Kickstart the Week, Preview: Peter Pan Comic

Renae De Liz is the illustrator of many gorgeous books, including The Last Unicorn and Anne Rice’s Servant of the Bones. She was also the driving force behind the gloriously ambitious Womanthology. So you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled across her new gem of a project thanks to a random follower (@PeterPanComic) suddenly appearing on my twitter feed. (This is why I love twitter).

Renae has already begun the preliminary groundwork (and more) required to adapt the stories of J.M. Barrie’s enduring character, Peter Pan, into a full graphic novel. She has enlisted her husband, the similarly, fantastically talented Ray Dillon, on colouring/inking/lettering and design duties; and together they plan to rule the world! Or at least make a damn fine graphic novel worthy of your support.

You can find their official project blog, replete with sketches and character tags, HERE. And if you like what you see (why wouldn’t you?) you will want to bookmark it and keep a very close eye out for their impending Kickstarter project.

Naturally, I will be hyping this to the high heavens, but not just due to the talent involved. The initial character sketches and full colour images look wonderful. As a father, I would love to have a graphic novel of this quality to share with my kids. Still, even if I didn’t have my son and daughter to read this with, it promises to be a visually sumptuous adaptation of a timeless classic, and good art made with passion is always worth supporting.

Please, go and take a look for yourself. This won’t be the last time you’ll hear me mention it.

Mid-Week, No Worry

It’s Wednesday and I have a (digital) stack of comics to burn through before I pass out tonight, so I’ll keep this simple.

The preview issue of my stealth-zine debuted at work today. I was originally intending on posting them over on my tumblr on the same day I drop the physical version. But since a lot of the content has been appropriated & re-purposed, in typical zine fashion, the idea of editing it to avoid potential copyright issues killed that idea swiftly. You can get away with it in the real world because a zine’s distribution is limited, and blatantly non-profit, but online is a whole different beast.

Anyway, I didn’t really get to hear any reaction to this one as I had to run for the train (which was then typically late), but I’ll see how it went down tomorrow.

This week I have mostly spent my breaks reading Cory Doctorow‘s excellent Pirate Cinema, which I picked up as part of the Humble Bundle a couple of weeks back. I don’t know if it’s the same throughout the UK, but I just can’t find the man’s books in an actual bookshop! I have to go online to get hold of them. Yes, it’s more convenient in some ways. But when everywhere’s trying to sell you Little Brother at ridiculous prices, there’s something to be said for an ordinary bookstore with an R.R.P.

I have also been resurrecting a couple of comic projects and, in the next few weeks, will start getting down to the serious matter of finding a potential publisher. These are, initially, two separate stories that will merge to create a single on-going series. That is the theory at least. There’s still a long way (at least six months) to go before anything might come of these/this. But it’s exciting for me.

Time to go. Suggested reading for today lies, here and, here.

Suggested listening(s), here: Words /Music

Have fun!

Stealth Zines: Pushing Creativity

I mentioned this briefly on twitter this morning but thought the idea deserved a short blog post of its own. Here’s a quick re-cap of my basic reasons for wanting to create and distribute a stealth-zine at work. (Yes, stealth-zine is just a fancy way of saying my name won’t be printed on it.):

As someone who has always created through music, singing, drama, and writing, the idea of making my own zine is not new. In fact I even tried it a couple of times as a teenager, with varied results. Though the fact that those zines didn’t really go very far never discouraged me. The true purpose of a zine, as I see it, is to affect your local social environment. A zine can introduce new ideas and concepts into a closed environment, subtly. An office building that houses multiple companies, such as the one I work in, is an ideal playground for a would-be zine maker. The feedback is instant and you’re going to get the whole range of responses. Some people will ignore it, some will be baffled, others intrigued, and a few will even like it. Those last ones are the people you’re doing this for, besides yourself, obviously. The hope – my hope – is that your zine will encourage someone else to make something.

A zine, in any form, is a tool. It can encourage creativity and stimulate conversation in the most inhospitable environments; like graffiti, or music.

By publishing a single sided A5, stealth zine I can be as creative or as conservative as I want to be. I could write an essay (I won’t be), or I could draw/collage/paint/scribble whatever I want all over it. No matter what form it takes the primary objective is to jolt people out of their daily routine. A zine’s raison d’être should never be the pursuit of profit, or recognition. It should simply exist to affect your unwitting audience. Whether you choose to educate, amuse or shock your readers is up to you.

I intend to intrigue. Intrigue is a fantastic catalyst for creation.

Publishing anonymously in an age where everyone and their *cat has access to a computer & printer is the simplest thing in the world. No computer at home? Go to a library. No library? You probably have a computer at home. Just remember, if you decide to try this idea yourself, the experience should be something you want to do. If making your zine isn’t fun then you’ve slipped off the creative path and you’re probably making a newsletter. You poor sod.

