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Don’t forget! The Auction for Asimov Plush #1 is currently running. Now is your chance to have a very special piece of Marooned memorabilia.

Really having fun with these guys! And we are moving the story forward, seems John figured out a way to have Zed come along.

I’ve been having great conversations with Chris Baldwin of Spacetrawler about comedy writing. He’s given me some really good insight and helped me tighten up these latest strips. So many thanks to Chris. He has me thinking in better ways about writing jokes. And I love talking shop with other artists, it’s a blast.

Speaking of which, the next Marooned story will be co-written by Steve Ogden. You know Steve has been a big help in the past. He’s great for helping me see the big picture and generating great ideas. I love working with Steve, so it only makes sense to write a story with him. We’re brainstorming it now.

Previously on Marooned…

If you are a new reader, you have jumped in at the perfect time. We’ve just begun a brand new story in Marooned. All you need to know is that Captain John (the spaceman) and Asimov (the robot) have been stranded on Mars. Ugo the Martian (the green guy) has put them up in the Martian underground city Vita, and they live there now. There are other various Martians you’ll meet along the way. Sit back and enjoy the story!

If you want to be fully informed, you can start reading from the beginning

You can also read Episodes in full-screen mode without digging through the archive!

Prince: $9.99
Paperback: 64 pages
Dimensions: 8 x 10 inches
LOTS of bonus content that will not be available online – ever!
Note: The mission log is not included in the 2nd printing.

Download the FREE 10-page preview here!

Praise for Marooned

“Suddenly, “Marooned” went from another casualty on the webcomic highway to something you eagerly awaited every Monday and Thursday, and wished it was more. It went from three panels of simple drawing to multiple panel, complex layouts with terrific art. It found its own voice and its own soul.”
– Tom Racine of Tall Tale Radio from the Introduction.

“[Marooned] hits all the right spots; it can be clever, smart, fun, and beautifully rendered.”
– Christopher Schultz, Webcomicz.com

“Marooned shows marked cohesivity, and its down-to-earth sci-fi story makes it a good recommendation for webcomic enthusiasts and the average reader alike.”
– Jackson Ferrell, This Week in Webcomics

Looking for a webcomic that has the feel of Edgar Rice Burroughs or E.E. Smith but the Heart of Calvin and Hobbes? Then Marooned is the comic for you… The jokes are well timed and the story is fun to read. I am particularly a fan of the vivid colors and the well thought out character development. If you were ever a fan of science fiction, you will certainly appreciate Marooned…
– Kelly Melcher, Fandomania

Inside the Book

The First 100 Marooned Strips

Covering a little over the first year of Marooned. I’ve gone back and updated the look of a majority of the first 60 or so strips just like I did in “Classics Week” in order to give the strip a more cohesive feel. The freshening up included taking care of a few typos, updating the look of some effects, fixing speech bubbles, correcting color and adding some depth.

The strips cover John and Asimov’s arrival, the “Saga of Bob” and the beginning of the current story, including the introduction of The Dark Ones.

Exclusive Short Story: Payload by Steve Ogden

(Click image for full page preview!)

The Uber-talented Steve Ogden steps in to ply his trade on Marooned! We’ve met Lian Fisher, a human woman who was a pilot for the New Frontier Federation just like John. She is now The Listener for the Dark Ones. But how did she arrive on Mars in the first place?

Payload answers that question. Follow Lian Fisher as she arrives in Mars orbit to perform her mission – and find out what went wrong. You’ve seen Steve’s Moon Town – you won’t want to miss his amazing work on this story! Additionally, Lian’s story is an important part in the overall Marooned story and won’t be published online. Marooned fans won’t want to miss it!

• Steve Ogden has been drawing and writing since shortly after birth. He makes computer games by day and draws comics like Moon Town by night.

Exclusive Short Story: Green

In my first foray outside of Marooned, Green is a short story about a robot. Hm, I think I have a thing about robots. You’ve seen the promo images, but what is Green really about? The story opens with a robot in a desolate environment searching for something. He explores the wasteland as he begins to suffer. Will he find the answer he seeks?

Green is an allegorical story about those who become very sick, and their struggle to find something that will bring them out on the other side.

Bonus Strips

All five Marooned bonus strips are included. Strips 1-3 of “The Unbelieveable Adventures of Dr. Ugofandian” (featuring Floopy, of course), The bonus strip from the Ashcan comic – in color – and the Christmas strip.

