YA Mythology Series Kickstarts Comic Reboot

CALERA, Ala. - Oct. 5, 2014 - PRLog -- After three years and four independent novels, the Olympia Heights series, read by thousands, is being rebooted as a comic. The Kickstarter project, which runs until November 4th, will attempt to raise $16,000 to pay for art. The final product will be a 200-page, half-tone-shaded, graphic novel telling a story that's a fresh jumping off point for new readers, but familiar enough to please the fans of the original series. Flashbacks to the Ancient Greek myths will be rendered in a modified amphora style that mimics Ancient Greek painting.

The Olympia Heights series started with Olympia Heights: The Pantheon, published in 2011 by Matter Deep Publishing and written by Amy Leigh Strickland. The fourth and final novel in the saga was released in March of this year to a very positive reception from Strickland's fans. The comic spinoff will be a reboot, telling a slightly different story than the novels, which focus on a group of Miami teenagers who find out that they are the Greek gods reborn.

Style and character development has been underway since December of last year. Sam Albro, a freelance animator and comic artist, has developed an art style specially for the comic, combining modern sequential art with the black figure style commonly found on Ancient Greek amphoras. The Kickstarter will raise funds to pay Albro to draw the first 200-page volume, a solo story for Zach Jacobs, the modern day Zeus. Backers who contribute to the project can choose rewards ranging from thank you's to ebooks to t-shirts and more.

The Author

Amy Leigh Strickland is an author and educator living outside of Birmingham, AL with her husband and two rescued dogs. She teaches English and World Mythology and fills her free time writing epic adventures with a mythological twist. Her first novel, Olympia Heights: The Pantheon, was published in 2011. She has since published five novels, and her sixth release is anticipated for late 2014.

The Artist

Sam Albro is a freelance animator and comic artist living in Townsend, MA. He earned his BFA in 3D Animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2007. Albro's art has appeared in cell phone games and industry videos. His web comic, The Interminable Cockroach Man, was recently bundled into its first issue, The Interminable Cockroach Man: Wing It!

Kickstarter Landing Page URL: www.olympia-heights.com/comic

Amy: www.amyleighstrickland.com and @AmyLStrickland on Twitter

Sam:  @SamAlbro on Twitter