By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 10/30/2015
If you’re hankering for something to scratch that Samurai Champloo itch, you should take a look at Stéphane Métayer’s Tephlon Funk! – a Hip Hop story told through an manga-influenced comic with French artists David Tako and Nicolas Safe. The Kickstarter campaign has 5 days left on it and they’re just over the 50% mark to self-publish the […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 10/29/2015
This is actually a crowd watch too as Iron Circus is kickstarting a collection of Sophie Campbell’s Shadoweyes: Volume One: Sophie Campbell began Shadoweyes in 2010. It stars Scout Montana, a slight and fragile teenage girl with dreams of defending her city as a masked vigilante. But one night, close on the heels of her […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 10/26/2015
The wrestling/comics connection has always been strong, from their shared roots in carnival strongmen singlets to former grappler CM Punk's writing comics career. And here's a new one: Muscle Temple, an indie comics anthology spotlighting the squared circle that is currently being crowdfunded. Frank Gibson of Tiny Kitten Teeth is leading the rumble. which will include work by Maddy Flores, Sam Alden, Box Brown, Amanda Meadows, Zac Gorman. According to Gibson:
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 8/25/2015
2016 Flame Con will be held for TWO days this time. And that's not all: they're moving to a bigger location too
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 8/18/2015
A little while back, Brian Hibbs wrote a piece involving the place of Kickstarters in the comics world that still seems to be making the rounds online. It comes at it from the retailer angle, and as somebody who’s run a few Kickstarters, I have a few different thoughts about how crowdfunding fits into the […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 8/18/2015
As crowdsourcing has become a normal part of financing creative projects, a few bad apples have soured the barrel with non delivery. A few months ago, the FTC announced it would start looking in to Kickstarters that don't deliver and now a Seattle court has ordered the creators of the Asylum Playing Cards Kickstarter—Altius Management and Edward J. Polchlopek—to pay over $54,000 in fines and settlement.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 8/10/2015
San Diego State University has over 20,000 comics and related items to process! (Here’s a basic list of comics waiting to be cataloged!) Like most libraries, they don’t have the funding to process the donations, and to make them accessible to patrons. Thus, San Diego State University has set up their own crowdfunding portal, called […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 8/4/2015
Comics Beat contributor Seth Ferranti has had a long and storied past. A writer well and truly familiar with life on the streets, Ferranti began picking up the craft of writing while serving a 25 year sentence in the Federal Bureau of Prisons for acting as the kingpin of an LSD empire. Ferranti released his first […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 8/4/2015
Rarely do I get to learn the story of people who have moved away from the comics industry. Artist and creator Thomas Boatwright is an interesting example of someone who did the comics thing for awhile but eventually, initially not entirely by choice, moved on to other ventures. As a fan of his comics I’ve been […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 7/31/2015
Well, since it’s Friday let’s go all out with the Kickstarter newsw. Her’s a newsish one from Steve Hamaker, a collection of his graphic novel PLOX Volume One which he’s been serializing online. The story follows three online gamers and their experiences: Kim; the guild leader at the end of her rope, Chad; the […]
By: Maryann Yin,
on 7/27/2015
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 7/22/2015
After making some noises about it for a while, Tom Spurgeon has joined the crowdfunding world for his award-winning Comics Reporter site with a Patreon that is up to over $500 in less than 24 hours. I think I might have been in the first 10 supporters, and I urge all Beat readers to go over and pledge their support. Spurgeon, who also runs the CXC show in Columbus in his spare time, explains his reasons in a post that it was time for a new way of covering comics. but future goals include a return to long form reporting and on general doing it better. But your $2 doesn’t just support Comics Reporter, it gets you whole new thing: a PDF magazine:
I’m going to try and do a monthly publication — The Comics Report — that reflects my best ability to put together a PDF-style magazine. I plan on keeping The Comics Reporter much the same as it always has been. I think I can make site and magazine independent reading experiences with very different purposes, experiences that key on what each form has to offer. I think this will lead to better coverage, and I hope it may serve a growing need for a way into comics that doesn’t count on your full immersion every second of every day. I hope it becomes destination coverage.
Everyone that signs up for the Patreon at $2 or over will get the next month’s issue: starting on September 1 with #1 (there will be a scattered “bonus issue” #0 on the first of August; it will be cool). You can also just send me the cash direct via pay pal for a sub as long as you want one. (send me an extra dollar, too: so $25 for a yearly; $13 for six months, etc.).
The other thing I that I noted was that Spurgeon had not contributed to any other Patreons, which I thought was interesting given that participating in crowdfunding is thought to be the best groundwork for running one. He told me that would soon be changing though.
You can also just paypal Tom (at [email protected]) if you want to support him without Patreon taking its cut. I support about 9 other patreons and it’s a not insignificant cut of my monthly takings, and some of the people I support also support me, so we’re literally fassing the same $5 back and forth, diminishing with each transcation as micropayments extracted.
Does that make any sense? I think it does for several reasons. I feel Patreon and Kickstarter and the other crowdfunding platforms are valuable institutions and giving them a cut of that single $5 that circulates endlessly to support the comics industry seems beneficial to me.
Also, less altruistically, there’s a certain aspect of the crowdfunding world that’s built on getting in on hot stuff, so the more money that’s spent, the more people think it’s worth spending money on. So the $5 buys some prestige as well.
Anyway, my campaign in about a year old so I’m going to look at it in another post, what worked, what didn’t, what I’m doing next.
Also, please support Tom and Zainab when you have a moment and a dollar.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 7/21/2015
I first learned about Dan Berry due to my insatiable hunger for comics podcasts. Make It Then Tell Everybody consists of intelligent and insightful conversations with comic creators you may or may not be familiar with, each a great lesson in art, storytelling and the process of making sequential art. From Make It Then Tell Everybody, I branched out to Berry’s comics. I was impressed by the stories that felt iconic and the watercolors that showed the benefits of creating art by hand in the digital age.
Read my conversation with Dan Berry about the man’s art, podcast, Patreon and much more.
In 2012 a British artist asked me to host some panel discussions at a festival. I said yes and we did two panels discussions and they went really well. Someone said, “Oh, you should podcast these!” I took his advice and in the weeks following decided to carry on.
Oh, yeah. Way more people know who I am [laughs].
Yeah, absolutely. It’s been essential to what I’m doing. I talked about doing a Kickstarter on the podcast, which I guess is a really good model for a book, but for these enduring projects I need that slightly slower burning funding model.
[Laughs] Well I’m basically giving it away for free. No one really gets anything. It’s really about this idea of altruism. It’s people’s own good will that I’m spending here.
What do you mean by digital art?
Oh, I find it great. It’s absolutely great. I don’t have any problems with digital art. My background is nearly entirely digital I only came to working with ink on paper much later on. I like working traditionally because I feel I can do it faster.
I think this is a psychological thing for me rather than anything to do with the technology but I find when I’m working digitally and have the infinite safety net of the undo button I’m going to keep using it over and over again. I think my style has developed not from avoiding my mistakes but embracing them and making them part of the style. I have a very loose what I hope is a spontaneous and expressive style and I can’t get that same level of spontaneity [digitally] because I know there’s a safety net there. Whereas with traditional media forces you but also embrace them.
Oh not the watercolors. I’ve tried a bunch of different watercolor brushes for Photoshop and it’s not the same. At all. I haven’t found anything that vaguely approximates what you do with watercolor. There’s an element of chaos that you can’t really control and I really like that. You don’t get that chaos from a computer.
I do a couple of PDF downloads and I think there’s stuff on ComiXology.
Yeah. I’m trying to figure out what to do with that at the moment because it’s reaching the end of its print run. It sold really well and the digital stuff seemed to pick up pretty well. I had a lot of excellent response from the ComiXology stuff. I might reissue it under my own name I might collect a bunch of things as an anthology I haven’t really decided yet.
24 pages, I think?
Yes, I am.
Not really. It all feels pretty much the same at this point. My schedule doesn’t change depending on how long the project is because I don’t really take breaks between projects. So I’m just basically always working so I don’t see any difference.
No. I used to. I used to want it to be finished and it to be done but I think as I get older patience is one of the things I’ve managed to develop. I think patience and being able to sit down for 4 hours at a time and do one thing.
All over the place [laughs]. Basically I like to fill my head up with as much stuff as possible. I like to listen to nonfiction and fiction books, audiobooks in the car, I’ll read articles, I’ll talk to people I’ll try to experience as much stuff in my head because I know that the more stuff I have in my head the more ideas I’m likely to have and once I’ve had an idea I have to capture it. If I don’t capture it dribbles out my nose while I sleep and its gone forever. So it’s not so much having ideas or where they come from I think it’s taking the beginning of an idea and turning it into something that’s the difficult part. Having ideas is relatively straightforward relatively easy I don’t have any problems with that it’s finding the time to do something with it or actually doing something with it.
Follow Dan on Twitter and Tumblr and read his comics, listen to his podcast and consume anything else he puts up for consumption.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 7/21/2015
A couple of years ago we were crowing with joy when Pulitzer Prize finalist cartoonist Matt Bors was hired to run Medium’s comics section, The Nib, and the results were glorious, with two years of daily content that was smart funny, trenchant, moving, eye opening and everything else we love about comics.
Well, as with most start-ups all good things must come to an end. Medium has restructured, laid off people and rethought its “content is king” strategy, wondered where the money went, as Fortune put it in the lugubriously headlined Looks like Medium isn’t going to save the media industry after all, and that’s okay. In recent months there’s been a big change at Medium and The Nib, changes which Bors did his best to explain, but during SDCC the other shoe dropped and Bors announced he was leaving Medium. A silent tear was wept for that paying job.
But, as a thoroughly modern cartoonist, Bors bounced back in mere days with….a Kickstarter! East More Comics! will be a massive 300 page compendium of the best of The Nib, with work by
Gemma Correll · Rich Stevens · Zach Weinersmith · Jon Rosenberg · Emily Flake · KC Green, Tom Tomorrow · Matt Bors · Jen Sorensen · Matt Lubchansky · Ann Telnaes · Brian McFadden · Liza Donnelly· Ruben Bolling · Ted Rall · Keith Knight, Andy Warner · Josh Neufeld · Susie Cagle · Emi Gennis · Ryan Alexander-Tanner · Eleri Harris · Erik Thurman · Jess Ruliffson · Sophie Yanow · Roxanne Palmer, Ron Wimberly · Erika Moen · Sarah Glidden · Wendy Macnaughton · Mike Dawson · Lucy Bellwood · Whit Taylor · Lisa Eisenberg · Eroyn Franklin · JJ McCullough, Kate Leth · James Sturm · Shannon Wheeler · Scott Bateman · Eleanor Davis · Maki Naro · John Leavitt · Kendra Wells
WHOA, maybe THIS is the new Kramers Ergot?
In his farewell on Medium, Bors announced that The Nib was coming with him and he hopes to announce a new plan with a publisher soon. So far from being the end of something cool, it’s just the beginning. The campaign is about half funded a week in but if they get to $60k, all the cartoonists get paid more. Make it so, people.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 7/10/2015
Want to know what comic-cons are really about? Get these books.
In my previous post I talked about the importance of community — it is central to proper understanding of ethics, and as such it is essential to a fan life well-lived. As an influx of new people explore the comics universe, the risk of losing sight of what connects us beyond passive viewing increases and the importance of learning from our history only grows.
That’s why Jackie Estrada’s Comic Book People is so vital – and if you’re at San Diego Comic-Con, you can get the hot-off-the-Kickstarter second volume at the Exhibit A Press booth, #1909 (aisle 1900, near the Lobby B2 entrance).
If you’re new to comic-cons there might be a temptation to think that books filled with photos of people from the ’70s and ’80s (vol. 1) and ’90s (vol. 2) are just for people who went to conventions back then, but as Don Draper would say, this isn’t nostalgia; it’s a time machine. The genius of these books is that you are in many ways their target audience — in addition to names and photos, Comic Book People explains who these people are and why they are important. Not only will this help you discover stories you might have otherwise missed, but they show you a world-shaping network as it grows. These folks built a global pop-culture empire that made billions and changed lives, inspiring an intensity of personal connection that rivals if not transcends that found in other art. Know them and you’ll understand the world you’ve just entered; follow their example and you’ll create a world that today exists only in dreams.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/30/2015
Normally I don’t do Kickstarter columns but so many of them are coming and so many of them are cool, I’m BREAKING WITH TRADITION.
§ Kieron Dwyer and Todd Rinker are trying to get funding for WEST PORTAL, a new creator owned series about…
West Portal is the story of Dexter Allen, a struggling artist with a failed marriage and a young daughter.


After he’s diagnosed with a strange brain anomaly, Dex finds himself transported into bizarre worlds from popular fantasy and fiction.
One minute, Dex is reading a comic strip featuring Glint Granger, a space-faring sci-fi hero in the mold of Flash Gordon…

…and suddenly, Dex is Glint Granger, trapped on some far flung planet, fighting for his life against evil alien Space Squids!
Catchy concept and the creators are seasoned pros so maybe give this a spin?
§ Greg Pak is a crowdfunding master, and now he’s teaming with artist Takeshi Miyazawa, colorist Jessica Kholinne and letterer Simon Bowland for ABC Disgusting, a children’s alphabet book about disgusting things. I don’t think you need to know too much more than that. They’ve already raised more than $8000 of the $24,000 they’re asking and when you see the art you’ll give the rest:
ABC Disgusting tells the story of a boy trying to shock his older sister with an alphabetical series of disgusting things. But in the end, she hits him with what might be the biggest gross-out of all.
WARNING: VERY DISGUSTING. (And maybe a little heartwarming.) INCLUDES FLATULENCE, LAMPREYS, MAYONNAISE MILK SHAKES, NOSE HAIR, ZOMBIES AND ZORILLAS.
“This is a book for anyone who’s ever laughed at a fart,” says Pak. “I’m also hoping it might be particularly great for reluctant readers, kids who might need a little more incentive to pick up and read a book.”
“I’ve been having such a fun time drawing it, I can’t wait for everyone to see it! It makes me proud to be able to reach new readers and, just maybe, inspire them to read more or even draw something silly,” says Miyazawa.
§ Finally the third volume of Matt Fitch’s Frogman 3: The Death of Frogman is up. The artist is Gibson Quarter, and if this isn’t supposed to be a pastiche on 80s independent comics, I don’t know what is. They’re also about a third of the way so go for it.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/23/2015
Independent publisher ComixTribe has been steadily growing their presence in the direct market, on Kickstarter and especially on the web. ComixTribe.com is a site that’s used not just to promote their products but also to give advice to inspiring and up-and-coming creators. I spoke to Tyler James, the publisher of ComixTribe, about building a reputation in the industry, getting sales and the publisher’s latest Kickstarter campaign for graphic novel The Standard.
The Standard Ultimate Collection Kickstarter is going great!
It’s a tremendous feeling to launch a Kickstarter, send an email, and then 36 hours later, get the printing for an expensive hardcover fully funded… and to do so without any major media coverage or heavy advertising.
Art by Jonathan Rector
That’s a testament to what ComixTribe has been building over the past four years and where we’re headed. And it’s validation for the extraordinary work of writer John Lees, artist Jonathan Rector, and the rest of THE STANDARD team.
This is not my first Kickstarter rodeo, rather it’s the sixth Kickstarter campaign I’ve actively managed. While the platform continues to change and evolve and add new features and wrinkles, the core of what works and what doesn’t hasn’t changed since our first successful campaign in 2012.
I hear a lot of creators talk about how stressful and nerve-wracking Kickstarters are… and they certainly can be. But I prefer to look at them like a month-long online comic book convention and an opportunity to build a deeper relationships with new and long-time fans. When you frame it like that, the stress melts away and you can have fun with it.
