Welcome to The Beat’s latest Comics Crowdfunding Round-Up! This week’s column has many great projects, ranging from the first Latina superhero team, A LA BRAVA, to abortion herstories written by people who’ve had an abortion to a futuristic odyssey adventure story with a bunch of sexy gays. Check out this week’s noteworthy comics crowdfunding projects below!
A LA BRAVA, Latina Superhero Team
Creators: Renata Garcia (penciller), Ari Navarette (inker), Aislin Gry (colorist), Sandra Romero (letterer, graphic designer), and Kayden Phoenix (writer, creator)
Goal: $5,000
End Date: July 14, 2022
Goodies: A LA BRAVA, Latina Superhero Team graphic novel, donate a book to a girl in the ‘Girls Voices Now’ organization, donate a book to a library, graphic novel plus a donation to Girl Scouts, signed 1st Edition copy, t-shirt, sticker, Latina superhero starter pack with all the books, and get drawn into phase two
The 1st Latina Superhero Team in history!
Jalisco, Santa, Loquita, Ruca, and Bandita are a new Latina superhero team, A LA BRAVA. The A LA BRAVA universe is the brainchild of Phoenix, who created all five Latina superheroes that now compose the first Latina superhero team in comic book history. Each of the previously published comics tells a superhero’s origin story and social cause, with A LA BRAVA being the final book in the volume.
In A LA BRAVA, the five Latina superheroes band together when women start disappearing in connection with a controversial bill to tax billionaires. The team must figure out if any of the billionaires who are supporting the controversial bill are causing political unrest and the murders. Phoenix states on the campaign page, “The objective of this book is to have a Latina superhero team origin story; one that overcomes hardship, shows resilience, and most importantly, a story that rises above oppression.”
Morgan’s Organs #1-4: The Anatomically Incorrect Adventure
Creators: Daniel Brodie (creator), Robert Jennex (artist), and Tyler Kelting (colorist)
Goal: $3,076
End Date: July 18, 2022
Goodies: PDF of only the fourth book or all the books in the series, signed edition, collector’s sleeve, recognition on the “Thank You” page, Angus the Anus wall ornament, script review, Hugo the Heart plush toy, Andy the Appendix plush toy, three Jennex posters, and custom art commission by Kelting or Jennex
An adult comedy comic book series set inside our insides. We’re going deeper into Morgan’s body than ever before with Book 4!
In 2016, Brodie told Comics Alliance, “Morgan’s Organs is Inside Out for grown-ups,” a perfect description for a comic about college student Morgan, who has organ-like characters called Organauts living inside him. Although the Organauts are responsible for controlling Morgan’s body systems to keep him alive, they don’t always operate with his best interests in mind. The story takes place on two levels: outside of Morgan’s body (which follows him and his group of friends as they navigate college life) and inside of his body (which follows Morgan’s sperm journey as he prepares to go to a bar).
With their own voice. Abortion herstories
Creators: Beata Sosnowska, Ola Szmida, Judyta Sosna, Marta Falkowska, Anna Karolina Kaczmarczyk, Alicja Ewa Wilkowska, Beata Smugaj, Natalia Reszka, and Adrianna Foryś
Goal: $2,700
End Date: August 4, 2022
Goodies: English and Polish editions, both in print and digital, postcard and handwritten thank you note, embroidered patch badge, three different art prints, original pages
Własnym głosem. Herstorie aborcyjne.
With Their Own Voice: Abortion Herstories is a group of artists who are joining forces to respond to the Poland Constitutional Tribunal basically banning abortion, as there are only two exceptions: when the pregnancy threatens a woman’s life and when the pregnancy resulted from rape. Because of the law, there have been waves of protests in Europe, with human rights organizations issuing statements about how the ban is harmful to women.
Wanting to participate in the protests the best way they can, a group of 40+ creators worked together to bring people this 150-page anthology, with 14 real-life, powerful stories about women who decided to have an abortion.
Geneva-Kabul
Creators: Sophie Imren (artist) and Noémie Cadeau (writer)
Goal: $5,249
End Date: July 20, 2022
Goodies: French and English 160-page comic in print and digital, stickers, postcards to anywhere in the world, poster, travel book, mug, portrait drawing, and mystery gift
The forgotten travel of two feminist icons: Ella Maillart & Annemarie Schwarzenbach
I love non-fiction. I love LGBTQ+-themed stories. Even better, stories with a little bit of both. The next pick for this week’s comic crowdfunding column is Geneva-Kabul, a non-fiction story about Annemarie Schwarzenbach, who identified as neither a boy nor a girl, and Ella Maillart. In 1939, as fascism spread throughout Europe, the traveling companions fled the continent, becoming the first women to travel the Northern Road from Geneva to Afghanistan.
MERAKI #6 – A Futuristic Odyssey Adventure Story!
Creators: MK Palmer (creator, writer), Trang Pham (flat colors), Sebastian Cheng (colorist), Lara Willard (editor), and Baxter (The Cat)
Goal: $10,000
End Date: July 1, 2022
Goodies: PDF or standard hard copy of issue six, PDF or standard copy of MERAKI back issues, limited edition variant covers, get drawn into issue six, stickers, metal keychain, metal tags, enamel pins, patch, sketchbook, t-shirt, and Fylax plushie
Follow along Psi’s dark journey as she takes on Zeus & the Gods! | An LGBTQ+ comic book series.
As an ailurophile, MERAKI (meaning to put your heart and soul into a creation) is a comics crowdfunding campaign worth supporting because it’s shocking adorable; the creator’s credits include the writer’s cat, Baxter. Even better (at least for all dog lovers), MERAKI is a queer comic with funny, caring, intelligent, and flawed LGBTQ+ characters who aren’t one-dimensional. Check out MERAKI if you’re a Greek Mythology fan but wish today’s retellings were gayer (although the OG myths have LGBTQ+ themes, some modern retellings have straight-washed the Greek gods).
Here are some already-funded projects worth checking out:
- Digger Unearthed: The Complete 10th Anniversary Collection
- Scott Snyder Presents Tales From the Cloakroom
- TALL TAILS: Thieves’ Quest Vol. 1- 4 Trade Paperbacks
- Pool Boys: A Gay Demon Boy Romance
- Lustration & Other Stories – An Anthology Of Short Comics
Don’t forget to look at last week’s campaigns from the Comics Crowdfunding Round-Up:
- The Dark Side of Purity
- Don’t Say Gator™ — An LGBTQ+ Anthem for the Everglades
- The Phantom of the Opera, a graphic novel
- Producing the End of the World Issue 1
- The Tale of Tsarevich Ivan, The Fire Bird, and The Grey Wolf
And finally, here are some projects that haven’t launched yet, but that look to be worth keeping an eye on:
- Soulpunk
- Word Smith – Volume 1, 2, 3 & 4 – Trust
- Raina – Chapter 1 Pink Morning
- Skyvein: Volume One
- “CLAVICULA SALOMONIS” / HORROR COMIC
Miss any of our previous Comics Crowdfunding Round-Ups? Check out the archive here!