No, it’s not like Pixels… actually it is, but only kind of…

On Monday, 9 Lives Comics launched a crowdfunding campaign for Axcend: Level Up, an expanded and revamped version of Shane Davis’s creator-owned comic originally published by Image in 2015.

The project is already fully funded, having raised roughly $80 thousand at the time of this writing between both Indiegogo and the 9 Lives website.

Written and illustrated by Davis and colored by Yanzi Lin, Axcend is a sci-fi action adventure where a virtual gaming world has been unleashed in the real world, threatening reality itself. In addition to Level Up, there is a 30+ page supplemental book titled Axcend: Respawn that includes illustrations from four other independent comic book artists.

Here’s the official pitch taken from the 9 Lives Comics website:

Axcend: Level Up is a 50+ pages graphic novel by Shane Davis. When a group of gamers mistakenly set loose a virtual reality game into the real world, they risk everything to save an existence they always sought to escape. Gamers Morn and Rayne will need to team up against fellow gamer Ruin whose goal is to take over the world, and he will stop at nothing to achieve it.

Featuring never-before-seen BRAND NEW pages, new inks, new colors and new letters, and selected remastered artwork, this is a completely new look at Shane Davis’ creator-owned series.

Axcend: Respawn is a brand new story set in the world of Axcend. This is one single story split amongst 4 artists, each offering their own unique style and take on these characters, all cumulating in a single epic ending!

We have pages here from Anthony Gonzales-Clark, Kelsey Shannon, Donal DeLay and Monika Maccagni.

Backers can get a copy of either Axcend: Level Up or Axcend: Respawn for $25 each. If you have more money to spend, you can also receive the following tchotchkes and extras:

• Multiple copies of the book
• A CGC graded version
• A 9 Lives Comics shot glass
• T-Shirt
• Head sketches
• Original artwork
• Previous 9-Lives releases Starlight Cats and Inglorious Rex

It is also worth noting that there is an additional shipping charge starting at $10 for those in the United States.

Interested? You can check out some sample artwork below or visit the full Axcend: Level Up Indiegogo campaign page here, or preorder the book directly from the 9 Lives Comics website here.

Thanks for reading!

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