#Crowdfunded Comic Projects

[downthetubes]

Coming Soon: The Life and Art of Mort Walker

Hermes Press has announced plans for a book dedicated to Mort Walker the creator of army newspaper strip "Beetle Bailey", whose adventures also featured in Britain's TV Comic (albeit drawn by different hands, including Mike Noble and Roland Davies)

[spiremint]

RUIN OF THE HOUSE OF THE DIVINE VISAGE IS NOW A PROJECT WE LOVE ON KICKSTARTER!

In a monastery where revealing one's face is an affront to the god housed inside its very chambers, what happens when one young man accidentally sees the face of another?

RUIN is the brand new collaborative graphic novel from @evegwood and @spiremint, a 130-page comic about religion and queer romance. Buy the completed graphic novel on Kickstarter!

RUIN is also being posted as a webcomic that you can read for FREE at visagecomic.com! Follow @thunderstormstudios to get new page updates every Tuesday!

[piglia-mosche]

JUST LAUNCHED MY KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN! -

A cyberpunk comic set in a decadent and desperate society whose only hope is APERION-

It's a personal project I've been longing to publish for years now, not a single publisher took it tho and that's why I'm trying KS- The creative freedom on this platform is unbeaten.

If you wish to support my work just a share would mean the world 💚

Thank you for supporting my work on this platform all this time<3

[deoidesign]

24 hours left on my Kickstarter!

And JUST hit 20k - the amount needed to unlock the stretch goal me designing set pieces for the paper dolls PDF!

I'm so happy to have hit this stretch goal it's the one I really wanted

The black box is what the books arrive in! And each book will have themed outfits and a themed playset in the PDF for you to print and cut out!

But it's MUCH easier (seriously, trust me on this) to make me print and cut them out for you if you want to play with them, which is an add on!

Plus, it makes each box come with little themed cuties to play with! It's just fun

And, of course, the books!!! Aaa they are SO gorgeous, I can't wait to put together little themed boxes all year!

I love my comic so much, and if you love it too or want to get to, back the Kickstarter! 24 hours left!!!

(and, if you happen to see this after the Kickstarter is over, the Kickstarter page will have a link that will lead you to my site where you can preorder books!)

[average-ty]

New Artwork Added to Rocketman Kickstarter!

[la-fumettista]

2 days Left To Preorder Drawn To Key West

If we raise $13k, everyone who has preordered a copy (backed the Kickstarter) will get a HARDCOVER VERSION of the comic.

We only need $240 more! Please consider donating: bit.ly/Drawn2KW

Fun, cool, hip add-ons are available, in case you want to bump up your donation:

1) What Happens In The Dark

A horror anthology written & illustrated by myself, that includes three stories about murder, childhood terrors of the unknown, and encounters with those beyond the grave.

2) Ithaqa Bundle

All four issues of Ithaqa, written by Michael Watson and illustrated by myself. It's a 1920s lovecraftian horror story that involves con-artists & cults, unearthing cosmic horrors, and drug-induced time traveling. Fun!

3) Custom Pet Stickers

Limited offer, only 7 slots left I believe!

[plugoarts]

Kickstarter enters The Asaniverse!

Live; at last! The Kickstarter campaign for Asani Entertainment’s premiere comic WELCOME TO THE EVOLUTION – Enter a New SuperHero Universe Enter a New SuperHero Universe – THE ASANIVERSE in WELCOME TO THE EVOLUTION : RAY OF HOPE the debut adventure of THE OMEGA CORPS YouTube.com/@MostEpicArt 12:EST / 9:PST To celebrate, I will be joining creators David Chaucer La Forest and artist Ren…

[rozzibunny]

5 HOURS LEFT!!

If you want to check out what's on offer, link is in bio or here: https://kck.st/49biAMy

[genericpuff]

Tbh at this point you should just make your own webcomic app/website because it would probably be 100 times better than whatever going on with webtoon right now.

hahaha it wouldn't tho, sorry 💀

Here's the fundamental issue with webcomic platforms that a lot of people just don't realize (and why they're so difficult to run successfully):

Storage costs are incredibly expensive, it's why so many sites have limitations on file sizes / page sizes / etc. because all of those images and site info have to be stored somewhere, which costs $$$.

Maintenance costs are expensive and get more so as you grow, you need people who are capable of fixing bugs ASAP and managing the servers and site itself

Financially speaking, webcomics are in a state of high supply, low demand. Loads of artists are willing to create their passion projects, but getting people to read them and pay for them is a whole other issue. Demand is high in the general sense that once people get attached to a webtoon they'll demand more, but many people aren't actually willing to go looking for new stuff to read and depend more on what sites feed them (and what they already like). There are a lot of comics to go around and thus a lot of competition with a limited audience of people willing to actually pay for them.

