The FUBAR comic books might not be familiar to the traditional Wednesday Warrior, but they’re a major player in the growing zombie and anthology markets. Even though the one time it strayed from its anthology roots its Kickstarter raised over $95,000, FUBAR is committing to sharing a selection of short stories by a variety of creators. Next up are FUBAR: By The Sword and FUBAR: Declassified, exploring zombies during different periods of wartime. I spoke to the founder of FUBAR Press and major contributor to the series, Jeff McComsey, about crowdfunding the two graphic novels.

Special Ops
Art by Steve Becker.

Congrats on the success of the new Kickstarter! Did the stories collected in this campaign start before or after FUBAR: Mother Russia?

The stories in By The Sword and most of Declassified have been a long time coming. We’ve been publishing quite a few By The Sword stories as issues first, in the two-issue miniseries FUBAR: By the Sword and then in the Guts & Glory one-shot. Mother Russia’s success moved back the Kickstarter for By The Sword just because we needed a little more time to wrap up that campaign.

Sword 1
From FUBAR: By The Sword. Art by Chris Peterson. Story by Shawn Aldridge.

What made special ops and the periods of history covered in By The Sword the logical next projects for FUBAR?

The Special Ops stories are mostly made up of stuff Steve [Becker] and I wanted to draw and we just kind of came up with a reason afterwards. By The Sword was a natural extension of our American history volume. Plus we wanted to draw some swords and shields [laughs].

Ops 1
From FUBAR: Special Ops. Art by Steve Becker. Story by Jeff McComsey.

You’ve covered so much of world history at this point. What’s left to explore next?

We’ve got a whole music-themed issue that has already been unlocked as a stretch goal for the current campaign. After that, who knows!

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FUBAR: Mother Russia. Art by Steve Becker.

All the FUBAR campaigns have done well, but what do you think made the Mother Russia Kickstarter in particular such a huge success?

Well, I think the standalone story nature versus the anthology is one aspect. Another would be I think it’s a neat story that we were able to convey with the little info you can when doing a Kickstarter. Kickstarter was also kind enough to feature us in one of their “Projects We Love” email blast and that really set the campaign off.

I wrote a piece awhile back about how Kickstarter was making anthologies possible again, but the standalone long form nature definitely seemed to have been a positive factor for Mother Russia. Has it made you consider doing more graphic novels?

I always have one or two ideas for OGNs going at all times. I have a few projects I’ll be finishing up until summer but after that, if something crazy doesn’t come up, I’ll be working on one of those OGN ideas.

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American Terror by Jeff McComsey.

FUBAR-related or no?

Well, Mother Russia 2 is one of them. I have a pretty fleshed out idea about where things go after the first volume. American Terror is another option. I also have a hankering to do a bio comic.

Would you use Kickstarter for all of those?

Most definitely. I plan to Kickstart projects until people stop backing them.

Ops 2
From FUBAR: Special Ops. Art by Steve Becker. Story by Jeff McComsey.

How do you think your career would be different without Kickstarter?

It’s hard to say, but I certainly wouldn’t have been able to get nearly as many books on the shelf.

Alterna
Alterna Comics.

What makes Alterna Comics a good partner for FUBAR?

Alterna has a great business model for small press creators that are willing to help push their work. Alterna gets us into shops, book stores, ComiXology. It’s up to us to then get people to pick up those books and enjoy them.

At this point, after some really impressive Kickstarters, how much would you say FUBAR is a business and how much of it is a hobby for you and other contributors?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me it’s a business. Publishing, Kickstarters and all the other ephemera that pops up is itself a full-time job. Then I still have to get freelance work done. It can be tough. My love/need of drawing comics is only seconded by my love/need to publish/make comics.

Sword 3
From FUBAR: By The Sword. Art by Chris Peterson. Story by Shawn Aldridge.

Check out the latest FUBAR Kickstarter, which ends Sunday night. Follow Jeff at his website and on Twitter.