To Support: A bunch of stuff on the new crowdfunding site Crowdfundr
Crowdfundr is a brand-new crowdfunding site that just launched recently and is already hosting several comics and comics-related crowdfunding campaigns. It can be used for other things, of course, like music and film, but who cares about that stuff — there’s comics to be had! Comics!
“Our goal is for Crowdfundr to be the most creator-friendly crowdfunding platform,” said ConnectionPoint President David Barach. “That’s why we offer it for free and include other creator friendly features like being able to roll a campaign over into a store and include more reward choices for supporters. We also have special features for indie publishers and studios to collaborate with their creators and run concurrent campaigns. I think creators are going to be pleasantly surprised at the ways we support them, now and with future enhancements, toward sustainable and continuous crowdfunding for their work.”
I thought I’d dedicate this edition of Three Things to highlighting some of the cool stuff that’s up on the new site now:
1. Black Phoenix is a comic magazine by Rich Tommaso, creator of Spy Seal and Clover Honey, among many other projects. Back in 2020 he started posting this one-person anthology on his Patreon, and now Floating World Comics is using Crowdfundr to fund a collection.
Don’t be fooled by the pseudonyms seen inside–he changes names as often as drawing styles. But, the magazine is also like a journey through comics history itself. Each volume focuses on a particular cartoonist or publishing house style from The Golden Age of Comics.
This collection of Black Phoenix features Tommaso’s take on the classic 1950s genre stories of EC Comics, the 1940s romance comics of Archie, the late 1930s pulp adventure strips of Detective Comics and Marvel Mystery Comics–and even the Franco-Belgian comics explosion sparked by Tintin.
You can read more about the project, check out some art and of course back the project on Crowdfundr.
2. Backstory is a one-shot comic by Ryan K Lindsay, Jen Vaughn and Teo Acosta about “a group of teens who get one wild night with a purloined superhero ring of great power.” Imagine your 16-year-old self with access to Green Lantern’s power ring. That would be something, right?
Lindsay is no stranger to one-shot comics, many of which he’s crowdfunded in the past; it’s a creative process he’s perfected, so this one is definitely worth checking out.
3. Finally, there’s System Error. Now, in the case of the two projects above, I’m familiar with the creators involved and have read their stuff before, so their names jumped out at me. I was not familiar with Phil Chapman, the creator of System Error, but you know what else jumps out at me? Tiny cute robots! I mean, look at this guy:
His name is ITTO and he’s “a tourism robot turned relic, on his quest through a deserted British landscape to fulfill his primary function: to help people.” His quest is also to find a functioning power source in this new world where he’s been reactivated. I mean, don’t you want to see him succeed? Of course you do; you’re not a monster.
Publisher Blue Fox Comics has a site set up dedicated to the comic, and of course you can find more info on the Crowdfundr site. They’re offering both physical and digital copies of System Error, and you can also grab a bundle of Blue Fox’s other comics.