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Ascendant Comics Ascendant Comics is a new publisher of comic books and graphic novels.

Our first graphic novel, Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron, is launching on IndieGoGo in Summer 2021.

Friends, there's been a change in plans. Aurora had a literal melt-down that she wasn't the centerpiece of our new cover...
10/06/2024

Friends, there's been a change in plans. Aurora had a literal melt-down that she wasn't the centerpiece of our new cover. I'm talking full-on narcissistic personality overload. I asked Stiletto if she cared and she told me to f***k off so Aurora is now going to take main stage.

Here's the new cover! Don't forget to head over to our pre-launch page to sign up to be notified when it launches.

https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/6eeb1a21-ca17-438f-a4ff-1eb628e47db0/landing

I'm delighted to announce that Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II is launching on July 18 on BackerKit.  Ascend...
27/05/2024

I'm delighted to announce that Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II is launching on July 18 on BackerKit.

Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Volume II is a gripping 48-page graphic novel that plunges the heroes into a desperate battle against an enemy that thrives on fear and destruction. As the story begins, the emergence of superhumans has thrown the world into chaos. As new ascendants manifest around the globe, a sinister organization known as Exodus embarks on a campaign of chaos, determined to use terror to accelerate humanity's evolution.

Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Vol. II is launching as part of Backerkit's comic crowdfunding campaign Comictopia. As part of our commitment to Comictopia, we have partnered with the creators of the Sagaverse comic and role-playing game so that backers will be eligible to receive a special bonus item bringing the Ascendant and Sagaverse universes together.

Please check out the Preview Page and sign up to show your support!

From Ascendant Comics & Autarch - Get Ready for Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron Vol. II

Happy Independence Day from American Eagle and the Star-Spangled Squadron!
04/07/2023

Happy Independence Day from American Eagle and the Star-Spangled Squadron!

There's twenty four hours to go in the Ascendant: Platinum Edition Kickstarter! We normally wrap up our Kickstarters wit...
13/04/2023

There's twenty four hours to go in the Ascendant: Platinum Edition Kickstarter! We normally wrap up our Kickstarters with a terrible version of a popular song but just mentioning "20-20-24 Hours to Go, I Wanna Be Ascended" has already succeeded in putting it in your head and there’s no reason for full lyrics.

If you've been waiting until the last minute to back this project, I get it. When you wait to the last minute, it only takes one minute! So spend that minute by clicking over to the project...

There's twenty four hours to go in the Ascendant: Platinum Edition Kickstarter! Here's the last sneak preview from the Rogues Gallery -- the new power INERTIAL CONTROL. Inertial Control takes advantage of Ascendant's comic-book physics engine to create remarkable gameplay and it seems a fitting fina...

There's only 10 days left to support the Kickstarter for Ascendant: Platinum Edition! Check out today's update and jump ...
03/04/2023

There's only 10 days left to support the Kickstarter for Ascendant: Platinum Edition! Check out today's update and jump in.

We're in the home stretch, the final 10 days of the Ascendant: Platinum Edition campaign! We're also only a few hundred dollars from our $30,000 stretch goal. If you've been waiting for the right time to back, the time is at hand! In the meanwhile, let's turn back to sinister private military corpor...

Unveiling the fifth of our Soaring Sabers characters, War God! He's a gamer who has become a god... and it's going to hi...
17/03/2023

Unveiling the fifth of our Soaring Sabers characters, War God! He's a gamer who has become a god... and it's going to his head.

Presenting the fifth member of the Soaring Sabers, the formidable War God.... Zhàn Shén (“War God”) BRIEFING Zhàn Shén (“War God”) is one of the six named team members of the Fēi Jiàn (“Soaring Sabers”). The world was introduced to the Fēi Jiàn (“Soaring Sabers”) at a Nationa...

Today on Kickstarter we continue our sneak preview of the Soaring Sabers, digging into the backstory and stats of Univer...
13/03/2023

Today on Kickstarter we continue our sneak preview of the Soaring Sabers, digging into the backstory and stats of Universe Wanderer.

With today's update, we'll continue our sneak preview of the Soaring Sabers. Today we'll introduce Universe Wanderer... Xiāo Yáo Zǐ (Universe Wanderer) Briefing The world was introduced to the Fēi Jiàn (“Soaring Sabers”) at a National Day military parade held in Beijing on October 1, 2020. ...

Today on our Kickstarter we unveiled the gorgeous KARMA FIRE of the Soaring Sabers.
10/03/2023

Today on our Kickstarter we unveiled the gorgeous KARMA FIRE of the Soaring Sabers.

