Writer Roland Mann launched his brand new KickStarter for the second issue of his Cat & Mouse miniseries.
Mann is a comic book veteran who has worked on a number of titles from Planet of the Apes to Malibu Signature Series and Ultraverse Origins.
Cat & Mouse is his most recent project. He’s working with artists Dean Zachary, Alex Gallimore, Barb Kaalberg, and Kevin Gallegly. The limited series stars Brett Huffman aka Cat, Bobbi Vasquez aka Mouse and the Widowmaker.
The story follows Brett Huffman, a fresh graduate of the police academy, who is asked to hunt down his ex-girlfriend’s runaway sister, Bobbi. While tracking down Bobbi, Brett uncovers a human trafficking operation run by the Widowmaker. In order to take down this organization, Brett teams up with New Orleans police officer Jesse. (Related: Interview: Playing Cat & Mouse with Roland Mann)
Roland describes it a little better. He told me:
“When his ex-fiance’s kid sister gets caught in a human trafficking ring, Brett has to figure out how to get her untangled and away from a modern New Orleans madam in order to get her home. And yes, that includes ninjas!”
In an interview with us last year, Roland revealed that his inspiration for the story came from being a father:
“I think my inspirations might actually come from being a father. As goofy as that might sound, we live in a day and age where kids aren’t as safe as they were when I was a kid; and I don’t mean from toys and gadgets and such…I mean from actually being kidnapped.”
He elaborated:
“I saw some documentary, of which I’ve forgotten the name, about human trafficking and how it’s happening in large amounts in cities all over the US—and I was shocked at how much was happening. I mean, here we are, living in a day when people are mad about statues from an era in America’s history…but they don’t seem to care about the slavery that’s happening RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES!”
Some readers might recognize Cat & Mouse from Roland Mann’s previous series from the 80s and 90s. This new series is not a continuation. It features new characters. However, Roland did tell us, “There are a handful of secondary characters from the original series that will show up, the one already mentioned is Kunoichi. There will be others—but I’ll hang off on revealing them just yet.” (Related: Cat & Mouse Creator Roland Mann Shares His 13 Favorite Comic Book Covers!)
The KickStarter has a number of backer options. It will feature a KickStarter exclusive cover by Dean Zachary, Barb Kaalberg and Kevin Gallegly.
Some of the options include your standard digital and print comic. You can also get the comic without colors in just the inked black and white. Another option allows you to just get the comic featuring the penciled art.
Other backer options include original art pieces from a number of artists including Timothy Lim, Mitch Foust, Willie Peppers and Bill Nichols, Javier Lugo and Bill Nichols, and Dean Zachary. You can also get signed comics, retailer packages, and original art pages from the comic. If you missed out on the first issue of Cat & Mouse, there is an option to get a PDF version so you can catch up.
You can back Cat & Mouse #2 on KickStarter here.