Crowdfunding continues to serve as a viable method for creators to fund their creative endeavors, as comic-related projects flourish on sites like Kickstarter, Patreon and IndieGoGo. The internet also allows creators to sell their creations direct to fans, through sites like Gumroad, Big Cartel 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. And that’s a good thing to do, now more than ever.
Send any suggestions of your own to jkparkin@yahoo.com.
SOME STRANGE DISTURBANCES: A Cold Winter’s Eve
Creators involved: Craig Hurd-McKenney + more
Platform: Kickstarter
Deadline: Oct. 1
What to know: Hurd-McKenney has done two previous Kickstarters for two volumes of Some Strange Disturbances with artists Gervasio and Carlos Aon. They are available on his Headless Shakespeare Press website (here and here). This is a bit of a departure from those, as it’s an anthology of “Christmas ghost stories” in the “Victorian tradition.” It’ll feature a framing sequence by Peter Gross and Vincent Locke, who worked together previously on The Unwritten, with other stories drawn by Michael Conrad (Doom Patrol), Lauren Franklin (Sweat Like Dogs), G Romero Johnson (Crush), Keni Thomas and Kam White, with a cover by Tyler Smith Owings.
“We need to hear different stories now more than ever, with artists allowed to explore their creative practice in the ways they see fit to do so,” said Craig Hurd-McKenney. “A Cold Winter’s Eve features work by a diverse group of BIPOC, queer, and journeyman ally talent. I love the idea of mixing upcoming voices with established industry veterans like Peter and Vince. It makes for a really special book, and allows for the reader to get to know the work of some really talented folks they may not have encountered before.”
What’s the deal? $5 gets you a PDF of the new book, while $15 gets you a print copy and a PDF. Other tiers include Headless Shakespeare Press donations to LGBTQ libraries and resource centers of your choice, paper dolls, a tote, and more.
GHOST BAND
Creators involved: Jason McNamara + Anke Gladnick
Platform: Kickstarter
Deadline: Sept. 18
What to know: McNamara has kickstarted a number of projects over the years for various horror comics and graphic novels. This one is an end-of-the-world tale, about the survivors of a technological plague who decide to go out in style — by forming a rock band and making music before the world ends.
Ghost Band is a blistering meditation on our self-indulgent tech obsession wrapped in a coming-of-age adventure tale. Silicon Valley meets The Day After.
McNamara and Gladnick plan to release it as a four-issue, digital miniseries, followed by a print collection.
What’s the deal? $4 will get you the digital first issue, while $10 gets you a subscription to all four issues. To get a copy of the collection in print will cost you $27, but it includes the digital subscription as well. Other tiers offer alternate covers, lithographs and more.
Insider Art
Creators involved: Shelly Bond + many more
Platform: Kickstarter/Gumroad
Deadline: Sept. 11
What to know: I posted about this one before — editor Shelly Bond and retailer Jen King set up Insider Art to raise money for comic book stores owned, operated, and staffed by women and people of marginalized genders who were struggling during the COVID crisis. This anthology is one of their planned fundraisers. A digital version has been available on Gumroad for a while now, but this campaign is to raise money for a print version.
Creators featured in the anthology include Becky Cloonan, Aimee Garcia, AJ Mendez, Chynna Clugston Flores, Jill Thompson, Jody Houser, Lilah Sturges, Paige Braddock, Tess Fowler, Tini Howard, Tintin Pantoja, Trina Robbins, Tula Lotay, Vita Ayala and many more.
What’s the deal? $20 will get you a print copy of the anthology.
LAAB: An Art Newspaper Powered by the Radical Imagination
Creators involved: Ronald Wimberly + Beehive Books
Platform: Kickstarter
Deadline: Sept. 10
What to know: Wimberly returns to Kickstarter for another edition of LAAB, a “broadsheet magazine full of art, comics, criticism, interviews.” Wimberly crowdfunded the first one back in 2018, followed by a second one last year.
This time around, contributors include Michael DeForge, Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Paul Pope, Mikkel Sommer, Virginia Zamora, Connor Willumsen, Olivia Fields and more.
LAAB MAGAZINE is a big 48 page 17×22″ broadsheet newspaper printed on bright white heavy 50# paper stock. It’s a high end art newspaper with top production values and gorgeously printed images. It’s edited by Ronald Wimberly and Josh O’Neill, with layout by the stellar new design team of Chloe Scheffe and Natalie Shields.
What’s the deal? $7 gets you a digital copy, while $15 gets you digital copies of all three issues. A print copy is $20. For every two copies sold via this campaign, they plan to donate one additional copy to a library, public school, prison or streetcorner free-newspaper box where it will be accessible at no cost.
Skin Horse Volumes 9 and 10
Creators involved: Shaenon Garrity and Jeffrey C. Wells
Platform: Kickstarter
Deadline: Sept. 30
What to know: Garrity and Wells have been creating the webcomic Skin Horse since 2008, and, as you might have guessed from the title above, have collected it in eight previous volumes. This Kickstarter is for the next two collections. Our own Tom Bondurant wrote about the strip not too long ago, which has a cool premise:
Project Skin Horse, the government agency devoted to aiding America’s nonhuman citizens, can no longer trust the government. Its missions, from helping a neglected sea monster to evacuating zombies from a hurricane, are harder than ever. Only one solution remains: become a rogue social services agency, roaming the nation to provide unchecked assistance!
What’s the deal? $10 will get you PDF copies of both volumes, while $40 will get you print copies. Other tiers offer previous volumes, sketches and even the chance to ask one character from the strip five questions, which they have to answer truthfully.