In our prior update, we unveiled the Soaring Saber and their leader Sword Master. Today I'm introducing Karma Fire, one of the Saber's most popular members. Karma Fire is the cover model for Ascendant: Rogues Gallery. Tina Francisco did such an amazing job of designing her costume that we had to mak...

Today I wrote a manifesto announcing a "seventh culture" of tabletop RPGs,  . If you're a like-minded gamer, please shar...
08/03/2023

Today I wrote a manifesto announcing a "seventh culture" of tabletop RPGs, . If you're a like-minded gamer, please share and join the movement. Embrace living worlds with objective rules and enter the simulation sandbox today.

(And a Plug for my Superhero Simulation Ascendant)

We're just finishing up the first week of our 45-day campaign and we're already fully funded and on our way to our secon...
07/03/2023

We're just finishing up the first week of our 45-day campaign and we're already fully funded and on our way to our second stretch goal. We've also entirely sold out of our $960 tier! Thank you for the outpouring of support.

Some potential backers have reached out to ask for an opportunity to learn more about the game and setting. The easiest way to do that is to check it out yourself. Just click below to get a 60-page sneak preview of Ascendant.

We've also uploaded recordings of six sessions of Ascendant actual play that you can check out to hear more about how the game plays.

We're just finishing up the first week of our 45-day campaign and we're already fully funded and on our way to our second stretch goal. We've also entirely sold out of our $960 tier! Thank you for the outpouring of support. Some potential backers have reached out to ask for an opportunity to learn m...

Ascendant: Platinum Edition™, is ready to soar!  Ascendant™ is the superpowered role-playing game of infinite possibilit...
28/02/2023

Ascendant: Platinum Edition™, is ready to soar!

Ascendant™ is the superpowered role-playing game of infinite possibilities. It became a #1 bestseller and hit the Platinum tier on DriveThruRPG within weeks of its launch in January 2022, and the first printing sold out within a month. Now, with Ascendant: Platinum Edition, we're bringing you a revised version of the core rules, the game's first official sourcebook, and the Ascendant Universe's premiere graphic novel.

Head over to the Kickstarter page and check out the epic trailer, then back it if you're ready to ascend!

A revised second printing of the core rules, the game’s first official sourcebook, and our premiere graphic novel, all in one bundle!

We are excited to announce that the Kickstarter for Ascendant: Platinum Edition, featuring the new Rogues Gallery, will ...
17/02/2023

We are excited to announce that the Kickstarter for Ascendant: Platinum Edition, featuring the new Rogues Gallery, will begin on Noon ET on February 28!

Jade Warriors was one of my favorite comics from the '90s and inspired some elements of Ascendant. The publisher, David ...
13/01/2023

Jade Warriors was one of my favorite comics from the '90s and inspired some elements of Ascendant. The publisher, David Campiti's Glass House Graphics, wrote the first chapter of Star-Spangled Squadron. Highest recommendation on this! We've seen the proofs.

Eisner Award-winner Mike Deodato's first creator-owned action heroine adventure comes to Kickstarter --featuring all-new story and art!

Next month, we'll be crowdfunding the Ascendant: Platinum Edition kickstarter. Check out the trailer to see what's in st...
04/01/2023

Next month, we'll be crowdfunding the Ascendant: Platinum Edition kickstarter. Check out the trailer to see what's in store.

Ascendant, Ascendant: Rogues Gallery, and Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron will be crowdfunding in February. Visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/auta...

29/11/2022

I am pleased to announce that Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron has shipped. The books, cards, and other swag will be in your hands soon!

A sneak preview of my next Kickstarter --check it out!
09/11/2022

A sneak preview of my next Kickstarter --check it out!

Ascendant: Platinum Edition is Crowdfunding Soon!

I’m excited to announce the launch of Capital City Casefiles, a series of scenarios for Ascendant, my superpowered role-...
21/09/2022

I’m excited to announce the launch of Capital City Casefiles, a series of scenarios for Ascendant, my superpowered role-playing game. Capital City Casefile #1 is on sale now on DriveThruRPG for $5.00 PDF.

But you can use this link to get your PDF copy for just $1.50. Everyone who buys the PDF using the special offer will get a coupon to purchase the POD once its become available for $5 off, too.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?discount=9a404db1e6

Capital City Casefiles is a series of scenarios for Ascendant, the superpowered role-playing game of infinite possibilities. Each Casefile offers a single Issue of exciting play for a group of metropolitan metahumans with Power Levels ranging from 18 to 22 and a collective challenge rating of between 100 and 150 points.

These scenarios can be played in any order and are designed to be easy to run with any type of heroes, be they super-powered police, costumed crimefighters, or underground antiheroes. The Casefiles are set in Capital City, Delaware, a fictional city first introduced in the Ascendant rulebook and detailed in the Capital City Gazetteer and Map Set (available separately from Autarch). But don’t worry – if you’re not interested in playing in Capital City, you can easily adapt the scenarios to your city of choice. Capital City can be Chicago, Detroit, or New York. It can be your hometown with a fresh coat of graffiti and a layer of rust and grime.

