The Indie Comic Book Report #8

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ZALEN - Graphic Novel from the Rippaverse.com

Spoiler Warning!

I received my copy of "Zalen: What Kills Must Die" from the Rippaverse. From the collection campaign page - 8,789 books were pre-ordered raising a total of $264,609.

I am a science fiction fan, and Zalen hits a sweet spot - this is running neck and neck with "Dirty Deeds" from Carrow Brown that appeared in the Rippazine #3 as one of my favorite stories from the Rippaverse.

The credits for the creative team: Writer: Chuck Dixon Artist: Joe Bennett Colorist: Marcos Martins

The story opens with the image of suffering aliens, who are slightly reminiscent of the Green Martians from Edgar Rice Burroughs a "Princess of Mars" The narrator in this section is presumably Zalen. A second group of aliens the Kamaarians, are stilling all of the water from the planet, Zalen describes them as "World-less space-going scum who sell a planet's life blood to the highest bidder." Zalen dispatches the Kamaarians, and sends the planets water in the form of ice hurtling back to the surface. After summarily destroying the Kammarians Zalen pronounces his creed "What Kills Must Die."

Because of the way certain scenes are presented the audience can not completely certain the narrator is always reliable, the information is presented as what Zalen believes to be true but there are some gaps in his knowledge. Let's take a look at the main cast of the book.

**Zalen ** Zalen is a substantially powerful being comparable to the Silver Surfer, Superman, or Starbrand (New Universe reference). Zalen appears to fit the role of a cosmic defender/protector. In one scene a gigantic spacefaring dragon like creature interfaces with Zalen, and appears to examine his memory. In the memory scenes Zalen is portrayed as raised alone in isolation by robots and artificial intelligence "AHA" who accompanies him on his current journey. During the memory sequence Zalen is observed to be "altered by design" and "enhanced". In a separate sequence in a conversation with the ships navigator S'olos they both claim to be the last or only members of their species. Zalen has the capacity of flight exceeding supersonic speeds, the ability to survive in the vacuum of space, close to invulnerability, and super strength on par with a Superman level character. Zalen's ship malfunctions and begins to drop out of "the void" (hyperspace) at faster than light speed, Zalen is able to physically slow the ship to a survivable velocity. Zalen does appear to tire or be exhausted after great expenditures of energy, and rests after significant encounters. The AI "AHA" asks Zalen if he should initiate an "ion bath" after one encounter - suggesting that Zalen may need to recharge after challenging feats.

The Crew: The primary crew appears to consist of humorous engineer/mechanic "Bong", who appears to be somewhat canine and somewhat dwarven with indigo fur, reminiscent of Hank McCoy/Beast. "Tala" a female humanoid, is either his manager or executive officer, and appear to have the role of managing Zalen's responsibilities. The ship's navigator is a gigantic whale like alien "S'olos" who is responsible for calculating the ships jumps through hyperspace (the void). The main crew of the ship and the original owners are the "Jammas." The Jammas are visibly identical dimunitive green skinned creatures who are used for light comedic relief in several places in the book. "AHA" is a robot/AI who appears to have been present during Zalen's childhood and continues to accompany him on his present adventures.

Galactic Guardian? Zalen is periodically tasked with missions from a character name "General Quoma" and some reference is made to Zalen's "charter". The structure of government between the advanced races in the Universe isn't fully explained but there does appear to be some organization that defends planets that are less technologically advanced from raiders or threats, and Zalen has some role in it.

Print Error Nontroversies There was a minor error in print formatting, that can primarily be seen on a double page spread. Some Youtubers have attempted to make an issue of it. Having read the book four times it had no impact on my enjoyment of story and art. The distortion occurs primarily at the crease of the book, on a double page spread. Seeing how trivial the impact is, I would have been upset if the books had been held back for reprinting.

Verdict: Solid and entertaining story, I want to find out what happens next, and would absolutely buy and recommend Zalen to other readers.

Let's Get to the Numbers!

Rippaverse Comics Collection Campaign Sales

The numbers here are through May 23, 2025. 2025 is already the biggest year for the Rippaverse in terms of books ordered. Even if the back half of the year slows down for the Ripapverse, I estimate that collections campaigns are likely to sell 120,000+ books and raise over $4,000,0000+ for the year.

Comicsgate

The numbers here are through May 16, 2025. Comicsgate's crowdfunding total for the year from Indiegogo, FundMyComic.com, and Shane Davis's 9Lives Comics website is approximately $452,000. Unusually for Comicsgate no crowdfunding campaign has crossed the $100,000 threshold. The most funded campaign year to date in 2025 is Cyberfrog Dark Havest with $59,868 raised.