Imagine my delight when I checked my emails and found for review a comic I’m still kicking myself for not backing on Kickstarter earlier this year.
NESS is the story of Ceit, a girl who travels to Loch Ness with a group of friends to scatter the ashes of her mother. She happens to turn up the day after a mysterious bloke meets a rather grisly end at the tentacles of something living in the Loch. He was the last of an order dedicated to keeping the very not-timorous beasties in the area under control and now he’s gone… well things get a lot more squishy as issue 1 progresses.
The main story, by writer Chris Welsh, unfolds at a pretty rapid clip in issue 1, with a side plot about some missing cows that I have a sneaking feeling may pop back up again later down the line. Having grown up in the region where this comic is set I am thrilled to say that, while Chris might have exercised some creative license in regards to the quantity of tentacles present, Robert Carey‘s art and the gorgeous heathery colours from Dee Cunliffe do bring the Highland glens to life brilliantly – especially the panels at the ruined castle/church on the banks of the Loch. I also had to try really hard not to be a total nerd and see if the runes on the amulet on the second page actually say something, but there’s that much detail it’s hard not to!
Issue 2 is being funded by Kickstarter now and has already exceeded its original goal and is on the way to busting some Stretch Goals with 9 days left to go. I’m not going to lie, my wallet is already twitching as I ponder how much money to throw at it.
This Caspar Wijngaard (Assassins Creed comic artist) variant cover for Issue 2 is gorgeous and there are pin ups by some of my favourite people from the UK Small Press scene. It’s also the only way to get your hands on a copy of the brilliant first issue unless you’re attending Lakes Con or Thought Bubble later this year.
BONUS
I was just chatting with Chris on Twitter and asked for a sneak hint at what the first Stretch Goal reward might be.
*Drum roll*
I can (sort of) exclusively reveal that the first Stretch Goal reward will be a set of art cards at £2850 which is less than £300 away! There will also be a big reward if the kickstarter hits £3333 of a sew on fabric NESS patch. That’s a little over £750 away, and with 9 days to go it’s entirely plausible. If you didn’t get Issue 1 the first time around, and you pick a reward tier that includes it on this Kickstarter, you will also get the Loch Ness map that was a stretch goal reward before. So now is your chance to pick up not only great comics but some goodies to go with them!