Whether you use the scenarios in Capital City or another metropolis, you’ll find the Capital City Casefiles to be something special. These aren’t just beat-em-ups or thinly-disguised dungeon crawls. Strip away the superpowers and the Casefiles could be police procedurals or detective mysteries. These are scenarios that challenge your problem-solving and role-playing as much as your tactical prowess; and they do so by taking advantage of the robust rules for Fighting Crime and Saving the Day found in the Ascendant rules.

In this Casefile you get:

20-page ready-to-run scenario suitable for introductory play
6 new NPC antagonists and 1 NPC ally
3 full-color maps (urban crime scene, wrecked townhouse, and quayside warehouse)
2 printable player handouts
Launch your campaign and start your heroes on their ascent to greatness with Capital City Casefile #1: High Summer.

Over at the Ascendant Comics Patreon, we've just shared new rules for TIME TRAVEL! I wrote these rules next week, but th...
11/09/2022

Over at the Ascendant Comics Patreon, we've just shared new rules for TIME TRAVEL! I wrote these rules next week, but they were so good I decided to share them today.

If you're a subscriber, download the new rules today. I hope you enjoy them this weekend as much as you will next week.

If you're not a subscriber, you will be in the future, so you may as well actualize that moment now and sign up today!

Join Ascendant Comics on Patreon to get access to this post and more benefits.

We are delighted to unveil the cover for the upcoming Ascendant: Rogues Gallery. It will be crowdfunding this November.
10/08/2022

We are delighted to unveil the cover for the upcoming Ascendant: Rogues Gallery. It will be crowdfunding this November.

04/08/2022

Hello, heroes! If you're a backer of Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron, I wanted to give you an update on our shipping schedule.

Ascendant Rulebook and Ascendant Star-Spangled Squadron Graphic Novels
- Printed casewrap without and with scuff free matt lam + spot UV mailed for review - 15 Aug 22
- Approval by email - 18 Aug 22
- Advance copies mailed for review - 26 Aug 22
- Approval by email - 29 Aug 22
- Bulk ready for loading - 05 Sept 22

Ascendant Membership Card + Unit Patch + Coin
- Advance Item Pieces mailed for review - 26 Aug 22
- Approval by email - 29 Aug 22
- Bulk ready for loading - 05 Sept 22

Shipping
- Vessel ETD HK port - 12 Sept 22
- Veseel ETA NY port - 17 Oct 22
- Delivery to door (Knoxville, TN 37931) - 04 Nov 22
- Delivery to customers begins 05 Nov 22

You'll note that the trading cards are not included in the above. Due to an unfortunate illness in our team, the design of the trading cards was delayed. We have therefore made the difficult decision to proceed in the printing and shipping without the trading cards.

Although this will make shipping more expensive, we don't want the books to be held up from reaching you. We will ship the trading cards separately at our own expense. We expect that they will be sent out in December rather than November.

If anyone has any questions about the timeline, the trading cards, or anything else, let me know in the comments!

02/08/2022

We are excited to announce that the legendary Joe Bennett is at work on a pair of covers for the Ascendant line! Best known for his work on the IMMORTAL HULK series for Marvel, Joe will be penciling the cover for two our upcoming Capital City Casefiles.

03/06/2022

In the recent Backer Survey of our IndieGoGo campaign, I polled the backers about who their favorite hero was in the comic:

I haven't read it yet (263)
American Eagle (80)
Stiletto (65)
Aurora (25)
Dr Quantum (16)
Stronghold (5)
Warp (6)

And who their favorite villain was:

I haven't read it yet (289)
Manticore (59)
Helen Killer (47)
Maximum Leader (34)
Fireball (10)
Free Radical (8)
Serengeti (5)
Rootkit (5)
Toxicant (2)
Other (2)

I was surprised that so few of you have opted to read it in the digital format! Is it dislike of e-comics? A desire to experience it for the first time in a print format? Or simply too busy/distracted with other matters?

In terms of the other results, it seems clear that people enjoyed reading about the characters we focused on. The heroes and villains who got the spotlight got the love. It looks like Aurora has a fan base, too, so we'll make sure she gets some attention in the sequel...

Over at the Ascendant Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/ascendantcomics) we've just uploaded some sneak previews of Spets...
14/05/2022

Over at the Ascendant Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/ascendantcomics) we've just uploaded some sneak previews of Spetsikhotron for our high-end backers. Spetsikhotron will be one of the teams featured in our upcoming Ascendant: Rogues Gallery, crowdfunding later this year.

