Welcome to the Sagaverse Chronicles, a groundbreaking series that seamlessly blends the charm of classic comics with modern-day storytelling. Leveraging our passion for vivid, relatable characters and imaginative worlds, we have crafted an interconnected universe that promises to captivate comic enthusiasts and newcomers alike. With your support, we aim to bring these epic tales to life and continue publishing the series for years to come! 

The Sagaverse Chronicles consists of three distinct stories, each set in a different era of civilization. They offer a rich tapestry of historical and fantastical elements that stand alone but complement each other for continuity.

These aren't just standalone stories but are intricately tied into our upcoming Sagaverse RPG. As players navigate the RPG, they will experience the same historical landscapes and cultural developments and meet some of the same characters, allowing for deeper immersion. This synergy between the comic series and the RPG ensures that fans can explore, battle, and unravel mysteries in a harmoniously interconnected universe. 

 

Days of Yore, written by John LoCascio, illustrated by Curse of the Chupacabra Artist Miky Arango:
Enter the brutal world of Days of Yore. This gripping comic chronicles the savage journeys of Yore, one of the first humans to walk the land. In a ruthless fantasy realm, Elves, Snakemen, Dwarves, and Giants inhabit the lands. Humanity crawls out from the depths of the Earth, only to be enslaved by Snakemen and hunted by Giants for their flesh. Shackled and beaten, Yore rises from the darkness. After a bloody escape from captivity, he joins forces with the cunning Elves and stout Dwarves. This relentless saga follows Yore and his new friends as they battle through merciless trials, carving a path to freedom and seizing his destiny as the first human king.

From Author John LoCascio:
When the opportunity to create a comic for The Sagaverse arrived, I quickly settled on making a tale set in a fantasy realm. I wanted to tie the comic into our 5e/OSE universe as a recognizable fantasy setting you might experience in your home game but also to examine the early years of such worlds before many thousands of years of history, lore, and legends. A more primordial world to explore how many classic fantasy tropes and archetypes might come about. 

For example, in classic DnD settings, there are pantheons of gods that provide divine magic, so it seemed to me that divine and nature-based magic would flourish if they did not dominate early history. So, how did arcane magic come about? Who cast the first healing spell, and under what circumstances? Progressing using this type of reasoning, I began to put together the basis of the Primal Age fantasy setting for Days of Yore. 

We pick up the story well after creation but not so far along that there are extinct civilizations or even advanced magic and metallurgy. Still, elves and dwarves have battled murderous giants and the dragon-worshiping empire of snakemen for many centuries, so there is some established history.  

Great victories early on for the elves and dwarves turned into costly victories and increasingly frequent outright losses.  

Relics from creation that have kept the snake men more or less at bay have begun to fade, and the elves have all they can do to survive, while the hill dwarves have been forced deep into the mountains and cut off from their elven allies.  

The snake-men are satraps of the demigod Apophis, an ancient Black Dragon son of Tiamat, and they rule by his name. The Wyrm Lords (Snake-Men) are now making final preparations to assault the elves in the north and wipe them off the face of the earth. 

Enter Humankind. 

Our comic begins on the very day the world at large becomes aware of the existence of a new race: humans. We follow the human male Yore as his tribe is routed and enslaved, a humble beginning for a would-be king.

Yore is also featured alongside Aurora on our Collaborative Giveaway with Ascendant Comics, an 18x24 Canvas print done by the Ascendant Team!

 

The town of Horizon began as a pioneer village.  People striking out of the old world, seeking new life and possibilities, trickled in, methodically building the skeletons of a new frontier.  The rise of the steam-driven industrial revolution resulted in the first major artery for the fledgling town—the locomotive.  Since then, each trainload has been a shot of adrenaline, pumping the town ever higher, a boomtown of a new age.  Where there is an expanding center of commerce, there is trouble.  And trouble arrived in the guise of Horizon’s first international banker—a solitary man known only as Clockmaker.  Shortly after establishing his bank, he bought out the local bank and the railroad line connecting Horizon to the coastal port.  Since then, he has been creating steam-powered machines to exert greater control of Horizon, but not without resistance. 

Combating Clockmaker's schemes of domination are the Copperhead Sisters—Vrekka and Liah.  The rivalry began shortly after Clockmaker’s arrival.  He secretly acquired the most powerful steam-powered, iron-clad conveyance in the world—the Mecha-wagon.  With it, he intended to establish martial law with impunity.  Not knowing any of this, Vrekka and Liah stole it from the bank’s garage.  The two banditos saw the massive vehicle as their means to an independent life.  By having the ability to come and go from Horizon, the sisters break Clockmaker’s overlordship and earn a cultlike status.  Clockmaker had been denied the chance even to see the Mecha-wagon since it had been stolen only hours after its arrival.  With this machine, Vrekka and Liah can travel great distances without using Clockmaker’s locomotive; they live outside Horizon, outside Clockmaker’s control.  For every day the sisters live free, they are a stain on Clockmaker’s reputation and a constant threat to his expansionist dreams. 

