Marco Rudy explores addiction, heroism, and fantasy in hand-painted comic book RDW

Writer/artist Marco Rudy, known for his work on Swamp Thing, Action Comics, Spider-Man, the Avengers, and more, has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for his own creator-owned original graphic novel titled RDW: A Tale of Lost Fantasy. Rudy is writing RDW (Rainy Day Woman) as well as hand-painting all 40 pages of the first volume.

Set in a world of mythical beings where magical corporations vie for supremacy, RDW follows Astrid, a mercenary leader who once led a now lost "Free-company" – and who relies on an amphetamine-like drug to enhance her fighting power in her search for her lost companions.

"RDW is also a story about a journey. A journey of acceptance, and how the world reflects our inner behavior," states Rudy in the Kickstarter campaign.

"And while the journey will take us to dark places and subjects, it will also feature a world ripe with stories and folklore not often seen, like Mozambican, Brazilian, First Nations of the Americas, and much more," Rudy continues, drawing on his own varied heritage for inspiration in the story. "It is my opportunity to shine a light on these, as much as I do the protagonist's story."

Rudy's Kickstarter is seeking a funding goal of $25,158, of which it has so far collected pledges totaling $6,743. The campaign is intended to fund the first 40-page volume of the series, which Rudy states is part of a larger story that expands on the world established in RDW – including plans to publish further stories down the road.

"The initial idea behind 'Tales of Lost Fantasy' is to create a world a living, breathing world in which Fantasy and folklore walk together with 'real life stories' and through which we use metaphor, humor, different cultures folklore and pop-culture to tell stories about past, current and future society, about escapism, about friendship true and false, about love, true and false and focusing that nothing is ever so black-and-white as it seems," Rudy states. "No love is truly immaculate and no evil is without reason or sometimes evil, at all."

"This initial volume is but the beginning of our adventure," he continues. "While Volume One of RDW serves as a good entry point to the story being told - it is a part of a bigger story, one I hope to continue, once this first volume is released."

RDW: Tales of Lost Fantasy is seeking funding by November 13, for an intended October 2021 book release.

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I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)