Hey, it’s Kevin, here to update you on launches in the Kickstarter Comics category between Friday, January 23rd and Sunday, January 25th. I know I’ve been away for a couple weeks. I’ve been slacking, dealing with some, well, let’s just say seasonal related sinus and respiratory things, but I’m pretty much over all that.
I took a little vacation that was much needed. Got down into what I thought would be warmer climates in Florida, but it was actually colder than it was at home while we were there in Orlando. We had a good time though, and I look forward to going back sometime in the near future, but it was nice to take a break. Gonna try to come back here in 2026 refreshed and stay on track a little more, stay on time with updates a little more. It’s been a little spottier, and the reason for that is that I’m working harder to make my own comics, which is the entire reason I’m dealing with comics on Kickstarter in the first place. I do make my own comics.
I have a Kickstarter right now that ends TODAY at 8 p.m. Central, so I hope you take a look at Darkwoven.
So, you can consider this Comics Crowd episode to be sponsored by my new comic Darkwoven, which I really do hope you’ll support and help me keep the Comics Crowd going. I’m here not just because I’m interested in crowdfunding, but because I’m a participant in crowdfunding, so please keep that in mind and do help me by subscribing to this channel on Substack.
Project Volume is Up
It looks like things are starting to ramp up again as of today, as of the recording of this on January 26th. The comics category is back up to 195 projects. It was down in the 110’s here right at the end of December, first of January. We’re seeing that annual rise in projects. By the end of January, and by March, you’ll be back probably in the high 200’s, low 300’s in terms of project volume.
That’s a lot. It’s been nice to not have quite as much to cover, but I’m sure with Tuesday being today, it’s always the heaviest launch day of the week. We’re going to see a surge over 200 would be my guess, and that’s great.
Hopefully, we’ll get a greater proportion of really good comics in that mix. There were some pretty interesting ones over the weekend between Friday and Sunday. I picked out three that I’ll go over here shortly with you and show you some of the art, talk about some of the particulars of those projects.
And So Are Empty Projects
There was the usual mix of empty projects. Those are projects that I refer to as empty because they are missing essential elements of what it takes to make a comic. They’re missing either cover art, sequential art, or story synopsis, or multiple of those.
I saw a couple released over the weekend that had none of those, that were just blocks of text for lack of a better word. There’s a cover image and blocks of text that just got auto-approved by Kickstarter. I know they’re being auto-approved because for the first time in years, my last two projects that I submitted to Kickstarter were auto-approved, which honestly shocked me. At this point, it’s probably been 10 or 12 years since I had auto-approval for one of my projects, despite having a squeaky clean 100% fulfillment record.
Amanda and I pride ourselves on fulfilling our campaigns within four to six weeks at the end of the campaign. We hit that goal almost every time unless there’s an issue with the printer, because we do not go to Kickstarter. We do not prepare a campaign to go to Kickstarter unless our book is finished or within a page or two of being finished before we even launch. That’s how we handle our business. Right now, I’m finishing up Darkwoven, and I have a couple pages to letter, but all the final art is in. The covers are done. It ends tomorrow night, and I will place an order with our printer on Wednesday morning. So, we want to make sure that’s done.
Now, in all of our campaigns, and I would say a majority of the campaigns on Kickstarter, there is evidence enough to consider that a comic will actually be made at the end of the whole process of crowdfunding and pre-press and creation and production and so forth. But some of these projects don’t have that guarantee, because there’s not proof. There’s either not a cover, or there’s not sequential artwork, which is what defines a comic book, or there’s not a story synopsis. And if you don’t have all of those three things, in my opinion, your project is not trustworthy enough for me to feel certain that there’s going to be a comic at the end of the road here.
100 FAQ On Making Comics
I do want to point out one interesting project that’s not technically a comic, but is worth your time. It is called 100 FAQ on Making Comics: Know the Basics, Avoid the Blunders. This is a how-to guide on entering the comic world as a creator from Shelley Bond, who is, of course, a legendary editor who worked for multiple decades, or most of two decades, at Vertigo for DC Comics, which of course is where Sandman from Neil Gaiman and The Invisibles and Doom Patrol and other works from Grant Morrison were produced, and she worked on some of those. And there’s just a wealth of knowledge there for something that’s not a comic.
I don’t usually make recommendations about non-comic campaigns that end up in the comics category. Although this one does belong there, it’s still not a story. Most of my recommendations are going to be, or all of my recommendations are going to be for comics that actually involve stories. But this deserves your attention if you’re interested in being a comic creator on a different level, if you’re interested in getting into the mainstream world of publication distribution.
Those are deep waters, shark-infested waters these days. Distribution is a hot mess, as people say. It’s unpredictable. It’s changing underfoot as we speak. I’m not going there right now, but if you decide to do that, this might be a good resource for doing that, and I do recommend that you check it out. I’ll go over some details of it in just a few.
The Comic$ Crowd in 3D
But that kind of sets the stage for where we’re at right now. I’m going to try to do more of these videos. I feel like I’ve gotten behind on The Comic$ Crowd for a number of reasons, being busy making my own books. I’ve tried to up my production in terms of being a writer, in terms of being a designer of comics, and you’ll see more content from me this year than you have before. I’m going to try the video route, and you’ll still see the same information from me. But with Substack TV launching, I thought it’d be a good time to make the switch, and there will still be the text version of The Comic$ Crowd, but we’re also going to have this video version release at the same time. So, you’ll have the option of reading, or watching, and even listening, because I’ll be also using this same audio feed as a podcast.
