Lancelot

Felipe Cagno’s brilliant idea is coming to fruition, thanks to some incredible artists and people like you.  Cagno’s graphic novel 321: Fast Comics Volume 1 has been fully funded on Kickstarter, and will be printed later this year.

The 21 stories in the book all follow the same simple rules: 3 pages, 2 characters, 1 twist ending. Beyond that, the stories are as different as the artists who brought them to life; genres range from western to sci-fi, from steampunk to everyday living and more.

Cagno said an assignment in university inspired the project.

“I went to Chapman University to pursue a Master’s degree in film making,” he said. “The first year was the conservatory year, where every student goes through the same classes. To wrap up that first year every student had to write and shoot a short film.

“It was a storytelling exercise where we had to come up with a 3-page script with 2 characters in 1 location,” Cagno added. “Locations are not a problem in a comic book, you can draw as many locations as the number of panels within the page so to push myself further as a writer I took it upon myself to the challenge of coming up with a twist for every story. I adapted the Chapman production exercise into a screenwriting challenge, it worked pretty well. That’s how the “321” was born.”

Cagno remembers promotion his previous comic, Lost Kids: Seeking Samarkand, at a convention in Brazil, and it was there he met Rafael de Latorre and Marcelo Maiolo. The pair introduced Cagno to several artists at the show, and eventually sent them all a message: Want to come do a three page story with a twist?

“I feel that the premise was so intriguing and short that the artists were very excited about trying something new, something outside of their regular work with superhero comics,” Cagno said. “It’s easier to approached these in-demand artists when they can squeeze in 3 pages in their work schedule, it’s different than proposing to do a full 60-70pages graphic novel.”

Among the artists lending their talents to the project are Geraldo Borges, Wilton Santos and Fabiano Neves.

Cagno said that people who back the book can expect to be entertained and surprised by what they’ll read.

I really tried to appeal to the broadest audience possible, so there’s definitely something for everyone,” he said. “Being an anthology of stories with the freedom to tackle any themes, genres and art styles, I really wanted to diversify.

“Not only we’ve got all these different art styles, ranging from cartoony, to more traditional American comics to a more European feel, we’ve also tackled different genres across the board, no story dips its toes on the same pool. We have pandas, dinosaurs, werewolves, noir, sci-fi, robot sci-fi, aliens, medieval, fantastic, you name, we got it.”

He added that while the reader is not likely to enjoy every story in the books, he promises that “everyone will find something fun about this book.”

Cagno is pleased with every story in the book, but two in particular are extra special.

“I don’t think I have an ultimate favorite story but the one that speaks closer to me is definitely the ‘A True Panda’s Love?’ It’s something I did for my fiancée and that’s why it has a special place both in the book and in my career,” he said. “The story featuring Lancelot is also important as it was the very first fully formed 321 story, it’s the one that kicked off the book.”

To view this Kickstarter or to contribute and make the stretch goals a reality, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/174083906/321-fast-comics-vol-1.