If you don’t want to make it, it’s not worth making.

-fin-

*not-always-photogenic

K.T.W. – The List of Three

Ladies and gentlemen, this week’s K.T.W. is – A list of three small projects I rather fancy.

As always, links to the project pages are provided along with a short synopsis of each. But, since I still have a lot to catch up on, I’ve kept the comment to a minimum. There are no favorites here (apart from all of them) so please disregard the numbering, it is for convenience only:

#1 – Batbean: Stories About Superhero Vegetables

Synopsis: A book for young children designed to get them interested in vegetables and healthy eating. The adventures of Batbean follows a winged bean (they actually exist!) in its fight against Mega Corp., which is headed by the evil mastermind Mr Free Radical!

You can read the first book, for free, at www.batbean.com. This kickstarter is to fund the printing of a physical collection of the first three books in the series as well as the e-pub of the third book.

Blog link: Here.

Project Link: Batbean

#2 – PLUME: Help K. Lynn Smith print a 5 issue mini-series

Synopsis: What it says in the title. K. Lynn Smith, creator of the web-comic, Plume [official site, here] has come back to kickstarter, after her previous success to fund a new Plume project. This time she is looking for funding for a new five-part mini-series. Plume is a Western/fantasy comic set in the early 1900’s… but not our early 1900’s. Just go to the official site and take a look for yourself. Rewards vary quite a bit and, if you’re outside the US, remember to read the $10 pledge for details on what you need to add for shipping costs at all levels. Though a digital option is also available at the $15 mark.

Fall in love with the web-comic: Here.

Back the new project: Here.

#3 – Detective Honeybear: An all ages mystery comic.

Synopsis: It’s a noir with a honey-obsessed bear detective. Seriously. Look at the picture if you don’t believe me. Oh, it’s also written by the guy that wrote, Thor and the Warriors Four. He also does a lot of other stuff, but we won’t go into that here. You can find out about him, and the rest of the project, in the video on the project page (link below). As with Plume, Detective Honeybear can already be found online in the eleven page comic: Detective Honeybear and the Case of the Curious Cap. Go and read it!

Detective Honeybear and the Case of the Curious Cap: Is HERE.

The Project Page: Is HERE.

Finally, here are some images from these projects that I couldn’t fit in above:

K.T.W. – Updates Week

This week’s K.T.W. is going to be slightly different. As mentioned previously I have been working two jobs this past week, which has left me with little time to look through the latest projects vying for your hard earned cash. Therefore, I’m going to use this space for quick updates on projects I have mentioned previously.

#1 – MOLLY DANGER by Jamal Igle

Molly Danger was the first project I wrote about for Kickstart The Week and I am very happy to announce that it finally reached it’s funding goal with just two days to go. Jamal Igle’s tireless campaign to raise awareness of his creation via any and every medium available, ranging from standard print interviews to his comprehensive tour of the podcast-iverse (it’s a word now, I’m sorry), has been equally inspiring and exhausting to watch. But the best part about watching this campaign has been seeing it pay off.

Congratulations to Jamal and I look forward to seeing Molly in action next year.

You can find my original piece about this excellent comic, here.

#2 – Leaving Megalopolis

Whilst not officially the subject of a K.T.W. article I have previously written about Gail Simone and Jim Calalfiore’s new project, Leaving Megalopolis.

Unsurprisingly, due to the creative team involved being comprised of the main forces behind the excellent Secret Six series, this project was funded within days of going live. It is still open for funding and a whole array of new stretch rewards have been added so, if you haven’t got around to checking it out yet, there’s no time like the present.

My original piece, with links to the project, as well as to the creator’ own sites, can be found, here.

#3 – The Cartoon Art of Mike Deodato, Jr – Volume 1

Next up is the wonderful news that Mike Deodato’s project, The Cartoon Art of Mike Deodato, Jr – Volume 1, has also been successful.

In my original article I compared the cartoon style and content of this project to that of the fantastic Calvin & Hobbes. The comparison remains apt as, since the project closed fully funded, I have found myself filled with child-like enthusiasm in anticipation of receiving my copy of this humorous collection.

My original K.T.W. article can be found, here.

#4 – Bittersweet Candy Bowl

With nineteen days to go, the fundraising for the second print volume of Bittersweet Candy Bowl has already been successful.

If you still haven’t taken a look at this, I recommend you start at the web-comic’s main site. A quick browse through the archives, combined with a look at the artwork of more recent strips, should give you all the information you require to make a decision as to whether this is to your tastes.

On a personal note, the official project update announcing the success of the project was made twice as sweet for me when I realised that the article mentioned, and linked to, at the bottom of the announcement:

is, my original Kickstart The Week write up!

Pretty awesome, huh?

