Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, X-Men | Tagged: adam pollina, EY3K0N, gran theft auto, grand theft auto, Khaby Lame

Asking Hard Questions Of EY3K0N's Adam Pollina About Kickstarter

Adam Pollina came back to comics last year with something called EY3K0N, alongside Jae Lee, Tom DeFalco, Jim Cheung, and Khaby Lame.

Adam Pollina is a comic book creator and illustrator best known for his work over thirty years on Marvel Comics' X-Force and Rise of Apocalypse, Angel: Revelation at IDW, Charlemagne at Defiant, Rai and Fallen World at Valiant, Loose Cannon and Big Daddy Danger at DC Comics, and then last year Pyrate Queen from Bad Idea Comics. A strong style somewhere between Mobius, Jamie McKelvie and Geof Darrow, his work has been in demand from advertisers and designers as a result… but then he came back to comics last year with something called EY3K0N. Which launched with big names and a big NFT launch. He then launched the first actual comic on Kickstarter featuring the most followed TikTokker in the world. The project, which quite frankly looks absolutely gorgeous and I am totally down for, doesn't seem to have the Kickstarter backing one might expect. As it stands, despite getting the Kickstarter front page yesterday, it has donations of $23,168 from 139 backers with 24 hours to go. Well over its goal, but that is not what I would expect from a new graphic novel from the likes of Jae Lee, Tom DeFalco, Jim Cheung, Siya Oum, Ulises Arreola, Ron Frenz, Pat Olliffe, Richard Starking, Allesandro Micelli, Kewber Baal, Fernando Ruiz, A.K.A, Blake Northcott, Scott Lobdell as well as former creative director of Xbox Studios Sean Stewart as lead writer, with the co-creator of Grand Theft Auto Stewart Waterson and Jesse McMillin. And yes, Khaby Lame is the most followed person on TikTok. Turns out that if you build it, they don't always come. So what's going on with EY3K0N? I asked Pollina…

Rich Johnston: Adam, you've been out of comics for a while but came back big with EY3KONS. What's the biggest difference you've seen between then and now?

Adam Pollina: Honestly, it feels like we're all on the same team — the creators and the fans.  When I was a kid starting out at Marvel, there was a whole marketing department and publicity department between the creator and the media and the creator and the fans. Long before social media, there was no avenue for a young Adam Pollina to talk directly to fans outside of going to the half dozen or so comic book conventions across the country.   The occasional store signing.   There were times I would visit the offices and leave with a few piles of letters to the editors but it would have been out of the ordinary to write to someone at their home. Now, here we are in the days of social media, and any fan anywhere in the world can reach out and say they loved this, or "Try harder" or "Where did you learn to draw?". With Kickstarter, it can be even more intimate for the lack of a better word.  It is more like a partnership.   It is saying, "Hey guys, look what I and the rest of my team made!  Do you want in?"  They reach into their wallets and say "Hells yeah!"  I can see the numbers tick up with every single backer and I can answer their questions directly. So yes, it is different and I couldn't be any more excited about how we're making comics today.

Rich Johnston: Did you find attaching that launch to the NFT market, just as the NFT market was about to fall off a cliff, a problem in retrospect?

Adam Pollina: I don't look at life as a series of obstacles.  I always see everything as an opportunity. Growing up, I fell in love with Batgirl when she appeared in season three of a show that was cancelled.   But someone at DC was watching and they brought her into the DC fold and she's been around ever since.  Comics, movies, animated television shows, the works. There was another character, who started on an animated DC offering, Harly Quinn.   I can't say for sure but I'm pretty sure she started as a one-off who just got super crazy popular to the point she's had her own series for ten years, she's had her own movies and animated series. The point is no one knows where inspiration comes from or what characters or worlds are going to speak to a wider audience. When it is a 50-year-old doll like Barbie or Bazooka Joe the comic strip, or Cap'n Crunch the movie. So I am grateful every day that the world of EY3KON was introduced to the world and the people that supported us then are still our base.  And they are standing with us as we grow. I see Rebel Studios as a content creation company and I see it as a place that has attracted some of the most talented creators in the business as well as allowing me to reach out to people who see EY3K0N as their first opportunity to work in the industry. From small acorns do mighty oaks grow, as the saying goes.

Rich Johnston: You've brought in Khaby Lame, the most followed person on all of TikTok to be part of the graphic novel, with his own character, and he's been featured on the TikTok channel. But the take up of the Kickstarter by his followers seems to have been relatively non-existent. How come?

Adam Pollina: That is only partially true.   Because when you look at the metrics — and I don't feel it my place to share someone else's numbers — Khaby brought 10s of millions of eyeballs and hits to the project.   He brought us an awareness that we could never have reached on our own. Anyone that followers him on TikTok is watching him for free.   I was never under the illusion that the core of his base was going to sign on to Kickstarter and pay X-amount of dollars for a product that they might not have any familiarity with (As you know there are some people who don't even realise comic books are still printed or even where to find them). But Rebel Studios is here for the long haul — and if there were people who didn't necessarily respond to one of our properties doesn't mean they won't leap at the next comic or the next feature film we put out.

Rich Johnston: What does it say about TikTok influencers in general?  

Adam Pollina: What do I know?  I never really seen myself as their target audience.   What are your theories?

Rich Johnston: Makes me wonder if I should ove some of my own promotion elsewhere… But you have some of the biggest and best comic book creators across the industry on this project. How aware do you think their fans are of EY3KONs?

Adam Pollina: Honestly, I'm not completely certain. Several of our creators don't even have any social media platforms.  The Kickstarter may actually be the first time they're hearing about the EY3K0Ns. A lot of our efforts have been in trying to reach viewers on new and developing platforms. But we want absolutely no one left behind.

Rich Johnston: EY3K0N just made it onto the front page of Kickstarter.com yesterday? Has that moved anything?

Adam Pollina: I'm sure it hasn't hurt us in any way.   The truth is we've always looked to BleedingCool to boost our numbers!   Let's talk again after this article comes out.

Rich Johnston: No pressure. I noticed Black Mask just added Bleeding Cool tier covers to Godkiller. Does that help? No idea. But let's see what happens, because I genuinely think this EY3K0N comic looks very cool, and maybe, just maybe it will be even cooler if only 139 people have backed it. Okay, let's officially make that 140 EY3K0N donors while I'm typing this, shall we? Putting my money where my youth is. They say the biggest time to push a Kickstarter is before you launch, and just as the campaign ends. With twenty-four hours left to go, what do you hope from the final push?

Adam Pollina: I would be lying if I said I wouldn't love to see even more and more people join in the final stretch.   (We'll be adding add-ons and even giving away both hard copy and digital incentives to be sure.).  But if the internet took two days off and I learned on Saturday we hadn't made a dime more, I would move forward thrilled at the connections, the backers, the fans we've made and the creators we've gotten to work with creating our own world. I've stated many times we are here for the long haul.  In fact, I'm going to print this article out and pin it to my drawing board so when you interview me for our ten-year anniversary, we'll talk about Rebel Studio's past and future. As always, thank you, Rich, for giving creators a platform to share their thoughts and dreams.

Rich Johnston: November the 30th, 2033. I've just checked and it's a Wednesday. See you then, Adam. And the EY3K0N anthology's Kickstarter concludes tomorrow…

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rebelstudios/the-ey3k0n-anthology

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