“A Call To Arms” #1 – Cover and Credits

Written by: Ben Lichius and Adam Cogan
Art by: Francesco Francavilla
Cover: Pencils/Inks by: Francesco Francavilla, Colors by: Euan Mactavish
Synopsis:
New York, 1775 – In a desperate move to regain control of the American colonies, the British have allied themselves with the dark forces of the occult. The fledgling nation’s only hope is the masked spy known as “The Black Coat!”
Originally Published: April, 2006
 

 

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“To Die But Once” #2 Kickstarter is LIVE!

Posted on January 7, 2026 by ben

The Kickstarter campaign for the next issue of the new Black Coat series “To Die But Once” is now LIVE! Issue 2 is once again written by Ben Lichius, with art by Dean Kotz and colors by Juan Guitierez.

About the book: Tensions are running high and both Ursula and The Black Coat have some very hard choices to make. New York City is now under British occupation and, to a relatively weak underground resistance, the most obvious way to strike back is… to burn the city! But should they raze the city even though it will endanger their loyalist friends and neighbors? Forced to choose between family and politics… they turn to Ursula, leader of the Knights of Liberty, for an answer.
But Ursula is not unaffected by what’s happening. Betrayed by her husband, on the run from the British, hounded by the mysterious forces of the League, outnumbered, and outgunned… will she make the right call? How would you react? 

You can check it out at the link below. Help us bring the next book to life and get some cool swag along the way. We’re offering rewards like posters, prints, sticker sets, and variant covers as well as opportunities to add your own Easter egg or even be in the book yourself.

The campaign wraps up at the end up January. DON’T MISS OUT!

BACK THE BOOK!

That’s a Wrap on TDBO #1! Get Ready for TDBO #2!

Posted on July 9, 2025 by ben

The Black Coat: To Die But Once #2

Now that the campaign for “To Die But Once” #1 was successful and has been completed, it’s time to talk about TDBO #2! On that front, we have good news, some “just news,” and then more good news. The good news is that the scripts are written and the team is in place. Dean is set to pencil and ink and Juan is on board for colors. That’s half the battle. So we’re excited to announce that we will be doing a campaign for issue 2 as soon as possible. 

The “just news” part is that, for several reasons, including tax stuff and conflicting schedules and what-not, “as soon as possible” won’t be until Jan. 2026. We don’t mean to disappoint anyone and we hate to continue begging your patience, but that’s the nature of this self-publishing world we’re living in. We’d love to do it right away, but y’know… life and stuff. That said, January will be here before we know it.

The more good news part is that, so you don’t lose track of us between now and then, you can go to the campaign pre-launch page RIGHT NOW and sign up to get notified the minute it goes live! Go ahead. Click the link and sign up. We’ll wait…

www.the-black-coat.com/kickstarter2026

Did you sign up? Great! It’s going to be a banger of an issue full of sword fights, betrayals, and dire consequences for Ursula and the Knights of Liberty as they wrestle with the question: “How far are you willing to go to fight for freedom?”

In addition to a great book, we’re planning a number of upgrades for the campaign that will incorporate some of the feedback we got regarding what kind of rewards to offer and how you can participate in the creation of the book. We can’t wait. It’s going to be an exciting ride!

Once again, THANK YOU for supporting the Black Coat! And be sure to visit www.the-black-coat.com/kickstarter2026 to sign up for notifications regarding the new campaign. 

Don’t miss out!!

New BC Kickstarter Coming in August!

Posted on July 31, 2024 by ben

A Kickstarter campaign aimed at developing and publishing a new Black Coat series will launch this August. If successful, the new series, entitled “To Die But Once,” will be written by Ben Lichius and illustrated by Dean Kotz. Both creators are excited to return to the book and continue telling Black Coat stories. “It’s been 10 years since the last Black Coat book was published,” says Lichius. “That’s too long.”

That previous book, “The Blackest Dye,” was a 66-page original graphic novel and was published after a 2013 Kickstarter raised over $17,000. This new book is intended to be the first issue in a 3-part series. According to Lichius, “We’re going to do what we can to reach out to our fans and hopefully create some new ones. But it’s been long enough that one of the goals with this Kickstarter is to see if there’s still a market for the Black Coat out there. If we can raise enough funds to continue publishing Black Coat stories incrementally through the Kickstarter platform, we plan to do that.”

The campaign will offer plenty of rewards including exclusive extras and, in a Black Coat first, 3 variant covers.

The campaign plans to launch on August 12th and run for 30 days. The landing page can be found by going to: www.the-black-coat.com/kickstarter2024. Check back here for updates!

The Black Coat Returns… to the Web!!

Posted on August 3, 2020 by ben

BIG NEWS!!! Yes, it’s been too long but The Black Coat is making a comeback! In one week, we’ll begin publishing the entire Black Coat catalog online as a webcomic. Read it again. Read it for the first time. SHARE it with friends! Issue 1 starts in 7 days!