The Kickstarter video for Apama explains the origin of our favorite new super hero story.

Hero Tomorrow was a film project screened at New York Comic Con in 2009. Since then, the animalistic hero did a backflip into the pages of comic books themselves.

A successful Kickstarter, ComiXology Submit issues and a Cleveland origin story that rivals Segel and Shuster combined with amazing feedback for the overall project bring this hardcover collected edition to the masses.

The creative team of co-writers Milo Miller and Ted Sikoro and artist Benito Gallego have an awesome independently funded and fun Bronze Age style tale on their hands.

Comparisons can be made from Animal Man and Concrete to Iron Fist and Ka-Zar with Apama: The Undiscovered Animal Vol. 1.

Apama is set against the backdrop of modern day Cleveland, Ohio where our soon-to-be hero Ilyia the ice cream truck driver is having typical malaise. He’ll never get the girl, his parents are dogging him about doing something with his life and his boss makes the joyful act of selling ice cream somehow miserable.

One day while hiking in the woods, Ilyia chases a Native American ghost, trips and falls and has the strangest dream about animals facing off against each other.

In the end, an animal called Apama, an ancient, unfamiliar and mysteriously powerful beast with unique markings.

When Ilyia awakens, he finds his way to a cave adorned with paintings and a shrunken corpse. Perhaps the power of Apama comes from this place.

He takes an ancient scroll and some cave clothes home and mediates on his dream and new discoveries to find the answers.

The supernatural cave origin is both new and familiar, referencing Captain Marvel or Concrete.

After nearly a hundred days of investigating and meditating on his scroll, he throws on the clothes and BLAMMO — Ilyia has the power of Apama flowing through his veins.

 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]