Stretch Goals

$3000 Goal : Rum Row Aerial Map - Every level and every backer (from $5 up) will receive a digital wallpaper verison of the aerial map of Rum Row. You will get to see all the separate gang territories, red light districts, casinos, opium dens, and more!

$3500 Goal : Gangland Encyclopedia - This digital booklet, will act as an encyclopedia of the who's who in Rum Row's Gangland. To accompany Michele's sketches of each gang, we will have gang histories, territory breakdowns, weapons of choice, and rivals of each gangs. Every level and every backer (from $5 up) will receive this also.

The Story

To avoid dry laws, rumrunners and patrons alike have taken to the sky. Hot air balloons and dirigibles now serve as speakeasies and black markets for alcohol. The press has coined these flying bars above New York "Rum Row".

Despite operating outside the law, Rum Row has become a worldwide tourist attraction. Faced with growing concern over the lawlessness of its airspace, the city has created a special aerial vice squad to monitor and crack down on the sale of alcohol.

One ship in particular has been a thorn in the city's side since the beginning: The Duchess, New York's premier flying speakeasy. In this story, we'll follow the NYPD's attempt to take down the Duchess once and for all, through the eyes of one of its passengers, Jack Tinson. All the while, Jack's own allegiances and motivations remain in question...

The Characters

Jack Tinson isn't a drinker. And he's definitely not a fan of crowds. So spending his New Year's Eve on the biggest party in the city may be Jack's worst nightmare. Except Jack has a plan. And if he can pull it off, it'll be more than worth his while.

Conrad is Jack's second in command: A man of many talents, with plenty of experience under his belt. But he's also a terrible drunk. So this may not be the best place for Conrad either. If the two of them are to succeed, he'll need to keep it together.

This seemingly naive waitress may be more than just another pretty face. Jack and Conrad aren't the only ones with ulterior motives.

The Commissioner has patrolled the skies since the beginning of this dirigible explosion. Things were manageable until the the Duchess and her crew showed up. With every attempt, the crew has been one step ahead. But tonight, on this New Year's Eve, he's pulling out all the stops.

The Book

Rum Row is a fully colored one-shot. The main story taking up the first 24 pages, followed by an additional 5 page black and white short. We wanted to keep it concise this first time out, to make sure you got a complete story. This is meant to be an introduction to our world, and will give us plenty to play with if there's reader interest.

We also put together a "Making of" digital booklet that will go through the process behind putting this project together. Everything from sketches, script pages, and what influenced the story.

About the Team

Thanks to the internet I was able to come across Michele Bandini's amazing artwork. Not only was it beautiful to look at, but we seemed to share a lot of common interests. Both of us frustrated with the pitfalls of the pitching process, and doing only short anthology style stories, we wanted to do something bigger. We decided to forget the submission process altogether, and focus on putting out full length projects we cared about. Rum Row is our first crack at that.

Derek Dow, the colorist is another incredibly talented individual, who I was lucky enough to work with. I stumbled across his deviantart page, and haven't looked back since. It will only be a matter of time, before this guy's name is popping up on everything.

Sonia Harris, the logo and design portion of our team, was crucial to setting the tone of our little book. With great insight and choices, the book looks as good as it does thanks to her. Not to mention Sonia is a writer herself co-plotting The Bounce with Joe Casey, and writing a weekly column on comics at goodcomics.comicbookresources.com.

Adam O. Pruett is my long time collaborator and letterer, plus all around awesome dude. He can also grow really good beards. You may have seen his work recently in Captain Ultimate or Savage Dragon.

WHY KICKSTARTER

This book is bought and paid for. Finished and ready to print. So why do we need your help?

Well although that's definitely true. It's been an expensive and time consuming journey. Mainly, because it was fully funded by myself. I just about broke the bank putting this together, and we still need to get this book in reader hands.

The funding goal is based solely on covering the printing and shipping costs of the book. Anything extra will go directly to more stories in this universe. Because ideally we'd like to make three more issues for Rum Row, and at a quicker pace than this one. We're hoping with this campaign to make that a reality.

Rewards:

Sticker Set: Beautiful hand drawn black and white sticker set by Daniel White.

Postcard: Glossy 4 x 6, also courtesy of Daniel White.

8.5" x 11" Art Prints:

"Vintage Cigarette Ad" by John Broglia (God Complex, Unmasked, Denali), and colors by Derek Dow.

"Dogfight" by Michele Bandini and colors by Derek Dow.

11" x 17" Rum Row Traveling Posters:



Joe Dellagatta print. If you haven't check out his project "The Diver", do! Awesome stuff.

The Daniel White print encapsulates everything you need to know about Rum Row.

Rum Row T-Shirt:

Art by Michele Bandini, and colors by Derek Dow.

Rum Row Flask:

Custom made "Duchess" flask by artist Felicia Rose. It even comes with a funnel, so you don't waste a drop! Which is extremely important since alcohol is illegal and precious during these Prohibition times.

Original Pencil / Inked Cover Art for Rum Row: