Here at Fanbase Press, we strive to provide an outlet for up-and-coming creators to promote and showcase their incredible works. With thousands of creators utilizing crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo to make those works a reality, we will highlight these talented creators and their noteworthy campaigns through #CrowfundingFridays! We hope that you will join us in giving these projects a moment of your time (and possibly your support)!
As a special feature of this week’s #CrowdfundingFridays edition, I would like to highlight the success that comics-related Kickstarter campaigns have had during the first six months of 2023.
According to Oriana Leckert, Kickstarter’s Head of Publishing & Journalism (who was also overseeing the Comics category in the first half of 2023), “When I look at the five most-funded projects from the first half of the year, I’m struck by how masterfully these creators are growing their audiences on Kickstarter. Brian Pulido has done more than 30 Coffin Comics campaigns; Lorenzo Etherington and BOOM! Studios have each done more than 10; and Bad Idea has done two. In all of these cases, the creators are dramatically increasing their backer numbers and funding amounts time after time. It’s amazing to see creators of this stature on Kickstarter, artists and publishers who are brave enough to share their wildly creative ideas with the world, being rewarded for their courage by getting more support each time around. It’s thrilling to watch creators finding and activating their communities on Kickstarter.
Kickstarter’s new Head of Comics, Bryce Gold, noted, “When I joined Kickstarter in May, I stepped into a platform that is already a market leader, the go-to for creators in the comics industry. As the data shows, we’re attracting more pledges, more projects and we’re seeing an increase in the number of successfully-funded campaigns year-over-year. I’m excited to build on this momentum and take Kickstarter to the next level by focusing support on creator-owned projects big and small, and reshaping the dynamic between creatives and comics production.”
As provided by the team at Kickstarter (following their mid-year review), below are some incredible items of note regarding not only the incredible success of individual campaigns, but of the longevity and importance of crowdfunding as a whole for the comics medium:
- Compared to H1 2022: [Kickstarter] saw a 14% increase in the number of projects launched in H1 2023 (1,666) compared to H1 2022 (1,457). [They] also saw a 22% increase in the number of dollars pledged. $14.4M in H1 2022 compared to $17.6M in H1 2023.
- Number of Comics projects launched: 1,666
- Number of successful projects: 1,171 Comics projects successfully met their funding goal. This is a 13.5% increase compared to the same time last year.
- Success rate: 78.1% of all Comics projects met their funding goal
- Top 5 markets: 72% of all Comics projects in H1 2023 were from the U.S., followed by:
- Great Britain: 11%
- Canada: 5%
- Italy: 1.8%
- Australia: 1.6%
- Most-funded Comics projects: The top five most funded Comics projects between January – June 2023 earned a total of $3.8M in pledges. The top 5 projects are:
- THE EXPANSE: DRAGON TOOTH: THE EXPANSE: DRAGON TOOTH is the first new story since the Season 6 finale of the acclaimed Amazon Prime Video series. Developed alongside James S.A. Corey and TV studio Alcon Television Group, superstar writer Andy Diggle (The Losers, Green Arrow: Year One) and rising star artist Rubine (Voltron: Legendary Defender) the book promised to tie together the threads of the show and answer lingering questions in this monumental 12-issue comic book maxi-series. The project raised over $1M in just six days, blowing past its initial $25K funding goal. In total, the project raised $1,405,859.
- HOW TO THINK WHEN YOU DRAW VOL. 6: How to Think When You Draw books are each 200-page, full-color, hardback books that bring together drawing tutorials from creator Lorenzo Etherington. Lorenzo is one half of The Etherington Brothers – a duo that has created comics, art and stories for many of the world’s biggest publishers and studios including Disney, Dreamworks, etc. Lorenzo came to Kickstarter to raise funds for the sixth book in the How to Think When You Draw series and to get funding to reprint the sold out volumes 1 – 5. The project raised $864,358 – more than 685x its original funding goal.
