Kickstart From The Heart: Razor

Published Fri, 21 Jun 2013 12:00:09 -0500

Bleeding Cool's Kickstarter Correspondent, Shawn Demumbrum has lead three Kickstarter campaigns to launch comic books, two successfully funded and one that wasn't. Each week he will point out some of the unique Kickstarter projects that wouldn't normally be published by the big comic book companies, but deserve your attention. Shawn is the Manager of Comic Book Programming for the Phoenix Comicon. He is currently working on the Nothing Can Stop Me Now: Stories Inspired by the Songs of Nine Inch Nails.

This week we talk to Everette Hartsoe, the creator behind Razor. Razor was a comic book that ran from 1992 to 1999. I look through at least 100 Kickstarter projects a week looking for the interesting projects to highlight. The first thing that grabs me is the artwork in the thumbnail descriptions. If it interests me enough, I watch the video. The most interesting videos are the ones that have the creator talking passionately about their project. I don't think I've seen a video with more passionate about their book than Everette. Check it out for yourself.

Tell us about Razor.

Razor is the story of, Nicole and Jacklyn Mitchell, two little girls that witnessed the brutal murder of their father Frank Mitchell, by the hands of criminal overlord, Roman Vondrake. The younger sibling, Jacklyn, leaves the safety of her hiding place to be near her dying father, while Nicole remained still, frozen in fear. The henchmen take Jacklyn with them, while a distraught Nicole is found days later sleeping beside her father's corpse. With no family to call her own, Nicole is sent to live with a variety of foster parents, but she could never fit in due to her violent outbursts and fits of rage. Psychiatric evaluation at Brighton Mental Hospital, soon had a new patient, Nicole Mitchell. For 10 long years, that was called home and even more abuse ensued by the hands of the trusted orderlies. Within those walls, she learned everything she could to one day emerge from that asylum and extract her revenge on everyone that caused her pain and find out what happened to her sister. While on the outside, Nicole adopts the name "RAZOR" for the knife that was used to slit her father's throat. She would become the very instrument that took everything away.

I read that Razor had the movie rights optioned by the production company who produced The Crow. Is that still happening or is the graphic novel what could have been (or still might be)?

It is, in fact, happening. We have an A-list director with a 30 year track record in Hollywood , with a few giant hits under his belt. At the point of this interview, I can't say his name, but he is writing a new draft of the screenplay which I'll have in hand after July 4th to review. As for the graphic novel, it is my 're-telling' and revamping of a 20 y/o character to a new generation of comic readers and to have a fresh product on the stands as we go into film production.

The origin of how Razor came to be is inspiring. You used a tax return to fund the initial Razor comic. Is Kickstarter an extension of that unique origin story? Why did you choose Kickstarter?

Yes, I did use a $1200 tax return to produce RAZOR #0. It was a gamble for me and my family, but the gamble paid off. I have seen Kickstarter as that same gamble. As you know, some projects don't make it and some do fantastic. I hadn't published in so long, I really didn't have much to lose. I knew I had to produce a new book regardless if I sold it today or next year…it had to be done.

You had a pretty modest Kickstarter goal for a 150+page graphic novel of a little under $1k. What can you do with a budget of $10 ($12k minus the Kickstarter fees) that you wouldn't have been able to do before?

I'll be able to now take the book into more markets, plus provide all of the great swag. I've added to the backer's packages as each stretch goal has been met. LOL. There's a lot of extras in there now. I have been given a fresh start to return to the art form I've loved since I was a child and keep creating. The fans old and new are speaking loudly with their enthusiasm and pledges. I'm overwhelmed by the support.

The unique thing about Kickstarter is that you can see through their tracking tools the source of your pledges. Are most of your pledges through your fans? Are you reaching a whole new audience who hadn't heard of Razor before?

A majority is NEW people such as yourself that stopped, looked at the art and watched the video and said..hmmm this looks interesting..why not go for it and get some cool stuff in the process. I'm very friendly to all my backers, talk to them all day, answer questions, and help customize their packages to suit their budgets. I want everyone to feel good about backing a creator-owned project in a grassroots movement.

Being funded has an advantage because pledgers are assured that the book will actually be produced. What can you say to potential pledgers sitting on the fence to get them to pledge? This is the place where I ask for a special Kickstarter Bleeding Cool dance dedication video if you top $15k with help of our readers.

The book itself will go up and over anything I've done in the past. The quality of the product and the swag that comes with it will be topshelf. But besides all that, this book has 1 key element most comics are void of, my very soul. Some parts of the story itself are very personal to me and pull from real life experience as I had my own sister murdered on July 4th 1982, she was 12, I was 15 nearly 32 years ago. When I think of her, I recall a time we were racing in the field after a rainstorm, she slipped on the wet grass and cut her leg pretty bad and I carried her all the way home to take care of her before my parents arrived. That moment in time left a scar on her leg, but loosing her left a scar in me, a scar that can't be healed..patched up from time to time, but never quite healed. That one moment in time serves as my fuel for Razor and she can extract my vengeance with every story I tell.

And yes, when we hit $15k I will dance and hold up Bleeding Cool Fansign in the vid.

Seriously folks. If you haven't seen the Kickstarter video or updates for Razor. Check it out. Everette's enthusiasm and dance moves are infectious.

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