As crowdfunding continues to serve as a viable method for creators to fund their creative endeavors, comic-related projects flourish on sites like Kickstarter, Patreon and IndieGoGo. The internet also allows creators to sell their projects direct to fans, through sites like Gumroad, Etsy and of course their own websites. If you’re looking to buy something from or support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place.
Here’s a look at a few recent projects that fall into those buckets that caught my eye. Send any suggestions of your own to jkparkin@yahoo.com.
THE HATED #1
Creators involved: David F. Walker
Platform: Kickstarter
What to know: Novelist and comics writer David F. Walker of Bitter Root, Naomi, Occupy Avengers, Nighthawk and Luke Cage fame started his own comics imprint, Solid Comix, last year. He’s already kickstarted one title, One Fall, and now he’s back with a second.
Drawn by Sean Damien Hill, colored by Mx. Struble and lettered by Becca Carey, The Hated is about an alternate history where the American Civil War ended in a truce:
It is 1872, and the war between the North and South is over. Neither side won. After years of bloody conflict, both sides entered into a truce, resulting in the formation of two nations, the Union States of America, where blacks are free, and the Confederate States of America, where blacks are still enslaved. Araminta Free is a former slave turned bounty hunter. She specializes in crossing the border into the Confederacy, and liberating slaves. She also tracks down Confederate war criminals, which has made her a woman with a price on her head in the southern nation. When a group of Confederate Raiders illegally ventures deep into the Union to kidnap free blacks and sell them into slavery, the stage is set for a deadly showdown between Araminta and the men who want her dead.
This Kickstarter campaign ends March 14.
What’s the deal? $4 gets you a digital copy of the first issue, while $8 gets you the print copy. Higher tiers offer variant covers, including one by David Mack.
PUNCH
Creators involved: Holy Crow Press, Allan Amato, Johnathan Marks Barravecchia, Clem Robins
Platform: Kickstarter
What to know: This is a project with an interesting history, as they explain on their Kickstarter page:
Five years ago, legendary comics writer Grant Morrison and I started working on an uncanny history of the once and future gods, called PUNCH. Sadly, even with the best of intentions, Grant had multiple projects in development at that time. And when HAPPY! went to FX, the heavens opened, and his already full plate was loaded up a thousand fold. That might have been the end of Punch, if not for Grant’s encouragement that I continue with the script myself, and his continued enthusiasm when I inundated his poor inbox with pages and pages of high falutin’ verbiage. Always listen to a legend when they give you advice, and then make them suffer for it! It took 4 years of writing and revision, and in 2019, I found myself with a sprawling 78 page script, and a quixotic “Now What!?” reverberating in my mushy skull.
Amato is a celebrity photographer, and he recruited several actors/models to serve as the models for the characters in the story. He’s also recruited Bill Sienkiewicz, David Mack, Jason Shawn Alexander, Jim Mahfood, Satine Phoenix, Jaw Cooper and Stephanie Inagaki for covers and pin-ups.
The campaign for this one ends March 11.
What’s the deal? $5 gets you the digital version of the 48-page graphic novel, while $12 gets you the signed “early bird’ print edition. Subsequent tiers offer prints by some of the artists listed above, original sketches and the chance to be added to the story.
Box of Bones
Creators involved: Ayize Jama-Everett, John Jennings, Bill Campbell of Rosarium Publishing
Platform: Kickstarter
What to know: Jama-Everett and Jennings team for a story described as “Tales from the Crypt Meets Black History”:
When Black graduate student, Lyndsey, begins her dissertation work on a mysterious box that pops up during the most violent and troubled time in Africana history, she has no idea that her research will lead her on a phantasmagorical journey from West Philadelphia riots to Haitian slave uprisings. Wherever Lyndsey finds someone who has seen the Box, chaos ensues. Soon, even her own sanity falls into question. In the end, Lyndsey will have to decide if she really wants to see what’s inside the Box of Bones.
The campaign ends March 11.
What’s the deal? $1 gets you the first issue as a PDF, while $10 gets you digital copy of the entire first volume. $20 gets you a paper copy. Higher tiers offer other books from Rosarium Publishing.
All Fucked Up: Erotic Tales from the Road House Expanded Universe zinE
Creators involved: Sean T. Collins, Gretchen Felker-Martin, Julia Gfrörer
Platform: Etsy
What to know: It’s been said that there’s a comic book out there for everyone; if you’ve been wishing for erotic fanfic starring the characters from the classic film Road House, this is for you. Collins — who used to blog with us back at Robot 6 — spent last year writing daily essays about Road House, so if you’re worried about continuity glitches, be assured: he knows his stuff.
What’s the deal? $5 gets you a physical copy. “It ain’t the money ya understand, but if I don’t charge ya somethin’ the Presbyterians around here are likely to pray for my ruination.”