The following is the backstory that leads up to the events of the GunEngine Zero miniseries that will launch in 2022. It contains what might be considered minor spoilers so if you want to experience the story raw, don’t read this. Just bookmark it and come back later.
SOME SAY HE’S A SAVIOR. SOME SAY HE’S A VILLAIN. SOME ARE WRONG!
The V’Raq swept across the universe like a plague, overwhelming all life they encountered. An insidious, parasitic organism that attaches to its host’s central nervous system to control it like a puppet. They were an unstoppable force.
Until they finally met an immovable object.
An object in the form of a race of humanoids, called the Abeld, with an unbreakable will to resist.
Their struggle raged for eons. Billions died. Planets were decimated. The entire universe was a war zone. The Abeld eventually came to the realization that they were, and always would be, outnumbered by the V'Raq. Their numbers were dwindling. Their doom was inevitable.
So, they made one last desperate move. They created a sentient weapon with a terrifying energy source. It was designated “total obliteration mechanism: GunEngine Zero”.
It’s only purpose was to wipe the V’Raq from existence. And it fulfilled its purpose. Ruthlessly. Relentlessly. Until it located the last of the V’Raq hiding on a small blue planet that we call Earth in a region we now call Siberia.
But it was there, a thousand years ago, that the V’Raq were able to turn the tables on their pursuer and avoid extermination, entombing it at the bottom of the sea.
Now it is 1985. And in the small beach town of Ocean City on the East coast of America, old conflicts will resurface -- with humans caught in the crossfire.
Which includes: Sheriff Barney, a John Wayne-type who runs the town like a benevolent dictator. Mya, a teenager who dreams of the freedoms of college life but is chained to a blue-collar reality. Harrison, the son of the sheriff who is a slave to his unrequited love for Mya. Kez, a chubby, pre-teen boy with an obsession for ninjas, high adventure and milkshakes. And a town full of people hiding a dark secret that's been lying dormant for generations.
Is all life on Earth doomed or is there any hope to end this cycle of destruction?
STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT!
~ Michael T Gonzalez
GEZ T-SHIRT!
Click the image above to go directly to the store!
I decided to add a GunEngine Zero t-shirt to my Store Frontier store. This is the art by Joaquin Guerra. Available in 3 different colors and up to 3XL!
ALL BOOKS NOW ON AMAZON
Neotheric, six:eight and Book of Legend are all now available for purchase from Amazon. I’ve updated the Rainy Road Media website (switched over to Wix from GoDaddy) and included direct links to each book. So go on and check out the snazzy new website. (It’s still a bit of a work in progress but it serves its purpose.)
P.S. Comics and graphic novels make great gifts!
P.P.S. It’s perfectly OK to gift yourself!
A MOMENT OF SILLINESS
One of the projects I’m considering undertaking next year will be a simple comic strip called “Sick Figures”. Since I can’t draw too well, I figured I would use stick figures. And unlike the sample below, the strip will be my take on current sociopolitical issues. But don’t worry! I will NOT include the strip in this newsletter. It’ll be kept separate from the other work I do that’s meant for a general audience.
The strip below is basically just a test run to figure out some of the visual elements. It’s from a joke my daughter told me but I don’t know if she came up with it herself or if she heard it from somewhere.
And I’m not sure if I’ll have the time to do this strip on a regular basis so this might be the only one that ever sees the light of day.