With the Kickstarter campaign for their third comic book on the horizon, the creative team behind Cognition have released their prequel anthology Cognition #0 for free. Usually £3.50 on the Cognition BigCartel page, the comic includes three short stories that introduce the steampunk horror world of the automaton hero.

The brainchild of writers and artists Ken Reynolds and Sam Bentley, the Cognition series brings together historical fantasy, sci-fi and horror. The dark adventure is told through the eyes of a haunted steam-powered robot who braves every danger accompanied only by his possessed mouse buddy. Together, they face ghosts, ghouls and the grim underbelly of the industrial revolution.

On the BigCartel page, the comic is described as:

“… a 34 page, black & white, single issue comic that follows the exploits of a steam-powered automaton inhabited by a human spirit called Cal and a demonically possessed mouse named Sigma. They battle spirits, monsters and folkloric nasties for the British Occult Secret Service (BOSS) during the ‘Golden Age’ of the Victorian era.”

This May, the series dives into its third full story, with the Kickstarter that will fund the project due to launch on the 2nd.

Ahead of the campaign, it was announced on the Cognition Facebook page that the prequel issue will be available to download completely free. You can get your copy here.

As well as being a reward for loyal fans who haven’t had a chance to brush up on the back story so far, this giveaway offers new readers a chance to get acquainted with the world of Cognition before spending so much as a penny.

Every comic so far is available to purchase on the Cognition BigCartel store, both individually and as a bundle. The next instalment will be available to book once the Kickstarter goes live at the beginning of May.

In the meantime, you can follow the Cognition team on Facebook and Twitter.

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