No disrespect to Mr. Waid, who is one of my favorite writers in all of comics, but when John and Jon first started working on THE STANDARD, he still had his comic book collection! So, any resemblance to Insufferable can be chalked up to coincidence and pulling from the same ideaspace that lifelong superhero fans such as Mark and John will draw on.
The fact that his has been a project long in the making is one of the things that’s so rewarding about this process. While some people (Lees included) were shocked at how fast we were able to get THE STANDARD funded, that 36 hours was really six long years in the making.
Marvel and DC, with their double shipping and weekly series, and the direct market in general, which is built on a monthly release schedule, shape the expectations of readers to think that comics take only a few weeks to make.
And while that may be true for well-compensated professionals working for fully-staffed companies that have been around for seventy years, it’s just not feasible in the indie world.
THE STANDARD was John Lees’ very first comic book… he was literally learning how to write comics as he wrote the series.
As John says in his Kickstarter video, when he first got started on this project, he wasn’t thinking about whether he had a marketable high concept, or whether it was going to sell, or whether there were other books out there like it. At that time, he didn’t know enough about the industry to even think if he should be thinking about that stuff!
Rather, John was thinking that this might very well be the only comic he’d ever make… so why not tell the one story he wanted to tell more than anything else in the world? And why not fill it up with everything he loves about comics – heroism, horror, mystery, romance, heartbreak, innocence lost, and yes, just the right amount of superhero cheese.
Josh Fialkov (The Bunker, Echoes) was gracious enough to write the foreword for AND THEN EMILY WAS GONE, John’s break out horror series from last year. In it, he talked (lovingly) about picking up EMILY #1 and “wanting to punch John in the face” for seemingly coming out of nowhere being so damn good.
What’s great about John’s work and THE STANDARD in particular is that it’s really not trading on a super original, ironic, hip high-concept. There have been plenty of meta superhero deconstruction tales before THE STANDARD and there will be many more to come. You mentioned Insufferable, but I’d actually point to Waid’s Kingdom Come as being a little closer thematically to THE STANDARD.
But it’s not about theme or high-concept. To paraphrase True Detective, “It’s all one story, man. Light and Dark.” What’s brilliant about THE STANDARD is its execution. There’s craft and love for the medium of comics gushing out of every page.
John is going to need a bodyguard when Fialkov realizes this was the first comic John ever wrote!
So, no, to your question. We had a few concerns about launching the Kickstarter, but none of them were about the content itself. This series is rock solid.
My main concern was juggling both the Kickstarter and also at the same time promoting the direct market launch of OXYMORON: The Loveliest Nightmare, our next series launching in August.
That’s a great question, and I’m always trying to study successful campaigns so I can later model things they do well on the ones I run.
Last month’s Archie Kickstarter campaign was a big story, and many people looked at that campaign scoffing at the lofty sum of $350,000 they were trying to raise for new projects as way too much money and a ridiculous, some might say “greedy”, goal.
Meanwhile, at the same time on Kickstarter, Tim Buckley “quietly” blew past the $350K mark for a reprint of his webcomic CTRL+ALT+DEL in just a few days, later going on to raise more than $665K.
So what continues to impress me about Kickstarter is that, of all platforms available to creators – the direct market, Comixology, Amazon, conventions — Kickstarter is easily the most level playing field.
Individual creators can be more successful than 70 year old publishers on Kickstarter.
While the big numbers of some of these crazy campaigns do catch my eye, the thing I love most about the platform and what impresses me most are the guys and girls going out there and launching their first campaign and succeeding.
Guys like Bill Walko who now gets to make a quality trade collection of his great webcomic Hero Business, or Kristi McDowell whose very first comic Gamer Girl & Vixen got funded.
The numbers don’t matter. I guarantee you, Tim Buckley was no more excited (and perhaps less so) by his $666K than Kristi was about her $7K.
So, yeah, I’m impressed by people who do their homework, run great campaigns, and then fulfill them.
As a side note, the most impressive Kickstarter I’ve ever backed was John August’s Writer Emergency Pack Kickstarter… because of its massive success and because he had his act together, John was able to get rewards out to backers a few weeks after the campaign ended, months earlier than promised. THAT was impressive, and one of the biggest tips I have for creators going to Kickstarter is under promise and over deliver.
So much! The platform is ever evolving. Back in 2012, not only did you have to sell your product, but you had to sell the concept of the platform of Kickstarter itself, and educate potential backers on how it all works. It’s nice not to have to do so much of that anymore, as Kickstarter has slipped more into the mainstream consciousness.
But there are still things I’m learning and working on. “Cracking the code” of the “Kickstarter Deadzone”… that period in the middle of a campaign where pledges and momentum stalls after a big open and before a huge close… that’s something I’m still working on.
Another thing I’m excited about is a new podcast I’ll be debuting next month called ComixLaunch: Crowdfunding Your Comics and Graphic Novels on Kickstarter…and Beyond! I get asked about Kickstarter more than just about anything else, and the articles on Kickstarter are the most read things on ComixTribe.com. So, I’m hoping to dive deeper with a weekly podcast laser focused on this stuff, and hopefully provide a lot of value.
Right now, more than half of all comic book Kickstarter projects fail. I know how much ink, sweat, and tears goes into creating comics and then running a campaign, so those stats are gutting to me.
But I’m very optimistic that ComixLaunch can help improve those numbers. I’ve had dozens of creators personally thank me for the Kickstarter resources I’ve posted on ComixTribe.com, and I’ll be able to go even more in-depth on the pod. Also worth noting, backers of THE STANDARD Kickstarter will be treated to an advanced listen of the first episode of the podcast.
One of my favorite quotes is by Zig Zigler, who famously said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” Success in business (and life) is directly correlated to the amount of value you bring to the world. So I get up every day trying to think about how I can best serve the comics community. The natural by-product of that is growth for ComixTribe. It is the epitome of a win win.
Now, when Steve Forbes (affable curmudgeon and ComixTribe Editor-In-Chief) and I first started ComixTribe on 1-1-2011, we didn’t have any comics to sell! We were both writing content for other people’s sites and decided to join forces and launch our own. We both have the heart (and in my case, the background and expensive degrees) of a teacher, and really do love helping other creators make better comics.
In fact, THE STANDARD is a true ComixTribe success story, as it was Steven Forbes who helped John Lees shape his rough concept into the polished gem it is today. Let that be a lesson to all you new writers out there… if you want to increase the odds that your first comic book project is publishable, HIRE AN EDITOR!
After you figure out the basics of this comics game, every creator and every small publisher should devote considerable effort into picking their edges. By that I mean figuring out what makes them unique? Why should anyone give a damn? What do they want to be known for?
Opening the ComixTribe kimono, so to speak, and being transparent about our successes, lessons learned, struggles and triumphs in the form of articles on ComixTribe.com has definitely helped distinguish us from other small comics publishers out there.
At the same time, as we’ve grown, and really expanded our titles, it’s been tough to balance serving both creators who are interested in our advice and readers who love our books. While there is certainly some overlap between the two audiences, and our peers are also some of our biggest supporters, it is a challenge to be viewed as both an imprint and a web resource.
But my purpose in life is to educate and to entertain, so I’ll likely always have a toe in both pools.
Adding revenue streams has been a core focus of ComixTribe over the past few years, and is certainly one of my primary focuses this year.
Here’s a little infographic showing where the ComixTribe revenue comes from, and when we’ve added those streams to our business, and relatively how important those streams are to our business right now.
If we had to rely on any one of those streams, we’d be dead in the water. The magic is in diversification.
Over the past couple months, I’ve been making a concerted effort to look for new partnerships, whether that be advertising, sponsorships, or affiliates that can bring value to our readers.
I spend at least ten minutes every day thinking of at least ten new ideas… ideas on everything from ways to sell more comics, to creators I want to work with, to things I love about my wife, to ideas for new lists of ideas… the list itself isn’t so important. The important thing is exorcising that idea muscle.
