Welcome to this week’s comics crowdfunding round-up! It’s clear that Halloween season is upon us, as things at Kickstarter and Crowdfundr are beginning to turn toward the spooky side. But for at least the last week of September, the comics crowdfunding round-up will focus on comics from this realm. This week, we have a crime story about the high-stakes world of bees and a fantasy series about a harpyboi just trying to survive to (almost) everything in between.


Foulbrood 3 & 4

Foulbrood 3 & 4

Creators: Christopher Sebela (writer), Claire Roe (artist), Hank Jones (colorist) Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (letterer), and Jasmine Walls (editor)
Goal: $13,000
End Date: October 13, 2022
Goodies: Digital or print issues of Foulbrood 3 and 4, Digital Deluxe bonus content, and variant covers galore (issue #1 includes covers from Paulina Ganucheau, LaneLloyd, and Kelly Williams, and issue #2 features covers from Kendall Goode, NatashaAlterici, and Storie Grubb), personal two-minute video with Zola (the dog), HIVE box, script consultations or a general chat, Claire Roe digital commissions, original art, and Sebela will co-write a script

The continuing rural crime odyssey of four worlds drawn together by bees, crime, and bee crimes. By Christopher Sebela & Claire Roe.

Is beekeeping really a cutthroat industry? Now, I want to know. I live in rural California. I really, really want to know. On those nights when my home is best described as straight from the mind of Stephen King, I can imagine the bee farmers at the No. 45 house up the road stealing some of sweet, sweet Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jooooo-leeeene’s bees. Plus, Foulbrood has a next-level creative team. 

Become a backer here.

SHELTER: Early Doors – A Folk-Horror tale from London 1969

SHELTER- Early Doors

Creators: Lucy Sullivan
Goal: £2,800
End Date: October 23, 2022
Goodies: Digital copy; one-off print edition of “Early Doors,” the first story from SHELTER; A3 fold-out poster specially commissioned for this campaign and brought to glorious life by the UK’s top cartoonist Mark Stafford; set of four print postcards of Mammy and her special girls; risograph zine collection; an individually prescribed recipe for your life’s ailments from Mammy’s resident healer Brigit Carty

‘There’s no shame in looking for help, but can you pay the price?’

SHELTER is inspired by Sullivan’s family history and mixes folk horror with cultural mythology and urban unease in West London’s Shepherd’s Bush. Each SHELTER story will follow a local in trouble, seeking shelter and aid from the local matriarch, Mammy Magee, and her very special girls to see what path their troubles will take. The creator describes it as a world where the supernatural mixes with the mundane.

This comic will be a one-off print run. It is a prequel to the wider SHELTER project that’s due for development with the support of ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND once EARLY DOORS is completed.

Become a backer here

Faercrow

Faercrow

Creators: A.D. Greenlees
Goal: $1,246
End Date: October 21, 2022
Goodies: PDF with a handwritten postcard, printed comic, local comic pick up for the Greater Victoria Area, BC

—a story about a harpyboi just trying to survive.

This comic comes with a trigger warning: it contains blood, violence, familial abuse, and death. Faercrow started as one of several short stories Greenless wrote for NaNoWriMo 2015, but now the creator hopes to bring the project to bookshelves across Canada (and for those in the U.S., we can read the story online for free). However, the printed edition will include never-before-seen splash pages, brand-new poster art, and updated interior art using a mix of watercolor and digital techniques.

Become a backer here.

MAGIC POWDER #1-3, the newest issue of the fantasy crime series

Magic Powder

Creators: Jeffrey Paul Louis Schiller (script and storyboards), Daniele Aquilani (art/colors/lettering), Samuel Iwunze (cover art), and Raven Schiller (graphic design)
Goal: $5,000
End Date: October 5, 2022
Goodies: Digital or physical copy of issue #3, digital catch-up package of issues #1-3, name on the thank you page, personalized drawing of any character by Schiller, be background or speaking character in issue #4, and a ton of add-ons

The Dwarvfather busts out, The Elf Zjah makes plans, Oz surveys his new kingdom, Arana has an epiphany, and MUCH more.

Want some aggressive fantasy? And I don’t mean aggressive like, “Grunt and puff, I’m so aggressive” (although the story has some of that too). But I mean, it’s aggressively in the fantasy realm: orcs, dwarves, dungeons, and endless wars between races and classes that are straight out of LotR. Well then, this is the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for you. Me? Well, I just think these elves know how to party, and that’s all the reason I need to recommend some Magic Powder-sized fun. 

Become a backer here

Sonic Saturn #1: Into the Lion’s Heart

Sonic Saturn

Creators: Anthony Carranza (art), Breyden Boyd (writer), Shape Comics
Goal: $4,000
End Date: September 30, 2022
Goodies: Digital and physical comic, two stickers, signed copy of issue #1

From the far-flung future! This is Sonic Saturn! A Tale from the year 5005, Sonic Saturn is a fast-paced, action-packed sci-fi comic!

I am a sucker for the labor-intensive of making new paper look like old paper, and new comics look like old comics. The story for Sonic Saturn #1 focuses on Johnny Estrella, a character who relies on his skill and wit to get out of sticky space situations, drawn in a style that the Space Comics listed artist calls “Pulp Americana.” This throwback art style was developed by Carranza “with the intention of recreating golden age comic book covers down to the smallest detail,” something that he described to Voyage LA as “an ongoing learning process where I attempt to master the aging factors of old paper, the coloring methods of comic printing.”

Become a backer here


Here are some already-funded projects worth checking out:

And don’t forget to check out last week’s campaigns:

And finally, here are some projects that haven’t launched yet, but that look to be worth keeping an eye on:

Miss any of our previous Comics Crowdfunding Round-Ups? Check out the archive here!