Renato Franchi Takes Us Into the Future With Achille & KiPI | Comic Crusaders Podcast #776

WEPA! Sometimes the best sci-fi starts with something ridiculously simple. A kid wants a better life, somebody promises there’s an easier way to get it, and somewhere nearby there’s a cat looking at the whole situation like everybody has lost their damn mind. That’s the energy behind Achille & KiPI: The Disconnected.

Renato Franchi joins me on the Comic Crusaders Podcast to talk about the 96-page graphic novel, where a young inventor named Achille and his bionic cat KiPI head toward a future packed with technology, opportunity and promises that may be a little too good to trust. The story is set around m1RC_, a world where competing forces are trying to decide what the future should look like. Reddit

That setup gives the book room to have fun while still poking at something very real. We live in a world constantly selling shortcuts, instant success, AI solutions and the idea that the next tool is going to fix everything. Achille wants to believe there’s a path upward. KiPI is the one asking what the catch is.

The project grew from an original story by Mario Moroni, with a script by Salvatore Vivenzio, artwork by Silvia Buganza, and Renato handling editorial direction, positioning and Kickstarter strategy. The team is bringing the book to readers in both English and Italian, and the campaign has already reached its funding goal. Sky TG24

We talk about how a casual idea over pizza turns into a finished graphic novel, what editorial supervision actually adds to a creator-owned book, how crowdfunding changes the relationship between creators and readers, and why satire works best when it’s close enough to reality to make you a little uncomfortable.

Achille & KiPI: The Disconnected is currently on Kickstarter through November 2.

Check out my conversation with Renato Franchi as we get into indie publishing, AI, ambition, creative teamwork, crowdfunding and a bionic cat who might be the smartest character in the whole damn book.

Support the Project

Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mariomoroni/achille-and-kipi-the-disconnected

Official site:
https://www.achillekipi.com/

THE CRUSADE NEVER ENDS! WEPA!