LOS ANGELES—June 2, 2025–The second of four issues in the Zen: Bounty Wars saga from 1First Comics was fully funded on the evening of its Kickstarter launch and is rapidly approaching its first stretch goal.
Building on the 38-year legacy of Zen Intergalactic Ninja, the new storyline finds Zen on the verge of leaving his profession when his mentor, Master Satva, suggests that he spend time getting to know his fellow bounty hunters before making a final decision. This leads to Zen being caught up in a conflict between two powerful space lords, each of whom recruits bounty hunters to eliminate their opponent, resulting in the titular Bounty Wars.
“This is my favorite Zen saga I’ve ever written,” said writer/creator Steve Stern, “and it’s chock full of action, humor, and colorful characters—with berserker bounty hunter Black Hole Bob at the front of the line.”
Longtime Zen readers will recall the crazed manhunter who rides a mechanical steed and carries a massive gun, first introduced in the story fittingly entitled Total Lobotomy.
Also along for the ride is Zen’s frequent bounty hunting partner, Nira-X. Created by Bill Maus, the artist on this series, Nira-X’s body is enhanced with bio-morphic technology called cyberskin. “Nira’s first appearance was in Zen #0 from Entity Comics in 1993, and I’ve been chronicling her adventures in her book ever since,” Maus added.
For those who may have missed the first issue in the series, it is being offered as an add-on in the current campaign. “This way,” Stern said, “everyone has the opportunity to read and collect the entire series.”
The campaign can be found here:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/billmausart/zen-bounty-wars-2
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