Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, kickstarter, Stitches, venice

Kickstart A Comic – Venice, Our Village, Stitches, Asukari And Tales of Discord

Published Sat, 23 Jun 2012 10:00:07 -0500

Last updated Sat, 23 Jun 2012 12:16:19 -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's current project Break the Walls: Stories Inspired by the Songs of the Pixies is also being funded through Kickstarter.

Project: Venice

Creator: Pawel Wojciechowicz

Concept: Venice is a detective story, set in the future. In 2231, 99 percent of earth is under water. Only a few survivors are living on boats in the only Big City that is left- Venice. Orpheus, an ex-florist and the main protagonist in this comic, must find the last thing that could save the earth, a mysterious flower of life.

Fundraising for: "To finish work, I must focus only on this project, and I must have funds to do that, and to publish it, and pay my right –hand in this project- Sylvia."

Sweet spot: Pledge $5 or more. Venice Graphic Novel in format of your choice: pdf. or .cbr.

Cool Zone: Pledge $100 or more. You will receive a hardcover comics editions, and a limited Tie with an original drawing. Yes, tie! A true adventurer should have a long tie with fish! Everyone will have a different tie, no 2 ties will be the same.

Tipping point: Water World…only good.

So far: $705 of $15,000 with 2 days to go

Project: Our Village (History of Oak Park, IL)

Creator: Kevin Bry and Cyndi Martin

Concept: "Our Village," the Comic Book is an adaptation of Kevin Bry's one-act play of the same name. Like the play, the comic book is a documentation and dramatization of the social and political history of Oak Park, Illinois (a near suburb of Chicago). It begins with the area's Native American heritage, continues through the settlement by the area's first white settlers, through the village's establishment of its own government and the years when world-famous artists like Ernest Hemingway and Frank Lloyd Wright called Oak Park home, through the village's first and later African American citizens, to the vibrant and diverse community Oak Park is today. Help us produce and give away 10,000 edutaining comic books for free!

Fundraising for: "To finish work, I must focus only on this project, and I must have funds to do that, and to publish it, and pay my right –hand in this project- Sylvia."

Sweet spot: Pledge $5 or more. A Digital Copy of the comic book mailed.

Cool Zone: Pledge $100 or more. A signed copy of the original play on DVD, 10 signed copies of the comic book, mention in the "Thank You" section of the comic book, plus all the lower amount pledge rewards

Tipping point: Comics distributed free to help educate about local history.

So far: $110 of $1,500 with 4 days to go

Project: Stitches

Creators: Dan Melnick and Jack Lewis

Concept: Stitches is composed of 7 issues/chapters making a complete graphic novel. The story follows Hu YaFu, a young man of Chinese descent, struggling to find his own identity. The story opens during the funeral for the old man who used to live above him when Hu was a boy. The old man has left him a box containing an ornate needle and thimble, several spools of thread, and a cryptic note that only says "I'm sorry." Hu investigates the contents and through his searching and a series of his own flashbacks, we learn more about the old man. His people called him the "Fate Stitcher Man" and he had the ability to sew extra attributes like luck, courage, or compassion into peoples' souls. He's left the tools of his trade to Hu and now the people who used to work for the Fate Stitcher Man want them back. As Hu avoids capture, he continues to trace the origin of the magic needle and thread, while potentially continuing the legacy of the Fate Stitcher Man.

Fundraising for: The funds to pay for the penciller, cover simple lettering, and help pay for some basic publishing and printing costs.

Sweet spot: Pledge $25 or more. Receive a free advance copy of Stitches that's signed by the writer. It'll also be subject to the same delivery situation as the other copies.

Cool Zone: Pledge $500 or more. For a $500 pledge, you get your name on the thank you page, a signed copy of the finished graphic novel, AND an original art page donated by the penciller. You'll get the one of a kind original work that made it's way into the book.

Tipping point: The Fate Stitcher character seems like it will have great possibilities like a Mephisto for good instead of evil.

So far: $7,225 of $9,000 with 5 days to go

Project: Asukari

Creators: Alex Griffin

Concept: Asukari is a strong female character who commits her life to helping people who can't help themselves and leads her people out of the shadows of colonialism and toward unity.

Fundraising for: With the money you pledge, he will be able to complete the first 50 page graphic novel. The funds will cover all of the artwork, concepts, printing and distribution.

Sweet spot: Pledge $25 or more. A copy of the first volume signed by all the artists, writers and creators of Asukari.

Cool Zone: Pledge $100 or more. A creator's diary that will have all of the concept art of Asukari and characters. This will also have all of the equipment and machines that were used in the story. You also get an Asukari t-shirt and a signed copy of volume 1.

Tipping point: The Kickstarter video shows her as a female Punisher type character.

So far: $551 of $6,000 with 10 days to go

Project: Tales of Discord

Creator: Paul J. Salamoff, Giuseppe D'Elia, Diego Molano, DJ Burgess, and Leah Novak

Concept: After crash-landing on a distant planet, which leaves everyone onboard dead and dismembered, a member of a popular superhero team is reassembled and resurrected by the indigenous aliens with the useable body parts of the rest of his team (as well as the enemy). As he deals with the grief of losing his friends as well as his own identity, he must also come to terms with not just who, but what he is.

DISCORD explores the themes of self and the loss of identity. It deals seriously with the issues of love, friendship and family and how these can be torn apart by despair and self loathing. It also examines what it means to be a hero both as a member of a team as well as an individual. In so dealing with the thin line between good and evil.

Because of the success of DISCORD and input from the fans, I have decided to expand the universe by releasing ONE-SHOT PREQUELS that focus on individual members of Team War Hammer before the tragedy.

These "TALES OF DISCORD" will not only give you a look into the different personalities of each member but will also lay the groundwork for what's to occur in the upcoming graphic novel sequel to DISCORD that Giuseppe D'Elia and I are currently prepping.

The Five Titles will be:

TALES OF DISCORD: Iridian
TALES OF DISCORD: Solaris & Moonshadow
TALES OF DISCORD: Sinew
TALES OF DISCORD: Massive
TALES OF DISCORD: Chromatic & Moiré

They will be collected into a single trade paperback graphic novel called TALES OF DISCORD: The Complete Series.

Fundraising for: All funds raised will go to the creation of the 5 issues of "TALES OF DISCORD" and the collected graphic novel "TALES OF DISCORD: The complete Series" (i.e. page rates for the artists, lettering).

Sweet spot: Pledge $30 or more. Signed trade paperback of Tales of Discord: The Complete Series. PDF version of the Discord graphic novel. Your name is listed on the Thank You section of the Tales of Discord trade paperback.

Cool Zone: Any pledge level. TONY LEE, the writer of IDW's immensely successful DOCTOR WHO series, the graphic novel PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES and the upcoming Image comic MACGUYVER (to name only a very few) will randomly select the name of one lucky backer to use in an upcoming comic script, TV show script or movie screenplay.

Tipping point: Team comics can be challenging with team members who don't get along. Discord is the tale of what happens when all those team members are part of the same person. Tales of Discord introduces us to the people before they were parts. If you donate at a certain level you get copies of both to read.

So far: $2,822 of $11,000 with 11 days to go

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