Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, cthulhu, entertainment, kickstarter

Strange Self-Love: How I Learned to Cthulhu and Love Kickstarter

Steven Saunders writes,

When Rich here at Bleeding Cool reached out to me and some other folks doing Kickstarters and the like, I was sure to take notice. Man, here was our chance! Finally some more press coverage. I read through his email, taking in every word, nodding to myself and saying "Uh huh" and similar mumble-grunting out loud. A lot of people read Bleeding Cool. Heck, you're reading this right now. And I probably don't know you, but that's pretty neat. My words are in your head! This is where I say something like "The stars are now aligning" or some bullsh-t like that.

The gist is simple: Write a catchy article to get readers interested. Hey, we're writing our own media promotion! Is this some kind of cynical ploy for content? I'm sure it is in a way. However, considering the deluge of attention-seeking Kickstarters on any kind of media outlet that will read an email or whatever, I really don't blame Rich and the Bleeding Cool team. This is really a win/win for everyone. Or lose/lose if the article doesn't run or is a giant pile of sh-t that not even our moms would like.

But where to begin? I've already preambled the crap out of this, so I'll cut to the chase: I'm here to promote Cthulhu the Conqueror, yet another Cthulhu and/or comic book based Kickstarter campaign. I'm here to tell you about the vision artist Myke Allen and I have, the need for funds to make it happen, and the awesome kick-punch-kill factory that Cthulhu the Conqueror is. Why even bring it to Kickstarter? I suppose that's a good question…

Blah blah blah, crowdfunding, blah blah blah, investment platform. We've read and heard it all before. Hell, I might not be the best person to talk about this simply because I'm already rather jaded over Kickstarters whole thing before it ever began. Kickstarters can suck the life out of you, as well as suck the basic decency out normally very kind and cool people. How many times have you gotten a private message from someone you hardly know begging for you to check out their Kickstarter? There are people I have never directly engaged in– not even by Facebook comment arguing over a taco recipe or Donald Trump's hair– and yet they'll send me a lengthy message asking for my consideration of their project; and then the inevitable follow-up. Do I respond? Do I tell them to f-ck off? Do I just smile and nod? Or do I just ponder waffles? I suppose it all really depends on the pitch… the project content itself is usually a distant fourth place by the time I've started thinking about it.

If I've started thinking about it. Really, it's much easier to think about waffles.

And then there are all the failed campaigns, all the waiting for campaign fulfillment, the questions, the shipping dilemmas, wondering why I didn't spend the money on a new synth. Oh, so much rigmarole. That's just speaking as a backer (and I've been the backer of many a Kickstarter– not JUST to be a backer for the glory of backerdom when it's time to launch a Kickstarter, either; I really, REALLY like getting stuff; mainly miniatures). Starting a Kickstarter is a whole different filthy animal entirely.

Sure, there's the whole "don't be a douchenozzle" aspect to Kickstarter promotion. I think you get that. You seem bright and savvy, so I won't harp on it. There's also logistics. Planning. Shipping nightmares haunting your every waking hour (especially in Canada). Item fulfillment. Dealing with trying to get press outlets to give one iota of a single shit about what you have to offer. The video… should it be funny? Should it be serious? What music to use? Is the lighting right? Do we sound stupid? Look at the size of that mole on my face! God, I think we've made a huge mistake.

So many things. So little time. At some point you have to say "Done" and launch the goddamn project and hope for the best while preparing for success or failure.

See, logistics is everything. Logistics, logistics, LOGISTICS. This makes and breaks whole armies for a reason. Say, if we're successful with Cthulhu the Conqueror, do we have our ducks in order? Do we run off to Ambergris Caye? Can we fulfill all of our promises? But what about, like, with that one dude who was, like "Hey, I need more money because I goofed on shipping/printing/my Latvian chicken farm lol lol lol sorry!".

I don't want to be that guy. Myke and I both really don't want to be that guy.

Which is why we have spent weeks– no, months– planning all this out. I like to tell people who are bored enough to hear me speak on panels "Know your audience and know your shit". I take this to heart. We like to think we really, really know our shit. Then again, it could be aliens, man, aliens.

Where the hell am I going with this? Yet another good question. I like you.

I suppose aliens is good enough of a segue to talk about our project some more. If you're still reading. Wait! Don't go! If you stay, I won't have to message you privately on Facebook.

Cthulhu the Conqueror is a nearly 90-page epic saga of a very angry god-killing Cthulhu. Right, that's kind of a mouthful. Terrible elevator pitch. Here, how about this: Cthulhu battles the gods. There we go. This comic has been a fun dream of me and Myke's since Myke originally came up with the idea back in 2012 for some Whitechapel forums thing looking for pulpy Cthulhu covers. Myke's the artist on this. I've mentioned that, right?

Anyway, our comic book runs the gamut of gods and pantheons as Cthulhu tries to figure out who betrayed him to an eternal starry imprisonment in the Nether Realm and why the heck they did it in the first place. There's even a story, too. It's not just god-murder and the violent playground fantasies of an 11 year-old. We turn up the tragedy and woe, and even throw in some twists and turns. While we try to stay close to mythological sources, we also take dramatic license where we need to.

No, "dramatic license" isn't code for "we're adding steampunk jetpacks". Though, that does sound like a good idea if I keep drinking…

You can find out more on this project at the Kickstarter page here. We were also interviewed by Nerd Titan, and if you have a lot of time to see me ramble on and on, I think it's worth to read mainly because Myke is so much more succinct and to the point than I am. But we do cover the story, the ideas, and our plans rather in depth in the interview.

Hopefully, you're intrigued by Myke's awesome artwork. We already have good tracts of the comic done, but (cue violins) we also need funding to make this happen. Comics, while fun to create, do take up a lot of time, and we feel we should do this right. Myke will be hard at work in the comics-art mines, toiling diligently to do this story justice. The money goes to printing costs, things like shirts, buttons, and other nifty merch bits. Any net gain mostly goes to Myke, as he is doing ALL of the art on this. I get paid a little, too, but only after everything is said, done, and shipped.

Great. Now I'm thinking about the shipping again. The shipping… the shipping…

Rich also noted that we should add something super awesome for you Bleeding Cool readers, something silly or special to commemorate something something goal something. Right. How about this? If you pledge to Cthulhu the Conqueror because of reading this very, uh, "article", then you will automatically be added to a very special wall we'll have Myke whip up to be put up on the site. Hopefully, BC is alright with this. We'll call it "The Sepulcher of Sacred Cool" and all you have to do is message me through Kickstarter that'd you'd like to be on it and we'll plop your name up there for all to see. A testament to YOU for being so goddamned rad. If you pledge at the $85 level and up because of this, I will personally ensure a 12×18 print of The Sepulcher of Sacred Cool to be sent out with your other goodies.

Hey, it's not that we're desperate… but, you know, Kickstarter.

Have I mentioned I'm the writer?

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