Laily UPN
In a landscape dominated by reboots and franchise fatigue, the announcement of a definitive print collection for Urbance arrives as a jolt of high-voltage creativity. Magnetic Press and Oni Press have officially announced an upcoming Kickstarter campaign for the complete Urbance saga, a sprawling, 828-page masterwork of bio-punk storytelling. Created by the visionary artist, writer, and director Joël Dos Reis Viegas, Urbance is poised to transition from its cult-classic animated roots into a comprehensive literary collection, accompanied by an exclusive, limited-edition resin statue reveal.
The Genesis of a Neon-Drenched Future
To understand the significance of this upcoming release, one must look at the pedigree of its creator. Joël Dos Reis Viegas is a titan of visual storytelling, a co-founder of the renowned Steambot Studios whose fingerprints are all over modern pop culture. His portfolio reads like a "best-of" list for 21st-century media, including character and concept work on industry-defining video games such as Batman: Arkham Origins, Brink, and Thief. His cinematic and television contributions include work on the gritty, stylized Black Dynamite, the sci-fi thriller Siren, and the gargantuan spectacle of the 2014 Godzilla film.
Urbance began as a passion project, a high-style, adult-oriented animated concept that sought to redefine the boundaries of urban storytelling. After an immensely successful initial Kickstarter campaign that garnered support from thousands of global backers, Viegas and Steambot Studios partnered with the acclaimed Yapiko Animation in Tokyo to produce an 8-minute animated short that stunned audiences with its kinetic, "Aeon Flux-meets-Jet Set Radio" aesthetic. That short served as a visual manifesto, and now, years later, the full narrative weight of the Urbance universe is being committed to the printed page.
The World of Neopolis: A Chronology of Conflict
The narrative heart of Urbance lies in the city of Neopolis—a sprawling, neon-drenched metropolis defined by a singular, biological catastrophe. In the world of Urbance, physical desire has been rendered lethal. Every human is born infected with a mysterious, volatile virus that makes any form of intimate contact between the sexes instantly fatal.
This biological reality has dictated the evolution of Neopolis into a fractured, dystopian nightmare. To ensure the survival of the species, society has enforced a brutal regimen of absolute abstinence and total segregation. A massive, impenetrable wall bisects the city, separating boys from girls from birth. Over generations, this forced isolation has birthed two distinct youth cultures, each defined by tribal identity, radical fashion, and the constant, simmering threat of street-clan warfare.
The conflict reaches a boiling point when a new, illicit substance known as "N-Dorphin" begins to circulate through the city’s underground. Rumored to bypass the virus’s lethal effects, the drug acts as a catalyst for a massive shift in power. As factions scramble to control the distribution of N-Dorphin, the fragile status quo begins to shatter.
Into this volatile powder keg step Kenzell and Lesya, two teenagers from opposite sides of the divide. Their choice to defy the absolute prohibitions of their society is not merely an act of romance; it is an act of rebellion. As they navigate the dangerous crossfire of turf wars and government paranoia, their forbidden alliance uncovers a conspiracy that threatens to tear the very foundations of Neopolis apart.
Supporting Data: The Scope of the Collection
For collectors and fans of the original short, this release represents the definitive archive of Viegas’s work. The Urbance saga, spanning 828 pages, will be released in two primary formats to cater to different levels of collector engagement:
- The Softcover Saga: A set of four premium 6”x9” softcover books, which present the full narrative in a striking, high-contrast black-and-white art style. To ensure the visual impact is preserved, each volume will include full-color opening sequences that frame the kinetic energy of the black-and-white panels.
- The Deluxe Hardcover Edition: A limited-run, two-volume hardcover set designed for archival permanence, housing the complete epic in a format suitable for the most dedicated bibliophiles.
The centerpiece of the crowdfunding campaign—revealed exclusively here—is a high-quality resin statue. While the final color palette of the statue may shift from the current mockup, the design captures the razor-sharp, angular, and fashion-forward aesthetic that defines the Urbance visual language.
Official Perspectives and Industry Implications
The partnership between Magnetic Press and Oni Press to bring Urbance to life underscores a growing trend in the publishing industry: the utilization of crowdfunding to bypass traditional distribution hurdles for niche, creator-driven high-concept projects. By tapping into the established fanbase that supported the original animation, the team behind Urbance is effectively building a "community-first" distribution model.
"Urbance is more than just a story; it is a design philosophy," noted industry analysts familiar with the project. "By merging the pacing of modern animation with the deep-dive possibilities of a long-form graphic novel, Viegas is creating a blueprint for what transmedia storytelling can look like in the 2020s."
The focus on "gender-charged tension" and "kinetic fusion" places Urbance in the lineage of seminal works like Akira and Ghost in the Shell, where the environment is as much a character as the protagonists themselves. For Oni Press and Magnetic Press, the project represents a significant investment in auteur-driven science fiction, banking on the idea that audiences are hungry for stories that refuse to simplify the complex relationship between identity, physical longing, and political control.
Implications for the Future of Independent Comics
The Urbance campaign is expected to be one of the most significant crowdfunded comic book events of the year. Beyond the pages themselves, the inclusion of the resin statue signifies a move toward high-end collectibles as a staple of the graphic novel experience.
For the reader, the implications are clear: we are entering an era where the barriers between "animation," "gaming," and "sequential art" are becoming increasingly porous. The Urbance project serves as a case study for this convergence. The fact that the story has survived and evolved from a 2015 short film into a massive, multi-volume print saga demonstrates the enduring power of strong visual concepts to sustain themselves across different formats.
As fans prepare for the launch, the message from the creators is one of urgency. The "prelaunch" phase on Kickstarter is not merely a marketing tactic; it is a way to gauge the appetite for a story that has been gestating for nearly a decade.
For those looking to secure their copy or to be among the first to own the limited-edition statue, the official Kickstarter prelaunch page is now open. With the promise of 828 pages of "cyber-slick" adventure, the return to Neopolis is shaping up to be one of the most visually arresting literary events of the coming year. Whether you are a devotee of Joël Dos Reis Viegas’s animation or a newcomer to the world of Urbance, the upcoming campaign offers a rare opportunity to own a piece of modern sci-fi history in its most complete, unadulterated form.
The divide in Neopolis is deep, but for fans of the genre, the path to obtaining this saga has never been clearer. Sign-ups are currently available, ensuring that once the campaign goes live, you will be among the first to witness the spark that ignites the city.
Neng Nana
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