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Kickstarter Spotlight: Presidential Assassinations, Cyberpunk, Steampunk Girls and Wrestling

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Brett

We’ve got an eclectic mix for this week’s Kickstarter Spotlight. Presidential Assassinations, cyberpunk, steampunk girls and wrestling are all represented this week, a little something for everyone.

Children’s Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination

A Children’s Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination is a beautifully illustrated book born of a child’s desire to learn and a father’s belief that gaining knowledge should be fun and uplifting. It is designed to educate, entertain, and enlighten children from ages 1 to 100. Writer Bryan Young was asked by his child about Lincoln’s assassination and Presidential assassinations in general. After a search to find a book appropriate for her age, he came up empty.

Bryan contacted artist Erin Kubinek, and a collaboration was born that would create a truly unique work of historical education. Each illustration in A Children’s Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination brings this subject to life in a way that will activate the imaginations and ignite the interest of children and adults.

A fun way to learn history, especially dark history like this? Yes please!

Silence in the Library is taking absolutely none of the money from this project. That’s right, the proceeds from this Kickstarter will go directly to paying for the artwork and for the initial print run of A Children’s Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination, and for marketing the book so that they can get it in the hands of as many people as possible. That’s dedication to a project!

Best Pledge: $35 – Gets you the print edition and a drawing of a President by the little girl that inspired it all.

Risk: LOW – I don’t expect there to be too many issues. The time frame looks right and prices about right…

TEMPLATE, Volume 1

Template is an action thriller with cyberpunk flair. Centering on a private security organization called Oversight, the story chronicles their attempts to make the perfect android soldier. When the first attempt fails, they speed up plans to try again under the assumption they learned from their mistakes. It is at this point that the main character, Beta, is created. Over the course of the series, her development is followed as she explores her own personality and discovers what she can and can’t do not being in full control of herself.

The first trade of Template will collect the first eight issues of the “Digital First” series in a 104 page, full color, trade paperback edition.

60 of the 90 pages is completed which isn’t too bad and to me the story and art look pretty cool.

What I like a lot about the project is the honesty, this is a small indie creator looking for a way to help distribute his comics, and Kickstarter is a way to go. Kind of hard to not spotlight that and help with a small nudge.

The other nice thing is, because this is a web comic already, you can check it all out, for free before you buy it, well at least the parts that are done and up.

Best Pledge: $25 – Gets you the print edition and a DRM free digital copy of the book as well.

Risk: MEDIUM – The prices seem about right as far as pledge levels, though some of that shipping might be a bit off. The delivery date of December 2013 seems a bit rushed as well. I’d expect it to slip a few months if anything.

Annabelle Avery: Steampunk Girl, Comic Book Volume 1

The 60+ page comic book tells the story of Annabelle Avery. She’s just like any other 17-year-old in 1880’s London, except for one important fact: she owns a jetpack and isn’t afraid to use it!

When her adventurous inventor parents disappear when she is a baby, Annabelle Avery is raised by her posh Uncle Albert, Her Majesty’s Minister of Technology. But Annabelle has danger in her blood, and can’t resist trying to discover their true whereabouts!

To complicate matters, her parents left her an ornate key, which is said to open a mysterious Portal. The mad inventor said to be responsible for their disappearance, one Roderick McCallum, is after the Portal. Annabelle and McCallum have met before, and the violent encounter left McCallum disfigured, his body now augmented with clockwork machinery.

Annabelle now has it in her head that she has to get to the Portal before McCallum inevitably returns! Her Uncle won’t like it, but nothing stops Annabelle Avery: Steampunk Girl!

Doesn’t the above just sound fun for some reason? Plus you’ve got a kick-ass female hero to boot! reggie waynerThe story sounds fun and art looks awesome. I’m willing to give this one a shot and see how it turns out.

Best Pledge: $20 – Gets you the print edition and a a bunch of digital comics as well.

Risk: MEDIUM – The script is done and “art is underway” but who knows by how much. The date of February 2014 seems like a long time away, but who knows without more details how much is done already. This might slip on the delivery date of the physical books.

Headlocked: The Last Territory

If you’re a fan of wrestling, then this one is for you. In one sentence, this comic is a wrestling cable drama in a comic book!

Headlocked is a coming-of-age story chronicling a college theater major’s quest to become a professional wrestler. It begins from the moment he unexpectedly falls in love with wrestling and follows his journey through the insanity of the wrestling business as he chases his dream of making it to the bright lights and the big stage of the WFW.

