About Me
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My name is Alex Banchitta, I'm the founder and owner of Fright Entertainment, an independent comic book company that started up in 2012 (visit www.frightentertainment.com for more information on the company and you can also click here to read an advanced copy of the first issue of Champions of Earth). I am the co-creator and writer on Champions of Earth, as well as the character designer and cover artist for issue four of the mini-series. I have a bachelor's degree in Cartooning from the School of Visual Arts, I've taken several courses on writing through Gotham Writers' Workshop, and briefly performed stand up comedy in New York City.
About Champions of Earth
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Champions of Earth is a four issue comedy/superhero mini-series created by me, Alex Banchitta, and fellow writer, James Riccardo. The story follows two dimwitted teenagers who became famous as a result of them going on a crime spree after unintentionally gaining superpowers and kidnapping a man who turned out to be a very savvy agent to the stars. The boys would have to pay for their crimes if it wasn't for the fact that they mistakenly framed the city's two most beloved superheroes for their actions.
Champions of Earth is an important project to me because I've always loved superhero stories about teenagers, but was tired of reading about only heroic and noble protagonists. CoE is about two average kids taking advantage of the situation, doing what many kids their age with superpowers would do.
I've always been a big fan of Peter David's run on Young Justice and early issues of Robert Kirkman's Invincible. They were fun comics about being young and having supernatural abilities, but in contrast to those comics, the protagonists of Champions of Earth don't have role models to guide them.
How Your Contributions Will Help
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By pledging to this project, you will help young creators enter a very competitive market. Most independent comics never get past the first issue because the sales generated are insufficient to finance the continued production of the book. More often than not, by the time people learn about the book and become interested in the story, the creators can no longer afford to fund it. Your pledge ensures that this mini-series will be completed and made available to comic book fans looking for something that takes itself less seriously than your average Marvel or DC superhero story.
What We Need and Why
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We are looking to raise $2,300 to help pay for lettering of the entire mini-series, inking for the final half of issue two & all of issue four, penciling for issue four, toning for the entire book, and printing costs. If the book doesn't reach its goal in the time frame allotted, we will continue to take pledges via PayPal and fund the book as best we can on our end to ensure its completion. If we don't reach our goal it's likely the book will see a fall 2015 release instead of October 2014.
If we manage to exceed our goal of $2,300 and raise $4,940, we will release the book in full color instead of black & white. The chances of this pushing the release date into November 2014 are slim, but as a precautionary measure, we'd like to at least mention that adding the colors could possibly delay the release date by one month.
Awesome Perks!
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We want to make sure backers are rewarded for helping us get this book out- so all physical copies of the mini series will have special limited edition covers available only to the backers of the Indiegogo campaign. Each issue will have a limited print run of a maximum of 225 copies, in the back of each issue will be a thank you to all the backers who helped make this project possible. In addition, each copy will be signed by the creators, Alex Banchitta and James Riccardo.
There is an exclusive sketch by co-creator Alex Banchitta of Jupiter Man or the Scarab available to backers of the campaign. There will only be 12 of these sketches created and they will all be numbered and signed.
We will also offer a limited plushy of Jupiter Man or the Scarab available to Indiegogo backers. Only 15 of these dolls will be available.
Last, but certainly not least... you have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to have your full name featured somewhere in the comic! If you're the one lucky backer that grabs the Champion Bundle, we will put your full name somewhere in the comic. It could be in a line of dialog, a store sign, graffiti on a wall, the possibilities are endless! Don't worry about it getting lost in the background, we'll make sure you can't miss it.
How to Help if You Can't Pledge
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Spread the word! It's that simple. There's a freely available advanced copy of the first issue here. Share it with your friends and colleagues! You can also share the campaign with the Indiegogo share tools, and other websites like Twitter, and Facebook. If you have a comic book blog, you can even write a review of the book to help increase exposure.
Still Not Sold?! Check Out Some Reviews of Issue 1
"It was an entertaining issue and I would definitely check out the next issue." - Dustin Cabeal, Comic Bastards
"... the creative team deserves accolades for managing to string together a first issue that marries words and art in a way that lends itself to the story being told." - Dante Buccieri, Rhymes With Geek
Credits
Written and Created by: Alex Banchitta & James Riccardo.
Artist(s): Koko Amboro, Scott Shriver, Ben DeRosa, Chandra P. Kelly, Marcelo Salaza, Gabe Pinto, Alex Banchitta
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Color Samples
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Jupiter Man Sample Sketch by Alex Banchitta
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The Scarab Sample Sketch by Alex Banchitta
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Jupiter Man Plushy by Sarah Ashworth