Tierney, whose 4-volume history of the Art of Edgar Rice Burroughs is coming out this summer, and edited by Brian Niemeier (The Soul Cycle) and yours truly, I can assure you this is gonna be one heck of a ride.

What does Brian think about this project?

Wild Stars III is just what fans of fun, heroic action stories have been starving for. How do I know? Easy. I’m the book’s editor.

Michael Tierney has been a joy to work with. He is a true pro whose style and outlook remind me of the old pulp masters. His latest book is a whirlwind space adventure that will become the gold standard for putting fun first.

Wild Stars III: Time Warmageddon is a significant source of all your daily pulp requirements:

• Space pirates
• Hot damsels in distress
• Time travel
• World wrecking
• Ice cream
• And much more!

Pulp fans will want to line up for this one early. Non-pulp fans are really pulp fans who just don’t know it yet. Either way, be there for the launch of what promises to be a game-changing book.

 

The more I’ve read this story, the more I love it. We understand, though, that since this is the newest entry into a franchise that has been around for 35 years, it might not be immediately accessible to new readers, so not only will we be making some of the rare and out-of-print Wild Stars material available, we may even be giving the 2002 comic-run away for free to new fans and old picking up this limited edition of Wild Stars III on Kickstarter.

More details on that soon, but we’re looking at taking pre-orders in June, once we get the cover art in from Tim Lim (yes, that Tim Lim).

In other news…

Cirsova #8 draws ever nearer to being done and ready to go out the door. Actually, it should’ve been ready today, but Amazon is being weird about stuff and they have an obnoxiously long turn-around time for corrections.

But the digital editions are done and there is a pre-order page up.

Issue 9’s art is done and the latest work-file is in the hands of one of our trusty editors.

I’ll be ready to start taking subscription orders for the final issues of Cirsova Volume 1 soonish.

Lastly, here’s a tease for you:

Art by Star Two.

Coming Soon! Wild Stars III: Time Warmageddon

We have a HUGE project that will be out later this summer!

Cirsova Publishing is teaming up with Michael Tierney and Little Rocket Publications to celebrate the upcoming 35th Anniversary of the Wild Stars with the exclusive release of an all new Wild Stars adventure: Time Warmageddon!

The fate of mankind and the current timeline are at stake—Space Pirates make a play for control over life in the stars and must be stopped, while rogue time travelers seek to undo the damage of tangled time as a mad-man reaches for apotheosis!

Wild Stars III: Time Warmageddon will be an illustrated novel by Michael Tierney, featuring cover art by Tim Lim (Donald Thump, My Hero Magademia) and interior art by Mark Wheatley (Jonny Quest, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall).

This is a big deal for us at Cirsova. Wild Stars III will be our first release other than our flagship magazine. We’re aiming for a release in August and will begin taking pre-orders in June.

Be sure to keep an eye out for details we’ll be posting throughout May!