On a deeper level, Headlocked is an examination of wrestling as an art form. The main character, Mike Hartmann, is a college theater major that drops out of school to try and break into the wrestling business. So the reader will learn more about the craft of wrestling through the eyes of a performance artist.

To further the theme of wrestling as art,they use wrestlers to contribute to the book artistically. The interior artist, Michel Mulipola, a wrestler from New Zealand. And the cover artist is WWE Hall of Famer, Jerry “The King” Lawler!

This project has met its goal as well, so you’re guaranteed to get it and don’t have to wonder if it’ll get to the funding needed.

As a cool part of the Kickstarter project, there’s a whole bunch of material by wrestlers that’ll never be produced again other than for this project. This is truly something perfect for fans of professional wrestling.

Best Pledge: $20 – Gets you the print edition.

Risk: MEDIUM – I didn’t find how much is done, but September 2013 seems a bit short in the production area so expect delays if anything.

Kickstarter Spotlight: Virgil, an Outed Cop Gets His Revenge & Saves His Man

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Brett

When it comes to stories, you see some and you wonder why no one has done it sooner. Virgil is one of those ideas. That’s why it was easy to choose our latest Kickstarter Spotlight.

Welcome to Jamaica. A resort destination. 70% of citizens don’t think gay men and women deserve basic human rights. The world’s highest murder rate.The worst place on Earth to be gay.

Created by Steve Orlando, Virgil will feature the art of JD Faith, coloring by Chris Beckett and design and lettering by Victor Ochoa. The idea for the graphic novel began with Archie Comics’ announcement of Kevin Keller. The idea of taking this series that was unchanged for decades and infusing an LGBTQ character smoothly, as if he always belonged, struck Orlando. The normalcy of it all stood out.

Then came Django Unchained, and its commentary on racism in the form of a blaxploitation film. Orlando wanted to do his version, his gaysploitation story. With the anti-gay violence in Jamaica largely unknown, he had a place to set the book- a place commonly thought of as a vacation paradise, with an unexplored underbelly.

This is his way to explore the LGBTQ battle withing a story we’re all familiar with and can get behind and support. It’s a bold packaging and an interesting way to push forward a struggle that’s very much going on every day around the world.

You can find a preview below.

Best Pledge: $35 – Gets you the print edition with a Kickstarter only cover

Risk: LOW – I don’t expect there to be too many issues. This is a pretty veteran crew and the time frames makes sense to me. Amounts too also make sense. Maybe there’s some slight slips in delivery dates, but I don’t expect them, to be horrific like many I’ve experienced myself.

View this document on Scribd

Kickstarter Spotlight: NECA and 4K Media Inc. Exclusive Yu-Gi-Oh! Licensed Game Wallet

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Brett

Chalk this up to something I wasn’t expecting to see and cool enough to deserve it’s own Kickstarter Spotlight. Entertainment conglomerate National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA), and 4K Media Inc., the newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today launched a Kickstarter campaign for a Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Art branded Game Wallet designed by a fan vote exclusively for Kickstarter.

This is a product designed by fans and funded by fans, an interesting strategy for NECA, a company known for products catering to niche, but rabid, fanbases. By gathering ijsight and opinions from Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, the two companies have ensured this is a product they want and looking forward to. This is crowdsourcing at it’s best, both in design and funding.

For instance, fans said the wallet should include:

Fits smartphones & calculators
Water-resistant ballistic nylon
Black exterior with ID-pocket
Nine interior card sleeves
High quality zipper closure
Mesh dice holder
Two pen holders

The Kickstarter tier rewards include two Standard Game Wallets and one Elite Edition Game Wallet, which will be limited to 520 units. Both versions of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Art branded Game Wallet are available exclusively on Kickstarter. Additional tier rewards include Yu-Gi-Oh! branded apparel, bags, key chains, lanyards, dog tags, pins, and more, all featuring some of the most well-known and beloved monsters.

There’s cool items here for Yu-Gi_Oh! and non-Yu-Gi-Oh! fans alike.

Best Pledge: $44 – Gets you the game wallet

Risk: LOW – Unless this thing blows up and some time frames get messed up due to scale, I think the issues with this will be minimal. I consider this about as safe as ordering the same products through their website if you could.

Kickstarter Spotlight: Kaiju, Unit 44, The Last West and Grump!

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Brett

These will normally appear on Thursdays, but I didn’t get a chance to write it up. So a couple days late, but no less awesome. Here’s some of the cool projects we’re highlighting on Kickstarter!

