The Story

​In the middle of a long hot summer, a cop shoots a suspect and the incident makes the national news. Cities across the country quickly erupt into violence and well-organized activist groups mix in with opportunists and provocateurs who begin to riot, loot, burn — and kill!

Will the city survive?

painting by Jeff Slemons

Thin Blue Line  follows police officer Valeria Baca and her partner Bob Mack as their detail guarding the mayor turns into a fight for survival. Mobs burn down city hall, forcing the officers to improvise on the run, relying only on their training and wits as the mayor’s protestations and eagerness to placate the rioters prove fruitless.

Thin Blue Line is a gripping and entertaining story that offers an unblinking look at human fallibility on every level. Readers will follow the harrowing journey of two law enforcement officers who must fight for their community and their own survival in a world gone mad.

Mainstream comics publishers haven’t featured cops as the central hero in decades. But a few older readers may be familiar with DC Comics’ last experiment with a police protagonist from way back in 1975 with officer Liza Warner in a tale called Lady Copy from DC 1st Issue #4 (July 1975). The title was never picked up for a series and the character wouldn’t appear in DC Comics again for over thirty years… 

Thin Blue Line follows Officer Val Baca, as she protects her community in Hagen, Illinois while also trying to raise her little girl as a single mother.

What follows is a sampling of some of the interior pages from Thin Blue Line. All the pages for the book are alreeady completely penciled and inked, and so afar a few are fully colored. Only the remaining colors and letters are left to complete the book and send it to the printer

The Creative Team

Two time Eisner-Award and Inkpot Award winning writer Mike Baron, best known for his acclaimed five year run on Marvel Comics’ very first ongoing series of The Punisher, along with DC’s The Flash and Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars titles, has expertly crafted a story ripped from today’s headlines that humanizes the unsung, villainized beat cops on the front lines of one of the most politically polarizing topics in 21st century America, while delivering exciting action and drama …without resorting to telling political sermons.

If you loved Mike’s sixty-issue Punisher run, you’re going to love Thin Blue Line.

Active duty police officer Joseph Arnold (pencils & layouts) and illustrator Jeff Slemons (finishes & inks), have both put their hearts and souls into every page of this book. 

Now that the campaign has hit its initial funding goals, the remaining color work on the pages is now underway by the amazing Ichsan Ansori and our lightning-fast letterer Warren Montgomery, an accomplished comic artist himself, will complete the story. 

Witness Ichsan’s color work here

Behold Warren’s lettering now underway!

The book even includes pin-ups by special guest artist Sergio Cariello (Daredevil, The Action Bible) and a blazing cover by Butch Guice (Action Comics, Alpha Flight)!

Main Cover by Butch Guice 

Variant Cover by Sergio Cariello unlocked at $25K funding (see below)

Pin-up artwork by  Officer  Adam Miller

What We Need & What You Get

We need backers to bring this book to publication! After great effort submitting this outstanding graphic novel to most of Mike’s previous comics publishers, every single one we shared it with immediately rejected it out of hand!

Sadly, the topic of police can be a politically charged subject. We also know that many indie comic publishers and creators openly support the “Defund the Police” movement on their social media. But we believe this wildly entertaining and timely story deserves to be told, particularly in light of how the media has portrayed law enforcement officers as unfeeling monsters. 

The truth is they’re diverse people, with flaws, unique perspectives, and personal struggles. And what makes our story stand apart is it’s never preachy. It’s also not a police recruitment pamphlet. It’s just entertaining and exciting and very simply demonstrates that not all heroes are perfect, and not all heroes wear capes.

Limited Time Only Crowdfunding Exclusive!

We’re printing up to 100 copies of an exclusive, limited edition, oversized hardcover of this amazing book. Enjoy the breathtaking artwork by Joseph Arnold and Jeff Slemons in its unretouched, uncolored form, oversized (8.3″ x 11.7″) and published in pencil and ink straight from the original hand drawn pages. This collectable edition hardcover is a crowdfunding exclusive that will also be autographed by the creative team and is limited to up to 100 copies (across all crowdfunding platforms). Check out our Kickstarter page here if the quantity runs out on this Indiegogo page.

The Impact

In addition to getting your hands on a limited run comic like none you’ve ever read, you will also be making a real difference in communities across the United States. We hope to hit our top stretch goal (see below) to fully “Adopt a Cop,” but nonetheless, a portion of every contribution will be donated to one or more of the following police assistance programs:

• Adopt A Cop BJJ (trains officers in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu)
• National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (improves officer safety & honors the fallen)
• The National Fallen Officer Foundation (helps families of officers slain in the line of duty)

Stretch Goals

• $15K – BACK THE BLUE commemorative button added to every PHYSICAL backer order **UNLOCKED!!**
   
• $20K – BEEFIER COVER the cover gets upgraded to heavier stock with super matte “soft-touch” laminate. **UNLOCKED!!**
   
• $25K – BIGGER BOOK  THIN BLUE LINE gets even bigger; page count increases to 64-pages! Sergio Cariello variant cover available – all backers will receive secret perk link if they want to add it on to their order. **UNLOCKED!!**
   
• $30K – SHIELD PATCH Back the Blue jacket patch added to every physical backer order **UNLOCKED!!**
   
• $35K – TRADING CARDS Exclusive Thin Blue Line trading cards will accompany every physical backer order **UNLOCKED!!**
• $40K – BEEFIEST COVER: cover for THIN BLUE LINE increases to even heavier stock, super matte “soft-touch” film laminate with spot gloss UV cover and Smyth-sewn binding **UNLOCKED!!**
• $45K – RIDE-ALONG COIN – All physical backers will receive a custom metal ride-along challenge coin commemorating the graphic novel, and honoring law enforcement officers **UNLOCKED!!**
• $50K – ADOPT A COP – THIN BLUE LINE’s creative team will fully “Adopt a Cop” and pay for them to be trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu martial arts for at least a year, to up to 18 months, to increase the safety of others, as well as themselves, while on call in their community **UNLOCKED!!**

Risks & Challenges

We want to be transparent. Every crowdfund encounters risks and obstacles that we may face on the way to achieving the goal. Rest assured however that we’ve successfully fulfilled campaigns before, and have already established strong relationships with our American printer along with all our vendors. We know how to get this done the right way.

Furthermore, the first 56 pages of the book have already been completely written, penciled, and inked, and are just awaiting coloring and lettering (with accommodations for our backer mugshot inserts). Should we surpass the “Bigger Book” tier above, additional pages and back-matter are all ready to go whenever we hit that goal. 

Other Ways You Can Help

We understand that some people can’t contribute financially, but you can still help:

• Help us get the word out – make some noise about this campaign
• Repeatedly share this campaign on as many social media platforms as possible
• Thank a police officer or first responder for their service