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Karl Kesel On Bringing Back Section Zero Comics

Published Sat, 20 May 2017 17:00:51 -0500

Last updated Sat, 20 May 2017 17:42:35 -0500

Karl Kesel writes,

SECTION ZERO is everything I ever wanted to do in a comic, all in one place. At its most basic, SECTION ZERO is Jack Kirby does the X-Files. It's hi-octane high-adventure with core characters who have no particular super-powers— relying on their skills, smarts and maybe some luck to win the day— surrounded by an almost archetypal supporting cast— A sea monster! A gray alien! A Bug Boy!— all facing overwhelming odds and obstacles. And finding some way to win.

SECTION ZERO exists in a world of myth, folklore and urban legend— things I've found fascinating since before I ever read comics. The first book I bought with my own money was about dinosaurs (of course!), but the second was about the Abominable Snowman. I still remember reading Katherine Briggs An Encyclopedia of Fairies in college and thinking: "Why hasn't anyone done comic stories about this stuff? It's great!" So much untapped potential— and I pour it all into SECTION ZERO. After all, they're the secret organization protecting mankind from everything that doesn't exist!

Anyone's who's done a Kickstarter can tell you: you don't do it for something you don't love. It's too damn much work for something you kinda like! Tom and I are all-in on this one, heart and soul. We've been trying to find some way to finish this story for 17 years, after all! You only do that with something that you believe in. And we're out there every day trying to make more people believe in SECTION ZERO as much as we do.

But it's an uphill fight— because while we want to do this book more than anything else in the world, we also need to support our families and pay our bills. That means we have a high initial goal so we can actually get by— and believe me, we're talking bare bones here— for the four months of work it'll take to finish this book. This is uncommon— usually Kickstarters cover printing and postage and maybe work like colors and letters, but the core creators have either already completed the work, or are expected to complete it for free. That simply isn't an option for Tom and me. I would like to think people will understand and support that— very few of us can afford to work for 1/3 of the year for free— and just as importantly it would certainly open the door for a lot more creators to do work they believe in. But we are swimming upstream here, and can use all the help we can get.

I go back to our original tag-line for SECTION ZERO: "There is no SECTION ZERO"— which perfectly evoked the working-in-the-shadows/plausible-deniability side of the team. But the fact is without people's support, this project will never happen. So it's more true now than ever because, really— There is no SECTION ZERO… without you. (He says, looking straight into the camera.)

Yesterday we announced a new Reward Level for the SECTION ZERO Kickstarter: an Adam Hughes "Women of Section Zero" 11×17 full-color Kickstarter Exclusive print, for only an additional $20 for any existing backer (a slight increase in postage sometimes also applies). We've had great response to this news (no news there, if you ask me!)— another (substantial) step in our long climb towards our goal.