That practice is training me to see connections and solve problems more instinctively than before… granted most of the ideas I come up with are ridiculous and wrong for me. But it only takes a couple gems to make a significant difference in life and business.
So, yes, we’re adding new revenue streams and always looking for new potential partners, and you’ll see some of those come to life in the near future.
Right now, ComixTribe’s top focus is readership growth.
That means increasing our direct connection with readers and the best way to do that is to get our books into readers’ hands.
Free Comic Book Day 2015 was a huge win for us. We increased our reader email subscribers by about 50% thanks to the 50,000 copies of AND THEN EMILY WAS GONE #0 that were given out.
And everyone who subscribes to our list gets hooked up with the first issue of our five top titles, so that’s really our single best play to turn strangers into raving fans.
But readers aren’t enough… increasing the number of retailers carrying our books is also one of my top priorities.
Art by Alex Cormack
I’ve set a goal to double our direct market sales for our next series OXYMORON: The Loveliest Nightmare from our previous best seller. And I’ve already committed to a print run that’s double what we printed for EMILY #1, even prior to getting our Diamond orders… so the boats have been burned, there’s no turning back, now!
It’s true that the first four titles we introduced to the market were all superhero books, or at least twists on the superhero genre. Joe Mulvey’s SCAM for example, is a capes books where the capes were replaced with conman capers.
But I think it’s important not to confuse where ComixTribe chose to start, with where we’re going. Let’s remember that Image Comics, widely regarded as one of the most diverse and respected publishers today, started exclusively with superhero books.
And there’s a reason for that, right? Most creators were initially drawn to the medium by superheroes. Tracing cool panels featuring Spider-man at eight years old was my gateway into drawing my own comics.
When I first approached artist Cesar Feliciano about collaborating, I pitched him five different concepts… but he was most interested in doing THE RED TEN, a team superhero book, something he’d always dreamed of doing. (And that was the one I was hoping he’d dig as well.)
One of the great things about ComixTribe is that all the books we publish are, first and foremost, books we ourselves want to read.
And at 36 years old, I’m still not ashamed to say I love a good superhero yarn.
That said, I haven’t greenlit a new superhero project under the ComixTribe banner in a couple years now, and would have to have my socks blown off by a pitch to do so.
The new OXYMORON series actually takes the character who debuted in THE RED TEN, and strips away any and all superhero trappings. The high concept for the series that’s been generating a lot of buzz is asking readers to “Imagine The Joker came to a Gotham WITHOUT Batman.” So, this series is more police procedural and cerebral horror thriller than anything else.
Art by Alex Cormack
Likewise, we’ve got EXIT GENERATION from Sam Read and Caio Oliveira, a previously self-published gem from the UK, which is an all-ages sci-fi book with a punk rock ethos coming out later this fall.
Art by Caio Oliveira
Joe Mulvey’s next series, CounterTERROR, which we are soft-launching at the 2015 Boston Comic Con, is a political thriller mashed up with a paranormal action popcorn flick. Think “What if Jack Bauer was a Ghostbuster?”
Art by Joe Mulvey
And I fully expect Ryan K Lindsay (Negative Space, Headspace) and Sami Kivelä’s unannounced new surf noir book to raise the bar for ComixTribe again in 2016.
We also have a couple new anthology projects I’m very excited about coming up that take us into new exciting new genres.
In short, we unabashedly love superhero comics at ComixTribe, but we’re about a lot more than spandex.
I think most people who make comics would be lying if they told you they didn’t want the opportunity to work on the icons and make a contribution to the great comic book universes that they grew up loving.
Every creator has a Spidey story, or a Batman story, or I don’t know, a Howard the Duck tale, they’d love the opportunity to tell.
For me, it was Image Comics that really ignited my passion for creating comics, so having a book with an Image “i” on the cover has long been a goal for me. (You can listen to me fanboy gush over Erik Larsen when he was a guest on the Final Issue Podcast.)
So, sure, if given the right opportunity, I’d jump at the chance to work with legendary publishers.
But that’s not the endgame for me.
It’s an interesting time in comics. Marvel and DC, they have great talent working for them, sure. But the absolute best talent in comics are no longer found there… or at least no longer found EXCLUSIVELY there. Millar, BKV, Staples, Kirkman, Adlard, Ottley, Brubaker, Phillips… the cream of the crop all realized that the ceiling at the Big Two was far too low for their talents.
And that’s a great thing, I think, for the industry, and for comics in general.
One reader, shop, and creator at a time.
I sold my first comic at age 14 out of my backpack in school. (9 copies sold at a $1 a piece!)
Since then, ComixTribe has managed to get more than 200,000 copies of books printed and out there into the world. (Sorry, trees!) And as crazy as that number is to me, it still means we’re just a guppy in the comics industry ocean.
Still, ComixTribe has doubled its revenue every year for the past four years.
We are poised to double again this year, as long as we continue to execute.
It’s been a long, hard road to get here… a barely profitable, low six-figure business, that reinvests 100% of profits back into itself.
But it’s still early days for us. We’re maybe on mile two of our comics marathon.
And I see the roadmap…
I know exactly what we need to do to take ComixTribe to a somewhat profitable seven-figure business, and beyond.
(This is the part where I knock on wood… and remind myself of the danger of “best laid plans” and that I could be hit by a bus or a falling anvil at any moment.)
But it’s not rocket science. And it’s not all that complicated…
The closest thing I have to a success formula goes something like this: P + A + I + N + T = S
Passion + Action + Integrity + a Network + Talent = Success.
I firmly believe that if you have all of those ingredients, the only variable in your success is TIME.
Because the truth is, those ingredients, even when found in copious amounts, do take a while to cook.
And if you’re not currently as successful as you want to be… you may be lacking one or more of those elements, and that is where you should be putting your focus.
We need a new name for it because “The Golden Age” is taken… but these are the halcyon days for being a comic book creator.
Over the next few years, we’re going to get a million ComixTribe comics into readers’ hands.
We’re going to continue to add tremendous value to the comic creator community, through continuing the awesome free content on ComixTribe.com, and through podcasts and other educational products and ventures.
And we’re going to work directly with at least one hundred creators, and help a bunch of them break into the direct market for the first time.
How is ComixTribe going to do all this?
Well, I’ve got a plan, but I’m nimble, and will be figuring it out as I go along.
And you can be sure I’ll be doing it transparently and in plain sight, as I’ve done from ComixTribe’s inception…
So, just watch.
MATT CHATS is a weekly interview series with a person of prominence and/or value in the comic book industry. Find its author, Matt O’Keefe, on Twitter and Tumblr. Email him with questions, comments, complaints and/or suggestions praise at [email protected].
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/18/2015
In 2008, Oliver Mertz and Mike Isenberg came up with the idea for First Law of Mad Science, an affecting and strangely portentous story about a man whose innovative retinal implants a la Google Glass end up having major ramifications on the future of the world and the safety of his family. Seven years later, the co-writers, along with artist Daniel Lapham, have launched a kickstarter to fund the release of the series’ first collected trade.
A summary from their kickstarter:
Super-scientist George Baker’s newest invention, electronic retinal implants known as “Cyber-Eyes,” are nothing short of amazing. So amazing, in fact, and so cheap and easy to get, that some 40% of the population has gotten them within their first year on the market. But they aren’t perfect. Far from it. When things start going inexplicably and bizarrely wrong with the original test subjects, George and his family will have to find out why, before the problem spreads and causes worldwide panic. Along the way, they’ll uncover ancient civilizations, corporate conspiracies, sinister cults, other-dimensional creatures, awesome robots, subterranean cities, and Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.
In addition to several interesting backer rewards (including a bombastic night out at the karaoke bars with Isenberg), the Mad Science team has put together a special anthology featuring stories set in the FLOMS universe by industry veterans including Frank Barbiere and Amy Chu:
Science Club Mixtape is an anthology issue set in the cyberpunk meets Lovecraftian horror universe of First Law of Mad Science. Each stand-alone story will build upon that universe and shine a light into some pretty dark corners.
The anthology features stories written and/or illustrated by Shawn Aldridge (GoGetters, Vic Boone), Frank Barbiere (Five Ghosts, Avengers World), Michael S. Bracco (Novo, the Creators), Jason Copland (Pop, Daredevil), Stan Chou (FUBAR, Oxymoron II Anthology), Amy Chu (Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman, Vertigo Quarterly), Anthony Del Col (Kill Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes vs. Harry Houdini), Savanna Ganucheau (Toe Tag Riot), Leland Goodman (Basement Dwellers), Mike Isenberg (First Law of Mad Science, FUBAR), Daniel Lapham (Warhammer 40K, First Law of Mad Science),Conor McCreery (Kill Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes vs. Harry Houdini), Jeff McComsey(FUBAR, Flutter), Oliver Mertz (First Law of Mad Science, FUBAR), Jamie Noguchi (Yellow Peril, The 47 Bronin), Pete Toms (POP, Sacrifice), and Sean Von Gorman (Toe Tag Riot, Pawn Shop).
The team is seeking $15,000 to fund the project, with the vast amount going towards printing costs. The dedication they’ve shown towards this project is admirable, and I think the comics have been incredibly entertaining thus far. Give it a look and see if you agree.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/11/2015
The Federal Trade Commission has just sent a press release touting its first successful action against a failed Kickstarter campaign.
The FTC’s mission is to protect consumers from false or misleading advertising, and as part of its new FinTech program the agency is developing new strategies for curbing deceptive practices online. Target #1: The Doom That Came to Atlantic City, a crowdfunded vaporware boardgame that netted more than $122,000 for its would-be creator.
Anyone planning to start a Kickstarter campaign might want to consider what the FTC found wrong with this failed campaign and the penalties imposed in the resulting settlement. And if you’re wondering what this case could mean for the future, the FTC is hosting a Twitter chat with its attorneys today (Thursday, June 11) from 2-3pm.
Here’s the scoop from the FTC’s press release:
In its first case involving crowdfunding, the Federal Trade Commission has taken legal action against the deceptive tactics of a project creator who raised money from consumers to produce a board game through a Kickstarter campaign, but instead used most of the funds on himself. The defendant has agreed to a settlement that prohibits him from deceptive representations related to any crowdfunding campaigns in the future and requires him to honor any stated refund policy….
According to the FTC’s complaint, Chevalier represented in his Doom campaign on Kickstarter.com that if he raised $35,000, backers would get certain rewards, such as a copy of the game or specially designed pewter game figurines. He raised more than $122,000 from 1,246 backers, most of whom pledged $75 or more in the hopes of getting the highly prized figurines. He represented in a number of updates that he was making progress on the game. But after 14 months, Chevalier announced that he was canceling the project and refunding his backers’ money.
Despite Chevalier’s promises he did not provide the rewards, nor did he provide refunds to his backers. In fact, according to the FTC’s complaint, Chevalier spent most of the money on unrelated personal expenses such as rent, moving himself to Oregon, personal equipment, and licenses for a different project.
Under the settlement order, Chevalier is prohibited from making misrepresentations about any crowdfunding campaign and from failing to honor stated refund policies. He is also barred from disclosing or otherwise benefiting from customers’ personal information, and failing to dispose of such information properly. The order imposes a $111,793.71 judgment that will be suspended due to Chevalier’s inability to pay. The full amount will become due immediately if he is found to have misrepresented his financial condition.
This case is part of the FTC’s ongoing work to protect consumers taking advantage of new and emerging financial technology, also known as FinTech. As technological advances expand the ways consumers can store, share, and spend money, the FTC is working to keep consumers protected while encouraging innovation for consumers’ benefit.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 5/26/2015
Back in November, queer nerd organization Geeks OUT launched a kickstarter campaign to fund the creation of a convention by queer nerds, for queer nerds. A month later they’d far exceeded their $15k goal, raising nearly $20,000 to make their con a reality. I spoke with Joey Stern about what led him start Geeks OUT, how that led to Flame Con, and what queer geeks and their allied communities can expect from New York City’s first ever LGBTQ comic convention on June 13.
Edie Nugent: Tell me a little about your role at Geeks OUT and how you got involved with the organization.
Joey Stern: We founded Geeks OUT in 2010 after New York Comic Con. There was only queer panel that year and it was so packed that you had to stand in the back just to be there.
We wanted to make an organization that connected these fans, and gave them a more than once a year event to gather and see each other. We also wanted to make NYCC a gayer place, so we held events and parties as we fund raised to get enough money for a table.
It was really intense, but a year later, we debuted at NYCC with monthly queer comic/geek events and a table where people could come and find a group for themselves.
Nugent: So how did you decide to make the leap from that to putting on an entire convention?
Stern: We and the board of Geeks OUT felt like it was a natural progression and an opportunity to introduce an existing queer audience to amazing queer and ally artists and creators.
There’s so much out there now, it’s really hard to find a lot of the stuff that’s made for you, and Flame Con offers a connection for people and creators to meet and find new passions.
It also creates connections and empowers queer fandom, which is an important part of what we do.
Nugent: Why do you think comic book fandom appeals to the queer experience?
Stern: There really is no art like Comic Books. It’s not only informative, but it offers a lot more context for the writers’ words than traditional books do (or paintings offer on their own). They also have an indie experience, and like queer culture, were for a long time considered the realm of weirdos and freaks.
Comics in general are often about exploring new worlds and future tomorrows. And I think that idea is really appealing to anyone who has experiences of being on the outer edge of polite society.
For me, the X-men’s construct of creating new family, and finding friendship with people like you was really informative.
Nugent: You really leveraged queer fandom to launch Flame Con, raising almost $20k for the event. Were you surprised by how much support you received?
Stern: Yeah! Oh man, it was terrifying, we were worried the whole thing was going to fail, but people really came out to support us and this effort. It just shows how vibrant and important this community is.
Nugent: Do you think recent media attention on sexual harassment at cons, especially of cosplayers, helped identify a real need for a more progressive type of con experience?
Stern: Sure! But I think a lot of that work has been done by cosplayers coming to the media. It’s been really amazing to see people having that conversation and pushing for safer spaces (and to see cons, like NYCC respond positively to those changes).
Nugent: What are some programming highlights from Flame Con that you’re excited about?
Stern: We’re excited to be putting on all sorts of programming – hopefully something for everyone! A panel about writing for LGBT teens hosted by award-winning author David Levithan, a Q&A with Steve Orlando, writer of DC’s upcoming Midnighter series (DC’s first ongoing title to feature a gay man as a lead character,) a great panel on queer horror with Mark Patton, star of the infamously queer Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge and Cecil Baldwin, voice of the hit podcast Welcome to Night Vale, a panel about looking at Sherlock Holmes from a queer perspective, a discussion with some up-and-coming industry pros about costume design, and lots more. We’re really packing something interesting into every minute of this con! There’s also a performance from Sarah Donner!
Nugent: What makes Flame Con different from other cons that aren’t queer-centric?
Stern: It’s tailored to its audience. All Gender bathrooms, queer artists and creators taking center stage, and panels that are not Gay 101, but a bit more focused.
Nugent: How so?
Stern: Bigger cons have panels focused on Gay Artists, we have panels focused on writing Gay Sherlock Fan Fiction.
Flame Con is a one-day event on June 13 in Brooklyn. Here’s a complete list of guests appearing at the con. For more information check out their website and their Facebook page.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 5/15/2015
I’d been hearing word on the street that the controversial Archie Kickstarter campaign would be cancelled, and now about $30 K in andCBR has the official word. The planned titles—Jughead by Chip Zdarsky, Betty & Veronica by Adam Hughes and Kevin Keller by Dan Parent—will be published, as promised, but the rollout will be slower with Jughead launching in the fall.
