Liberty: Deception

Liberty: Deception is a dystopian science fiction graphic novel comic book series by Travis Vengroff, self-published in 2016 under the American publishing company John Dossinger Publishing. The series, which takes place on a failed Terraforming mining colony, follows the clashes that take place between the remnants of the planet's totalitarian military state and the chaotic gangs beyond its walls. The series's covers are primarily by Eirich Olson, Casey Bailey, and Dave Dorman.

Publication history

A prototype ^[1] book called Liberty: Defiance was released in 2010 ^[2] and over 3200 copies were given away at various events throughout Florida like Free Comic Book Day ^[3] and Tampa Bay Comic Con ^[4] to build interest in the series.^[5] Liberty: Deception's Zero Issue was released at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo in 2016 and received praise for its unique art style,^[6] paneling,^[7] detailed universe,^[8] use of dialects,^[9][10] and for its limited edition cover by Dave Dorman.^[11]

The first volume of Liberty: Deception (which contains the first three chapters) was released at New York Comic Con in October, 2016, and sold over 300 copies that weekend .^{[12] [13]} In April, 2016 the production team raised $20,947 through Kickstarter to fund the print costs of their first volume.^[14]

Synopsis

The setting is an Earth outpost beyond our solar system that has been cut off from the rest of humanity for centuries. Government propaganda actor Tertulius Justus uses his false reputation as a war hero to avoid execution at the hands of the military state after he's been fired from his job. With nowhere else to hide, he sets off for the lawless, Post-apocalyptic expanse beyond the safety of the state's walls.^[15]

Main characters

• Archon Reeve, the deified leader of the colony.
• Tertulius Justus, a television actor working for the government who is falsely portrayed to be a war hero.
• Claw Conway, a crude arms dealer with a prosthetic claw arm.
• Liv Conway, the leader of the Conway Brothers, who is affiliated with the Skull Clacker gang.
• Will Conway, a hacker whose body has been augmented to find hidden firearms caches that his half-brothers locate and sell.
• Gust Conway, the oldest half-brother, and sword swinging bodyguard for the Conways.

Ongoing Podcast Series

Starting in August 2015, the Nerdy Show Podcast Network began releasing an audiodrama podcast companion series set within the Liberty universe. Written by Kaitlin Statz, Liberty: Critical Research is a large cast production that follows the story of a scientific team investigating the tribes and cultures of the Southern Fringe. ^[16] Between the first and second season of Critical Research, the team also released a second production called Liberty: Tales from the Tower. Tales from the Tower features a series of unrelated horror stories set within the Liberty universe. ^[17] Episodes of the Liberty podcast are released every other Tuesday, and Liberty: Critical Research was a Parsec Award finalist in 2016 under the category of 'Best New Speculative Fiction Team', as well as a Audio Verse Award finalist in 2016 for 'Best Writing of an Original, Long Form, Small Cast, Ongoing Production' and 'Best Performance of an Actor in an Original Leading Role for a Short Form Production' ^{[18] [19]}

Motion Comic

In October 2015, the Liberty creative team announced that a motion comic of Liberty: Deception was in production in collaboration with the Florida-based video game production team, Astro Crow. Notable voice acting talent confirmed for the motion comic includes Jon St. John, Lani Minella, and Dave Fennoy.^[20]

References

External links

• The Official Website of the Series
• The Bi-Weekly Audiodrama Podcast set within the Liberty Universe