Ascendants, I'm thrilled to announce that we've finished manufacturing all of the rewards for Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II. Not only are the books finished, but so are the ashcans, mini-posters, and canvas posters.
The books were printed by Global PSD, which did the lovely first volume, while the ashcan and posters are being produced by our BackerKit buddy Sagaverse Studios, which has built out a US-based manufacturing facility. The beautiful products our friends from Sagaverse have made can be seen in the screenshot below.
Sagaverse Studio has printed our Aschans, Canvas Posters, and Mini-Posters
All of the shipping for Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II is being handled by our US-based fulfillment house Studio Two. As soon as it arrives - which should be in early March - we'll begin dispatching your rewards. The next update will be the announcement that everything is on its way.
This project, like my other 2025 project (Treasure Tome) had a lot of logistical setbacks magnified by my ill health, so it's a big relief to be able to announce "it's all happening, it's all en route." Thank you for your support and patience. I can't wait for you to get your hands on your glorious rewards!
Hello Ascendants! I hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas holiday and is looking forward to a happy and prosperous New Year.
2026 has started off well for Ascendant Comics. I'm pleased to report that everything is proceeding smoothly in the manufacture of Ascendant Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II. Below are some photographs I took of the ozalid proofs, folded & gathered sheets, and other work product. These are not advance release copies but the step in the process before that.
All of the proofs were color-correct and error-free so we signed off on them and have proceeded to bulk manufacture. Once that is complete, they'll be shipped to our fulfillment warehouses and then be dispatched to you. We currently expect to begin shipping product to you in the second week of March.
Meanwhile, the PDF for Ascendant Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II has also now been made available for purchase on DriveThruRPG and DriveThruComics. If you enjoyed the graphic novel and want to share the link with friends, give them these URLs: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/541991/ascendant-star-spangled-squadron-volume-ii https://www.drivethrucomics.com/en/product/541991/ascendant-star-spangled-squadron-volume-ii
Ascendants, I hope you are well and are enjoying the holiday season. I'm pleased to announce that Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II has finally been delivered to the printer for production.
As I mentioned in our last update, I decided to re-evaluate our choice of printer due to the increasing cost of shipping and the risk of tariff wars. Ultimately I decided to use the same printer, GPSD, that we used for the first volume. My choice came down to aesthetics. Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II is a companion to Volume I, and I wanted the second book to match the first in its cover, paper, coloration, and so on. The only way to guarantee the second book looked and felt just like the first was to use the same printer that had manufactured the first book.
The downside to using GPSD is that it will take some time for the books to be manufactured and shipped. Here is the schedule:
All final files submitted - 05 Dec 2025
Proofs and ozalids ready to send out from HK - 15 Dec 2025
Approval received - 20 Dec 2025
F&G's ready to send out - 02 Jan 2026
Advance copies from overall bulk ready to send out - 20 Jan 2026
Bulk loading to China port - 31 Jan 2026
ETD - 07 Feb 2026
ETA Memphis Port - approx 06 March
ETA Delivery to Knoxville, TN 37931- approx 15 March 2026
In order to finalize production numbers, I've begun issuing backer surveys. Over the next 48 hours you should receive your surveys. Please fill them out by the end of December if possible. This will enable us to finalize the count of all items (including add-ons) and collect shipping. If there were add-ons you missed during the initial campaign, you can add them on at this time.
I apologize that the books have ended up taking much longer than I expected to deliver to you. Those of you who are in my Autarch Discord or who follow my blog know that this ended up being a rough year for me, as I succumbed to a fungal illness that gave me severe brain fog and necessitated surgery last month. As a result of ill health, the various projects I'd hoped to ship this year all got delayed, this one included. I'm exceptionally grateful for your superheroic patience with me on this project.
Supers, Ascendants, Heroes, Crimefighters, Vigilantes, and Sidekicks -
I've just dispatched your digital rewards to your email via DriveThruRPG. The email will include coupon codes enabling you to download the digital rewards for your pledge level. Every pledge level will have received the PDFs for Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Volumes I and II. Crimefighters and above will have received the Ascendant: Platinum Edition PDF. Heroes and above will have received the Ascendant: Rogues Gallery PDF.
