This week, Comics Beat‘s Comics Crowdfunding Round-Up has indie comics campaigns from across all the crowdfunding platforms that I could source — and it always makes me happy to give y’all options — from Crowdfundr to Kickstarter to Zoop, here are some of the most exciting comic book projects to back this week.

I Thought You Loved Me

I Thought You Loved Me

Creators: MariNaomi
Goal: $17,500
End Date: October 30, 2022
Goodies: Digital or physical edition, bookplate, 1-hour Zoom or phone call with Mari, an original piece of comics art from MariNaomi’s Turning Japanese (2016), an original piece of art, and a retail package

I Thought You Loved Me is MariNaomi’s Gen X graphic memoir, which is told in prose, collage, and sequential art, explores queer culture, feminism, race, class, sex work, and the flawed nature of memory as Mari works to uncover a long-lost best friend that she can no longer remember but can’t let go of.

I am a BIG fan of MariNaomi, who I first came across not through their writing but through their activism. They are the founder and administrator of the Cartoonists of Color Database, the Queer Cartoonists Database, and the Disabled Cartoonists Database, all of which are amazing resources. Then, I discovered the award-winning author’s creative works like Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22, and Things That Go Bump in the Night, among others and was just as blown away. And I doubt this latest work from MariNaomi will be an exception. 

Become a backer here. 

Lucha Forever

King Midas Lucha Forever

Creators: John Aviña (writer), with art by Mozart Eros (artist), Julio Santos (colorist), Miguel Silva (designer/promoter)
Goal: $5,000
End Date: October 10, 2022
Goodies: Digital or PDF copy, stickers, iron patches, issue #1 or Kickstarter exclusive cover poster 11×17, and Voidwalker Regulation Cap,

Aliens, robots, and auditions all plague the once famous wrestler Guillermo Diaz, in his pursuit of a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

If you’ve been following along since I took over the comics crowdfunding column, then you have probably figured out that I like wrestling comics. They are fun. They are colorful. They are about real-life action-adventure heroes, well, sorta… but it’s close enough for me. And this campaign, Lucha Forever, is about one wrestling champion’s pursuit of happiness in the City of Angles as he attempts to wrestle his way to his own star on the Hollywood walk of fame (except things go wrong when there is an alien invasion). Yeah, I am here for that premise, and the art looks dope too.

Become a backer here. 

RIVALS: The Loyalty of Sago Astar – Deluxe Issue #1

Rivals

Creators: Paul Gerrard and Mike Clarke
Goal: $5,000
End Date: October 7, 2022
Goodies: Digital copy, physical copy with either Cover A, Cover B, or Cover C, Art of Rivals book, “The Ghost War” poster, be drawn in as a background character or a recurring character, and original pages

NOW IN EARLY DEVELOPMENT AS A LIVE-ACTION TV SHOW

If you’re a fan of Mad Max, Conan the Barbarian, Fist of the North Star, Berserk, Dune, Heavy Metal, and 2000AD, then Rivals is your new comic book addiction. It’s a post-apocalyptic movie that meets Hong Kong action cinema, and it’s about to be a live-action TV show. Before all your friends get into the TV series, get a jump on learning more about Rivals, which stars none other than 90s action movie legend, Gary Daniels… because don’t all of us comic book fans care about being cool?

Become a backer here. 

Nether Realms: Sci-Fi Non-Binary Erotic Comics Anthology

Nether Realms

Creators: 6iirls, Bandaid, Butchflux, C. Bedford, Cactu Art, Alex van Gore, Faeri Sami, Faye Stacey, Fydbac, The Neon Caster, Jade ‘Jude’ Sarson, Quenby, Azzie, Ryan Breadinc, Perry Wheeler, Rye Hickman, Seren Krakens, Shane Basement, Shae Beagle, Tab Kimpton, Luce Northstar, and Caterina Gerbasi
Goal: $29,804
End Date: October 13, 2022
Goodies: Neath Realms PDF or graphic novel

Strange, sexy tales from far across the universe, with characters who are non-binary or gender explorers!

From the Prism Comics and Lambda Award-nominated publisher of Nectar & Ambrosia: Trans Femme & Masc & Non-Binary Erotic Comics, comes Nether Realms: Sci-Fi Non-Binary Erotic Comics Anthology. So I just picked up Nectar & Ambrosia from Prism Comics’ QCon and LOVED IT, so I highly recommend this anthology for anyone into queer erotica. 

Become a backer here.

Kærshovedgård Stories: Comics from a deportation center

Posters by Johan Bitsch

Creators: Johan Bitsch (posters), Iben Bitsch (posters), Små Broer (volunteer organization)
Goal: $3,361
End Date: October 13, 2022
Goodies: Digital edition or graphic novel, risograph printed poster

A graphic novel benefiting refugees in a Danish deportation camp.

Per the crowdfunding campaign page, “Kærshovedgård deportation camp is situated in an isolated part of Denmark, far away from the consciousness of the general Danish public. It is a closed camp with fences and no bus stop. The immigrants and refugees here are stuck with no checkout date, living in a vacuum with constant uncertainty about what tomorrow will bring. As a rejected asylum seeker in Denmark you are not allowed to work, study or access the country’s universal health care system. Because of this many refugees live untreated and unmedicated while in absolute poverty.”

Kærshovedgård Stories will be a risograph printed 200+ page graphic novel in color, made by a dedicated group of asylum-seeking storytellers and volunteer cartoonists. The graphic novel is based on 10 interviews with people living in Kærshovedgård, containing everyday moments of peoples’ existence in the camp and their life stories and illustrating how the violence and oppressive asylum system harms human beings affected by it.

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!