By XAVIER SMERDON
IN A world where only the strongest, smartest and fastest survive, one Tarneit resident is hoping to make his mark.
Shaun Paulet has been a comic book fan since he was 10-years-old when his mother bought him his first copy of X Men.
“I would never read so my mum bribed me by buying me a comic book and it’s cost me a fortune ever since,” Mr Paulet said.
Almost every room in his house is now graced by framed comic book artwork and figurines of his favourite characters.
Now Mr Paulet is hoping that his own creation will become the next thing that his fellow comic book lovers cannot wait to get their hands on.
About 12 months ago he started developing his own comic book series, Xtreme Champion Tournament, which he hopes will make it into stores by next month.
The series combines Mr Paulet’s love of history and science fiction, while including a healthy dose of brutality.
“I’m a bit of a history buff, I love Greek mythology, and I thought how can I bring those kinds of stories together and make them relevant now,” he said.
“I’m also a huge fan of Ultimate Fighting Championships, where people basically fight without rules, so I figured that the next step of fighting to the death isn’t that far away.”
Before he knew it Mr Paulet had created the idea behind his new series, where clones of ancient warriors are created to fight in a gladiator style setting.
To help him get his characters out of his head and onto the pages of a comic book, Mr Paulet turned to crowd funding website Kickstarter, where people can make donations in return for limited edition copies of Xtreme Champion Tournament.
With only six pages left before the first book is finished, Mr Paulet is hoping that he will receive enough donations to make his dream a reality.
“In just over a week I’ve received $1400 in pledges,” he said.
“My ultimate goal is to get it into every comic book store.”
For more information on Mr Paulet’s Kickstarter campaign visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/2067957354/xtreme-champion-tournament
