Exclusive: Feast your eyes on art from Black Sails star Luke Arnold's new graphic novel Essentials

Today, the pirate drama Black Sails lands on Netflix. Black Sails is a cult hit show that ran from 2014 - 2017 on Starz, and I've long held that it's one of the undersung masterpieces of our recent golden age of genre television. The series takes pirates from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic book Treasure Island like Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and Long John Silver (Luke Arnold) and imagines what actual pirate history might have looked like if they were involved. It's a hell of a ride, helped along by razor-sharp production values and performances.

Luke Arnold's John Silver goes on a pretty massive journey over the course of the series — which is fitting, since Arnold himself has had quite a creative voyage himself. When Arnold's not acting, he's writing books and taking part in all sorts of other creative endeavors. To date he's released three novels in his Fetch Phillips urban fantasy series, with a fourth on the way. And today, the Kickstarter launches for his brand new graphic novel, Essentials, which is being released as the inaugural title of publisher The Lab Press.

"In ESSENTIALS, mathematician Harris Pax predicted the end of the world but failed to prevent it," reads the official synopsis. "Now he’s living alone in a bunker and his niece’s favorite toys have started talking to him. The good news? He’s not the world’s sole survivor. The bad news? The other survivors are trapped in alternate realities — imprisoned in imagined worlds full of zombies, robots, mythical creatures, and chaos. And now Harris Pax and an unlikely ally must travel the country on a quest to restore reality, save humanity, and defeat his new interdimensional nemesis: Snuggles."

Essentials is a massive collaborative effort that sounds like it'll make for a fascinating read. The book is co-written by Arnold and Doc Wyatt, an LA-based screenwriter with an equally eclectic skillset. Wyatt produced Napoleon Dynamite and has credits on The Legend of Vox Machina, Star Wars: Resistance and a number of other projects. He's also one of the founders of Wandering Planet Toys, a company which makes retro figures based off old shows; right now they're also running a Kickstarter for figures based off the 1970s series The Prisoner.

Essentials gathers seven artists, with each one providing their own unique art style for one of the many dimensions featured in the book. There's DaNi (Sandman: The Dreaming), Glenn Fabry (Preacher), Jason Howard (Transformers), Vince Locke (A History of Violence), Brendan McCarthy (Spider-Man: Fever), Andrea Mutti (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and M.K. Perker (Air). It will also feature a cover by legendary artist Bill Sienkiewicz (New Mutants). Here's how the Kickstarter puts it:

"An all-star roster of seven artists brings Luke Arnold and Doc Wyatt’s wild, sci-fi adventure to life, with each artist illustrating a different alternate reality. Vince Locke unveils a zombie apocalypse. Andrea Mutti depicts tragedy in outer space. MK Perker illustrates a stunning banquet for the gods. Glenn Fabry pulls back the curtain on a creepy collector of classical art And DaNi and Jason Howard play with an ever-changing “untethered” reality, which threatens to swallow our hero and everything we have ever known. "

“Writing ESSENTIALS was a delight because we’re never locked into one mode or genre of storytelling," explains Wyatt. "We get to jump from reality to reality, playing with the different tropes. It’s as freeing as doing an anthology, but unlike an anthology, we have one cohesive story."

“The question of ‘what is essential’ lies at the heart of this book and all its characters. When Harris believed the world was ending, he did everything he could to survive. Now, unsure if he’s the last remaining human, he’s forced to reflect on how he spent his final days with his loved ones," Arnold said in an exclusive statement. "Then, after being confronted by interdimensional beings intent on eliminating earth for their own world’s expansion, Harris will embark on a quest to prove why this messy, little, mortal existence is worth saving."

It's our great pleasure to share several exclusive pages from Essentials! Check 'em out:

The Essentials Kickstarter features a number of different backer rewards, including some where you can get alternate covers for the book from different artists. This one's the Glenn Fabry cover:

And this is the Jason Howard art cover:

As of this writing, the Essentials Kickstarter has already raised more than $12,000 since it launched earlier today, putting it well over its goal. That means that if you're interested in adding this book to your collection, it's safe to hop on the train knowing that the Kickstarter is already funded.

And don't forget, all four seasons of Black Sails are now on Netflix!

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