- POWER RANGERS: A 30TH ANNIVERSARY COMIC BOOK CELEBRATION: To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Power Rangers series, this BOOM! Studios Kickstarter campaign offered fans the opportunity to collect three brand new, Power Rangers 30 Deluxe hardcovers. The books spanned the first three decades of Power Rangers storytelling in comics–Power Rangers Archives Book One, Power Rangers Archives Book Two, and Power Rangers Lost Chronicles Book One. For its backers, BOOM! Studios also offered a variety of new commemorative comic books and merchandise, including an exclusive POWER RANGERS 30 Angel Grove letterman jacket. The project raised $676,733.
- LADY DEATH CYBERNETIC DESECRATION: Brian Pulido, creator of Lady Death came back to Kickstarter to raise funds for a new, 48-page graphic novel. The new story would see Lady Death thrust into an alternative dystopian future Earth where her evil persona Empress Death has nearly extinguished the human race. Empress Death’s mission is to eradicate the last 999 souls on Earth to achieve the death of all life on Earth. Can Lady Death, weaponless and alone, navigate this nightmare and defeat the most evil foe she has ever faced? The project raised $511,170 and earned its first $100K in pledges in just five minutes.
- MEGALITH: In 2018, Matt Kindt (BRZRKR) partnered with the legendary Lewis LaRosa (SAVAGE) to create a comic book. They spent a mammoth five years in production to create MEGALITH, a cosmic odyssey that kicks off when a gigantic, hundred-story tall humanoid crashes onto Earth. The team came to Kickstarter to raise funds to help bring the book to comic stores around the world. They raised $393,850, surpassing their $10K funding goal.
On behalf of everyone at Fanbase Press, I hope that crowdfunding will continue to serve as an invaluable resource to comics creators of all experience levels, allowing them to share their voices and their stories with readers everywhere.
~Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief
Project #1: Terminus Veil: Volume 1
What it’s about: In the past year there has been a significant rise in theft of cutting edge technology, one private security team is caught in the middle and must find out who is responsible for these violent robberies if they want to keep their clients happy and stay alive. Follow Guardians International, a private security firm who are thrust into an epic conspiracy involving dangerous robberies, futuristic weaponry and gut wrenching betrayal. The leader of the Guardians, Wei “Quan” Gong is locked into a power struggle with a calculating and cutthroat scientist, Dr. Edward Clarence.
Click here to visit the Kickstarter campaign.
Project #2: Monster Matador: Once Upon Some Monsters in Mexico #1
What it’s about: Monster Matador is a delightfully demented Kaiju throw-down that follows Matador Ramón Alejandro Estévez Guerrero as he travels a post-apolcalyptic future to fight monsters and make a better world for his daughter. This campaign is to raise funds to print for a brand new Monster Matador adventure, Monster Matador: Once Upon Some Monsters in Mexico #1 — a 32-page comic that picks up after Volume 1 and finds the Matador reunited with his daughter in Mexico. But there’s barely time to catch up as a new monster rises and attacks Mexico City! Joined in battle by a monster-fighting band of Luchadores, the Monster Matador must find a way to face his greatest fear in order to defeat the MEGARACHA!
Click here to visit the Kickstarter campaign.
Project #3: Kings & Canvas: Mammoth Edition
What it’s about: An original boxing fantasy tale, Kings & Canvas explores the lengths a man will go to find purpose after life, liberty and career have passed him by. Simply described as “Game of Thrones meets Rocky Balboa” (but with sea dwarves, pirate referees, and talking, boxing dragons), Kings and Canvas is a tale of dynasties, boxing, family, and revenge…in a new world where honor is gained not by using guns or swords, but rather fists, wits, and the courage to change. This campaign collects all the previously published issues of Kings & Canvas (the one shot—”The Dragon’s Gloves”—and issues #1-5, the first five parts of the initial story, “Mammoth”) and also includes the brand-new, never-before-seen sixth issue by the original team—Neil Kleid, Jake Allen and Frank Reynoso—wrapping up the first arc!
Click here to visit the Kickstarter campaign.
If you have a crowdfunding campaign that you would like to have included in Fanbase Press’ #CrowdfundingFridays series, please contact barbra (at) fanbasepress (dot) com for details.
