A rather intriguing comic/graphic novel project is currently in the works, and has popped up on my Kickstarter radar.
"Skyliner" is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel about loving American culture and dodging the draft in 1950's Stalinist Poland. This passionate project is a collaborative effort by the father and son team of Andre and Ed Krayewski.
Andre, an 81-year-old illustrator who has done mostly posters and graphic design work, first started his story in 2009 when he wrote the novel "Skyliner" in Polish, his native language. The novel touches on themes of longing, the experiences of childhood in war-torn Europe, and the war's crippling aftermath. There is also a healthy love of American Jazz shown in both the book and the comics. In fact, the title itself "Skyliner" is taken from a jazz classic by Charlie Barnet.
When the novel was completed, Andre's son Ed started translating the novel into English. A few years ago, Andre became fascinated by comic art and approached Ed about adapting the novel as a comic book. The two set to work and produced a series of 11 issues. (PDF's of the first three issues can be downloaded here.) Andre and Ed finished their work scripting, formatting, lettering and illustrating just before Andre's 80th birthday.
"My dad has all kinds of stories from his life. He was talking some time ago about writing another book, I think it was a story about a prostitute, but I don't know where along on that he is. I think there are stories he'd like to tell, but it seems looking forward he's more interested in creating his own imagined worlds in comics," said Ed.
The Kickstarter has approximately 36 hours to go, and is 87% funded. You can check out more about Andre, Ed, and "Skyliner" here and on their Facebook page.
