Zip #3 - An Imperfect Superhuman vs Body Horror Cyborgs Launches on Kickstarter

by Benjamin Williams
28th October, 2024
2 minutes

Zip, a Bristol based independent comic book, which uses superheroes as an analogy for disability, is returning to crowdfunding platform Kickstarter this autumn. Their new issue tackles generative AI and the effect it is having on the arts and entertainment industry.

A comic book cover with a vibrant colour pallet where a woman is running in the foreground. She is wearing a costume modelled after a tracksuit, and her hair is blowing in the slipstream she has created by her speed. The energy she is creating is causing electricity to spark around her. She is almost entirely lit in an amber tint, all except for her googles, which are bright purple in contrast: a hue which matches the blurred buildings that she is whizzing past.

In the new instalment, a megacorporation has created a nanobot collective named The Hive. It is designed to analyse consumer goods by atomising them and then rebuilding new products for the market with the training data it's amassed.

But in their rush to present The Hive to their investors, they neglected to address The Hive's greatest flaw. It has escaped and identified a prime target for cannibalisation - human beings!

After successfully funding the first two issues, Zip issue 3 will be available on Kickstarter on November 6th.

Photo of an inked comic page in a gritty style. Panel 1: a robot firing the miniguns it has in place of an arm. 2: a bald man and a woman in a superhero costume modelled on a tracksuit diving out of a petrol station. 3: elsewhere, a man with messy hair is watching the news in shock. On his TV is a bewildered looking man being interviewed on the street. 4 and 5: the messy haired man picks up his car keys and walks out of the room. 6, 7 and 8: back at the garage, the bald man launches a fireball from his hand at the robot, which ricochets off of its chassis, and to the man and woman's horror, careens towards a petrol pump.

The comic was written by Mike Scrase, illustrated by San Espina, and lettered by Ferran Delgado. The first cover by Francesco Tomaseli has already been revealed, and more variant covers will be announced later in the campaign.

As of 2024 the comic has found a publisher in Markosia Enterprises, who have made the series so far available to read on Amazon UK, Amazon US, and DriveThruComics.

A two headed skeletal robot with huge mechanical tentacles has been caught in an explosion. A woman in goggles and a tracksuit costume is running from it and a man is escaping by projecting a blast of fire from his hands which rockets him into the sky.

Praise for the Zip #1

"LOVE the art in this" – Gail Simone.

★★★★★ "One of my favorite new comics" - Amazon review from Apparition Writer.

★★★★★ "Excellent comic. Really love where the story is going. Love the artwork." - Amazon review from Ahmed.

★★★★★ "Zip is going to be an enlightening, thrilling ride." - Comic Book News UK.

"Really enjoying the experience of reading this. Good, dense but with flow, feels like a proper meal." -Claire Napier.

Gritty, black and white comic art with heavy inks. A cyborg with a hairless human head which bulges with veins. Over its eyes is a metallic visor. Its torso is part organic and part mechanical: with riblike cables running across its chest and meeting at a mechanical sternum. It has hulking, robotic arms. On its back is a huge mass of machine parts, so cluttered and complex that it is difficult to identity what individual parts do.

Campaign rewards

Physical rewards will be available in all European Union countries which Kickstarter supports delivery options for, as well as the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Backers who missed the first issue will be able to catch up with back issue rewards.

  • As before, backers will be able to receive an acknowledgement in the comic's credits for the contribution they made to the project via their pledge.
  • They'll be able to choose from a range of alternate covers exclusively available via Kickstarter when the campaign ends.
  • Due to publisher Markosia only distributing comics in trade paperback format, the Kickstarter campaign is the only way to get print versions of Zip's single issues.

Readers excited for the continuation of the series can find the Kickstarter campaign here. They can also keep up to date with Zip by signing up through the website's mailing list, or through the rest of their social media profiles, found here.

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