Here's a page from Danny Boyd's in-progress graphic novel "Carbon," illustrated by a South American studio, which tells an epic tale of an alternative reality around the coal inside the Appalachian Mountains. Image courtesy of Danny Boyd.

Danny Boyd says he hopes his graphic novel "Carbon" will be an entertaining means of furthering "a conversation" over the fate of the Earth. Photo courtesy of Danny Boyd.

Boyd is using a crowd-funding website to help complete "Carbon," but separately funded another graphic novel due out in 2012, inspired by his award-winning 1987 film "Chillers." Image courtesy of Danny Boyd.