Mars Orbital Surveyor Image Gallery

What do you get when you ask some wonderful and amazing artists to provide their take on Marooned characters? You get the Mars Orbital Surveyor Image Gallery! Gazing from the safety of the Orbital Surveyor, these talented artists provide a fresh and stunning look into the Marooned world. We’re talking eye candy here people!

I’m humbled and honored that the following friends and colleagues and agreed to provide art for the book:

• Brian Anderson, syndicated cartoonist of Dog Eat Doug
• Eldon Cowgur, creator of the comic Astray3
• Irma Eriksson, creator of Imy the Comic
• Jessica Garibaldi, J. Garibaldi (commonly referred to as Gari) wears many hats: Animator, Illustrator, Character Designer, Armchair Cryptozoologist, and stubborn Bibliophile. Visit her blog to see what she’s been fooling with.
• Brock Heasely, creator of the comic The Superfogeys
• Honoel A. Ibardolaza, or commonly known as “HAI” to his handful of friends, is a children’s fiction writer and illustrator and creator of the comic By Moon Alone
• Barb Jacobs, creator of the comic Xylia Tales as well as the illustrated novella Nigel’s Opus. Previously she created the popular Talismen comic.
• Andrea Pearson, Recent graduate of Columbia College Chicago. Andrea is currently working as an Art Intern at slot machine innovator WMS. Visit Andrea’s blog
• Eddie Pittman, creator of the comic Red’s Planet and an animation industry veteran.
• Dave Pryor, Chicago born artist/animator who has worked on several TV cartoon series (most notably Warner Bros. Tiny Toons and Animaniacs) and currently works as Art Director for slot machine innovator WMS. Visit Dave’s blog.
• Michael Regina, an award winning film editor, painter/illustrator. He is largely known for his portraits and comics work. His portraits and paintings have been cited in Jacksonville, FL’s “Arbus” magazine, and he’s represented by several local galleries. Creator of the comic From Death Til’ Now
• Bob Rissetto, Character designer and animator, Senior Artist at WMS Gaming, and lover of all things orange. Bob can be reached at [email protected] and you can also visit his blog
• Josh Ulrich, creator of Newman

Development Art

Selected pieces from the Marooned vault. There’ll be a couple of the development strips I did before the strip was launched, showing some very different looking characters and techniques. Early character designs and illustrations as well as some ideas that didn’t make it into the strip.

2nd Edition Product Details

Buy Mars Wars E-book for only $5.99!
Length: 108 pages
40 PAGES of bonus content that will not be available online!

Buy the book at Create Space for only $14.99!

Download the FREE 31-page preview here!

Inside the Book

Strips #101-228 (127 strips)

Covering Episodes 4 (“The Listener”) through 8 (“Brains from Another Planet”), the story picks up with John having just met the Dark Ones and still deathly ill. We finally meet Captain Lian Fisher – a big surprise to John – who is now known as “The Listener.” There’s a battle with the Krosa. Lian comes to terms with her role on Mars and we get a visit from Zed of the Baro. And of course we meet a Gooble, too! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

For this book, I went back through the drawings of Lian and tightened them up, and in many cases simply redrew them. When first drew those strips with her, I hadn’t really drawn any women in quite some time. Those drawings really needed freshening up.

Exclusive Short Story: Evasive Maneuvers by Tom Dell’Aringa

How was it that John and Asimov met? Now you can find out! John Floyd is a down and out Moon Runner looking for a new gig to pay his debts. Asimov is a highly experimental (and temperamental) robot. Sounds like a perfect match! Nanoganics Robotics puts them together to see what happens. You can only find out in Mars Wars!

Exclusive Short Story: The Tallest Robot by Tom Dell’Aringa

This charming story chronicles a lonely, tall robot who is looking for friendship but finds only fear. Is he all alone in the world? Is he the only one who feels this way? Originally created for the SPACE show, it hasn’t been printed anywhere else – until now!

Bonus Content from Contributing Artists: Illustrations and Sunday Comics

A group of wonderfully talented artists has again answered my call to ply their skills in the Marooned universe. Below is a full list of these super folks. Each artist has contributed either an illustration (or more than one) or a “Marooned Sunday Comic” – a one or two page short story featuring Marooned characters. As you can see by the work they produce, it all came out fantastic and you won’t want to miss it!

