Kickstarting Comics: The HEK Treasury Promises Experimental Sci-Fi & Fantasy
by Olly MacNamee
What if The Twilight Zone and McSweeney’s had a baby? Well, that’s the question posed by the collection of creators behind The HEK Treasury an all new anthology of experimental science fiction, fantasy and other short stories launched on Kickstarter August 12th.
Curated by Brian Hurtt, Marie Enger and Matt Kindt this 100 page hardcover (8 ¾ x 11 5/8) will feature full color art, a tri-fold narrative poster and loose-leaf story cards. These three began sharing a studio in St. Louis in 2015 and have been creating graphic novels and comic books side by side for the last four years. This is their first truly collaborative effort and the inaugural publication by their new collective, HEK Studios.
Hurtt sums up their aims as a studio:
Our goal is to be the McSweeney’s of comic book publishers – presenting challenging works in all genres that pushing the format and medium into new places.
Kindt’s contribution to The HEK Treasury is “The Great Mech Wars,” 3 interconnecting 10-page chapters presenting the tale of an old, sad war-mech, while Enger’s stories for the collection share a dystopian theme of bleak, fantastical, ruined worlds and great despair — leading to new, dangerous, beginnings.
As for Hurtt’s stories? Like Kindt’s, they consist of three interconnected dystopian tales, featuring weaponized flora and fauna, suspended animation and mutants.
You can check out the Kickstarter here and check out the different pledges you can make. Anything from a basic dollar to more reward-filled higher tier pledges.
Check out the trailer too for more.