Posted in: Comics, Indie Comics | Tagged: graphic novel, joe glass, LGBTQ, miracles

Under the Hex of Secrets, The Miracles on Kickstarter

Joe Glass, former reporter for Bleeding Cool and creator of The Pride, currently being collected by Dark Horse, talks about his new project, Miracles, on Kickstarter. He writes;

Families are important. There are of course families of all kinds, and those that we find rather than are born into or raised in, but family, whatever our connection to that concept, is undeniably important for us all. Just look at how much of our media, dramas and sitcoms, in particular, centre around the family. Riverdale, The OC, to even dramas focused on seemingly other things, like 9-1-1: Lone Star – or popular MCU TV entry, WandaVision.

Whatever the makeup or situation of it, your family is likely the people you are closest to in the whole world. They're possibly the people you've known longer than anyone else in your life. They're most often the people we love most and hopefully love us back just the same.

So why, then, do all families keep secrets?

Think about, all families do. Whether it be a secret actively kept or a secret through omission, families are always keeping something from each other. And again, all the dramas I mentioned before feature families keeping secrets; and again, we see that in WandaVision too.

Without giving away too many spoilers, WandaVision revolves around secrets being kept. To build a family, to build a safe home, to hide who they are – and the same can be said about my new book, The Miracles, fundraising on Kickstarter now.

As that quirky, mysterious and dramatic TV show builds around secrets in the domestic situation, The Miracles takes a similar focus: Elliot Morgan, our point of view character, is an average high school senior, a total geek obsessed with comics. Naturally, he's shocked when he suddenly starts exhibiting superpowers of his own. But before he can revel in his newfound abilities too much, he's amazed to be confronted by characters from his favourite comic book, Major Voltage and Ms Phantom…and even more amazed when they turn out to be his parents.

One family secret stands revealed, the family being comic book characters who escaped to the real world as refugees from an Unending Catastrophe. But we'll come to learn, even as Elliot decides to become the real world's first superhero, that there are plenty more skeletons in the Morgans family's closet – and forces out there looking to exploit them.

This story is probably my most broadly accessible story to date, while still having a strong meta element running through not entirely dissimilar to the runaway hit, Crossover. After all, everyone can relate to families and the keeping of secrets, especially ones we keep thinking we're protecting those we love…or ourselves.

The Miracles, in that regard, is deeply personal to me. As a teenager, I was both bullied for my perceived homosexuality (which would, of course, turn out that they were right) and terrified that revealing my identity as gay to my parents, so scared that they might turn me away (they didn't, thank gods, they were wonderful). So it was, as a scared and isolated kid, I'd fantasise about discovering some amazing secret that would reveal that I was like the heroes in the worlds I loved so much in comics, all the while keeping the truth about myself secret from everyone, including those closest to me. Within this confusing, delirious swirl of subterfuge and fantasy, a story began to take shape. A story that would become The Miracles.

I've had this story in my head for as long as I've been working on my other major series, The Pride, but it being so close, I needed it to be totally perfect. So the story has gone through numerous variations and revisions, decisions on format, artists involved before finally I found the perfect team of collaborators to make it happen in Vince Underwood (Elk Mountain), Harry Saxon (Vagrant Queen) and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Quantum & Woody).

It's so important that it felt like we had to do it right. To produce it to the best possible quality, to launch it in the biggest possible way with the most desirable formats (thus our campaign doesn't just have a trade paperback version of the 120-page original graphic novel, but also a limited print run Kickstarter Exclusive hardcover edition too), and to make sure every member of the team is paid well and fairly for their tremendous effort on the book (something that can be difficult for those without the financial stability of being middle or upper class or the support of a publisher, let alone during these uncertain times of COVID).

That's why we're bringing it to Kickstarter, where we can have full control, where fans and potential new readers can feel part of the project from the ground up, and where we can make it truly special for those supporting. Plus, wrapping it in a gorgeous cover by the fabulous Kevin Wada.

The campaign is live now, and it runs until March 4th, 2021. As I mentioned, there's a number of rewards, including the extremely limited hardcover edition that is exclusive to Kickstarter backers. We would love to have you join the Miracles Family and help us make it.

If you've been enjoying books like Invincible, Crossover or Meet the Skrulls, or shows like The OC, Riverdale or yes, WandaVision, then I am sure you'll love The Miracles. Join us, won't you, and unearth all the secrets.

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