The list below gives the artist name and his contribution to the book in parenthesis:

• Denver Brubaker (2-page “Marooned Sunday Comic”) Creator of Tales of a Checkered Man. The Checkered Man stands atop the rooftops of Exotic City, fighting crime! A very fun comic with a really neat style. The Checkered Man is clearly some distant relative of Captain John, trust me.

  

• Christopher Baldwin (2-page “Marooned Sunday Comic”) Most recently of the Science Fiction comic Spacetrawler (note: adult themes, 18+ only) – comedy, drama, epic fights, aliens galore! You don’t want to miss it. Huge updates twice a week. Chris is also the creator of the family friendly Little Dee, concerning, of course, Dee and the animals that find her in the forest. Super fun stuff.

  

• Scott King (and Team) (2-page “Marooned Sunday Comic”) Creator of Holiday Wars, a unique comic about how the Easter Bunny declared war on the other Holidays in the hopes of gaining the one thing that can guarantee his immortality: The Holiday Spirit! With so many comics tackling the same themes over and over, it’s nice to see a fresh take on a story.

  

• Mike Maihack (1-page “Marooned Sunday Comic”) Creator of the new sci-fi comic Cleopatra in Space as well as the hilarious Cow & Buffalo. Cleo has quickly become a fan favorite among the newer webcomics of the last year. Mike produces some amazing layouts, don’t miss it!

  

• Steve Ogden (2-page “Marooned Sunday Comic”) Good buddy Og produces the amazing Moon Town, as you all know, with the intrepid Cassandra Quinn arriving on the moon just in time to get involved with some intriguing shenanigans. Cassandra and Simon have found themselves in a heap of trouble, don’t miss what happens next! Steve also produced the amazing Croaker’s Gorge.

  

• Eddie Pittman (1-page “Marooned Sunday Comic” & the Introduction) Many of you have heard of Eddie already (it’s hard not to!) But if you haven’t, Eddie is the creator of the stunning Red’s Planet, one of the most beautiful strips on the web. And not only beautiful, well written and fun, AND suitable for all ages, too! Eddie is a former Disney animation, and it really shows in his work. Eddie blew my mind with his “Spacenuts” submission this year. Wait till you see the whole thing!

  

• Ramón Pérez (Illustration) Ramón was kind enough to provide an illustration for me when he is about the busiest cartoonist on the planet! You probably know him from the amazingly rendered Kukuburi and its’ hero, Nadia. Nadia’s daily routine as a delivery girl in the bustling Big City is disrupted one day when she passes through what seems like an ordinary white picket gate and into another world. As Nadia stumbles through this new found land, and tries to find her place within it, she encounters its strange denizens and discovers all is not beautiful as it appears to be! Kukuburi is fast paced and a visual feast for the eyes!

  

• Michael Regina (1-page “Marooned Sunday Comic”) Michael’s latest project is the fun Kevin and the Light of Destiny, an online graphic novel he has been planning and working on for some time. Kevin and the Light of Destiny is about a young boy named, Kevin who longs to be a treasure hunter. He’s given his chance when he’s asked to help retrieve a mystical relic that if not recovered could unravel the universe. Only problem, the relic isn’t here on this earth! A fun story that is just getting going now, a good time to jump in.

  

• Bob Rissetto (4! illustrations) Bob is a colleague where I work and simply an amazing artist. His inventiveness and uniqueness seem to have no bounds, and he works really hard at getting things just the way he wants them. You can see his work at his blog (note, some mature themes). His work simply blows me away.

  

• Josh Ulrich

• (Illustration) Josh has been working hard on his latest ambitious project Jackie Rose. The story of none other than, of course, Jackie Rose. She’s an adventurer trying to make a name for herself, but it looks like she might be getting into more than she bargained for! Josh is putting up some great work with this comic. Big spreads and what appears to be a large and really interesting story. Another one that is just getting going and you can get caught up quick.

  

Other Bonus Content

The full page comic “Click Click” – a little look into John and Asimov’s trip to Mars. Was previewed on the site, but no only available in the book! Also “Pingo’s People,” a painting by the famous Martian author, Pingo, with commentary.

The Marooned Vault: Development Art

Like last year, I’ve included a few pages of development artwork with some notes on my process of creating the Marooned universe. Exclusive to the book!

The Mission Log

Just like Collection 1, Mars Wars features creator comments on each comic page. You can read the story of Marooned, then you can read the story behind the story of Marooned! Only in the book!

Buy the book at Create Space for only $14.99!