Desperado Books and series curator Joe Pruett today announced plans to revive the Eisner, Harvey, Gem, and Eagle-nominated Negative Burn on comics crowdfunding platform Zoop. First launched in 1993, Negative Burn describes itself as “a creative testing ground where legendary and emerging voices collide – an experimental, creator-driven laboratory that challenges the norm and moves the medium forward.”
This new Negative Burn is packed with big-time talent including Mike Allred, Margaret Bennett, Brian Bolland, Mike Carey, JM DeMatteis, Francesco Francavilla, Phil Hester, Joe Jusko, Sam Keith, Joe Linsner, Ron Mertz, Peter Milligan, Steve Niles, Dan Panosian, Paul Pope, Joe Pruett, James Robinson, Declan Shalvey, and Dalibau. Taragic et al.
“I have always said that negative burn made my career,” Pruett said in a statement. “I have great love for this title, and so do many of the creators involved, and I believe this will be the best volume of this series ever produced. And that speaks volumes from a series that has been nominated for multiple Eisner Awards. I can’t wait for everyone to see this book. It’s going to be great!”
This revival features never-before-seen original stories created specifically for the new edition of Negative Burn. For Zoop backers, the campaign will also offer exclusive premium metal variant editions and other surprises available exclusively through Zoop.
Backers can get a digital copy of the anthology for $15, or a physical copy for $15 to $40, featuring various covers by artists such as Francesco Francavilla, Sam Keith, Dan Panosian, Joe Linsner, and Juan Do. As of this writing, the special Joe Jusko sketch variant cover will be available for about 42 hours.
The original Negative Burn was serialized by Caliber Press from 1993 to 1997, and then briefly serialized by Image and Desperado from 2006 to 2008. After nearly 20 years, Pruett revived the book through crowdfunding. Crowdfunding has been the go-to resource for indie comics in the years since Negative Burn ended.
You can view the campaign here. It will end on February 5th.