You also will have received a coupon for the 16-page Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Ashcan PDF. The Ashcan also includes the files for the Ascendant x Sagaverse printable poster unlocked via Comictopia and the Sunkissed Heroines printable poster unlocked as a stretch goal. (Physical rewards will come later.)
I'm really grateful for everyone's support on this project. I regret that it encountered so many problems and delays - even more I regret that some of these delays were self-inflicted. When I do RPG crowdfunding, I typically deliver PDFs very early in the process so people can start playing ASAP. For some reason (that makes no sense in retrospect), since this was primarily a graphic novel and not an RPG campaign, I thought people would want "the game" with "the story" and it didn't occur to me to dispatch the RPG PDFs immediately... I can only hang my head in shame at such foolishness.
Because of these delay in delivering your rewards to you, I have added some additional complimentary PDFs:
All backers are getting a complimentary 16" x 22" printable PDF poster of Aurora by famed artist Jinky Coronado. This illustration was originally commissioned for the RPG rulebook and it's one of my favorite images of Aurora. It's being delivered as an ultra high-resolution TIF file that you can print in full color. You'll find this file with the other posters in the Ashcan reward.
Vigilantes and above are also getting a complimentary PDF of the Capital City Map Set. Capital City is the Ascendant Universe's equivalent of e.g. "Metropolis" or "Gotham" and appears throughout the books; it's the site of Stiletto's chapter in Volume I of the graphic novel. I hope you enjoy reading a bit about our fictional setting and seeing the maps of its major neighborhoods.
Crimefighters and above are also getting a complimentary PDF of the Ascendant Gamemaster Screen. The GM Screen is a valuable tool for anyone interested in playing and running Ascendant, and it's designed to be easily printed for use with trifold insertable GM screens.
Heroes and above are also getting a complimentary PDF of Capital City Case Files #1. This is an introductory scenario set in Capital City for PL20 player characters. I ran it at BasedCon and ArneCon this year to introduce people to Ascendant, and it's great fun.
Finally, Ascendants and Super-Ascendants are also getting a complimentary PDF of Capital City Case Files #2. CCF #2 is (as the name suggests) the sequel to CCF #1 and pits the heroes against the sinister forces of El Cartel de Los Carteles (which appears in the graphic novel). (Super-Ascendants are also getting a surprise bonus reward when your physical goods are delivered.)
I hope these additional rewards go a little ways towards making up for both the delays we experienced and for my error in delivery management.
Your print rewards will be delivered after we issue the pledge manager, collect shipping, and complete manufacture. Ascendant products have previously been printed in Hong Kong, but due to tariff risk I am currently evaluating an alternative print source to see if they can match the quality and style of the first volume. The pledge manager itself will be dispatched within a few weeks, and will include the opportunity to purchase some physical add-ons and upgrades.
Please note that this is my first time using BackerKit as a crowdfunding platform; previously I've only used it as a pledge manager. If for some reason you find you are missing a reward you should have gotten, it's almost certainly user error on my part. Just let me know and I'll get it straightened out as best I can.
Ascendants, I'm pleased to announce that lettering and layout of Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II is finished. Thank you all for your patience on the project. We had a lot of things go wrong throughout the production process. But as the Star-Spangled Squadron challenge coin says, "to every challenge, we will ascend!" I hope that the struggle to produce this book all proves worthwhile when you read it.
Tomorrow I will be heading to Minneapolis, MN where I am a Guest of Honor at ArneCon. I'll be running Ascendant on Saturday night, so if you're a fan and you live in the Twin Cities be sure to come by the convention to say hello. You can get the details here: https://www.tfott.com/arnecon
Once I get back from ArneCon I will prepare and release the pledge manager to allow everyone to handle shipping, select add-ons, and finalize their orders. From there we will print and ship your books. I will also upload the graphic novel to DriveThruComics and send it out to your DriveThru libraries.
However, I don't want to make folks wait! So I've also pasted a Dropbox link below where backers can immediately download their digital copy.
