THE BIGGEST SCI-FI MOVIE OF 2020 IS A GRAPHIC NOVEL - MADI: Once Upon a Time in the Future
“So as happenstance has happened to stance, I began working on this project about a year ago and it's come to fruition now!
It’s a graphic novel I created with the multiple Eisner nominated comic guru Alex de Campi, and I am so bloody proud of it. If you are in any way into comics, sci-fi or a good yarn, it brings together some absolute legends in the world of comic art, to tell a sci-fi story penned by me, and adapted to the comic medium by Alex and myself.
Just look at that list of artists! I think you'll all really like it.” - Duncan Jones
Just over a year ago in April 2019, MOON & MUTE writer / director Duncan Jones put the feelers out over Twitter about potentially telling the third instalment of what has come to be known as the Mooniverse trilogy in graphical novel format.
At the time Duncan was completely new to the format as a creator (massive comics fan though, especially 2000AD which led to him getting on board to direct the forthcoming feature film adaptation of Rogue Trooper) so in typical fashion he surrounded himself with experts in the field and what began as a quick Twitter ponder has evolved into MADI: Once Upon a Time in the Future in collaboration with his “sherpa” Eisner award nominated writer Alex de Campi.
MADI: Once Upon a Time in the Future was officially launched on Kickstarter on the 19th of May, the campaign reached its goal of $50,000.00 on that same day, within hours!
Less than a week after launch MADI: Once Upon a Time in the Future has just gone past $250,000.00 and hit the front page of Kickstarter as a featured project and has been shared and backed with much enthusiasm by the likes of Colin Hanks, Jonathan Ross, Guillermo del Toro, Alex Winter, Mark Kermode, David Baddiel, Peter Ramsey, Clint Mansell, Edgar Wright, and most excitingly for Duncan, legendary author William Gibson who tweeted out
“I first read this as a screenplay. Having myself experienced what can happen when a screenplay becomes a graphic novel, to say I'm excited by this Kickstarter is very much an understatement!”
The Mooniverse Trilogy started with Duncan’s multi award winning feature film debut MOON in 2009, and continued with the exclusive to Netflix feature set in near future Berlin, MUTE in 2018 in which we catch a glimpse of how things work out for Sam Bell after the end of MOON, so the series give us stories set in that shared Universe rather than direct sequels. If you’re keen to spend more time in the Mooniverse, have a thirst for incredible art and storytelling, and a hankering for ‘The biggest sci-fi movie of 2020’, MADI is for you!
So, what’s it all about?…
MADI is a 260-page road trip graphic novel set in the near future, by film director Duncan Jones (MOON, SOURCE CODE) and writer Alex de Campi (BAD KARMA, BLADE RUNNER), and drawn by some of comics’ most exciting artists including Glenn Fabry, Simon Bisley, Duncan Fegredo and Pia Guerra. Each artist tackles a 8-30 page section of the story, bringing to life one location.
Madi Preston, a veteran of Britain’s elite special operations J-Squad unit, is burnt out and up to her eyeballs in debt. She and the rest of her team have retired from the military but are now trapped having to pay to service and maintain the technology put into them during their years of service. They're working for British conglomerate Liberty Inc as mercenaries, selling their unique ability to be remote controlled by specialists while in the field, and the debts are only growing as they get injured completing missions. We meet Madi as she decides she’s had enough. She will take an off-the-books job that should earn her enough to pay out her and her sister, but when the piece of tech she’s supposed to steal turns out to be a kid, and she suddenly blacks out... she finds herself on the run from everyone she’s ever known.
In a globe-spanning adventure from Shanghai to Soho, Madi has to stay one step ahead of the giant corporations closing in on her from all sides.
MADI is the third and final story in the “Mooniverse,” an anthology of independent stories that take place in a shared future. You don’t need to have seen MOON or MUTE to fully enjoy this standalone book.
Having met and far exceeded the initial goal, Duncan and Alex are busy responding to comments from backers on the Kickstarter page, and adding additional content to all options for all backers as a way of thanking everyone for backing MADI. What began as an extremely exciting project is getting better and better as the days go by.
If you can’t quite stretch to it yet, or need some convincing, there’s even the first 17 pages to download and read now, free!
For further details on how to pick up a copy (variants of softcover or hardback), AND have Duncan tell you all about it (check out the video at the top of the Kickstarter page), please head over to the MADI: Once Upon a Time in the Future Kickstarter page now!
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