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First Men on Mars #1: a 48-Page Steampunk Comic

Created by E.M.PRESS Publications

E.M.PRESS Publications relaunches its debut comicbook, a 48-page steampunk adventure **Due to fluctuating global shipping rates, we will be charging shipping fees at a later date.
We will keep you updated through Kickstarter Updates for when shipping fees will be applied to your pre-order. Thank you for your patience and understanding!**

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Lost Treasures: Simon Fraser's Unused Pages!
almost 1 year ago – Sat, May 06, 2023 at 08:46:59 AM

Hello and welcome to our latest update.

As the Kickstarter for First Men on Mars #1 advances towards its first stretch goal, we'd like to take a look at another of our stretch goals.

 Unlocked at £8,000, First Men on Mars: Lost Treasures not only features this amazing cover by Tiernen Trevallion, but also a feast of concept art, promotional material and other curios. It also includes some pages of sequential artwork which, sadly, won't make it into First Men on Mars #1. The following gems by Simon Fraser are two prime examples:  

Known for his work on, amongst other things, 2000 AD's Nikolai Dante, Simon's style is perfect for First Men on Mars (I mean, c'mon, just look at that wartomaton!). These pages were drawn in 2021 during the run-up to our original (and unsuccessful) Kickstarter for First Men on Mars #1. Sadly Simon's schedule precluded him from returning to the relaunched campaign. Regardless, we still have these incredible pages to enjoy.

Whilst these pages are now destined to appear in Lost Treasures and not issue #1 proper,  the good news is Simon is pencilled in (no pun intended!) for issue #2 later this year. We can't wait to see what he produces!

Lost Treasures will be unlocked if we reach £8,000 worth of pledges. Please help us reach this milestone by continuing to share the Kickstarter with your friends and on your social media profiles. There's still a long way to go until we can unlock goodies such as Lost Treasures, and we can't do it without you!

Very best,

Paul 

Victorian Playing Cards
about 1 year ago – Fri, May 05, 2023 at 05:06:06 AM

Hello and welcome to our latest update!

Today we'd like to to take a look at another steampunk project. These superb Victorian playing cards are currently funding on Kickstarter and we think that they deserve your attention:

Created by our friend Maciej Frolow, the standard deck of these beautiful and thematic cards features:

  • 52 cards and 2 jokers
  • High-quality printing on cards, 310 gsm premium German linen card stock
  • Printed by NPCC
  • 330gsm silver and gold mirror Italian cardstock for tuck boxes
  • Embossed details on tuck
  • Inner printing on tuck

This campaign includes both a gold and silver tuckboxes and this presentation box:

Please visit the Victorian playing cards - Steampunk edition Kickstarter campaign for more details.

We Are Funded
about 1 year ago – Wed, May 03, 2023 at 07:01:03 PM

Well, it's been a long time coming, but First Men on Mars #1 is now funded on Kickstarter.

There are people behind the scenes that I should thank at this stage, but that's something I want to do both privately and in person. However, it would be remiss if I didn't express my gratitude to everyone who has backed the campaign thus far, and those of you who will back it in the the weeks to come; the careworn adage 'we couldn't have done it without you' has never been more apt. Thank you. 

So, now we're funded, I guess it's time to look at our first stretch goal, right...?

Drawn by the amazing Paul McCaffrey, this fabulous cover will adorn the PDF version of First Men on Mars #1 if and when our funding reaches £7,000. 

If you like what you see and want a physical copy, then prints of this magnificent piece are available as an add-on. These prints come in two varieties: the branded version seen above, or the 'virgin' version, which is free of our logo, masthead and text. This virgin version is available in A3 and A4. 

That is all for now, but I look forward to examining our next stretch goal in due course. In the interim, thank you all so much for your support; First Men on Mars has been in development for ten years, and to reach this milestone is at once exciting, surreal ... and way, way overdue!  

Very best,

Paul

Introducing Blank Covers and Our Retailer Pledge
about 1 year ago – Wed, May 03, 2023 at 04:28:16 AM

Hello and welcome to this, our latest update for First Men on Mars.

We've added two new pledges over the last 24 hours: a blank cover and a retailer pledge. 

The blank cover features nothing more than our logo and the First Men on Mars masthead; other than that it is, as the name would suggest, entirely blank, making it a great option for those of you who would like to either draw your own cover or commission your favourite artist to draw a unique and personalised cover for you.

The retailer pledge, meanwhile, includes fifteen copies of First Men on Mars #1. This number is composed of ten copies with the standard cover by our main artist, Gary Erskine.  A copy with a blank cover, one copy each with Lee Carter and Staz Johnson's variant covers, and two copies with variant covers by Ian Richardson are also included. At only £90, this is the perfect pledge for retailers; so if you own a store and want to stock First Men on Mars, this is the option for you!

That's all for today, but we'll be back tomorrow with another update.

Very best,

Paul

We've Passed the £5,000 Barrier!
about 1 year ago – Sat, Apr 29, 2023 at 05:47:56 AM

Hello and welcome to our latest update.

It's been a great day for the campaign! We've passed the £5,000 barrier and are now within £1,000 of funding. With 18 days to go, we're quietly confident that we'll make it. Please continue to share the campaign with your friends and on social media; every impression counts!