It’s Thursday and a new Kickstarter Spotlight where I take a look at some of the cool items available on Kickstarter. This week it’s an interesting mix of mini-comics the size of match books, fierce little girls, drones, suicide, Russia, and r.e.m. (not the band, sorry to disappoint). Check out below all of the projects and speak with your dollars as to what gets funded and what doesn’t.

I’m also going with a slightly difference format now making it easier to figure out what the project is and why I think it’s cool.

Mini-Comics the Size of a Pack of Matches

What it is: Creator Brian John Mitchell makes these mini-comics the size of a pack of matches. So far there are eighty of them. From slice of life auto-bio to Kafka-eque Lovecraftian conspiracies to westerns to horror to crime to action spoof to sci-fi action to experimental comics, and did I mention they’re all the size of match books?

Why I like it: Um, what’s not to like? Mitchell shows that comics can be in more than the two page standard sizes we’ve come to know. To support creativity in not only content, but also the way it’s presented? Yes please!

Best Pledge: $10 – Ten random mini-comics mailed to you, PDF digital subscription to our next twenty mini-comics, & the ten first issues PDF bundle. That’s a lot of cool for $10.

Risk: LOW – Prices seem about right, and Brian seems to know what he’s doing. He lays out what to expect and when you can start expecting it.

Lilith Dark and the Beastie Tree: A Graphic Novel

What it is: Lilith Dark is a comic about a fierce little girl who loves kittens and fights monsters. Oh, and there’s a dinosaur. Lilith Dark is a fantasy adventure story aimed at children and adults aged 10 and up. Lilith Dark has grown a loyal and ever increasing audience over the past 2 years through the popular webcomic, social media exposure and convention appearances.

Why I like it: It’s a dark fantasy comic that’s geared towards children and has a “fierce” little girl as the lead. I’m sold on “loves kittens and fights monsters.” Plus there’s the fact it’s a webcomic, which means you can check it out before you pledge.

Best Pledge: $20 – You get a signed copy of the comic book, a pdf copy of the comic book and your name listed on the thank you page.

Risk: LOW – The prices seem a bit low for a printed comic, but Alterna is producing this, so I think they’ve got things covered, since they are a publisher.

DRONES

What it is: This five-issue miniseries follows two Predator drone operators who hunt Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan from the safety of a base outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. After a failed mission, the war hits home in a bizarre journey that will take them from a terrorism-themed hotel to a drone-filled sky over the Strip. As part of a stage show you’ve just got to see to believe, Las Vegas starts to resemble Afghanistan, and the drone operators must confront the absurd nature of a war where terror and entertainment have begun to blur.

In addition to our two drone operators, we have a pancake-loving terrorist turned playwright, a loveable expert in improvised explosive devices, five well dressed assassins, a goat who just might know a thing or two about kung fu, an acrobatic special forces troupe called the Cirque du SEALs, surveillance up the wazoo, and a new kind of poppy that’s going to blow some minds.

Why I like it: I’ve read the first couple of issues and the series is as entertaining as it sounds. Really, how can you not read that description and not be interested in this?

Best Pledge: $20 – The Drones trade paperback for you to hold and cherish. Plus a digital edition and art print.

Risk: LOW – Again the prices seem low for what you get, but Chris has produced print editions before, so he knows what he’s doing and it’s pretty much all done.

Suicide 5. A tale that ends in death.

What it is: Suicide 5 is about five people willing to die for what they perceive to be immortality.

These five draft Mason, a young sculptor with crippling social anxiety disorder, as a reluctant judge. His mission is to record and rate every participants’ performance. Mason watches as his friends die one by one, each more horribly than the last. Accusations of unoriginality, infidelity, and plagiarism make the already surreal competition even more horrifying.

Why I like it: I like subversive and holy shit does this sound subversive. I also got a chance to check it out at Baltimore Comic Con and for the brief minute I checked it out, it looked very cool.

Best Pledge: $25 – A signed copy of the book and a small sketch by the creator, the Suicide 5 wallpaper, and PDF.

Risk: LOW – I held a mock-up copy in my hand and the book is set to come out in May 2014. I’m feeling pretty good this will make it’s due date even with the work that’s described left to do.

FUBAR: MOTHER RUSSIA

What it is: Mother Russia opens in zombie occupied Stalingrad in 1943. What the war started in Stalingrad the zombie outbreak finished. It’s an open graveyard for 2 million soldiers and civilians.

We follow a young female sniper as she watches the apocalypse unfold from the safety of a well supplied and impregnable bell tower. She spends her day thinning out the zombie herds one at a time.

Day after day. Month after month, until one day she sees something through her scope she hasn’t seen in a long time: a perfectly healthy 2 year old boy and he’s just stumbled right into the zombie apocalypse.

Mother Russia is one of the first two stories that originally launched FUBAR.  It first appeared officially as a 28 page story in FUBAR Volume 1 in 2009. It ended on a cliffhanger  in volume 1 as was intended to continue it in the next volume. The story will be started from scratch and re-drawn.

Why I like it: The FUBAR folks are fantastic with tons of talent and lots of fun. It’s hard not to support them and again, the original story was great. I want to see it finished.

Best Pledge: $30 – You receive a print copy of Mother Russia with front page sketch by artist /writerJeff McComsey with the 5×7 signed print and sweet mini comic. This level and all above have their name listed in the thank you section of Mother Russia.

Risk: LOW – I don’t expect there to be too many issues. Though the time frame looks short to finish it all up, this isn’t the first Kickstarter project these folks have run.

R.E.M. the Graphic Novel

What it is: R.E.M. is a 176 page Hardcover Original Graphic Novel in striking black and white about Michael Letto, a brilliant but paranoid neuroscientist. Since his first and only love died, he’s lived behind a series of locks, consumed with solving the mystery of sleep. Based on the principles of yoga, Michael invents a chair that enables one to attain a full night’s sleep in a matter of minutes. When his theories catch the attention of the military and a religious order that wants to use his research to attain enlightenment, a dangerous cat and mouse begins as Michael’s world deteriorates.

It’s a psychological thriller with elements of science fiction and film noir.

Why I like it: The story sounds cool to me. This is something I’d buy and read and the art shown looks pretty damn cool.

Best Pledge: $20 – An autographed and numbered hardcover of R.E.M.

Risk: LOW – The prices seem pretty good and there’s clearly a lot of thought put into it regarding shipping. I don’t expect a whole lot of issues here.