Yumiko: Curse Of The Merch Girl

From pioneering the independent rap hustle to starting his own festival, Cali emcee Murs has always been a trailblazer. To that end, he proudly presents Yumiko: Curse Of The Merch Girl, a brand new album and graphic novel available exclusively through Kickstarter. The album and novel unite to tell the story of Yumiko “Yumi” Morales; a lost soul working as a merch girl for her boyfriend's touring hip-hop-funkadelic-party band "Murder Acts", but ends up caught in a supernatural thrill ride when she's left alone in a small strange town. It seems that only a bizarre opening act comprised of uncanny, mysterious figures have a clue to what is happening to her, and what she must do to stop it.

The 124-page graphic novel is illustrated by Jose Garcia, written by Josh Blaylock and the ten-song album - whose lyrics are printed in their entirety throughout the novel - is produced entirely by DJ Foundation. Yumiko is available only via the project's Kickstarter page, where a range of different pledge options will get you everything from the novel and CD to exclusive apparel, custom download cards illustrated by David Mack and Jim Mahfood, and a personal thank-you note and Twitter follow from Murs. Followed by the release of the album and book, an animated music video will officially be unveiled at Murs' party during the Comic-Con convention in San Diego. "Yumiko is hip hop and comics done correctly," says Murs of the project. "Comics have always been a huge inspiration to me. And having the chance to publish my own comic is truly an honor. Working with my partners to create this book was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to making our dream a reality with the help of the fans." Murs can also be seen reviewing recent issues of Batman, Catwoman and Wolverine for G4TV's Fresh Ink Online blog.