Grab a Mello Yello, kick up yer’ heels an’ read a good book, Vern.

A new crowdfunding campaign recently launched for Ernest & The Dream Stone, a 150+ page comedy book based on the work of the late, great Jim Varney.

The project is already fully funded, having raised nearly $90 thousand at the time of this writing.

Written by Corey Perkins and featuring illustrations by M. Arief Russanto and colors by Mariam Yasser, Ernest & The Dream Stone is a comic book adaptation of an unfilmed screenplay starring Varney’s Ernest P. Worrell character. The project has the blessing of Jim Varney’s surviving family and the owner of the Ernest IP.

Here’s the official pitch taken from the Ernest & The Dream Stone Kickstarter campaign page:

In a town on the brink of collapse, Ernest stumbles upon a magical stone that turns dreams into reality. But when his desperate attempt to save the town brings the nightmarish mad scientist Dr. Otto to life instead, chaos ensues!

This PG-esque tale serves up as much zany Ernest humor as you can stomach! A love letter to Ernest Scared Stupid and Ernest Goes to Camp, the story pairs Halloween-like scares with a touching and dramatic character arc.

Backers can get a digital version of Ernest & The Dream Stone for $35, while physical copies (hardback cover plus the digital PDF) start at $45. There is also a special Director’s Cut” edition with quite a bit of bonus content added, which includes the following:

• An exclusive variant cover
• Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) storyboards drawn by the late Ernest movie director and creator, John R. Cherry III
• The initial Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam poster art by John Cherry III
• Archival cartoon/comic versions of Ernest from newspaper clippings from across the US during Ernest’s advertising run in the 1980s
• Rare Devault Studio photographs of Ernest P. Worrell taken in the 1980s from the Cherry Archives
• Character sketches, pencils, and the illustration process from interior pages by Arief Russanto
• The initial Ernest & the Dream Stone concept cover
• A personal letter to the fans from writer Corey Perkins
• Excerpts from the graphic novel script
• Excerpts from the original Ernest & the Dream Stone screenplay

If you have more cash to spend, you can also receive the following tchotchkes and extras:

• Multiple copies of the book
• A “Deep Dive” digital bonus that includes the “Ernest Goes to Comics” Podcast and a PDF of Ask Ernest, a vintage, out-of-print book
• A two-book slipcase for both the standard and director’s cut editions
• An Ernest P. Worrell poster
• A Q&A Zoom session with the book’s art team
• The chance to have your own “fan mail” published in the book

It is also worth noting additional shipping fees will be charged separately and after the campaign by Backerkit, and being a hardback book, don’t expect it to be cheap.

Interested? You can check out some sample artwork below or visit the full Ernest & The Dream Stone Kickstarter campaign page here.

Thanks for reading!

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