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Welcome back to another installment of Indie Comics Showcase, the weekly blog where we signal boost a few truly independent comics that are currently crowdfunding their projects, crowdsourcing their funding in some way, or just completely self-publishing on their own. Every little bit of support for these creators matters, from a single dollar pledge to the twenty-five dollar bundle, and of course the higher tiers are usually fun too! Even if you can’t back a campaign or buy a book, you can share or tweet about these projects to your friends and followers.
On Indie Comics Showcase, we interview the creators, show off some art, and tell you how you can check out the product for yourself. Below we have some outstanding crowdfunding campaigns this week for you to learn about, enjoy, and hopefully support by backing one or more of them! Thanks for checking these out and for being the best part of Indie Comics Showcase. Let’s jump in!
Check out the campaign here!
Chris Braly: Welcome to Indie Comics Showcase, J.L. Let’s kick things off this week with the elevator pitch for your new comic, Thistle.
J.L. Collins: THISTLE is a 24-page fantasy comic that begins with Elf Ranger Tistlelandalon (Thistle) having volunteered to traverse a magical one-way portal though the mountains of the world on a mission of revenge against the Necromancer: the master of an undead horde that destroyed the kingdoms of the humans and the elves.
CB: What’s the genesis of this project?
JL: Thistle was born of of Gail Simone’s #ComicSchool workshop where writers mash up genres and write a short script to tell their story. That eight-page script became the origin of a sword and sorcery dark fantasy story of the revenge. Self-publishing seemed the best opportunity to share a new indie comic series.
CB: What kind of comic reader are you aiming at with this book?
JL: Fans of survival horror, sword and sorcery, and dark fantasy. Old school fantasy tones and fans of role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons.
CB: How did you first get into this?
JL: My first published work was a short story set in the Forgotten Realms by Wizards of the Coast. My first love of reading was comic books and role-playing games. I was inspired by the storytellers I read and played.
CB: Who’s the creative team on this comic?
JL: My artist is J. Schiek. We have collaborated on other published comics anthology work and he is exceptional. The colourist is W.K. Sahadewa, based out of Indonesia and she accepted an invitation to do some test colours for Thistle and secured her spot as our collaborator. Finally, my letterer and editor is Leland Bjerg. Leland and I belong to a comics workshop dedicated to helping indie comics creators tell their stories.
CB: What have you learned through self-publishing?
JL: Timing is everything, planning three months sooner than you think is crucial and persistence is totally necessary
CB: You’re so right. Are there more stories to tell in this universe?
JL: Oh yes. This first arc of Thistle is a five-issue story.
CB: Any notable tiers you want to mention about your crowdfunding campaign?
JL: Yes. In addition to Reward Tiers there are Backer Milestone rewards available, as well as stretch goals (Stretch Ghouls!), which include more giveaways if we exceed our funding goal.
CB: Before we sign off, any you have any last words for our readers?
JL: 24-pages of sword and sorcery action that is fully completed. No risk to any Backers, and some of the best fantasy action comic panels you’ll find in 2024.
Check out the campaign here!
Check out the campaign here!
Chris Braly: Welcome to this week’s Indie Comics Showcase, Johnie! Hit me with your pitch for The Matriarch!
Johnie Busa: “The Matriarch” follows the journey of Alishia, a young woman with a broken past, as she navigates a dangerous universe controlled by the Matriarch. Raised on a remote on the planet Ariavis, Alishia witnessed her family’s abduction by Matriarch agents when she was just a baby. Now, years later, she emerges as a force to be reckoned with, determined to dismantle the very system that tore her family apart.
CB: Where did the idea for this comic come from?
JB: Like most of my stories I had a particular scene in my head, for this one it was a scene where Alishia castrates a human trafficker. Then I build around and upon that. I’ve been self publishing my stories since 2018, I still pitch to a few places but the ones close to me that I really wanna see happen, I just do it.
CB: What kind of comic readers is this most suited for?
JB: “The Matriarch” appeals to fans of sci-fi action thrillers with high-stakes adventures, compelling characters, and thought-provoking themes. It is more geared to the older crowd, as my be apparent by the scene that Kickstarter the idea.
CB: How would you describe your creative process?
JB: I mostly deal with heavier themes of corrupted governments and post apocalyptic worlds. I first create a scene and the plot around that scene. Once I have a full plot, I do page breaks and panel breaks after that.
CB: Who’s on your team for this project?
JB: Myself – I write, letter and do page layout for the book. Conan Momchilov – is the artist, he does everything from pencils to colors. Jay Gillespie – he runs Dimension Comics, the two of us self publish our books under that brand.
CB: What’s your workflow like, and how far along is the book?
JB: I fully scripted the 4 issues (it’s a mini series) then I pass that along to Conan and he works 5 pages at a time. We have bi weekly meetings to discuss the latest pages he is working on. The first issue is only a few pages from done, we predict to be fully done by the end of this month.
CB: What have you been learning from self-publishing through this process?
JB: From book to book I feel like I get better at page flows and providing scripts that artists can easily take and run with. I do give a lot of freedom to my creative team, I want them to enjoy the work and I feel that only makes it better.
CB: What are your plans beyond this book? Are there more stories to tell?
JB: I have tons of stories, I have another 4 fully scripted stories ready to go now. I am also actively writing for a small studio and just love creating and collaborating on stories.
CB: Any special features in this book / (or if crowdfunding, special perks or tiers?)
JB: I have gotten a few indie artists to create special covers only for Kickstarter backers. There is also the ability via the Kickstarter to grab other books from Dimension Comics.
CB: Anything else you would like to share with our readers before we sign off?
JB: Just that “The Matriarch” is something very special to me and I really think the readers of this series will be in for a real treat when they find out who “The Matriarch” really is.
CB: Nice. Good luck, Johnie!
Check out the campaign here!
Check out the campaign here!
Chris Braly: Introduce our readers to The Ultimate Crusaders.
Justice Wright: Inspired by 2000s cartoons and comic books, THE ULTIMATE CRUSADERS is a sci-fi comic book series that tells the story of a teenage prodigy named Orion Williams who, after shunning himself from everyone as he witnessed the presumed death of his father, is inadvertently thrust into an intergalactic conflict after discovering a mystical alien artifact in his backyard. Now, Orion, along with his friends, must survive in a war-torn galaxy to escape power-hungry tyrants at every corner, while discovering the mystery behind the artifact and the truth behind his father’s disappearance.
CB: Where did the idea for this comic come from, and led to your decision to self-publish?
JW: As said before, this comic was inspired comic books that I grew up reading and cartoons I watched as a kid. I loved watching the various sci-fi shows like Ben 10 and Sym-Bionic Titan and wanted to make something that was similar in the style of those shows, but in a comic book form. The reason why I decided to self-publish was because I wanted this to be my own thing and not be held back by a company that I wasn’t in complete control over. I wanted to have the freedom to create whatever I wanted on my own.
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