ComicsBeat
June 28th, 2020
Welcome to The Beat’s crowdfunding round-up: a collection of some of our favorite campaigns from the week including one-shots, on-goings, anthologies and everything in-between! This week, we’re checking out the kung fu adventure, The Adept, a kids’ book featuring a non-binary main character, A More Graceful Shaboom, and more.
Let’s get started!
The Adept
Creators: Tasha Huo (writer), Charlie Stickney (writer), Yishan Li (artist), Gabriela Downie (letterer) Gene Ching (Action Choreographer), Conor Hughes (Action Layouts)
Goal: $10,000
End date: July 15, 2020
Goodies: A digital copy runs $5, physical editions are $17, while higher tiers include pins, variants, and unique swag.
A young woman with a broken past. The Shaolin Master that visits her dreams. A modern story of transformation and kung fu.
The Adept is the brainchild of Immortal Studios CEO & Founder, Peter Shiao, and adapted by Huo, Stickney, Li, and Downie, with Ching providing his knowledge of Kung Fu, and Hughes adding layout assistance. Over 42 pages, this first issue in what’s planned to be a limited series will introduce Amy, a young Chinese-American who’s lost her purpose and decides to come home – but is quickly swept into a Kung Fu story of the ages when she witnesses a kidnapping and is called to action. It’s an enticing story I can’t do justice – but fourteen preview pages of Li’s art will. Check those out on The Adept official campaign page.
2. A More Graceful Shaboom
Creators: Jacinta Bunnell (writer), Crystal Vielula (artist)
Goal: $12,000
End date: July 2, 2020
Goodies: $12 is the minimum for a digital edition, $20
gets you a physical copy, and higher tiers will add creator signatures,
small found objects, and more.
A charming adventure story about a non-binary kid’s escapades after discovering a magical purse.
As noted on the campaign page, A More Graceful Shaboom is among the first children’s books to feature a non-binary protagonist. That child, Harmon Jitney, spends this story discovering the wonders of owning and using a purse, while spending time with their two moms, and learning about community. Rather than focus on the trauma, Bunnell and Vielula want to make a picture book that normalizes queerness for children.
3. Gutterspawn
Creators: Beth Grieveson (writer/illustrator)
Goal: $251
End date: July 10, 2020
Goodies: $4 for a PDF of the comic, $7 for a print copy, with higher tiers including stickers and pins.
A story about empathy and viscera. A punk finds a half-dead creature in a gutter and takes it home.
Grieveson’s 44-page horror comic combines body and eldritch horror with themes of misplaced empathy and the amorality of nature. Looking at the sample pages provided, the comic features a greyscale style perfect for the stomach-churning mood of this genre. And that’s not to mention a creature design I can only describe as looking as if it’s both decaying and melting at the same time. In other words, Gutterspawn will be a much-needed nightmarish distraction.
4. The Dodo Knows
Creators: Helen Greetham (author)
Goal: $564
End date: July 18, 2020
Goodies: $7 for a PDF, $19 for a physical edition, while higher tiers include an official Dodo Seal of Approval, prints, and more comics by Greetham.
Short story comics themed around things lost and feeling found.
The Dodo Knows is a collection of eight stories, written and illustrated by archaeologist-turned-comics creator, Greetham, whose style absolutely radiates warmth. The anthology is named its first story, which asks the simple question: Is the reason dodos became extinct because of their popularity as a pet amongst time travellers? Altogether, it’s 60 pages, printed on A5 paper, with a cover made from recycled card, and an interior printed on environmentally certified paper, with vegetable based inks.
5. Interdimensional
Creators: Evan Schultz (writer, colorist, letterer), Lydia Roberts (pencils, inks, painting, hand-lettering)
Goal: $4,000
End date: July 9, 2020
Goodies: Digital copies are $5, print are $20, and extras include sticker, wallpapers, making-of material, and more.
Bringing Classic Anthology Sci-Fi Back to Comics
This campaign is for the first two issues of Interdimensional, a sci-fi anthology that takes notes from The Twilight Zone, Transmetropolitan, and 2000AD. Schultz and Roberts display a huge range of styles and stories in their sample pages, with the second following a band of eco-terrorist forest-dwellers as they protect a lake from other gangs. From the looks of things, if you’re already a backer of Alex de Campi and Duncan Jones’ MADI, then Interdimensional will be right up your alley as well.