According to Archie publisher Jon Goldwater, the negative attention was detracting too much from the actual projects:
“Very broadly, Jughead will come first, sooner than you’d think,” Archie Comics Publisher and CEO Jon Goldwater told CBR News. “Probably October. Then we’ll take a pause, figure out the rollout of the other two and how to best position them in the market. It’s going to take longer than we’d hoped, obviously, but these titles are top priority for us, and we want to make sure our fans get the best books possible.”
The decision to pull the Kickstarter, Goldwater said, came after the conversation no longer became about the books themselves — “Jughead,” to be written by Chip Zdarsky and illustrated by an artist to be named; “Betty and Veronica,” written and drawn by Adam Hughes; and “Life with Kevin,” written and penciled by Kevin Keller creator and Archie veteran Dan Parent and inked by J. Bone — but about the Kickstarter itself.
The Beat’s retail columnist Brandon Schatz had a detailed post on what he saw as the problems with the crowd funding effort last night.
The big problem Archie Comics is running into involves warring ideas. As a self-sufficient publishing company, they have certain contracts and financial details that they need to keep confidential. However, they are taking a step out of the “self-sufficient” bounds by asking for money – which demands that the math be shown. It might be a popsicle stick solution to a unique problem, but they are doing a poor job in convincing me that it can support the weight.
Don’t get me wrong: Archie as a company isn’t saying anything wrong. They are building a compelling narrative around this Kickstarter that I can get behind. They aren’t Marvel and DC. They don’t have parent companies, and so while they might be big, they’re still relatively small. This affords them the opportunity to move and change with greater ease, but such freedom also comes with a lack of safety net, so to speak. Opportunities arose, and tied up some funds. It happens. What’s losing me are the actions that have surrounded this launch, as well as the product currently being offered with the Kickstarter.
Other publisher Kickstarters—from Fantagraphics and Last Gasp—have been successful, but the grassroots effort seemed more appropriately placed than this one. Although the projects being funded—contrary to what everyone seems to think—were NOT going to be sold in Wal-Mart and Target, just putting the names of those chains in the same paragraph as “crowdfunding” raised an incongruous picture. Although this was a bump in the road for Archie they’ve definitely done the right thing by pulling the plug.
Archie released a statement to CBR on the effort:
We will be ending the Archie Kickstarter today.
We launched the “New Riverdale” Kickstarter as a unique and innovative way to celebrate the company’s upcoming 75th anniversary and to bring attention to some new titles that we are extremely excited about — “Jughead” by Chip Zdarsky, “Betty and Veronica” by Adam Hughes and “Life with Kevin” by Dan Parent and J. Bone. We decided to dive into crowdfunding as an energetic, interactive and different method to raise money to help expedite the launch of these titles. The chance to engage with our fans directly was really appealing to us, and we’re extremely grateful and honored by the support and pledges we’ve received.
While the response to these new titles has been amazing, the reaction to an established brand like Archie crowdfunding has not been. Though we saw this as an innovative, progressive and “outside-the-box” way to fund the accelerated schedule we wanted to produce these books, it became another conversation, leading us further away from the purpose of this whole campaign: to get these amazing books in the hands of fans faster than we could on our own. While we fully expected our goal to be funded, it was no longer about the books and how amazing they will be. We don’t want that. This is why we’re shutting the Kickstarter down today.
We don’t regret trying something new. It’s what Archie’s been about for the last six years. We will continue to be a fearless, risk-taking and vibrant brand that will do its best to embrace new platforms, technology and ways to interact with fans. As a company, we have always prided ourselves on pushing boundaries and challenging expectations and perceptions.
The wonderful New Riverdale titles we wanted to launch will still come out — albeit not as quickly as we would have hoped had we attained the funding via Kickstarter. We believe in these books and know they’ll find an audience in comic shops, fueled by great stories and amazing creators.
We’d like to thank the great team at Kickstarter for their guidance and feedback and the entire staff at Archie Comics for their endless hours of hard work and dedication to this very special initiative.
And, most importantly, to our fans that pledged money to this Kickstarter — we thank you. Your dedication, love of Archie and his friends and endless positivity are examples to all. We will be in contact shortly via Kickstarter to get a special thank-you gift in your hands as soon as possible. Your support means the world to us.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 5/14/2015
One of the more ambitious and important comics Kickstarter efforts now running is the Comics Uniting Nations effort. Spearheaded by Josh Elder, who already got the Reading With Pictures literacy effort off the ground, this is an equally important project that will communicate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals via the medium of comics. This is a great mix since comics have been proven to cross cultural lines, and communicating the important goals of the SDGs worldwide.
The campaign has been moving along but should get a boost from the first announced creative teams — including Action Philosophers van Lente and Dunlavey and (most excitingly to me anyway) Frédéric Brrémaud and Federico Bertolucci the team behind the exquisite wordless Love series. Anyway, here’s the line-up thus far:
Goal 4: QUALITY EDUCATION Writer: Yen Yen Woo (Dim Sum Warriors) Artist: Lars Jakobsen (Ganske Vist)

Goal 5: GENDER EQUALITY
Writer/Artist: Graphic India (Ramayan 3392A.D., Grant Morrison’s 18 Days)
Goal 6: FRESH WATER AND SANITATION Writer: Fred Van Lente (Amazing Spider-Man, Archer & Armstrong, Action Philosophers) Artist: Ryan Dunlavey (Action Philosophers, M.O.D.O.K: Reign Delay)

Goal 15: ENVIRONMENT ABOVE WATER Writer: Frédéric Brrémaud (Love: The Tiger, Daffodil) Artist: Federico Bertolucci (Love: The Tiger, Richard Coeur de Lion)
And some background:
“I was a United Nations employee for years before becoming a comics pro, and I am thrilled at this opportunity to be contributing again to their global mission,” says Fred Van Lente, the New York Times bestselling author tackling Goal 6: FRESH WATER AND SANITATION. “I’ve been doing comics for non-fiction and non-profits long enough to know comics aren’t just a great way to convey complex issues to a wide audience, they are the best way. With the great literacy advocacy group Reading with Pictures at the helm, this is a terrific chance to tell great comics and save lives in the process.”
“Comics change lives,” explains Josh Elder, Founder of Reading With Pictures. “Every comic fan already knows this because comics changed our lives. Now we have the chance to do the same for millions of disadvantaged men, women and children all over the world.”
“Publishing the LOVE series by Frederic Brremaud and Federico Bertolucci has been a thrill for us at Magnetic Press, not just because they are beautiful books, but because they speak about a topic near to our hearts: wildlife conservation and the world of nature that surrounds us, too often ignored in today’s society,” offers Mike Kennedy, Publisher/President of Magnetic Press, whose creators Brremaud and Bertolucci are working on Goal 15: ENVIRONMENT ABOVE WATER. “We hope that these books — and our participation in the Comics Uniting Nations project — can help open eyes around the world to these plights and interest people to at the very least become aware of the issues, if not actively participate in any way towards improving these conditions.”
Comics Uniting Nations is a partnership between Reading With Pictures, PCI Media Impact and the PVBLIC Foundation. The Comics Uniting Nations team is working in coordination with the United Nations Post-2015 Development Planning Team to create a series of seventeen comics addressing the world’s most serious challenges, such as climate change and sustainable energy, extreme poverty, health, education, gender equality, drinkable water and economic growth.
Comics UNiting NAtions has teamed with Abrams ComicArts, Action Labs, Andrews McMeel Universal, Archie Comics, Boom Studios, comiXology, Dark Horse, Dynamite, Humble Bundle, IDW, Madefire, Magnetic Press, NBM Publishing, Oni, Papercutz, Peanuts Inc., Teshkeel, TOKYOPOP, UDON and Valiant to run this Kickstarter with rewards and talent.
It’s not very often you get to support educating people around the world about the most important survival issues our planet faces AND create from kick-ass comics, so get behind this KS pronto!