Trying to build a new platform from the ground up is incredibly difficult and a majority of sites fail within their first year. Not only do you have to convince artists to take a chance on your platform, you have to convince readers to come. Readers won't come if there isn't work on the platform to read, but artists won't come if they don't think the site will be worth it due to low traffic numbers. This is why the artists with large followings who are willing to take chances on the smaller sites are crucial, but that's only if you can convince them to use the site in favor of (or alongside) whatever platform they're using already where the majority of their audience lies. For many creators it's just not worth the time, energy, or risk.

Even if you find short-term success, in the long-term there are always going to be profit margins to maintain. The more users you pull in, the more storage is used by incoming artists, the more you have to spend on storage and server maintenance costs, and that means either taking the risk at crowdfunding (ex. ComicFury) or having to resort to outsider investments (ex. Tapas). Look at SmackJeeves, it used to be a titan in the independent webcomic hosting community, until it folded over to a buyout by NHN and then was pretty much immediately shuttered due to NHN basically turning it into a manwha scanlation site and driving away its entire userbase. And if you don't get bought out and try your hand at crowdfunding, you may just wind up living on a lifeline that could cut out at any moment, like what happened to Inkblazers (fun fact, the death of Inkblazers was what kicked off the cultural shift in Tapas around 2015-16 when all of IB's users migrated over and brought their work with them which was more aimed towards the BL and romancee drama community, rather than the comedy / gag-a-day culture that Tapas had made itself known for... now you deadass can't tell Tapas apart from a lot of scanlation sites because it got bought out by Kakao and kept putting all of its eggs into the isekai/romance drama basket.)

Right now the mindset in which artists and readers are operating is that they're trying way, way too hard to find a "one size fits all" site. Readers want a place where they can find all their favorite webtoons without much effort, artists wants a place where they can post to an audience of thousands, and both sides want a community that will feel tight-knit. But the reality is that you can't really have all three of those things, not on one site. Something always winds up having to be sacrificed - if a site grows big enough, it'll have to start seeking more funding while also cutting costs which will result in features becoming paywall'd, intrusive ads, creators losing their freedom, and/or outsider support which often results in the platform losing its core identity and alienating its tight-knit community.

If I had to describe what I'm talking about in a "pick one" graphic, it would look something like this:

(*note: this is mostly based on my own observations from using all of these sites at some point or another, they're not necessarily entirely accurate to the statistical performance of each site, I can only glean so much from experience and traffic trackers LMAO that said I did ask some comic pals for input and they were very helpful in helping me adjust it with their own takes <3).

The homogenization of the Internet has really whipped people into submission for the "big sites" that offer "everything", but that's never been the Internet, it relies on being multi-faceted and offering different spaces for different purposes. And we're seeing that ideology falter through the enshittification of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. where users are at odds with the platforms because the platforms are gutting features in an attempt to satisfy shareholders whom without the platforms would not exist. Like, most of us aren't paying money to use social media sites / comic platform sites, so where else are they gonna make the necessary funds to keep these sites running? Selling ad space and locking features behind paywalls.

And this is especially true for a lot of budding sites that don't have the audience to support them via crowdfunding but also don't have the leverage to ask for investments - so unless they get really REALLY lucky in EITHER of those departments, they're gonna be operating at a loss, and even once they do achieve either of those things there are gonna be issues in the site's longevity, whether it be dying from lack of growing crowdfunding support or dying from shareholder meddling.

So what can we do?

We can learn how to take our independence back. We don't have to stop using these big platforms altogether as they do have things to offer in their own way, particularly their large audience sizes and dipping into other demographics that might not be reachable from certain sites - but we gotta learn that no single site is going to satisfy every wish we have and we have to be willing to learn the skills necessary to running our own spaces again. Pick up HTML/CSS, get to know other people who know HTML/CSS if you can't grasp it (it's me, I can't grasp it LOL), be willing to take a chance on those "smaller sites" and don't write them off entirely as spaces that can be beneficial to you just because they don't have large numbers or because they don't offer rewards programs. And if you have a really polished piece of work in your hands, look into agencies and publishing houses that specialize in indie comics / graphic novels, don't settle for the first Originals contract that gets sent your way.

For the last decade corporations have been convincing us that our worth is tied to the eyes we can bring to them. Instead of serving ourselves, we've begun serving the big guys, insisting that it has to be worth something eventually and that it'll "payoff" simply by the virtue of gambler's fallacy. Ask yourself what site is right for you and your work rather than asking yourself if your work is good enough for them. Most of us are broke trying to make it work on these sites anyways, may as well be broke and fulfilled by posting in places that actually suit us and our work if we can. Don't define your success by what sites like Webtoons are enforcing - that definition only benefits them, not you.