Kickstart The Week: Bittersweet Candy Bowl

In this week’s K.T.W. we’ll be looking at the Kickstarter to print the second collection (and more) of the web comic, Bittersweet Candy Bowl.

Let’s get straight to the point: Bittersweet Candy Bowl is a web comic about a group of cats going through high school, and life, just trying to figure it out. It’s that complex. If you have a thing against cats or reading stories to be entertained, walk away now. Actually, don’t. You’ll be missing out.

Mistletoe’d

Whilst it may not immediately grab you with a complex pitch, this is a funny little comic that is using the KS format to cater to its pre-existing, and sizable, fan base. Which, to be honest, is exactly what Kickstarter and other, similar, sites are there for.

This is not a project that has just been thrown together and put up for funding in the vain hope that it might strike a chord with enough people to become a success. Bittersweet Candy Bowl is already a huge success in its own right. The majority of people supporting this project will already be familiar with these characters and their history and, really, that’s the point.

By using Kickstarter to fund and print the second, physical, volume of BCB, Veronica Vera (creator/writer/artist) and her partner, Oliver (writing/editing/business) are able to offer their fans a variety of bonuses they wouldn’t get using a traditional distribution method. It also gives the fans a practical way to support a comic they already love, and invites them to help contribute to part of the story’s publishing history.

Both Books (as shown on the project page).

Personally, I like the web-comic. It regularly amuses me and, as a fan, being able to contribute a bit to something I enjoy seems like a worthwhile thing to do. I would definitely recommend other fans support this project, even if your just pitching in at the $5 entry level. But that’s enough from me. The project still has 25 days left to go (as of 27/08/2012), so if you’re not familiar with the comic but do like,

a) Cats,

b) Comics,

c) A good story with plenty of humor as well as moments of genuine pathos,

then you have plenty of time to go and – 

CATCH UP ON THE ENTIRE FIRST VOLUME

before making an informed decision.

The actual project page, which contains full reward & shipping details,  can be found: HERE.

And – in case you managed to avoid every other link in this article – the web comic, replete with archives, forums, a store and a fuller history of the comic itself, can be found: HERE. So go and take a look!

 

All images used in this entry were created by Veronica Vera, and are © to her 2006–2012. You can also see further examples of her other artwork over on her deviantArt page (here).

Exciting Comic News!

Hello weary interneters, I have some exciting news!

I have just received a sneak peek of the finalised, fully-inked and colored, pages of a comic I wrote for the rather wonderful and talented, Donya Todd.

She’s blown it out of the water, folks. The premise and script is very simple, but she ran with it and I can’t wait to show this off. But I will have to, for now. Until such time as I can share, please check out her previous, and current, work, here, and here.

She also has a new, creator-owned, book, Death and the Girls, due out at the end of August via Blank Slate Books.

Please go and check her out:

New Story: Published in Issue #2 of, The Curiosity Cabinet

As the title says, I have a new story available in Issue #2 of, The Curiosity Cabinet.

Here’s a direct link to my contribution, The Lodge, and here’s a link to the rest of the issue, which I strongly recommend you read.

The Curiosity Cabinet is the brain-child of, @Guerredenom and is chock-full of original short stories, articles, poetry, art, photography, music and reviews. It is also the home of, Curious Cooking, which I was rather hoping would tell me how to bake non-lethal cyanide muffins. I’m pretty sure, @lucyzirins is just easing us in with her Double Choc Chip Cookies before she unleashes the  culinary apocalypse in future issues. If not, I’ll have to write an angry letter of some description, possibly to myself for being stupid enough to want to cook with cyanide.

Anyway, there’s lots here for everyone, and you will also be able to go back and access the first issue as it is completely free!

So…

(Yes, I said it again, I’m sorry).

Progress Report – Note Form

This is how things stand on the writing and publishing side as of right now:

2000AD Short Story Entry – Sketched out but still in note form. Ten days to go…

Comic Projects – In the works, updates as and when applicable,

DFTBA Short Story Entry – I just don’t even… ‘In Progress’. Five months to go.

Indigo Rising UK – Awaiting publishing update.

New Flash Fic – Several pieces done and sent to various publications. News to follow.

The Novel – Slightly behind due to general chaos but still on course. Updates as and when applicable,

Whitechapel Quarterly – Awaiting publishing update.

Due to family visiting this weekend any actual updates will be reserved for twitter.

Also, there will be pictures.

Probably of food.

In the meantime, please check out the inaugural issue of, The Curiosity Cabinet, which is a nice collection of art, short stories, poetry, photography and other features. Twitter: @curiocabmag

And don’t forget to get in on the ground floor with the re-launch issue of, Weaponizer, which features a ‘lost’ interview with China Mieville and a whole shebang of wonderful and thought-provoking art, features and short stories. Twitter: @weaponizer

That’s all from me for now. Enjoy your weekend!