Main fundraiser photo

THANK YOU "ROUGHIAN" CROWD FUNDERS!

Donation protected
ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE DEAD: OMNIBUS HERE!!!  Choose from several of our ghastly perks for your entertainment!

Before we get to it, we'd like to thank everyone who's contributed their hard earned loot to ensure that THE DEAD live again....and they will on Friday October 16th 2015, just in time for Halloween!

WHAT'S THIS CAMPAIGN ALL ABOUT?
This campaign was created to help a small independent publisher, ROUGH HOUSE PUBLISHING, fund a massive graphic novel project two years in the making.
The books title is THE DEAD: OMNIBUS.  It's over 280 pages long and is a collection of a comic book series originally published back in 1993 by co-creators, Ralph Griffith & Stuart Kerr.  (More on those guys later...)
We exceeded our original budget and now were reaching out to our fans, friends and comic book enthusiasts around the world to help us bring THE DEAD back to life! (Ahem.)  We've got some great incentives for everyone who wants to contribute to our campaign and set out to create an exciting experience for both the seasoned collector as well as the newbies of independent art, publishing & comic book culture. (A complete listing of all our perks can be found below...)

(This is the closest we can get you to the actual front cover without being banned again.  You'll have to wait until October to see this in all its putrid, gory glory!)

UPDATE - As an added "THANK YOU" perk to all of our contributors, we'll be adding a special ORIGINAL 11 SONG SOUNDTRACK CD with every shipped copy of THE DEAD: OMNIBUS!  Listen to this monster while you read the book for an added sense of DREAD!  Composed by syth music sensation, SURGERYHEAD!

WHAT ELSE DOES THE DEAD: OMNIBUS CONTAIN?
Each  copy of THE DEAD: OMNIBUS will include the following gory goodies:

·        Over 290 B&W pages of fully restored artwork from the entire multiple volume run of THE DEAD, featuring art from Jason Moore, Matt Mason, Deidre Crouch, Derek Rook, Vince Locke & Mark Bloodworth.

·        The previously unreleased Issue #3 from the first run of THE DEAD, printed exclusively for this volume for the very first time.

·        Over 35 pages of brand new story and artwork that ties the whole bloody affair together in one volume of guts and despair, by Mike Wasion, Derek Rook, Jason Moore & Vince Locke.

·        A new DEADITORIAL retrospective from co-founders Ralph Griffith & Stuart Kerr.

·        A full color Cover Gallery of every single issue of THE DEAD, including previously unpublished covers.

·        Loads of never before released “pin up” and production artwork spanning the books 23 year history.

·        A new painted “NOT FOR WUSSIES” back cover by famed artist Mark Bloodworth.

·        A new painted “DEFINITELY NOT FOR WUSSIES” front cover by Jason Moore & Vince Locke.

WHAT'S "THE DEAD" ALL ABOUT?
Originally unleashed in 1993, The Dead showed us a world plunged into a flesh-ripping holocaust as the zombies rise to torment the living,  featuring zombies that could not only think, but were hell-bent on torture, psychological punishment, and sexual degradation, putting human survivors through one unthinkable horror after the next in a bid for full-scale global genocide. It was the most controversial book of its day, gleefully depraved among the likes of iconic horror titles like Faust and Gore Shriek.  For more, check out...
http://arrowcomicsthedead.blogspot.com/


WHO ARE THESE "RALPH N' STU" GUYS?
Ralph Griffith
 & Stuart Kerr co-founded ARROW COMICS back in 1986 and were the true pioneers of independent publishing and creator-owned titles throughout the 80's and into the late 90's.  Among their pantheon of published works were THE REALM and DEADWORLD, the latter of which was a huge success and predated THE WALKING DEAD as THE ongoing zombie-related horror melodrama of it's time.
Ralph n' Stu sold the rights to Deadworld by issue #10 but it wasn't long before the zombie itch came a'calling again.  Only this time, they set out to create a zombie tale so horrific, so viceral, so polarizing, that it would leave comic book audiences wondering if they had just witnessed a murder!  That was the crux of what was to become thier latest offering, simply titled, THE DEAD.