World War Kaiju Graphic Novel

World War Kaiju is the story of an alternate history, one in which the atom bomb was never created and the ultimate weapon of mass destruction is the Kaiju—fifty foot tall radioactive beasts spawned from the mysterious KAI-235 isotope. Follow the journey of one journalist as he teams up with a retired CIA operative to uncover the truth about the conspiracy behind the monsters…

With a cool concept and a solid team behind it, how can you not support this graphic novel? From Josh Finney and fellow writer, Michael Colbert, the two are talented writers. Then they’ve got the art of Patrick McEvoy. Just go to that page and check out what’s in store. Hells yes!

Best Pledge: $25 – This nets you copy of the graphic novel, but the $55 level gets you the bonus materials from the stretch goals.

Risk: LOW – This is an experienced team and they layout well where they’re at and some of the issues that might come up. Some of the pledge amounts make me scratch my head, but that shouldn’t impact this at all.

UNIT 44 – a sci-fi/humor comic book

Unit 44 is the story of Area 51 employees, Agent Gibson and Agent Hatch, who forget to pay the rent on the facility’s off-site storage unit, and the super-secret contents are sold at public auction. When an alien invasion threatens the safety of planet Earth, Gibson and Hatch must recover an item from the locker if they hope to stop the extraterrestrial threat.

To me, that sounds funny and a good read. The art looks good and the prices are right. It’s hard not to support a comic that looks like it’d be fun (something we need more of honestly).

I like the idea, I like the pitch, it’s worth chipping in some cash to support these guys.

Best Pledge: $25 – This gets you a physical copy of the completed project as well as the digital issues. That seems like a good deal to me.

Risk: MEDIUM – I don’t know enough about these guys and this is their first project, so hopefully their math is right. The time frames given seem to be realistic, so overall I think things look pretty sound.

The Last West RELAUNCHED: Volume One

Evan Young and Lou Lovino, guys who write stories and love comic books, want to create a new comic. It’s called The Last West and it’s about all technological and social advancement having stopped in 1945, and one man’s quest to discover why.

The team had a Kickstarter project before for this, but cancelled it because situations changed. They now have publisher Alterna backing the project, which will help out a bit as far as costs (I think).

The story sounds cool and it has a veteran team behind it and the art looks cool overall. Alterna does put out some decent titles, so for those who are looking for a read outside of the big two, this could be worth checking out.

Best Pledge: $25 – This gets you an autographed copy of the finished product.

Risk: MEDIUM – The time frame seems realistic, and with Alterna supporting it, I don’t see too much going wrong. The levels make me scratch my head as some seem a bit unrealistic. $5 for a single floppy issue seems a bit off, considering printing and shipping, that’s not much of a margin.

GRUMP! The loneliest kid on your block… until now.

Most neighborhoods have that one crazy house. It’s wood is rotting. Weeds are flourishing. No matter what time of day it is, it’s always in the shadows. Maybe you aren’t afraid of that house, but you definitely won’t be trick-or-treating there. Just to be safe.

That’s where Grump lives.

Grump doesn’t realize he’s alone. All he knows is that something isn’t right. It takes a series of unusual circumstances for Grump to finally meet some neighborhood kids. Now he’s about to have his world shaken up!

Like it or not, Grump. You’re going outside!

The concept sounds awesome. The art looks cool. How can you not support this!?

Best Pledge: $1 – You get a 40 page PDF copy for just $1! There’s some awesome higher tiers, but if you’re not willing to chip in $1 for some random project, you’re crazy. Any of the higher levels sound very cool, so I don’t think you can go too wrong with any of them.

Risk: LOW – This is a digital only book, so some of the extras there might be issues. But Beth Sotelo says she’s done the math for those and has planned out enough time to deliver the digital book. This one I’m feeling pretty confident on being finished on time.

Kickstarter Spotlight: Fandom, Gender, Free Comics and Sharks!

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Brett

Welcome to the first edition of a new regular Thursday feature where we spotlight cool projects you can find on Kickstarter!

Keep in mind we do not guarantee the completion of any of these projects and are not responsible for the end result. We do include a warning of what we think the likelihood of issues are and how risky the project is.

Don’t Feed the Trolls

When you think of “fandom” it’s not always in the flattering of lights. Society paints fans, especially those of comics, science fiction, etc., in a negative way, depicting them as geeks and nerds. This film will delve deeper into these communities to show there’s more to them.