[downthetubes]

Crowdfunding Spotlight: The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing

American attorney, author and business consultant Gamal Hennessy has launched a Kickstarter for his latest book, The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing, designed to help creators on every level build a business working for comic book publishers

American attorney, author and business consultant Gamal Hennessy has launched a Kickstarter for his latest book, The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing, designed to help creators on every level build a business working for comic book publishers. While Gamal’s first, invaluable book, The Business of Independent Comic Book Publishing, focused on creating a comic book company, this new…

[juliettecousin]

✨ Here comes the Big announcement !! ✨

I'm currently working on a Medieval Girlfriends comic book with @exemplaire_editions, more specifically their new edition @kopi_editions, a manga-inspired comics collection !

I'm super thrilled to finally give a proper story to these characters I've been drawing for so long, I can't wait to show you more !

This comic will be financed through a crowdfunding that will be launch next month, more infos on this new project soon !

[wtf-scientific-papers]

[Paleontology-themed comics and graphic novels, their potential for scientific outreach, and the bilingual graphic novel EUROPASAURUS – Life on Jurassic Islands]

Wings et al. (2023)

If you got a kick out of the fact that it's possible to get published in a scientific journal by writing a paper about comics, there is a way to support this type of work! One of the graphic novels featured in this paper, PALEOCENE by Mike Keesey, is holding a fundraiser to get its 4th issue printed. It's more than 85% of the way to reaching its goal, but it only has 2 days left to get there or else it receives none of the money pledged so far!

PALEOCENE tells the story of early primates trying to live their lives in the wake of the mass extinction that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs. If you haven't read previous issues, you can get a taste of it from the sample page figured by Wings et al. (from issue #1)!

If every single one of our followers donates just $1 at this point, the goal will be surpassed many times over! If you cannot donate for any reason or have already done so, please share this news far and wide so this project stands the best chance of getting funded.

Donate to the PALEOCENE crowdfund here!

[duckprintspress]

Calling All Artists!

In celebration of January 1st, 2024, and Public Domain Day, Duck Prints Press is thrilled to announce that we are doing open recruitment for artists to contribute to our next fanfiction and fanart anthology A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”!

Are you an Austenite? Do you love Regency romance but lament how, well, straight most of it is? Do you wish Mary Bennett found a partner? Are you positive Charlotte Lucas deserved better? Do you pity Miss de Bourgh? Do you dream of Darcy and Bingley OT3s? Well you are NOT ALONE! We at Duck Prints Press are right there with you, and we’re here to say: this is your moment to shine! We want your wlw pairings, your new happy endings, your P&P ot3s and ot4s, your “but what if they’re trans,” your queer art and fanart inspired by this beloved story! This story has such a lovely main and supporting cast, the possibilities for taking Pride and Prejudice and MAKING IT QUEER are endless!

This is the third in our Queer Fanworks Inspired By… series, publishing legal fanfic and fanart inspired by popular works in the public domain. It builds on the success of our first two, And Seek (Not) to Alter Me (inspired by Much Ado About Nothing) and Aim For The Heart (inspired by The Three Musketeers). This is a paid arting opportunity; artists will be asked to complete one full-page (A4/210 mm x 297 mm), full-color piece, and we may have space for some artists to complete more than one page and/or short comics. Base pay is $50 per page, with the potential for raises up to $400 per page depending on our success during the eventual crowdfunding campaign.

Want to Learn More? OF COURSE YOU DO!

A Truth Universally Acknowledged Rules and Guidelines

A Truth Universally Acknowledged FAQ

A Truth Universally Acknowledged Schedule

Sample artist contract

Ready to apply? YAY! Follow this link to the sign up form! Applications close at midnight, January 15, 2024!

Interested in writing for this anthology? Unfortunately, author applications are only open to writers already involved with Duck Prints Press. Sorry! If you’re on our private Discord server, be on the lookout for the announcement with sign-up forms there.

Interested in buying this anthology once it’s available? Make sure you follow us on social media and/or sign up for newsletter so you hear the latest!

Eager to see how this project develops, read sneak peeks and see art previews, and more? Back us on Patreon! Patrons also selected this anthology theme – you can have a say in our future anthology themes, too, just by backing us at any level!

Please signal boost to help us spread the word!!

