Get a Free Issue of Visitations Comic Book and Help Support Its Indiegogo

Scott J. Larson | April 22nd, 2016

[Editor’s Note: The following is a promotional post. The statements and opinions therein do not necessarily reflect those of TheNerdyBird.com. Read more about promotional posts here. That said, Scott Larson is a longtime friend of the site and Jill Pantozzi. He even drew me into one of his comics!]

This story came to me in a dream.

No, really – it did!

Let me explain…

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Scott Larson. I’m a Chicago based illustrator and creator of the brand new comic book series, Visitations. All my life I have dreamed of drawing comic books for a living. For the past decade I’ve been doing work for small press publishers. I’ve drawn comic stories for Markosia (Kong: King Of Skull Island), AC Comics (Femforce), Zenescope (1000 Ways To Die), and Moonstone (The Saint). It’s been a fun journey and I’ve learned a lot, but something has been missing. Anyone who has navigated the waters of small press comics knows that, on the one hand, something’s been achieved, and on the other, it hasn’t. Yes, you’re doing comics, but nobody knows it. I came to realize that in order for me to get anywhere I had to do 2 things- 1.) create something on my own, and 2.) build an audience.

Around the same time I came to this conclusion, I discovered some interesting family history that led me to Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. Graceland is where a great many of the city’s founders are buried. The monuments inside Graceland are eerie. In fact, the first one I saw looked very much like DC Comics’ Spectre and that wasn’t the only interesting one. I became friends with the owners of the company that sculpted most of the statues in the graveyard. One of their posts on Facebook was a top ten list of the creepiest tombstones in the world. It was odd and morbid. After reading it, my subconscious created an entire story featuring the contents of the article and I woke up with the plot of the first issue of Visitations and titles of the next 6 in my head. I immediately did thumbnails and set about constructing the series.

The story is called Visitations and it is the history of Chicago as seen though the eyes of the residents of the city’s oldest cemetery. It’s part history, part horror, and part adventure – kind of like Indiana Jones meets the Untouchables…in a graveyard. It will be a number of different mini series. The first, consisting of 8 issues, takes place at the turn of the century. The second will be set during the Roaring ‘20s and there will be lots of Al Capone, gangster stuff. The series will go to the present day – some characters will remain, some will get older and be replaced with their offspring, and others will die. While this is going on, the city of Chicago will go from rebuilding itself after the Great Fire of 1871 to becoming the modern metropolis it is now.

Visitations means a lot to me. I’m proud of the story and really want you to read it. I’m so proud of it, that the first issue is available for free. Email me at visitationscomicbook@gmail.com and I’ll send you a PDF of issue #1. This offer is forever (and ever!).

Issue 2 will be finished around Halloween of this year. The title is “The Great Balloon Disaster” and it will be so unique of a story that it needs to be printed on paper. What makes it unique? Well, the story takes place at a hot air balloon race and will require the reader to physically twist and turn the book as the story progresses. It is truly an interactive experience. The book is available through an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that runs until April 30, 2016. The campaign is set up to cover printing and distribution costs (as well as purchasing tables at comic book conventions). Every cent that the book makes is rolled back into the process so that more people can be reached. If the crowdfunder ends before you see this and you still want to contribute, or purchase the issue, please contact me and I will find a way to make it work for you. The Indiegogo campaign can be found here.

I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to read this and to consider checking out the book. Also, thanks to Jill who gave me an opportunity to talk about it here. I’m very grateful for the opportunity.