On Tuesday, Rebellion launched its first-ever Kickstarter campaign for Roxy, a romance anthology that both harkens back to classic British romance comics and updates them for the 21st century. The book features four stories, one of which—”What I Was Made For,” by Nadia Shammas and Jaws Stone—The Beat can exclusively preview today.
The original Roxy, a British girls’ romance comic, was published weekly by Amalgamated Press and Fleetway Publications from 1958-1963 for a total of 288 issues. The updated anthology boasts main cover art by Hannah Templer, a retro Roxy paperback variant, and hardcover variants by Marguerite Sauvage and Tula Lotay. These are available as campaign perks for backers. It should also be noted that all of the creators for this project have already been paid; Rebellion is exploring Kickstarter as a marketplace to expand its audience.
The four stories in Roxy are as follows:
“The Getaway Girls” by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson sees aspiring model Melanie head to Paris in the hopes of making her big break in the Capital of Fashion. But as soon as she locks eyes on superstar model Hattie of the world-famous Getaway Girls, admiration turns to lust and things go from friendly to flirty. Melanie’s world changes overnight—but what secrets is Hattie hiding from her? And will Melanie notice in time?
“Flowers for Agatha” is a supernatural tale of lost romance by Sarah Gordon. It’s been almost a decade since the magical Agatha said goodbye to the love of her life, who went into the woods and never returned. On a walk through those very same woods, she finds herself face-to-face with the man she lost. What tragedy befell him in the woods, and can they conjure up a happier ending this time?
“Banmore” by Magdalene Visaggio and Sterric is a time-travelling story which pays tribute to regency romance. After her father passes away, Becky is shocked to find that his will left her the keys to a huge country house deep in the heart of the English countryside.
After she flies over from America to investigate her new home, she discovers a secret room which allows her to travel into the past, where she meets the man of her dreams. Or so she thinks…
“What I Was Made For” by Nadia Shammas and Jaws Stone is a story of love, loneliness and companionship, as Alix reports in for duty on her first day of duty on a spaceship in the far future. Symbiotically connected to the mech they operate during their working day, Alix soon finds that their connection goes deeper than they could ever have expected. Are they getting too close?
The Beat can reveal the first four pages of “What I Was Made For” by Shammas and Stone. Check out the preview below.
Roxy is currently available through Kickstarter. The campaign runs until Thursday, August 8 at 3 p.m. ET. Backer perks include digital and physical editions of the anthology and collector’s bundles with exclusive merch.
