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IT'S ALIVE! Needs Your Help to Publish The First Ever Collection of DOPE by Trina Robbins
By Drew Ford
As you may have heard, my IT'S ALIVE! imprint was recently picked up by IDW. But it is still my imprint, and I wanted to explain to everyone how things work. I am still responsible to come up with the funds it takes to publish each book. Specifically, creator advances and restoration costs associated with putting each collection together. Before being picked up by IDW, my plan was to use crowd-funding to fund my collections, so even though I am now working with a larger publisher, nothing has changed. My first book, a reprint of a graphic novel originally published by Mojo Press in 1999, RED RANGE by Joe R. Lansdale and Sam Glanzman, had a successful Kickstater last month. Right now, I am Kickstarting the first ever collection of a comic book adaptation by Trina Robbins of Sax Rohmer's 1919 novel Dope. Here is the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/
When Sax Rohmer originally wrote Dope in 1919, he took on
new
subject matter
than
was not being seen in his other novels starring the infamous Dr. Fu Manchu. With Dope, Rohmer explored issues surrounding the international drug trade, and the death of a celebrity from
drug
overdose. Pretty outrageous stuff to be writing about in 1919, and considered by many to be one of his best novels. To be honest, there were some racial issues within the book that would not be acceptable today (which Trina Robbins will address in her new introduction), but otherwise this is a very intriguing story that grabbed the attention of the public at the time of
it's
release, and has established a cult following over the last several decades.
In 1981, Trina Robbins decided to adapt Dope into a comic book story. It was originally broken up into small
chapters,
and serialized within the pages of Eclipse Magazine (followed by Eclipse Monthly). The first several chapters were published black and white, at magazine size. But the last few chapters were published full color, at comic book size. So the trick with the collection will be formatting those last few color chapters to fit with the beginning black and white chapters. It's a little bit of work, but the final product is gonna be excellent!
We are also lucky enough to have publishing dynamo C. Spike Trotman providing a foreword, a new introduction by Trina Robbins, and A Distant Soil creator Colleen Doran supplying the afterword. All in all, it's really shaping up to be an incredible collection.
C. Spike Trotman
Trina Robbins
Colleen Doran
To help us fund the Kickstarter, we have many exciting rewards available, aside from picking up a copy of the finished book. Many incredible professional comic book creators have donated sketches and commissions, which you can pick up on our campaign page. For those interested, here is a list of creators who are donating artwork: James O'Barr, Nick Abadzis, Russ Braun, Rufus Dayglo, Colleen Doran, Jok, Teri S. Wood, Elena Casagrande, Matt Howarth, Jim Lawson, James A. Owen, Jessi Sheron, June Brigman, Mike Vosburg, Joe Ollmann, Mark Wheately, Shannon Wheeler, Don Simpson, Al Milgrom, Dean Motter and Larry Hama. Here is an amazing sketch of the Post Bros by their creator, Matt Howarth. But there's a twist. He is creating two of these for the current Kickstarter campaign, and as you can see in the sketch, the person who grabs it gets their name hand lettered into the word balloon by Matt himself. Pretty cool, especially if you are a Post Bros fan!
You can also pick up an original page of DOPE art by Trina Robbins (there is ONE left!), along with original pages of art by Sam Glanzman. And don't forget special pricing for retailers! Speaking of retailers, it is important to note that these Kickstarter versions of my books will be different from the versions that come out later from IDW. Here is that last original page of DOPE art to check out!
With each collection I am lucky enough to put together, I am trying to save the history of comics. I don't say that with arrogance, but with humility. Really. I am incredibly honored to work with all these talented creators to make sure their work doesn't become lost to obscurity. And while I won't be able to produce hundreds of collections a year, the handful of books I am able to produce, will be carefully and lovingly put together, in honor of the original creators, and for the entertainment of all people who love good comics…both now and in the future! I am really grateful for this opportunity, and while I do pick projects to work on that I personally believe should be back in print, I am crossing my fingers that the fans and readers will find immense enjoyment from them as well.
If you would like to support my mission of saving lost and forgotten comics, or more specifically, would like to help Trina Robbins collect Dope for the first time ever, please visit this link and become a backer:https://www.kickstarter.com/
Thank you.
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