The film will focus on Nicole, both a fitness professional and a die-hard fan. Her two very different worlds will blend together to show that there is more to belonging to a fandom than the “fanatic” stereotype society has given us.

The two folks behind it, Nicole and Liz, both went to film school and between the two of them they’ve worked on dozens and dozens of films and projects. They know that in the film world, anything that can go wrong will go wrong and they’re more than ready to tackle anything that comes their way.

I like the idea of shedding a positive light on fandom, and doing so with a focus on a female fan not only takes on the stereotype of fans, but also women’s roles within it. The project has a modest goal of $3,000.

Best Pledge: $25 – You get updates of the film, but also a DVD of the film and a link to an early version of it. The price is about right for what I’d pay for a DVD movie. There are some cooler levels at higher amounts.

Risk: MEDIUM – This is the first Kickstarter project for the two. While I think they know production, things might happen, so if anything I’d expect a delay from the delivery date of this September.

Comics Undressed

Our friends over at Ladydrawers are putting together a different documentary. This one is an ambitious project with the primary aim of addressing media justice in comics and popular culture. They intend to portray the underlying forms of discrimination that impact representations of women, queers, trans folk, non-binary gender people, and people of color in comics. They seek to support a diversity of racial, gender, and sexual identities that make up our society as well as unveil the surprising economic injustices and cultural biases that occur. Their goal is to present a sincere heartfelt documentary that captures their love for comics while critiquing the structure of the comics industry. They intend to implement an experimental process to give form to their extensive original research that mirrors the comics themselves. Through a myriad of interviews with comics creators, readers, bloggers, vendors, fans, and the general public, they strive to foster a multiplicity of viewpoints in the comic-book world and our culture at large.

It’s great to get a critical look at our comic culture, and Ladydrawers does just that with thought and research. This isn’t a knee-jerk reactionary group, these are folks who think things through and make their arguments with facts and research. It should be very interesting to see what they come up with and the end of the result of the project.

Critical analysis of the representation of individuals in comics is good. Different viewpoints are good. Research is good. Discussion of these issues is good. So of course this is a project I can get behind.

Best Pledge: $35 – This gets you a digital copy of the movie and some other items. It’s the one I chose when I pledged. So yes, my money is in on this one.

Risk: LOW – This is the first Kickstarter project for the group, but they’ve put out other items in the past. While I have no idea if the December date is realistic, I feel confident the project will be completed within a reasonable amount of time.

Rocksalt “Back to School” edition

Rocksalt Magazine is a free comics anthology out of Austin. They print three thousand copies of each issue and distribute it at about two hundred locations around town. They’ve been doing it for two years now, and it has been successful beyond their wildest dreams. The next issue, #9, will be the back-to-school special and it will be their “best issue yet.”

It’s that simple, a great way to get comics into the hands with folks and with only hours left, a guaranteed one to get funded.

Best Pledge: $25 – This gets you a copy of all nine issues mailed directly to you. It’s a great way to check out some indie comic creators from the Austin area which has a great track record for churning them out.

Risk: LOW – This is the first Kickstarter project for Geoff, but he’s released items before. The time frame might be tight, so I’d expect it to slip by a month or two.

FRENZY – An Illustrated Novel

Sharks…. is there any other reason you need to give to this?

Frenzy is an original illustrated horror/thriller novel about one of the world’s most beloved animals… sharks! It is an original novel authored by Andrew E.C.Gaska, and will be produced by guerrilla design studio BLAM! Ventures, LLC. Frenzy is a special project because while it is a prose novel (not a graphic novel), the book will have over 20 paintings and another 20 pen & ink illustrations from a diverse array of talented artists to help tell the story. These talents include AMAZING artists such as menton3, Bob Eggleton, Dave Dorman, Erik Gist, Steve White, Aaron Miller, Dan Dussault, Chandra Free, and more to be announced!

Not only do you get a cool story, but that’s a hell of a roster of talent when it comes to the art. You can see some examples of their skills and talent on the Kickstarter page. I’ve also read a lot of Gaska’s previous work, and the man is a talented writer. Plus there are sharks, that alone is enough reason to pledge to this one.

In full disclosure, I’m marrying one of the science advisers. I would have given to this no matter what though.

Best Pledge: $25 – This gets you a digital copy of the book, but I’d go higher than that, there’s some very cool higher pledges. I myself am going with the $70 pledge to get a sketch from Chandra Free.

Risk: LOW – Drew is a long time vet when it comes to producing items and releasing them and he’s given himself a long lead time for this. I fully expect this one on time and as promised. (No pressure)