Welcome to Crowdpuncher, where we round up cool comics crowdfunding campaigns. If you’re looking to buy from or support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place.
Trevor Fernandes-Lenkiewicz and Ryan Best are wrapping up the first arc of their superhero drama Rise with a fifth and final issue clocking in at 52 pages.
The series, published by Pocket Watch Press, follows Jonathan Prufrock, a man whose superpowers scale directly with his dopamine levels, so his ability to save the world depends entirely on his capacity to feel good about himself. It’s a premise that lets the book dig into masculinity, ego and the performance of heroism across five issues totaling more than 210 pages.
What’s the deal?
A digital copy of issue #5 is $7, while a physical copy is $15. A digital catch-up bundle of all five issues runs $30, and a physical connecting-cover bundle of all five issues is $65. The Pocket Watch Press digital library tier at $45 adds the publisher’s other titles for a total of 450 pages of content.
Creators: Trevor Fernandes-Lenkiewicz (writer), Ryan Best (artist/colorist), Matías Zanetti (letterer)
Platform: Kickstarter
Deadline + Goal: The campaign has raised more than $7,500 of its $8,000 goal with a deadline of Aug. 6.
Visit Kickstarter for more information or to make a pledge.
Another Realm: A Collection of Comics by Kristyna Baczynski
Avery Hill Publishing, the London indie house behind multiple Eisner and Ignatz Award-winning books, is collecting the majority of Kristyna Baczynski’s comics and zine work, including her graphic novel Retrograde Orbit and self-published series like My New Hobby, Vessel, A Measure of Space, and Vantage, in a single 256-page softcover edition.
Baczynski is an acclaimed cartoonists in the UK small-press scene, and much of this work has been difficult to find outside of comics fairs and limited print runs. For readers unfamiliar with her work, Retrograde Orbit is a quiet, beautifully drawn science fiction story about immigration and belonging. This is a wonderful opportunity to get it and most of her other work in one place.
What’s the deal?
A digital PDF is £12, or about $17. A physical copy with stickers is £20, or about $27. Other tiers off an original sketch by Baczynski or a Riso print.
Creators: Kristyna Baczynski
Platform: Kickstarter
Deadline + Goal: The campaign has already surpassed its goal. Deadline is July 24.
Visit Kickstarter for more information or to make a pledge.
Almost Real: A Speculative Biology Zine Vol. 6 & Book 1
Since 2017, editors Jay Eaton and Hovannes Mardikian have been publishing Almost Real, an anthology in which artists and writers create fictional creatures and ecosystems using the visual language of science textbooks and nature encyclopedias. Think Zoobooks meets speculative evolution meets comics anthology.
Volume 6 focuses on pop culture-inspired creatures, with 12 new entries imagining pocket-monster-like critters, mollusk mimics and alien social behaviors. Running alongside it is Book 1, a 300-plus-page hardcover remastering of all five previous volumes with new creator commentary and five new entries by Eaton on each volume’s cover creatures. It’s a genuinely unusual artifact, and the art across the series is remarkable.
What’s the deal?
A digital PDF of volume 6 is $10; the softcover is $20. Book 1 is $35 digital or $70 in hardcover. Both books together, plus posters, is $90, and the full bundle with enamel pin, shaker charm and all extras is $120.
Creators: Editors Jay Eaton and Hovannes Mardikian; contributors include Der-shing Helmer, Liz Prince, Blue Delliquanti, Kory Bing, Bree Paulsen and dozens more
Platform: Kickstarter
Deadline + Goal: The campaign has raised more than $31,000 toward a $40,000 goal. Deadline is Aug. 5.
Visit Kickstarter for more information or to make a pledge.
Maurice & The Metal #5
Brisbane-based creator Aaron Sammut and artist Lauren Marshall, whose credits include TMNT, Power Rangers: Prime and The Phantom, are funding the fifth issue of their coming-of-age heavy metal comic. The series follows Maurice, a teenager whose powers are tied to the intensity of metal music through a Walkman possessed by a Black Sabbath roadie.
Issue #5 pits him against a mysterious band called The Vamplifiers, whose hypnotic sound is spreading a wave of conformity through Bay Area kids. The series has a clear hook and a strong visual collaborator in Marshall, whose mural-scale energy translates well to the page.
What’s the deal?
A digital copy of issue #5 is AU$5, or about $4; a print copy is AU$10, or about $7. A digital catch-up bundle of all five issues is AU$20, or about $14, while all five issues in print is AU$45 or around $32. Other tiers stickers, pins, variant covers and more.
Creators: Aaron Sammut + Lauren Marshall
Platform: Kickstarter
Deadline + Goal: The campaign has raised a little over $1,000 toward a $1,732 goal with a deadline of Aug. 16.
Visit Kickstarter for more information or to make a pledge.
Till Death
Writers Michael Schwartz and Rachael Schaefer and artist Gaia Cardinali team up for a 192-page romantic horror-comedy graphic novel from Clover Press about a restless ghost from the 1960s who enlists a grieving man to carry her bones across the country so she can reunite with her late husband. The campaign pitches it as part The Frighteners, part Harold and Maude.
The book features a cover by Tula Lotay, lettering by Ferran Delgado and a bonus art gallery from contributors including Matthew Therrien, Fell Hound,and Francesco Tomaselli.
What’s the deal?
A digital PDF is $15. A standard hardcover with digital is $30. Other tiers offer creator cards, signed versions, mini-prints and more.
Creators: Michael Schwartz and Rachael Schaefer, Gaia Cardinali, Tula Lotay
Platform: Kickstarter
Deadline + Goal: The campaign has met its $5,000 goal. It ends July 30.