Steampunk Authors Launch Kickstarters as Prof. Elemental Awaits

Steampunk authors Madeleine Holly-Rosing and Bonsart Bokel are off to roaring starts with new Kickstarter campaigns. Meanwhile, chap hop maestro Professor Elemental is preparing to launch his own crowdfunding effort for a new 200-page art book.

Boston Metaphysical Society Heads West

Holly-Rosing is raising funds for the first two issues of Boston Metaphysical Society: Mystery at Pikes Peak, a four-issue comic book mini-series that continues the adventures of paranormal investigators Samuel, Caitlin, Granville, and Alma.

Facing arrest, the team flees Boston for refuge at Nikola Tesla’s laboratory in Colorado Springs. There they meet Meihui Zhou, a scientist from California who is working with the famed inventor. Complications arise when someone attempts to kill Tesla and Caitlin begins having unsettling visions.

Each story will be published in a 32-page saddle-stitched book. In addition to the comics, rewards will include a Tesla coil pin, variant covers, earlier volumes in the series, and recordings of The Ghost Ship audio drama.

Holly-Rosing, who conceived and wrote the series, has assembled a creative team that includes interior artist Elisabeth Mkhiedze, cover artist Angela Wu, colorist Kaytee Brown, and letterer Troy Peteri. Rio Burton and Steph C contributed variant covers.

Pledges begin at US$10 for digital issues and $18 for print copies. The latter is an early-bird price and goes up to $22 after the campaign’s first 48 hours. Prices include domestic shipping. Holly-Rosing estimates delivery of digital and print copies in August.

The campaign launched on Wednesday, March 1, with a funding goal of US$8500. As of Wednesday evening it had reached more than $7000. It runs through March 31. See the Kickstarter page for more info.

Update: The campaign reached its funding goal late on Wednesday.

New Association of Ishstar Tale

Author and podcaster Bonsart Bokel is back on Kickstarter with a campaign for the second novel in his Association of Ishstar steampunk series, along with a set of miniatures depicting characters in his stories.

The centerpiece is Bound for the Styx, an illustrated steampunk adventure set largely in Arkology. That’s the capital city of Hades, an interdimensional space station with mysterious origins. Protagonist Igraine Mortuba is a young woman exiled to Hades so she can restore implants that give her special abilities.

Bokel plans to use funds from the campaign to pay artists and editors who have contributed to this and other projects. “Most illustrations for Bound for the Styx are done,” he writes, “but I would like to commission more from various artists for future projects as well,” including narrative videos, book supplements, and audiobooks.

Pledges for an e-book version begin at €12 (US$13), but you’ll have to pledge at least €15 to get stretch goal rewards. Pledges for a physical copy begin at €25. Rewards also include the miniatures and other works in the Association of Ishstar series. Some reward tiers are available only within the first 48 hours of the campaign.

Bokel estimates delivery of the digital edition in November followed by paperback and audiobook versions in December.

The campaign launched early Wednesday, March 1, and passed its €1000 (US$1058) goal as we were writing this story (good thing we checked). It runs through April 1. Learn more on the Kickstarter page and the Association of Ishtar website.

Art Showcase for Professor Elemental

The chap hop artist is ramping up for a Kickstarter campaign later this month to raise funds for The Art of Professor Elemental, a 200-page full-color hardcover book.

Produced in collaboration with his long-time associate Chris Mole, the book will showcase his comics, novels, art prints, and album art, as well as unpublished sketches and original pieces created for the volume.

Featured artists include Charlie Adlard, Brian Kesinger, Jamie Keys, VV Glass, and Jenn Gyllblad.

To prepare for the launch, he’s asking his fans to join a mailing list to get updates. That simple act will entitle you to a free download of the track “Make Good Art Part 3” from his 2019 album Professor Elemental and His Amazing Friends: Part 2.

You can sign up for the mailing list and get more info about the campaign on the Professor’s website. And if you haven’t done so already, check out our Q&A with the Professor in Episode 4 of The World of Steampunk, our YouTube video series.