Since late 2021, when Kickstarter announced its adoption of blockchain technology, there's been a rise in comics crowdfunding alternatives. Zoop was first on the scene, followed shortly thereafter by TopatoGo (at least, as far as this yeti saw!).
Now, comes a new face in the crowd: Crowdfundr.
Technically, it's been around for a few months. But today? Today sees the launch of several new comics (and comics-adjacent) campaigns. Here are 6 good ones to check out!
Illuminated by Yuko Shimizu and Michael Cunningham (Beehive Books)
"The series invites exceptional visual artists to re-imagine literary classics through a full suite of illustrations and illuminated letters. We interweave the new art and the original text to create a singular art object that tells classic tales in an entirely new way. Each book opens with an original essay introduction, which invites experts and innovators to explore, interpret, and contextualize the text and artwork.
Our best-selling and most award-winning project to date is one of our launch titles: a glorious anthology of the complete fairy tales of Oscar Wilde brought to life by the impossibly gorgeous, ornate, haunting illustrations of Yuko Shimizu (BARBED WIRE BASEBALL, THE UNWRITTEN), with a lyrical introduction from Pulitzer-winning novelist Michael Cunningham (THE HOURS, A WILD SWAN).
We'd like to raise enough to do a full second edition of THE FAIRY TALES OF OSCAR WILDE. In order to do so, we're offering the second printing to you at a discount, and adding in a special brand-new Yuko Shimizu foil print exclusive to this campaign."
"Black Phoenix magazine is, at its core, a contemporary comics magazine featuring original characters and stories of various comics genres--all dreamed up by its sole author and illustrator, Rich Tommaso (Eisner-award-winning creator of Clover Honey, Spy Seal, Horror of Collier County and many more)...Each volume focuses on a particular cartoonist or publishing house style from The Golden Age of Comics.
"This collection of Black Phoenix features Tommaso’s take on the classic 1950s genre stories of EC Comics, the 1940s romance comics of Archie, the late 1930s pulp adventure strips of Detective Comics and Marvel Mystery Comics--and even the Franco-Belgian comics explosion sparked by Tintin."
3. That Distant Fire: A Dystopian Sci-Fi Graphic Novel
by J.R. Hughto and Curt Merlo (Black Eye Books)
"The story of That Distant Fire was published online, two pages a week, over the past year for free. The book is complete and ready to print. All we need is your support to bring it to life!
"Vera and Paul hold enviable jobs at Pinkerton-Bei, a military engineering firm specializing in surveillance technologies. When Paul is fired but Vera asked to stay on, they choose to leave for the rural town where Paul grew up and move in with his father, Ben, his sister, Hazel, and Hazel’s actvist girlfriend, Diana, at the now defunct family farm. Jobs are in short supply in the area, and Vera and Paul hope to help the floundering community get back on its feet while completing their secret project — a handheld MRI-like 'Device.'
"Meanwhile, Diana begins to lead a strike against Queeny Agriculture, who owns and operates all the regional farms. Vera falls more and more under Diana’s influence, and the strike becomes increasingly violent as corporatized police forces and strike breakers bring the community to heel. Vera and Paul race against the clock to escape the powers moving in on them. Facing violence and unrest, they struggle to keep their labor movement from tearing itself apart, and the technology they’ve built from being turned against the community they are struggling to protect."
from Zine-o-Matic
"Snail Mail Press wants to make it easy to find and support underground indie artists from the world over!
With your help, we’ll be creating a global monthly snail-mail subscription box featuring unusual and rare underground art - from zines and prints to stickers and pins."
by Ryan K Lindsay, Jen Vaughn, and Teo Acosta
"'Backstory' is a 24-page one-shot comic about a group of teens who get one wild night with a purloined superhero ring of great power. Nothing could possibly go wrong, could it?"
"It’s like Lord of the Flies meets Yellowjackets with Green Lantern’s ring." – Ryan K Lindsay
from Robert Wilson IV
"Over the last two years, I've been chipping away at designing four posters that convey the ambition, ingenuity, bravery, and drama of NASA's iconic space program. I've designed a poster for each of the four major periods of the program, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle program and I need your help to make them real." – Robert Wilson IV