Everyone's favorite is Pantsyr, a meticulously tidy FSB agent was transformed into a human cockroach when he ascended.

Rick Stump was kind enough to host me on his podcast, Lore with Rick. Check it out here for a discussion of game design,...
10/05/2022

Rick Stump was kind enough to host me on his podcast, Lore with Rick. Check it out here for a discussion of game design, comics, and more!
https://anchor.fm/rick-stump/episodes/Episode-Five-A-Visit-from-Alexander-Macris-e1i39ma

Famed game designer Alex Macris joins us to talk about his new superhero RPG Ascendant, superheroes in general, and the elements of good gaming. Please thank Alex by visiting his pages, lonks below! The DrivethruRPG page for Alex's company, Autarch. The GoFundMe page for his graphic novel Star Spang...

We're thrilled to announce that Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron will be arriving at bookstores and comic shops nationw...
08/05/2022

We're thrilled to announce that Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron will be arriving at bookstores and comic shops nationwide courtesy of our friends at Baen Books!

02/05/2022

This afternoon I sent PDF copies of the Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron graphic novel via DriveThruComics to our IndieGoGo backers. The 96-page book has been expanded to 100 pages because we included a full-page image of each variant cover in PDF format at the back of the book. That way if you're still on the fence about which variant cover to select, you can get a close-up look in high-res. If you haven't backed the book, there's still time to do so over at IndieGoGo!

For those of you who are now reading the graphic novel, we have a special treat. To help you better enjoy your experience of reading Star-Spangled Squadron, we created an official soundtrack for the graphic novel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3rfKxF3VFAavb79KAlWHTEov9NeX5UIk

Here's the track-by-track list with explanation as to which pages and characters the songs relate to.

Pages 1-4: Madalen Duke- How Villains Are Made
The making of the Manticore.

Pages 5-8: Jacob Banks- Monster (ft. Avelino)
Manticore's theme song.

Pages 9-12: Tommee Profitt- I’ll Be Your Hero (ft. Stanaj)
American Eagle's theme song.

Page 13-23: Gary Numan- My Name is Ruin
Manticore unleashed.

Page 24-38: UNSECRET- No Mercy (ft. icetope)
The Battle of Atlanta.

Page 39-44: Kerli- Diamond Hard
Stiletto's theme song.

Page 45-55: K/DA- Villain (ft. Madison Beer and Kim Petras)
Stiletto tries to embrace villainy.

Page 56-59: Svrcina- Meet Me on the Battlefield
Stiletto encounters the Star-Spangled Squadron.

Page 60-63: Ellie Goulding- Burn
Aurora's theme song.

Page 64-68: Within Temptation- Raise Your Banner
The Star-Spangled Squadrona ssembles for its first mission.

Page 69-72: Nothing More- Let ‘Em Burn
Delusions and illusions lead to violence and terror.

Page 73-74: Within Temptation- The Reckoning (ft. Jacoby Shaddix)
Enter Exodus.

Page 75-76: Saint Mesa- Lion
Seregeti's theme. (He's just a supporting character in this novel but the theme was too perfect not include.)

Page 77-78: Dubkiller & Archer- Step Into Darkness
Helen Killer's theme.

Page 79-91: Sam Tinnesz- Play With Fire (ft. Yacht Money)
No spoilers! You'll understand this one when you get to the climax.

Page 92-96: Jacob Banks- Unholy War
The conflict to come. Maximum Leader's theme.

My lovely wife, who was the first player of Stiletto in our Ascendant RPG campaign, listened to hundreds of songs to curate this selection, so I hope you enjoy it!

Let me know in the comments what you think of the graphic novel, the soundtrack, and anything else on your mind.

This playlist has been curated to help you experience the Ascendant Star-Spangled Squadron graphic novel. Special thank you to creative consultant Amy M. for...

25/04/2022

During the storyline developed during the Ascendant RPG playtest, heroes from the US Coast Guard teamed up with Elon Musk to build a rocket that sent the world's best Starcraft player to the the moon to confront the aliens who gave a manatee superpowers.

Should this plot line go in the graphic novel series?

15/04/2022

With contributions from 506 backers, we have raised $45,148 for Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron. Thank you so much for the outpouring in support, everyone.

As soon as IndieGoGo processes payment I will be sending out everyone's digital rewards. Once you've had a chance to read the comic, I'll follow up with the Backerkit pledge manager to allow everyone to enter their addresses and make some final add-ons if desired.

If you didn't back Ascendant: Star-Spangled Squadron, you can now do so via IndieGoGo InDemand. Contributions no longer count towards unlocking stretch goals, but you can still secure a copy of the comic and add-ons for yourself.

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