[pluralthey]

is there a good place to start if we want to learn about idletry? im very interested in the story and all the bits and pieces revealed so far but i dont know if youve like, stated the basics both about the characters-in-story and how you’re releasing the comic

hi there. unfortunately, idletry became a passion project very abruptly and many details were added very quickly without regard for how long the project would take. once i did realize how large the project was, i decided that i would not even kid myself on the idea of holding in spoilers for the next 5 years, and those two factors combined make the information available very chaotic and slapdash -- somewhat intentionally.

i don't even have the comics tagged separately for easier access among the idletry content -- although, i could go back and give them a separate tag.

i can summarize the story and say that it's about a funny little talking honey badger/tasmanian devil named jessie gaylord who has for the last 10 years of her life been on heavy psychiatric medication in an attempt to mitigate a pervasive delusion that the world is a fictional story. she also has a notorious aggressive streak. these medications work primarily by leaving her so tired that she sleeps most of the time.

the story begins when her medical team has run out of typical medications to try, and they must order an older, more aggressive type of drug which is not commonly used anymore, and has a lengthier process to manufacturing and approving the drug. during this time, she is not on any medication, and she becomes more urgently fixated on convincing people that the delusion is true.

she ends up attempting to contact the writer, who is referred to as God, and she receives a response. she immediately attempts to write the story herself, and she's granted the ability to do anything within the story so long as she can write it out. (the intricacies and limitations of this power have been elaborated upon in a bunch of fragmentary posts, so i won't try to condense it here)

at the end of the first act, she kills the first writer and becomes the new God of her world. the rest of the story is about what she does after acquiring omnipotence, and it heavily features a character named fate -- or shiloh, as jessie calls her -- with whom she enters an intimate relationship.

she has a happy loving family composed of a father named adam, a mother named evelyn, and an older sister named emily. there is a later minor subplot about a cult following who worships her after she becomes God, and this cult is initially organized by an ant called samanthuel -- or samwich, as jessie calls them. these are usually the other characters i mention and i am too lazy to link them right now

the comic itself is currently being written. the script stands at around 51,000 words at the time of writing this as i work on the second act. after it's written, i will let it simmer for a few months and then write a second draft to start to relieve the story of its bloat. depending on its length at that point, i will either need to write a third draft, or i will start drawing the comic.

chances are, during the second draft, i will start to thumbnail or sketch scenes which receive little to no editing, as i know they will likely remain relatively unchanged even through multiple drafts.

the sketch strips are to tide me and an eager audience over in the meantime, but they've sort of dried up as i focus all of my attention on finishing the first draft and taking care of a puppy that was kind of just forced onto me.

i've made a couple of full-length comics before and they have taken years. it is, unfortunately, just the nature of the process. for idletry, i plan to self-publish the comic. i've never published something in print before, so that is the most daunting part for me.

the plan at the moment is to crowdfund this, but, to be frank with you, i no longer pay rent, and i care very much about having this comic as a printed book. i have no issue with paying the cost of printing out of my own pocket by the time it's done and am even anticipating that outcome ahead of time, despite having a pretty reliable audience by now.

i'm on the fence about releasing a digital book version, as i very much want to retain digital color versions of the pages that are more vibrant, but due to the explicit adult content of the story, i don't want it to be free-access.

tl;dr: it's about a lesbian incel with anger issues who's given omnipotence.

i'm still working on the story because i want it to be good.

i'm planning on printing it as a physical comic book once it's done.

[spiderforestcomics]

Do you make a webcomic? Are you looking for an active webcomic community with chill people who make cool comics? SpiderForest hosts a variety of activities and projects which members and even non-members can jump into freely.

If you love collaborative projects with like-minded webcomic creators, send in an application here by June 30, or read on to see a highlight reel of some of our favorites over the years:

🎨Art collaborations

In addition to our fantastic group art collaborations featured in our newsletter most months, our members volunteer to plan special events all throughout the year, including a Tarot Gallery, April Fool's genre swap, and guest page exchanges!

👩‍🎨 Writing and Art Roundtables and Workshops

From our podcast series to our monthly book clubs to our streamed anatomy drawing sessions on Discord, we've always loved talking about the craft of making comics and improving together!

Our project list rotates on volunteer availability and interest, but you can count on all kinds of exciting opportunities to talk shop, practice, and learn in a fun, supportive environment of people doing the same thing as you.

📚 Anthology Books

We have successfully funded six comic anthologies, and they've been a great way for our members to get their work to print, learn more about the printing and crowdfunding process, and showcase their work to new audiences!

🎵 Conventions, music and so much more

Whether we're sharing our favorite tunes for comic-drawing on our collaborative Spotify lists or sharing an artist's alley table at a local convention, combining forces makes the whole process of making webcomics lots of fun!

Want to become a member? Head on over to our Application Page!

[fox-teeth]

Art of 2023 retrospective 💜. Here's every comic and print I made that had a physical and/or digital release in 2023; plus the crowdfunding and conventions I participated in!

2023 has been a mixed year for me. My art career has really grown, and I accomplished so many things I've been working towards and dreaming about for years. But work at my contract based "day job" mostly dried up, and trying to find the next thing has been an immensely stressful endeavor I have yet to succeed at.

Thank you so much for all the support and love towards my art. I wouldn't have financially made it through this year without it. You buying my little handmade minicomics paid my rent.

I hope one day I can pay all that kindness forward. I hope you are excited for the art projects I've got planned for 2024. I hope things keep on getting better.