From Author Nedka Rokonokova:
My objective with my comic, Mechanical Horizon, is the same as all my other writings—I need my readers to be profoundly moved.  I want readers to walk with me through the landscape of my story, hear new voices, see things from a new perspective, and think about my words.  My stories are always multi-layered for an astute reader, and yet they remain straightforward for an entertaining read. 

I was born on a Reservation, the granddaughter of a storyteller, and now a storyteller in my own right.  Stories are the threads of my life.  This is my job.  I do it with love. 

With that in mind, let us look at the Copperhead sisters one more time.  Their skin tone is light brownish-red, the first indication of their indigenous roots.  They are, in fact, a representation of my nation, the Sioux or Dakota.  I make no bold assertion of this because I want the reader to enjoy this voyage to re-imagine the Old West without the baggage of our modern world.  I am not seeking to rewrite or rehash history; I want to take you through the enduring, flourishing world of Indigenous culture waiting for you. 

Next is their yellow eyes, placing them as natives of this comic book world, Rūūna.  Although they are human, their eyes have darkvision and more—they can discern the intentions of the native wildlife they encounter.  This comes from the story of the Ghost-walker.  She is one of the many spirits at Spirit Lake.  She brings enlightenment to the one on a vision quest by allowing their eyes to see through an animal’s eyes and learn a little more about the endless world. 

Vrekka and Liah are, on the surface, a pair of desperadoes trying to shape themselves to the frontier.  They are strength and freedom, respectively.  For without strength, there is no freedom.  Strength is not limited to brute force but must include the will, the mind, and the soul.  The sisters are not seeking fame or fortune, but they do enjoy some perks in the task of liberating gold from the pockets of the wealthy Clockmaker. 

The robber baron, Clockmaker, came to Rūūna to shape the frontier to fit himself.  He is the embodiment of greed and domination.  His singular goal is the enslavement and exploitation of all he touches.  His motives are unknown and will remain so; I want readers to solve this question themselves if they choose to.

Liah and Vrekka Stickers are part of our Collaboration with Ascendant! 

 

From John Coleman, Author:
 
I’ve been a fan of superhero stories all my life. Despite my love of that genre, I’ve often been frustrated by how superheroes are handled in the big, shared universes we all know. Some flaws seem inherent in superhero stories:

I want to tell a story that eliminates all that and allows superheroes to reach their full storytelling potential. I created Century, a multi-arc story told over 100 years, from 1941 to 2041. It’s also set in the fictional Century City, Maryland. It also involves a hero sent from the year 2041 to 1941 to change the past so that the dark world he knows does not come to pass. So, the title is a reference to multiple things.

The story is about the nature of power…who has it, who can use it most effectively, and what it can do. When our story begins in The Strange Second Life of the Cybersmith, it’s near the end of 1974. The world is already different than the one we know. And it will continue to change along the way. It always annoyed me that superheroes very rarely seemed to effect any actual change…they just put the flag back up on the White House, and then that’s that. The characters in Century will show us what it may have been like if people like this existed.

Telling the story over 100 years allows me to draw on real-world events. For instance, what would have happened in World War II if superhuman agents had fought on each side? What would have happened if people had led the counterculture movement of the 60s with superhuman abilities?  What would happen to the Cold War if it became less about space and nuclear arms and more about a superhuman arms race? Some of the events we know from history will change or not even happen at all. For example, Pearl Harbor was a victory for the US. 

The 100-year span also allows me to have a large and diverse cast and use them to tell various stories through the eras. There are dozens of characters in Century. Each story will feature a specific cast and draw upon both the real-world climate of the time and trends within the superhero comic industry. These smaller arcs will be primarily self-contained and will have clear endings. Much like we all know how the myths of Hercules and Achilles end, the characters in Century will grow old and die, and their story will end. And others will then begin. I see all these characters much as those of the ancient Greek myths, where their stories are interwoven, and the hero of one tale could be the villain of another. 

In addition to an examination of power, the other major theme will be of choice versus fate…faith versus science. This theme takes shape in the form of our two main protagonists, Paradox and the enigmatic Cybersmith. These two have fundamentally different outlooks on the nature of their mission, and that difference will grow throughout the years and form the overarching story that will run throughout. The mystery will be slowly revealed over time as the series progresses.

Much like the myths of old, I see Century as a tapestry of stories, individual yet all part of a larger whole. The story's 100-year timeframe creates a dynamic that opens the possibilities that superhero stories have but rarely achieve. Using these stories to examine real-world power and concepts like free will versus predetermination will add weight to them, which is often lacking in superhero stories. 

The story begins in The Strange Second Life of the Cybersmith, a part of that tapestry. It’s a third of the way through the 100 years, so we get strange glimpses of a past that never was. It starts us toward the middle, letting us establish past events as needed and introducing us to two of our main protagonists, Cybersmith and Paradox. 

Century is an entire shared superhero universe in one series.

Sagaverse Studios is an entertainment publishing company based in Tampa, FL, passionately dedicated to bringing the best of games and comics to fans everywhere. With a history of successfully funding several tabletop role-playing games, we have established ourselves as avid enthusiasts who understand the importance of these creative outlets. We are committed to making a difference because many of our fellow fans feel they are being priced out of these beloved hobbies. Our mission is to produce captivating new sagas that can be enjoyed without breaking the bank. Join us on this journey and become part of our ever-growing community of dedicated fans.

