Immortal Studios, the production house behind recent hit graphic novel series ‘The Adept’ and ‘Assassin G,’ just dropped a Kickstarter for its next round of releases.
Immortal Studios landed in the comics scene with a bang — and a mission to bring wuxia to the world at large.
Wuxia is a genre of fiction that originated in China, melding worlds of heroism, fantasy, and martial arts. Dating all the way back to ancient stories and writings, today it’s most known through high-flying kung fu action films.
“With the phenomenal success of projects such as ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once,’ ‘Shang-Chi,’ ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender,’ and many others, wuxia is undergoing a massive resurgence,” says founder Payhuan Shiao. “But it is not without extensive cultural appropriation, and often without attribution, or respect to its source.”
“Our work is to authentically represent wuxia and bring its ancient wisdom to our modern world so that the next thousand years of this genre is still linked to its founding ideals and inspirations,” he adds. “For all these reasons and more, we are excited to turn the page on superheroes and declare a new era of martial heroes — powered by wuxia.”
The new Kickstarter will fund the next issues of four fan-favorite titles: ‘The Adept,’ ‘Chronicles of the Immortal Swordsmen,’ ‘Fa Sheng: Origins,’ and ‘Assassin G.’
All four titles take place across the same, unified ‘Immortal Storyverse,’ setting the scene for future cross-title action — and every story is driven by Asian and Asian-American characters, writers, and artists.
“People yearn for something more than just another caped crusader fighting another intergalactic battle,” says Shiao. “They want stories that mirror the challenges and complexities of their daily lives, characters they can relate to, and narratives that aren’t commandeered by profit-driven conglomerates trying to meet another quarterly revenue goal.”
The Kickstarter went live today, and backers of the project stand to receive a selection of gifts, from digital copies and exclusive prints, to special edition covers.
Images via Immortal Studios
