Wondercon ’14: Oh Hell, A Comic Worth Kicking

Undoubtedly most of us reached that point in our youths, or might soon reach it in the case of our younger audience, where our parents have simply “had it” with us. Hopefully in your case they didn’t send you off to boarding school. I mean, school already felt like Hell to a large number of us. But what if the school your parents sent you to really was in Hell? That’s the concept behind Oh Hell, a new comic by George Wassil and Dave Hamann currently being crowd funded via Kickstarter. Set in a world that was created in a long ago unsold screenplay, titled The Imp, that was written by Wassil and Michael Connell, the comic follows a group of troubled teens that were shipped off to boarding school after their parents had had enough. What the parents didn’t know is that the Academy is actually in Hell. The story follows Zoel, a troubled young dumpster baby who has since grown up into a rebellious teen. Her and a handful of friends at the academy, such as Zipper and Carl, must now either graduate or escape to survive. Unfortunately this is Hell and antagonists, like the sexy student known as Alesse, are abound.
I first discovered Oh Hell at last year’s Long Beach Comic and Horror Convention, where I was quickly sold on the stunning art and great story concept. It helps that the author, who was on hand selling his comic, has a noteworthy personality and great sales pitch. But getting home with the comic I quickly fell in love and couldn’t wait for more. Readers who want to quickly see what the book is about can read previews on the comic’s official website at Oh Hell Comic. But if you want the full story you have to help Wassil and his crew out by making it a tangible thing we can all hold in our hands. The guys behind Oh Hell comic are trying to raise $12,500 through Kickstarter crowd funding to help publish at least 2,000 copies of their 200-page first volume of the graphic novel, Oh Hell. That money will help them print the full-color softcover and distribute it to interested readers, shops, and conventions. Take a look at this quick video to learn a little more:

Now like most good Kickstarters, Oh Hell isn’t simply just asking you to donate without giving anything back. Aside from knowing you’ll help this awesome comic see print in its entirety, the creators of Oh Hell are offering some pretty nifty rewards. The rewards vary at different tiers of donations, starting with thank you’s on their official website and high resolution wall papers, and moving up through the chance to be drawn into volume 2 of the Oh Hell comic! Yea, we have to admit, that one is pretty cool, because at just $1,250 you can actually be drawn into the comic as a minor character with prominent placement and they’ll even add your likeness to the online “cast” yearbook. You’ll also get your name or a suitable pseudonym mentioned in one of Zoel’s personal diary entries (though it likely will not be a very flattering portrayal, considering Zoel’s perspective on things). Other rewards include original art, digital downloads of the first volume, physical copies of volume 1, T-shirts, prints, and more. Some of the prints are even done by popular artists you might be familiar with, like David Nakayama (Big Hero 6, the cover to All-New Ultimates #1) and Cory Smith (Broken Pieces, Magnus Robot Fighter).

Wassil was recently on hand at WonderCon’s Artist Alley, this past weekend, to promote Oh Hell, its recently launched Kickstarter, and sell print copies of chapter 1, which we highly recommend picking up. If you want your chance to meet one of the Oh Hell creators, learn more about the comic, and pick up a print copy of chapter 1 for yourself, they’ll be on site at the upcoming Calgary Comic Expo, C2E2, Wizard World Minneapolis, and Big Wow! Comic Con over the next few weeks. Check their official site for more details.

Crowd funding for Oh Hell goes through Monday, May 19th, and it is starting out strong, but every little bit helps. If the comic breaks its goal there are stretch goals being planned out including potential hardcovers. The majority of the money does go to printing costs so we really hope this simple goal can be met and Oh Hell can quickly reach publication and be in everyone’s hands soon.