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 5/11/2015
UPDATE: Archie president Jon Goldwater has released a statement on the Kickstarter. See below.
Well, here is one company you didn’t expect to be crowd funding things: Archie Comics has launched a Kickstarter for $350,000 to continue their updated, realistic version of the Riverdale Universe. For this amount, they will follow up the Mark Waid/Fiona Staples Archie book (due later this year) with a Jughead series by Chip Zdarsky and a Betty and Veronica Title by Adam Hughes, as well as Life with Kevin featuring Kevin Keller by regular writer Dan Parent and inked by J. Bone.
The Kickstarter has already garnered about $8000 and some social media scrutiny to say the least. Archie is certainly the oldest comics company to turn to crowdfunding, and some may be surprised that they need to raise capital to refurbish their line. While the Waid/Staples take on Archie was seen as the latest move in the line’s general freshening, it was also abandoning a formula that has worked for 75 years. Just the other day I spoke with Bart Beaty about his new book Twelve Cent Archie, and the incredible timeless durability of these stories. Launching a new, more contemporary, less iconic look is part of the general update that Archie has been busy with for the last five years or so.
Also, Adam Hughes on Betty and Veronica seems like a “male gaze” take on the characters that s bit out of step with the current popularity of girl-centric comics. But it does speak to a wealthy, older niche audience that might be into supporting this effort.
Developing.
Archie Comics, the acclaimed and bestselling comic book publisher that is home to some of the best-known pop culture creations in the world, including Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica, Josie & The Pussycats, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and the hit AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE series, announced today that it would launch a historic crowdfunding campaign via the popular Kickstarter platform.
The Kickstarter campaign’s call to action is a simple one: Help Archie Comics build a New Riverdale. Specifically, the Kickstarter will ask fans to help fund a slate of titles that build off the surefire success of ARCHIE #1 — the debut issue of a new, ongoing ARCHIE series from writer Mark Waid (Daredevil, Kingdom Come) and artist Fiona Staples (Saga). The series will be crafted by some of the biggest names in the comic book industry and feature the most beloved characters in comic book history.
The three new titles, launching over the next 18 months, include:

JUGHEAD — Featuring the adventures of Archie’s hamburger-loving best friend, from acclaimed writer Chip Zdarsky (Sex Criminals, Howard the Duck) and an artist TBA. An off-the-wall series full of laughs, unexpected twists and a modern sense of humor.

BETTY AND VERONICA — Girl-next-door Betty Cooper and wealthy socialite Veronica Lodge are best friends and fiercely competitive. While they both have a history with that guy Archie, the series puts the focus squarely on them — their friendship, their high school lives and adventures beyond Riverdale. Written and drawn by comic book legend Adam Hughes (Wonder Woman, Before Watchmen: Doctor Manhattan).

LIFE WITH KEVIN — Kevin Keller, the hugely-popular and historic character that broke new ground in Riverdale by being the first gay character in the company’s publishing history returns in a new ongoing series. Writer/artist Dan Parent (Kevin Keller) and inker J. Bone (The Spirit) tell a tale of an older, more experienced Kevin as he navigates a new city, new romance and leaving home.
“Our fans are part of our family — they’re an integral part of everything we do,” said Archie Comics Publisher/Co-CEO Jon Goldwater. “We’re not flush with corporate cash like Marvel or DC. But we’re also not afraid to take calculated risks. With this Kickstarter, fans have the chance to get in on the ground floor of an exciting and forward-thinking initiative. Fans can help build a New Riverdale, brick-by-brick. We’ve put together a stellar lineup of titles — featuring the best and the brightest creators working on our top characters. With your help, we can make this New Riverdale a reality. The best part? This is only the beginning.”

The crowdfunding initiative marks the latest part of the company’s 75th anniversary celebration — while also marking the beginning of a new era for the long-running publisher. With the launch of ARCHIE #1 on July 8, the company will be poised to reimagine its core characters while retaining the humorous and edgy elements that made them instant sensations when they first appeared.“When I first stepped into the Archie offices, the brand was frozen in time. The stories felt stiff and dated. That’s no longer the case,” Goldwater said. “This is a new Archie. A new Jughead. A new Betty and Veronica and a new Kevin. We’re holding onto the things that made them great — the humor, the love triangle, the friendship and youthful exuberance — but presenting them in a way that can appeal to everyone, from classic comic fans to new readers who might not know every nook and cranny of our history. Each part of this is a brick that will help build a New Riverdale. But we can only do it with your help.”
We live in a time of unheralded growth and awareness for comics. The Avengers are in theaters. The Flash is running around on TV and, defying odds; comic book print sales are staying strong while digital continues to grow. If comics didn’t already have an era dubbed the Golden Age, we could make a strong argument that this is it.
By now, you’ve probably heard the news: Archie Comics has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to help launch three new titles. These books will expand on the foundation being created in the pages of July’s ARCHIE #1 by the hugely talented team of writer Mark Waid and artist Fiona Staples. These books cannot exist without the support of our fans, the most important people in the world to us. The people that have supported Archie since day one, 75 years ago.
It’s also a good opportunity to talk a bit about story. About quality. About the relationships between the producers of comics – the publishers – and you, the fans.
I’m sure the first question you have about this is “Well, why does Archie need our money?” That’s a good and fair question. We understand and value every purchase our fans make. We’ve chosen to be fully transparent when launching this Kickstarter, as we have been in the past with all our initiatives. Let’s face it: we are not Marvel or DC Comics. We don’t have their bottomless bank accounts. We don’t have their corporate infrastructure.
We can’t launch 20 titles a month. We can’t flood the market with double-shipped books.
We are a privately owned company that has built a track record for being innovative, forward thinking, progressive, relevant and agile. Over the last six years, while I’ve overseen Archie Comics, we’ve acted more like a new publisher than one that’s been around for decades. We are the oldest start-up in history.
So, let me take it a step further. Not only are we not Marvel or DC – we don’t want to be.
We don’t want to tell convoluted stories that require fans to buy a dozen comics to understand one. We don’t want to reboot our titles every six months. We don’t want to alter characters to make headlines and then move on as if nothing happened.
We are not cloaked in secrecy. We’re here – we’re connected and we’re available. Our fans are as much a part of the company as our employees. We are all in this together.
What matters most to Archie Comics? For us, for me – it’s all about the story and art. It’s about making sure the level of quality is beyond sky-high. It’s about the characters. It’s about doing the best job we can to create the best comics possible with the best talent available. That’s why you have names like Waid, Staples, Zdarsky, Hughes, Parent, Aguirre-Sacasa, Francavilla, Hack, Swierczynski, Gaydos and more on our titles. The best and brightest doing career-defining work on characters recognized around the world. And this is only the beginning.
As we enter our 75th year, its obvious Archie is here to stay. This isn’t a plea to keep us in business. This is a call to action. We want to partner with our fans to build on something we already know is going to be a huge success – ARCHIE #1. But not through gimmicks, hype or smoke and mirrors. But through the thing that has gotten us to this point: great storytelling. Help us build a New Riverdale and vote with the one ballot that will get the attention of the Marvels and DCs of the world: your dollar.
Be a part of something new and vibrant. Support the little guy fighting to make some noise and show the slow-moving goliaths of the comic book industry how it’s done: through hard work, great storytelling and tactical and calculated risk-taking.
Help us build a New Riverdale for everyone.
– Jon Goldwater
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 5/7/2015
COMIQUECON 2015 COMING TO DEARBORN, MICH. NOV. 7; FESTIVAL
CELEBRATES GENDER DIVERSITY IN COMICS
ComiqueCon, a one-day festival celebrating women in comics, announced plans to bring its inaugural event to the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Mich. on Nov. 7. The festival will bring together female artists, illustrators, publishers and fans for a day of fun and discussion on the growing impact of women readers of comics and graphic novels.