So, lots of options. I hope you’ll stick with me, support me by either subscribing to the Substack, or supporting my comics work on Kickstarter, so that I can keep doing this. I enjoy doing it.
I enjoy being a resource. I enjoy knowing the landscape of Kickstarter in a different way, because I’ve spent these days over the past year and a half browsing through, pouring over all of these Kickstarter projects, every one that launches every day. Even if I’m not posting, I’m still seeing what’s there, and I do bring that information to my post later on.
New Kickstarter Comics Lead Incoming
I apologize for being away for a couple of weeks, but we’re back on track. I’m going to get this format worked out, so that there will be multiple options for you to consume this information, for you to be privy to what’s going on in the Kickstarter comics category. And we’ll talk more about that, because there has been a major change, a major shake-up, with the Kickstarter Comics lead leaving the company right after the strike that went on here just a month or two ago.
So, they’re going to have to find a replacement for Sam Kusek, as he went back into the publishing world, and I’m wish him the best of luck there. But there’s going to be a shake-up, and we’ll talk more, possibly in the next post, about what that means for the category, and how that may impact some of the concerns that I have voiced, and that a lot of you have agreed with over the past year or two in the Kickstarter comics category. Hopefully we’ll see some changes and progress in making things better.
So. with no further ado, let’s talk about comics I like, and get some recommendations in your hands.
Comics I Like
Witchmaze
Starting with Witchmaze. It’s described as a 144-page graphic novel.
“The Wizard of Witchmaze does battle with the mysterious Starling Queen. Nothing is what it seems.“
Looking for $2,732 in funding. This is a project from the UK. 64 backers so far, and it’s already surpassed its funding goal in just a couple of days, at $3,231 US. This is coming from Simon Jacob. It’s his first creative project for Kickstarter. Some nice thumbnails, kind of stylized art, little story synopsis. Actually pretty detailed.
“When the island realm is threatened with invasion by the advancing hordes of the mysterious Starling Queen, the High King is obliged to seek the help of the reluctant Wizard of Witch Maze and the magical horses he’s able to summon.” So Mr. Jacob is doing a dual role of art and writing, so that’s pretty cool. Lots of talent there.
And one thing I noticed looking at this project is there’s not any real useful sequential art samples, but what’s there is good enough to make a recommendation. I think here’s one small thumbnail of some black and white sequential pages. A photo of those, not scans, but really detailed art.
Some really nice panel arrangements. Looks good to me. The covers are equally small, hard to make out even on a large screen like I’m looking at, but there’s enough there in the composition and the style that I really like, enough to recommend.
Looking at the basic rewards, digital edition of the 144-page graphic novel is $11 US. A print edition, shipping from the UK is $22 plus shipping, which is going to be hefty because overseas shipping is crazy right now.
Solar The Sovereign #1
And then we have Solar of the Sovereign number 1 from Konkret Comics. Not the first time I’ve recommended something from these guys at Konkret.
“A man on fire must find a way to uncover a major plot to destroy the world as we knew it.”
$1,200 funding goal for Solar of the Sovereign. They’ve already just about tripled that at $3,287 with 79 backers just a few days in. That’s good news for them. Congratulations.
“A powerful new hero entering the concrete universe, a cosmic force driven by responsibility, justice, and raw energy.” Sounds cool.
And one thing I can say about the Konkret Comics guys is that they know how to make a superhero cover. These are spectacular covers, awesome composition, beautiful use of light and color, lots of sequential images where you can see that these guys know how to make a comic. They are lettered nicely. The story flows panel to panel. Angles change, perspectives change, just really great looking work and nice story summaries.
Let’s look at rewards. $15 for one cover and it looks like we don’t have a digital option. No, you do, but it comes with a t-shirt. That’s too bad.
Let’s see if there’s a page count. And no, no page count.
The Chef: A Fairy-Tale of Culinary Proportions
And lastly, we have The Chef, a fairy tale of culinary proportions.
A coming-of-age graphic novel set in Singapore’s culinary world with a goal of $8,678. It’s struggling a little bit on the jump here at $1,074 raised with just 22 backers, but this is a cool looking project from Dennis Chong, which is his first effort for a Kickstarter comic. But really interesting, character-driven, expressive artwork as you can see from the cover here.
Just really interesting artwork, interesting layouts, interesting use of panels and panel shapes. The sequentials and the understanding of how to make sequential art is clear here. Lettering is nice and a little unique to itself, but easy to read. Not clunky, doesn’t distract from the art, but look at some of the breakout panels and the faces. Really nice to look at. Stands out from a lot of the other work.
It’s a 126-page graphic novel,with 24 pages of behind-the-scenes information. So, nice big graphic novel.
Let’s look at the rewards. Print copy is going to run you 27 bucks American. Looks like this is from Singapore, so if you’re getting that, you’re going to pay quite a bit of shipping, but worth it. Does not look like there’s a digital option for this book, which is a shame. You’re going to pay through the nose to get this thing here, and it may be worth it.
It looks like a great project. I’m not going to not recommend it just because of where the creator is, but I would suggest getting a digital reward out there, especially when you’re shipping from overseas, especially in the modern situation where shipping internationally is so crazy expensive. It looks like a worthy project, and I suggest you take a look.
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