After the success of our last crowdfunding project, The Timeless Caverns, we met with Backerkit to learn about their fulfillment services. They approached us about comic books and asked us if we had plans to produce any, and in fact, we had some slated for later in 2024. When we learned about Comictopia, we decided to move up our timelines and put the comics ahead of our upcoming RPG Campaign Guide, which makes sense business-wise as well since fans will already be introduced to many of the concepts and have familiarity should they want to dive into the game as well. Our project status tracker will be maintained below; we estimate a delivery date of 11/15/24 for the digital goods, with the physical products to start shipping out the week after. 

Our Art Team:
Miky Arango: Miky is an accomplished illustrator, drawing all of the art for our premier 300 page book, Curse of the Chupcabra. Miky's Portfolio
Matheus Zastawny: Matheus is a 3D designer who has worked for many RPG companies. He designed all 3d models for Curse of the Chupacabra and The Timeless Caverns. Matheus' Portfolio
Keila Gomes: Keila is new to the Sagaverse team, she is a very talented artist who's work will raise the bar here! Keila's Portfolio 

When it comes to production quality, the Sagaverse Chronicles sets a new standard in the world of indie comics. Each issue is printed on heavy gloss 100# paper, ensuring vibrant colors and crisp details that bring every panel to life. This premium quality paper enhances the visual appeal and provides durability, so your comics stay in pristine condition for years. Whether purchasing individual issues or the complete graphic novel, you'll receive a product embodying excellence and craftsmanship.

The graphic novel edition is perfect bound with a heavy laminated cover, adding an extra layer of protection and making it an ideal addition to any collection. The laminate finish provides a sleek, professional look and ensures resilience against everyday wear and tear. Whether you choose to enjoy the Sagaverse Chronicles one issue at a time or in a comprehensive novel form, you can be confident in the superior quality of your purchase. 

 If our campaign reaches $3000, we will produce a character compendium that delves into the intricate details of our beloved characters, reminiscent of the classic formats seen in Marvel's Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and G.I. Joe: Order of Battle.

The Sagaverse Chronicles Compendium will offer detailed biographies, powers, and backstories for the essential characters within our series. Learn about their origins, motivations, and the pivotal moments that shape their journeys. The compendium will cover key players from Days of Yore, Mechanical Horizon, and Century: The Strange Second Life of Cybersmith, providing fans with a deep and comprehensive insight into their favorite heroes and villains.

This book will be made to the exact specifications of the other 3 issues in the Sagaverse Chronicles; it will be created as both a standalone comic book and an appendix to the graphic novel. 

 

💥 Welcome to Comictopia — a celebration of creativity and collaboration from a diverse group of writers and artists collectively running comic book crowdfunding projects from July 18th - August 8th.

🔥 Limited Cross-Collaboration Freebies — All 30+ Comictopia creators have paired up with a fellow participant to create two unique and limited freebies together. If BOTH projects reach their initial funding goal, backers who support BOTH will get the TWO [2] cross-collab freebies listed on their campaign page, one will ship from each creator. The more pairs of Comictopia creators you support, the more limited freebies you will earn ✨ 

We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Ascendant Comics as part of the Comictopia initiative. Ascendant Comics has already made a remarkable impact with releasing their first book, Star Spangled Squadron. Building on this success, they are set to release part two of Star Spangled Squadron as part of the Comictopia collaboration.

The Ascendant and Sagaverse team-up has created a fantastic cross-collaboration incentive package for our fans. First is an 18x24 inch canvas print, a true collaboration between Yore and Aurora, defeating their enemies and finding time for selfies at the end! Illustrated and colored by the Ascendant team and printed at Sagaverse Studios in Tampa, FL. Our other incentive is a set of 20 stickers featuring characters from both universes! Heavy-duty cut vinyl, 2"-4" square and round designs of your favorite characters and moments. Also printed and shipped from our studios in Florida!

All shipping fees will be charged separately, AFTER the campaign, during pledge management. The prices below are estimates. Actual shipping prices will be determined after production, and we're gearing up to send out the books. We handle all of our own printing and fulfillment in-house to keep the costs low.
If you add physical goodies to your order, your shipping cost may increase.

Estimated shipping costs (for a single comic book, bound and backed, shipped in a bubble envelope):

 

Estimated shipping costs (for a single book, bound and backed, shipped in a bubble envelope, or the Cybersmith Statuette):

 

Collector Tiers who support us early will get a free LIMITED EDITION Cybersmith Statuette!

The Strange Second Life of Cybersmith artwork is crafted from 3D models and painted in a comic book style. This method has many advantages, including quickly adapting it for 3D printing. It uses wireframed models that are easily adapted to different scenes. This method and our 3D printing capabilities allow us to offer you a great incentive entirely for free. 

This highly detailed model stands about 5" tall and comes attached to a standing base. 
They are printed from resin and are not intended as a toy. They take primer well and are fun to paint! 

Retail value ~$20.00