“We’re thrilled to bring today’s most talented ladies making comics together for this one-of-a-kind event. Women don’t just read comics – they make excellent comics, too!” said ComiqueCon founder Chelsea Liddy.
This year’s festival, which is co-sponsored by Green Brain Comics, has already announced several main stage presenters including: Leila Abdelrazaq, graphic artist and author of Baddawi; Nancy Collins, author of Vampirella; Marguerite Dabaie, author of The Hookah Girl; Alex de Campi, author of Smoke/Ashes, Archie vs. Predator, Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman and No Mercy; Nicole Georges, author of Calling Dr. Laura; Mikki Kendall, co-author of Swords of Sorrow; and Mairghread Scott, author of Transformers, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and Bravest Warriors. Other planned events include a costume contest, artist VIP reception, discussion panels and a screening of the documentary “She Makes Comics.”
“It’s 2015 and it’s time to put the spotlight on some of the talented female creators working in the comics industry,” said Katie Merritt, co-owner of Green Brain Comics. “We at Green Brain Comics have always worked hard to highlight the diversity in the comics industry, both in the creators and the material they produce. Supporting ComiqueCon is a great way for us to continue that work.”
Cover by Dave Acosta
In an effort to help with the festival’s initial startup costs, ComiqueCon recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Tilt.com. The campaign will run through June 6 and includes numerous sponsorship levels. Sponsors who donate at the $25 level are eligible to receive a limited edition variant of Swords of Sorrow No. 1 with cover art by artist Dave Acosta, scheduled to publish on May 6. Other incentives include admission to ComiqueCon 2015, limited edition ComiqueCon 2015 buttons, and admission to a private meet and greet VIP reception on Nov. 6 with ComiqueCon artists and writers. To participate in the crowdfunding campaign, visit http://comiquecon.com.
I don’t know about you, but this is the exact kind of event that I’m excited to see happen and I hope it goes very well for them. Originally from the Detroit area, this very well may be the event to pull me back after more than 10 years.
For more information on ComiqueCon, or for sponsorship opportunities, contact Chelsea Liddy at [email protected].
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 5/6/2015
Welcome to MATT CHATS, where I (Matt) talk to a person of interest in the comic book industry every Tuesday at 4:30 PM Eastern. Today I am speaking with an industry veteran but relative necomer to the Image renaissance. When Brian Buccelleto offered the first two issues of his upcoming Image series Sons of the Devil (also a short film) to reviewers on a recent episode of the Word Balloon podcast, I jumped at the chance to read them and talk to him. As a fan of his collaborations with Francis Manapul on The Flash and Detective Comics, I was not disappointed, more than happy to discuss with Brian the differences between something on the screen and on the page, the effect crowdfunding has on financials and other aspects of the creative process.
Did you talk with Kyle Higgins about the process of bringing something from the screen to the comic book page?
He’s a really close friend of mine and so we talk about everything – including the process of filmmaking and comic books. That said, he helped me out a lot on the film. Shout out to Kyle!
How are your philosophies similar?
We love film and comics and want to do both. So I think everything we create is done with the hope of being able to tell the stories in both mediums.
What do you think are the pros and cons of doing a film simultaneously with a comic, as opposed to adapting a film years later like Higgins did?
I think the biggest pro for doing it simultaneously is that you can actually SEE the story come to life on screen, which informs what you do in the comic AS you are doing it. Having actors take your material, interpret it, and make it their own helps you see the characters in new and interesting ways. Also, in the case of Sons of the Devil, we were able to secure interesting locations and have visual reference that I then gave Toni in the script. I think there was a certain level of synergy with doing both comic and film together. For Kyle and C.O.W.L./The League, I think adapting it later allowed him distance to cherry pick the best elements of his short. Honestly, I don’t know if there is a downside to either. Making comics and films are each awesome experiences… getting to do BOTH is off the charts awesome.
What are some storytelling benefits of telling a story both on the comic page and on the screen?
I think the two mediums are similar but have their own inherent advantages in how the story is told. Film is a forward-moving visual medium where you experience the story with sight and sound. There is a momentum to films that you want to sustain because you HOPEFULLY have the viewer’s undivided attention and you want to keep it. It’s more of a sensory experience for the viewer. Comics are also visual, but are experienced at a pace dictated by the reader. There is no captive audience. In some ways that’s a disadvantage… but the benefit of a comic is that a reader can spend as much time on a single page as he/she wants. And the reader can go back and re-read and really digest the material without it hurting the experience.
What kind of audience did the Kickstarter attract? Was it more composed of fans of films or comics?
It was mostly comprised of fans of my work, who were intrigued by my transmedia concept.
Does the fact that the comic was funded through a Kickstarter campaign change the financials of the series at all? Because of the Kickstarter, for example, is the sales threshold lower?
II I don’t think being a Kickstarter project has any bearing on sales thresholds. In the case of SOTD, almost all of the funds we got went into the budget of the short film – which ended up costing more than what we got from Kickstarter. So financially speaking, the Kickstarter didn’t pay for the ongoing series. I had to get financial support from other means. But Kickstarter allowed me to start the comic book and get far enough down the road to pitch it to Image. This allowed me to take the concept from its initial plan as a one-shot to becoming an ongoing series.
Kickstarter is as much about marketing tool nowadays as it is a way to amass funds. How big of an impact do you think the campaign has had on the visibility of the work?
Honestly, I don’t know how directly Kickstarter will factor into the marketing of the book. I had approximately 250 backers, so I don’t think that number will significantly impact the sales number for issue 1.
For any artists looking to be discovered, can you describe how you searched for an artist for Sons of the Devil?
I feel VERY lucky. I was searching an international portfolio website called Behance when I came across Toni Infante’s work. I also tried DeviantArt and inquired using social media.
What were some of the challenges of working with a less experienced artist?
Honestly, I don’t look at his art or our lack of American comic credits and think “less experienced.” He is a professional artist with an amazing skillset, and I haven’t had any challenges that you might associate with a new artist.
Were there any benefits?
Only that I get the honor of working with him.
Was it hard letting go of the coloring duties for Sons of the Devil?
Not really. I’ve been coloring for 20 years and have had my fill. Of course, him showing me great coloring samples helped to make the decision easy.
You’re perhaps best known in the comics scene for your collaborations with Francis Manapul. Has it been difficult in any ways to be seen as a writer in your own right?
Not really. I made the decision to do my own solo stuff very early on, so that I could carve out my own identity as a writer. I self-published a book called Foster early on in our Flash run and did a 12-issue Black Bat story for Dynamite. I think it took a little more time for me to build trust within DC editorial so that they saw me as an individual in collaboration with Francis and not just the guy that he brought in to help. But to their credit, they have been very supportive of me and have allowed me amazing opportunities to shine on my own with Rogues Rebellion, Injustice and a few solo arcs on Flash. Oddly enough, I think Francis has had a tougher time being seen as a writer because he is such an amazing artist that it overshadowed his own writing chops. But he IS a writer/storyteller and has future plans to do his own solo stuff.
What are your hopes for Sons of the Devil professionally, creatively and personally?
Personally and creatively, I am always trying to grow as a writer and tell personal stories that resonate. So my hope is that each project I do is better than the last. Professionally, I would love for SOTD to be an ongoing series AND a television series.
Do you think the amount of great output from Image Comics good for business, or does it make it harder for your book to stand out?
I think there is always room for good books from every corner of publishing. The Image brand is obviously something any creator would want to be associated with. The amount of quality content that Image puts out means that retailers and fans will be more likely to try the book because Image’s track record is a promise of quality. As far as standing out among the other great books, I think that’s a challenge no matter how many books Image is publishing. There are 400 books that come out in a given month… so standing out is bound to be a challenge,
What’s the most exciting part of taking the plunge with a creator-owned series from Image?
Being able to tell the stories I want to tell EXACTLY how I want to tell them. Unfiltered.
You can find Brian on Twitter and his name on issues and trades in comic shops across the world.
One word, and the word is SQUEE!