Here at Comic Booked we are all about supporting small press publishers. This is why we created the Kickstarter Round Up. Kickstarter is a great way for small publishers to fund their dreams. Great comics that are created with your contributions. This is an awesome way for people to get really amazing bonuses for contributing, as well, special editions, unique art, and all sorts of collectibles. Check out this list of Kickstarters that you should consider supporting.
The Last West: With only 5 days left to go, you should definitely take a look at The Last West. Set in a world where the atomic bomb did not facilitate the ending of World War II, The Last West tells the story of a world that has stagnated for the last 60 years with no technological advancements. Stephen West seems to be the key to restarting the world. Evan Young and Lou Lovino of Locust Moon Productions located in Philadelphia, PA, had a lot of success with their last Kickstarter campaign which provided the funding to get Volume One of The Last West into comic book stores and in electronic format. Now, they are returning to Kickstarter to fund the rest of this interesting tale. There are some really cool bonuses for being a contributor and the coolest thing is that they have already met their goal, so if you contribute now you will be guaranteed all the cool stuff. Check them out here and you can get a copy of Volume One here.
Staccato – I met Gerard Gareau at Wizard World Philly, and we talked a little about this project. Staccato is planned as a three issue story arc, but he is only trying to get funding for this first issue to get things off the ground. This story sounds like a cool sci-fi concept. In the world of this future, everything is perfect thanks to MemKey technology, a tech that allows people to adjust their memories as they see fit, filtering out the bad and enhancing or adding in the good. Resa and Vitya are freelancers, basically people who do “odd jobs” for others for a price. This time, the job was to steal a MemKey and now someone wants them dead. This Kickstarter has 11 days left, so please go check it out and support this cool project. Click over to the the Staccato Kickstarter page here.
Fiction Squad – Paul Jenkins introduced readers to the fairy tale world of Fablewood in Fairy Quest. Now, in an all new Kickstarter, Paul brings you a new chapter in this tale. The new comic, Fiction Squad, focuses on Frankie Mack, a gumshoe detective from the Realm of Crime Fiction who never really lived up to his calling. Now, after years of failure, Frankie makes the leap into a new genre, the Realm of Children’s Stories, where he finds a crime scene in every nursery rhyme. I must admit the concept seems pretty cool. I really like the artwork on this one. The goal of this Kickstarter is to create a six-issue series based on Frankie and set in the Fablewood universe. The coolest thing is that for just a $25 pledge, you can get every issue of this series, if the project is funded. Up your pledge to $45 to get a sweet hardcover exclusive edition. With 19 days to go, you need to check out the Kickstarter for Fiction Squad here.
Where is Home? – This comics anthology is from a Toronto based group pulling together graduates from Sheridan. Fifteen different artists came together to create an anthology based on a single theme, the concept of home. The art is varied and beautiful. This is something that any fan of comics or art or both should check out. They only have 3 days left to meet their goal and they are so close. Please be sure to click through to their Kickstarter and check out the sample art and awesome bonuses for pledging. They are also going to donate copies of this anthology to libraries. A great project, so check out their Kickstarter.
Dystopica – Another interesting anthology project is Dystopica, a comic book with a soundtrack. I know there are many people who feel that comics and music go hand in hand, so here is a project for you. The soundtrack is something you will only be able to get by supporting their Kickstarter. They have 14 days left and need less than $100 to complete the funding. Jump onto this one now for a unique view into several dystopian worlds. Adam Miller does all the work on this book, and the art is really something. Great quality and interesting looking stories, plus the soundtrack idea is pretty cool. Here is another one that you should at least click over to and check out. They have some great sample pages to review and you can listen to samples of the soundtrack.
Pole Dancing Adventures, The Book – This is one of those books that I might not have normally looked at, a collection of strips that are focused on a sport, job, or event, that may seem more like a how-to comic than anything else. However, after looking over this Kickstarter, Leen Isabel, the writer and artist, definitely piqued my interest. This project is really the collection of 2 years worth of her weekly strips. Leen has been a student of pole dancing for four years and what she has put together is a collection of humorous, helpful, and insightful comics about what it takes, both in athleticism and self confidence, to be a pole dancer. This is really to illustrate the health and fitness aspect of pole dancing, as opposed to focusing on the more risque aspect of something that you take a wad of dollar bills with you to watch. the art is simple, but gets the ideas across, and the bonuses on the campaign are pretty good. She has 22 days left to fund this project and is almost halfway to her goal already with some stretch goals laid out in the project. Click here to see the Kickstarter project for Pole Dancing Adventures.
Some really cool projects. The greatest thing about the idea of crowdsourcing for comics is that people get to present their ideas and put them out there to see if there is really any interest in the comics as a product. At Comic Booked we want to support every small press publisher and we try to get reviews or at least summaries up so that our fans can read about them and make their own choices. I hope there is something of interest for you here. If you are a small press creator, feel free to email us with your comics (admin@comicbooked.com) or just comment on this article and we will get in touch with you.
very cool!