About the Comic

This art of mine is "No Carnival in Brazil", a cyberpunk universe builded upon my living experience during the past 11 years of radical political activity. In the city of São Paulo, i engaged with many anarchist and communist groups, practicing direct action and confrontation with police forces. I was arrested several times, experiencing the full cyberpunk side of this city, including the prison system.

So this comic is something about the things that i lived, but in a not so distant, dystopic and cyberpunk future.

The stage is set in the city of São Paulo, in the year of 2071. The world deals with the prolongated World War III between the "Axis of Evil" (China, Rússia, North Korea and allirs) and the "Western Alliance" (USA, Europe and allies).

In the war effort against China and Russia, a multibillion-dollar scheme was set up involving practically the entire upper bourgeoisie of the West. The plan was to assassinate Putin and put a fascist regime in his place. The same happened in the United States: a large and well-equipped army of ultra-rightists took power and implemented a war regime against the "Axis of Evil". And then, with all its technology and its numerous army, the Chinese People's Republic dominated Russia in just two months, and the world was divided in two. On one side, Asia, led by the Chinese Tiger - free, prosperous and socialist, and on the other, the Fascism of the rich and their war industry.

In Brazil, fascists took power with support from the US regime and also implemented a war regime.

The main character, a black and young male from the overpopulated suburbs of São Paulo, Brazil, tries to understand the world he lives in, and to make his living, but after a carnival protest against the dictatorship, he lost his best friend and girlfriend, murdered by the military police

He then engages with an armed, urban guerrilla group to seek revenge. The "New Power" or "Novo Poder" fights the regime with an army of militants, hackers and supporters, equiped with 3D printed guns, high technology gadgets and support from the so-called "Axis of Evil".

With american drones watching the city from above, he follow an underground path to identify and kill the soldiers who murdered their beloved ones, and in the process, he also follow the path of revolution.

The NP flag is composed by three tools: the arrow, symbolyzing the jndigenous people, the hammer, symbolyzing the cities, and the machete, symbolyzing the vast rural interior of Brazil. The group will eventually lead a popular armed insurgence with all the consequences of a civil war.

The narrative will happen in parallel with a global war, which most of the people will call it Third World War, stucked in the pacific ocean.

And between this two wars, we will also have a climatic collapse, which will shape our way of life with all the technological advances of a cyberpunk story.

Basically the comic is a doomer, catastrophical vision of a distant future that day after day doesn't look so that distant.

Yes, it's more of a warning.

The Process

For the process of making this comic, i only need one thing: a drawing tablet. As a digital art comic book, this is the only tool that i need to make it happen.

I already have A LOT of material for the comic: a whole script written, concept arts, sketches and many pages drawn in physical format that need to be transfered into digital art.

The whole process will be posted and update on my Instagram, for those interested in the project.

I'm using real people and scenarios to use as a reference for the drawings. For example, i'm using airsoft guns and friends of mine for photo references for the digital drawings. This is a big deal to keep the comic real and to honour my comrades and other important militants from Brazil.

There is a chapter dedicated to a real story that happened in São Paulo, in 2021: the arson attack against the statue of Borba Gato, a well-known enslaver and killer of indigenous people. The action shook the political scene in Brazil, but the statue remained standing until 2071, and ended up being reinforced with a rigorous security system and cameras.

In an action against the regime and to honour those who setted the statue ablaze 50 years ago, the New Power bring it down with explosives.

The thing about the comic is to mix real stories with fictional ones, in a effort to be more of a prophecy or an alert, than a distant and unreal future.

Budget

Well, since i have everything ready in my mind, as well as many sketches and the whole script written, the only thing that i don't have, is a drawing tablet, essential to produce this comic book. I had to sell my drawing tablet to pay my rent, and that's why i'm making this campaign.

And there is also a table:

- R$ 3.250: Drawing tablet + scanner for the digital drawings and scan of the paper drawings.

- R$ 250: Table (i don't have a table to work on my drawings anymore 😢)

TOTAL: R$ 3.500 or 650 euros.

The comic will be released in ebook format, free and in portuguese and english version.

I'm making contact with some publishers to reach a physical version of the comic, both in portuguese and english, but this requires more money and is a topic from another campaign 😉

And finally, here are some of my latest artworks, not related to the comic book:

Thanks and i hope that when i launch this comic, you will all happily enjoy it!

Reach me through: [email protected]

You can also see my other campaign that I've made at FireFund: https://www.firefund.net/machado