Oni Press and Magnetic Press have launched the Kickstarter campaign for URBANCE, a sci-fi adventure series from Joël Dos Reis Viegas.
Magnetic Press is the Eisner Award-winning publisher known for prestige graphic novels from around the world since 2013. Viegas is an internationally acclaimed writer, artist, and director. He also co-founded Steambot Studios.
His media credits include work on the video games Batman: Arkham Origins, Brink, and Thief. He also worked on the TV series Black Dynamite and Siren, as well as the 2014 film Godzilla.
Fans can support URBANCE on Kickstarter now.
A Bio-Punk Story of Rebellion and Division
“URBANCE is a bio-punk ROMEO & JULIET in the neon-lit style of AEON FLUX in a JET SET RADIO future city,” said Magnetic Press Director of Publishing Mike Kennedy. “A kinetic fusion of urban cyberpunk, gender-charged tension, and high-style action, it’s a story about rebellion, identity, and the dangerous power of connection in a world designed to keep the population divided.”
URBANCE began as a high-style, hyper-urban adult animated project. Viegas created it and developed it at Steambot Studios.
The project first gained major attention through a Kickstarter campaign backed by thousands of fans worldwide. In 2015, Steambot partnered with Yapiko Animation in Tokyo to complete an eight-minute animated short film.
The animated pilot introduced the universe, characters, visual identity, and worldbuilding. Strong fan response helped push URBANCE into its next phase as a four-volume comic series led by Viegas.
From Animation to Graphic Novels
The comics expand the story beyond the animated short. They deepen the political tensions, youth-clan dynamics, and mystery surrounding the virus and the underground drug.
The move from animation to comics also allowed Viegas to explore Neopolis in greater depth. The graphic novels build out the long-form story that the pilot only suggested.
“While the animated pilot only scratches the surface of what rules Neopolis, the graphic novel series dives much deeper into the dark side of the society and human tensions,” said URBANCE creator Joël Dos Reis Viegas. “Keeping the core elements — the virus, N-Dorphin, the protagonists, and Coevo — and reimagining a story about two youngsters, shaped by division, who are forced to come together against adversity. I chose a more aggressive and dark visual treatment to better match the story’s more mature tone. URBANCE is a reflection of my passions, my art style, and my fears.”
Welcome to Neopolis
URBANCE takes readers to Neopolis, a futuristic, neon-drenched city where physical desire has become deadly.
A mysterious virus infects every human at birth. Intimate contact between the sexes becomes instantly fatal. To survive, society enforces absolute abstinence and segregation.
Boys and girls grow up apart. They are conditioned to fear and even hate one another. A massive wall divides the city in two.
Over time, separate youth cultures form on each side. Tribal identity, coded fashion, and violent street-clan rivalries shape life in Neopolis.
A Drug, A Conspiracy, And A Forbidden Alliance
The city’s fragile order starts to break when an underground drug called N-Dorphin hits the streets. The drug is rumored to bypass the virus’s lethal effects.
Its arrival destabilizes Neopolis. Turf wars erupt. Paranoia spreads. Factions fight for control.
At the center of the conflict are Kenzell and Lesya, two teens from opposite sides of the divide. They defy the rules and risk everything to cross the city’s border.
Together, they uncover a conspiracy larger than any clan feud. Their forbidden alliance becomes the spark in a city ready to explode.
