Grant Morrison teams up with Donny Cates for Atomahawk origin story

Atomahawk
(Image credit: Ian Bederman)

Donny Cates and Ian Bederman are following up their recent creator-owned series Atomahawk with plans for a toy version of the lead character, Cyberzerker. They're using Kickstarter to raise funds for this project, and have now unleashed a unique reward: a standalone comic written by Grant Morrison.

Atomahawk was a 2017 serial in Heavy Metal following a sword-wielding apocalyptic warrior on a quest to free his imprisoned god. After its serialization, Image Comics published a collected edition of Atomahawk.

If the Atomahawk Kickstarter reaches its $14,000 goal, those who contribute $10 or more will receive a fully painted comic by Bederman and Morrison unfolding the origin of the namesake sword, the Atomahawk.

(Image credit: Ian Bederman)

"From the universe of flesh, to one of the greatest creative minds of our generation," reads their description of this reward tier. "This face-melting, no f***s given story is written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by tattooer Ian Bederman exploring the origin of the blade itself! Printed copy signed by Ian Bederman and Donny Cates."

For those wondering about Morrison's surprise involvement in this, it goes back to Morrison's time as editor-in-chief of Heavy Metal during the time when Atomahawk ran in the magazine. Morrison was quoted in press at the time describing Atomahawk as "A screaming black hole feedback squall of death metal Kirby-kozmik energy spinning straight towards your prefrontal cortex." 

A digital version of the Atomahawk origin story will be available for a $10 pledge, with a print version available for those who contribute $20 or more. Get all that and the Cybererker toy for $80 or more.

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Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)