Get ready to rev your engines: the legendary stuntman Evel Knievel is leaping into his first-ever full-length comic series, courtesy of Half Evil Comics. Titled Evel Knievel: The Last Gladiator, the series comes from an all-star creative team including Ringo Award-winning writer Rylend Grant (The Jump, The Peacekeepers), artist Dave Acosta (Terrorwar, Elvira), letterer HdE, and editor R.E. Nelson—with explosive cover art by Flops and Ray-Anthony Height.
The series is currently in pre-launch on Kickstarter. Check out the pre-launch page here.
Set during the wild lead-up to Knievel’s infamous Caesars Palace fountain jump, the story pits America’s most iconic daredevil against a ruthless outlaw biker gang trying to muscle in on his rising fame. What follows is part high-octane action thriller, part modern-day Western.
“Evel is a folk hero in the purest sense,” says Grant. “We’ve leaned way into that. He’s our gunslinger on a steel horse—solving mysteries, throwing punches, making insane jumps, and romancing every local bombshell in sight.”
Though the series is fictionalized, it’s grounded in real-life events. The first arc kicks off with Evel’s career-defining crash in Vegas and charts his meteoric rise—from gritty bar fights and biker brawls to his audacious promise to jump Snake River Canyon. Readers will also witness his headline-making antics at the Cow Palace, a million-dollar bash in Butte, Montana, and a series of stunts only a man like Evel Knievel could dream up.
For fans eager to learn more, Half Evil Comics is hosting a special Evel Knievel: The Last Gladiator panel at San Diego Comic-Con, featuring Rylend Grant, editor R.E. Nelson, Evel’s son and brand manager Kelly Knievel, and Evel Knievel Museum co-founder Joe Pennington. It’s sure to be a wild ride. More details here.
Look for Evel Knievel: The Last Gladiator going live on Kickstarter soon, and get ready to hang on for dear life.
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