The Dead accomplished exactly what it set out to do and shock, awe, blood, gore and high adventure were on the menu in every sadistic issue.

The Dead was featured on THE 700 CLUB as an example of Satan destroying America’s youth through the insidious influence of comic books and would eventually be BANNED outright in Canada and the UK. And that was only two issues in!


The tumultuous landscape of independent comics in the 90s (and the incendiary nature of the book itself) saw the title sputter, with a few issues released over several volumes throughout the years, never quite able to gain enough traction to lay waste to the mainstream. AND WHAT'S ROUGH HOUSE PUBLISHING?


Rough House Publishing was founded by comic book artist Derek Rook back in 2012.  It was originally going to be used as a "label" to self-publish his creator-owned works, but after a chance meeting with Ralph n' Stu, Derek along with writing partner Mike Wasion, embarked on using Rough House to celebrate the work of these indi-publishing titans, of whom were considered among thier hero's growing up.  

Derek was able to assemble the entire team of just about everyone who was ever associated with The Dead in a two year project and publish a great title that never received the recognition it so rightfully deserved.

Said of Rook, "We spent 6 full months restoring every single page of artwork associated with The Dead.  It was a maticulous, labor intesive affair but this art has NEVER looked better.  It's completely stunning."  Derek designed and drew new art for the Omnibus to give the fans "waaay more than the price of admission.  I want Rough House to become a brand of quality.  Comics today are largely just 'products' to grab a buck, not the grass-roots, blue-collar, punk rock affairs that I fell in love with growing up, ...but that's what audiences are going to get with our stuff.  Starting with this beauty, we're going to remind people why they love comic books!"
 https://www.facebook.com/RoughHousePublishing 

Hear DEREK ROOK talk live about all things THE DEAD: OMNIBUS and ROUGH HOUSE PUBLISHING on TRICK OR TREAT PODCAST HERE!!!! (NSFW)



OK THEN, WHAT ARE THE PERKS?
Here's what's in it for YOU!!!

$30.00 - EXPOSED BONE!!
~  A signed copy of THE DEAD - OMNIBUS Graphic Novel! (280 Pages)!
~  An original sketch from the artist to you!

$50.00 - ROTTEN CORPSE!!!
(The EXPOSED BONE Perk, Plus...)
~ The Official THE DEAD Barf Bag!
~ Two Oversized Bumper Stickers (THE DEAD/ROUGH HOUSE PUBLISHING)!

 $100.00 - HOLY VISCERA!!!!
(The ROTTEN CORPSE Perk, Plus...)
~ An additional original sketch from the artist to you! (Two sketches in total).
~ THE DEAD - OMNIBUS Preview Ashcan, published & signed by Stuart Kerr.

$250.00 - HUNGRY MAGGOT!!!!!
(The HOLY VISCERA Perk, Plus...)
~ A complete collection of the original THE DEAD comic books (7 in total) signed by Ralph & Stu (Graphic Editions only).
~ The Official THE DEAD Newspaper (Printed in 1993/RARE!)

$500.00 - GORE-TASTICA!!!!!!
(The HUNGRY MAGGOT Perk, plus...)

~ VOICES FROM THE DEADWORLD  Graphic Novel (120 Pages).
~ THE DEAD art prints.  Full Color 11X17 prints (15 in total).

$1,000.00 - BLOODY HOLOCAUST!!!!!!!!
(The GORE-TASTICA perk plus...)
~  Original art panel from THE DEAD: OMNIBUS! (11X17 on white drawing board). 
~  A First Edition copy of the next Rough House Publising project, GORE SHRIEK - RESURRECTUS!


CODA:
We want to thank everyone who's taken an interest in all projects we've done in the past and especially the ones we have on the horizon.  Thank you for your continued support, thank you for your friendly faces and warm embraces but most of all, ....Thank you for allowing us to entertain you!

On behalf of the entire team, ...our love & Regards!
Derek Rook & Friends.
















Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $30 
    • 8 yrs

Organizer

Sarah Michelle
Organizer
Shrewsbury, MA

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