| Liberty | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Travis Vengroff |
| Original work | Liberty: Defiance (2010) |
| Owners | Travis Vengroff K. A. Statz |
| Years | 2010–present |
| Print publications | |
| Book(s) | Atrius: A Citizen's Guide (2016) Liberty: Fringe Iconography Guidebook (2020) |
| Comics | Liberty: Defiance (2010) Liberty: Deception (2016-2018) Liberty: Bridget Goes on a Date (2018) |
| Games | |
| Role-playing | Liberty: A.F.T.E.R (2018) |
| Audio | |
| Radio program(s) | Liberty: Critical Research (2015-2017) Liberty: Tales From the Tower (2016-2021) Liberty: Vigilance (2018) |
Liberty is ascience fictionmedia franchise andsharedfictional universe created byTravis Vengroff. It premiered via a self-releasedcomic book titledLiberty: Defiance in 2010, and has since extended to other media.Liberty comic books are written by Vengroff, whilefiction podcasts are directed and produced by Vengroff and written by his wifeK. A. Statz. The franchise alternatively uses the nameThe Liberty Podcast to separate itself from similarly titled unrelated works.
Each work in the franchise tells a stand-alone story set within the same universe.Liberty takes place on a failed Earthterraforming mining colony on a desert-like planet beyond Earth'sSolar System, which has been cut off from the rest of humanity for centuries. Over time, resource scarcity led to schisms in the population within Atrius, the planet's vast sole city, and the only area in which Humans live; Atrius is now split between apolice state ruled by a totalitarian regime, and the Fringe, apost-apocalyptic-like area populated by lawless gangs.[1][2][3]
Vengroff originally conceptualized and developed the world ofLiberty for seven years, first as an idea for a film. After concluding that a film was unrealistic for financial reasons and turning to comic books,Defiance in 2010 was unsuccessful and remained an obscure one-off work.[4] In 2015, Fool and Scholar Productions was formed to venture into creating fiction podcasts, premiering with the release of the serialized podcastLiberty: Critical Research, which was a success, and led to the expansion of the franchise (as well as the development of several unrelated Fool and Scholar Productions works). Subsequent works included the comic bookLiberty: Deception, theanthology podcastLiberty: Tales From the Tower, and theactual play podcastLiberty: Vigilance, which usesLiberty: A.F.T.E.R, atabletop role-playing game part of the franchise. AllLiberty works have completed their runs, with the exception ofTales from the Tower, which is still ongoing.
Vengroff completedDefiance in 2010, consisting of about eighteen pages; he hoped to turn it into a full comic book series, but was unsuccessful in selling it to any publisher. He stated in 2016 (translated from Russian): "It took me almost a year to realize that no one would buy this. It took a few more years to realize that it looked like something I would not have liked as a reader myself."[5] In the following years, 3200 copies were given away at various events throughout Florida likeFree Comic Book Day[3] and Tampa Bay Comic Con to build interest in the series.[4]
The "Zero Issue" ofDeception, acting as an introduction to the rest of the comic, was officially released at theChicago Comic & Entertainment Expo in 2016, after years of Vengroff promoting the comic book to several publishers, including by giving away over 3200 copies at various events throughout Florida likeFree Comic Book Day and Tampa Bay Comic Con.[3][4][6][7][8][9][10] The first volume was released atNew York Comic Con in October 2016.[11]
In August 2018, aLiberty: Deceptionmotion comic was released in collaboration with the Florida-based video game production team Astro Crow, featuring voice actorsJon St. John,Lani Minella, andDave Fennoy.
Liberty: Bridget Goes on a Date, written by Vengroff, drawn byKarl Moline and including characters from theDeception series, was released on June 9, 2018, with a dedicated event at Gods and Monsters in Orlando, Florida on June 9, 2018.[12]
Atrius: A Citizen's Guide is apicture book published in 2016 by John Dossinger Publishing, made available toPatreon supporters of Fool and Scholar Productions. Written as a guidebook existing within theLiberty universe, it explores the history and lore of Atrius.[13]
Liberty: Fringe Iconography Guidebook is another picture book presented as an 28-pages in-universe guidebook, written from the perspective of Dr. Martollow Kovski, the mainprotagonist of theCritical Research podcast; it is dedicated to theiconography of the Fringers.[14]
Consisting of two seasons released between 2015 and 2017,Critical Research follows a team of five individuals from the city, led by Dr. Martollow Kovski, who set out to the Southern Fringe in order to study and learn more about its inhabitants, unprepared for the trials to come.[15][16]
Consisting of four seasons released between 2016 and 2021 (2021-2024 on YouTube),Tales From the Tower is ahorroranthology. The first two and a half seasons consisted solely of stand-alone episodes, while the last half of season three and all of season four each consisted of one serialized story, distinct for both.[17][18]
Anactual play podcast using theLiberty: A.F.T.E.Rtabletop role-playing game, consisting of a single season of 13 episodes released in 2018.[17] It features the voice talents ofAshly Burch,Eric Nelsen,Dave Fennoy,Lani Minella, andGeorge Lowe.[19]
Liberty: A.F.T.E.R is atabletop role-playing game based on theLiberty universe, using a modified version of the open-source rules fromDungeons & Dragons 5th edition.[20][19] Players can play as either Citizens or Fringers. Artists who worked on theLiberty comics helped illustrate the rulebook.[19]
Critical Research was a Parsec Award finalist in 2016 under the category of Best New Speculative Fiction Team, as well as an Audio Verse Award finalist in 2016 for Best Writing of an Original, Long Form, Small Cast, Ongoing Production, and Best Performance of an Actor in an Original Leading Role for a Short Form Production.[21][22]
Deception's "Zero Issue" received praise for its unique art style,[6] paneling,[7] detailed universe,[8] use of dialects,[9][23] and for its limited edition cover byDave Dorman.[10]
Vigilance has received praise for its audio design and was nominated for several Audio Verse Awards in the fields of audio design, production, and acting.[24]