The following is an interview with Ernie Altbacker (Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires) and Josh White (Stranded) regarding their upcoming return to Kickstarter with the third issue of the comic book series, Area 51 Studios. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Altbacker and White about where readers will find themselves in the intergalactic adventure, the backer rewards available to those supporting the campaign, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: You will soon be returning to Kickstarter with the third issue in the Area 51 Studios series which is set to go live on Tuesday, May 19th. Where will readers find ZB in his production woes for the TV show, The Human Race?
Ernie Altbacker: Woes over! In this issue ZB “solves” his big problem by putting the Earth’s very existence at stake. It’s totally self-serving and amoral, but does wonders for his ratings. The show becomes a galactic sensation, and that spins the story in a different direction which brings more fun stuff into play.
Josh White: I said this about Issue #2 already, but this one was the most fun yet. We really get to see more of the characters’ personalities shine through. Being 31 pages long, Issue #3 is a third larger than the first two, so we get a bigger playground to explore the galaxy. We see even more alien worlds, plot twists, characters, sets, and environments.
BD: With fantastic critical and reader response to the series, what has been your experience in seeing this story find its way into the world?
EA: It’s been great! The people that give us a look seem to love it. For those of you unaware, in the world of Area 51 Studios, Area 51 is a secret government base, but not for the reason you think. It’s actually a studio where aliens come to shoot their low-budget, galactic reality shows, programs, movies, etc. It’s kind of like Seth Rogan’s The Studio mixed with Men in Black. And if you’re a geek (and I say that with love, as I’m one also), you’ll appreciate all the references we jam in. In our world everything that you know as sci-fi or fantasy actually happened somewhere and alien producers are trying to make a buck off it. Or, in our case, a graknul.
JW: Honestly, it’s been a big learning curve because we’re both new to creating something soup to nuts like this. Going through the whole process of developing characters, personalities, art style choices, and finding the physical means to print the books themselves has been surreal. Also, it’s amazing to me how much personality the story takes on once you get it going – to me, the characters are so much more “themselves” by issue 3. It’s sort of like seeing a sitcom hit its stride after a couple seasons. It’s neat to experience.
I think for me personally, getting feedback where people pointed out parts of the story that made them laugh out loud was really fun. That kind of response makes me feel that we invested the right amount of time and energy in the final result.
BD: With two successful Kickstarter campaigns under your belts, why do you feel that crowdfunding has become such a valuable asset to independent creators?
JW: Until recently, creators simply didn’t have the option to put something out there. We all heard stories like Eastman and Laird getting Ninja Turtles into comic book shops, but those stories are far and few. Getting any significant reach was begging corporate studios to like your project enough to pick it up and most likely you’d get a bad deal. Crowdfunding was the leap that gave indie creators the platform to actually build a fanbase if they wanted to.
I pushed pretty hard for crowdfunding from the start, if for no other reason than we retained control over the property. We talked about going to publishers, and we did a little of that, but in the end, I didn’t want to ask permission to put something out there. It’s such an incredible tool that gives indie creators a real option to choose.
EA: I agree. I don’t think we could have done it otherwise.
BD: Are there any particular backer rewards for this latest campaign that you would like to highlight for our readers?
EA: We’ve had a phenomenal response to the Draw-Me-In reward. That surprised me.
JW: Yeah, that was kind of a joke initially. I’ve since seen a number of creators with similar offers, so it’s apparently growing in popularity. We’ve got some fun alt covers, one from artist Don Nguyen with a classic Star Trek-themed cover, and I’m making an homage to Total Recall. Really, it’s just an excuse to pay tribute to all the sci-fi we loved growing up.
BD: Are there any additional projects – past or current – that you would like to share?
EA: An animated movie I wrote with director Juan Meza-Leon for Warner Bros, called Aztec Batman, played on 500 screens theatrically in Mexico and finished 9th in their box office, including live action. You can see it on HBOMax now and stream everywhere. I also sold my first original graphic novel, but I have to keep a lid on that until the press release. We’re hoping to get it out sometime next year.
JW: We’re planning on wrapping up Area 51 Studios in 2026 if we’re able with Issue #4. It’s written, but we haven’t completed the storyboards yet. We’re planning to launch Issue #4 with even more bonus materials. And for those that are just learning about it, we want to release a full-sized graphic novel with the entire story so they can pick it up in one volume.
I’ve got three projects in the works I’m planning to get to once Area 51 Studios wraps up – one is a fantasy storyline focusing on frogs, toads, and other amphibians. The second is a sci-fi graphic novel. And lastly, I have a story for a middle grade horror graphic novel I really want to try and tackle once we have the time. And we’d also like to return to Area 51 Studios. There’s a lot of interesting stories to explore there. It’s a large galaxy after all!
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about Area 51 Studios #3 and your other work?
EA: You can see the Kickstarter for Issue #3 at Area51comic.com/ks. And I’m on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn under my name, ErnieAltbacker. If you have a question about any other animated movie or show I’ve done, hit me up.
JW: You can find me on my website at jwillustration.com – all my socials are on there, but I’m mostly on Instagram right now. News for upcoming projects will be posted there, so you can sign up for updates or just see what’s new.
If you do follow us on Kickstarter for Issue #3, you’ll get an exclusive discount link that’s good for the first day when we go live May 19. But even if you don’t follow us, go on Kickstarter and browse the indie comics and graphic novels there. There’s so much good stuff to find!
