Welcome to this week’s installment of The Beat’s Comics Crowdfunding Round-Up! Join us for a series with an interesting take on Arthurian legends, a comic book publisher that supports queer prisoners through art, and more!
Vixx the Hunter
Creators: Pat Shand (Head Writer), Jeff Massey (Co-writer), Larry Watts (Artist)
Goal: $6,500
End Date: December 15, 2023
Goodies: A digital copy, a physical copy, three variant covers, and access to older works!
One hundred years ago, an event called ‘The Glowing’ devastated 80% of the population, leaving the survivors with an Earth that has been changed. Water is radioactive, animals have mutated, and the world has been painted with beautiful, dangerous, glowing colors. Most of the remaining society has broken into villages to rebuild the world they lost. Will Vixx, a lone hunter, and her companion Kit, a giant four-eyed fox, be able to make it on their own?
A woman and her giant fox companion surviving in a post-apocalyptic world is an eye-catcher. Followed up with some great artwork and wonderful covers, it’s no surprise this Kickstarter has amassed over $15,000. Space Between Entertainment seems to be bringing something that comic fans won’t want to miss.
Hellforged
Creators: Elliott Duque-Estrada (Writer/Creator) and Raffaele Forte (Artist)
Goal: $8,500
End Date: December 18, 2023
Goodies: A digital copy, a physical copy, limited edition copies, prints, sketches, and more!
Hellforged is the story of a teenager named Liz, who lives in New York City with her father, the fabled wizard Merlin… Stranded on Earth after an accident transported Merlin and Liz to our world when she was a baby, Liz has grown up only knowing what Merlin has told her about their home—the kingdom of Camelot—and the benevolent King Arthur. After a mysterious force brings Liz, Merlin, and Liz’s best friend Calvin to the world of Camelot, Liz discovers that it’s actually a nightmarish hellscape overrun with terrifying beasts that serve a world-consuming primordial evil. This evil is an extra-dimensional being known as The All-Dark, and he has possessed and corrupted King Arthur and Camelot beyond salvation. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the many lies Merlin has told Liz in the hopes of keeping the truth of what she is from her…
Excalibur’s soul reincarnated as a teenager is already a fantastic hook. However, seeing that Liz’s adoptive father is none other than Merlin, that Excalibur was never the sword the legends said it was, and that they have to free Arthur from the darkness that has consumed him makes Hellforged seem like a comic book that fans don’t want to miss.
The Cassegrain Collection
Creators: Didier Cassegrain (Artist), Fred Duval (Writer), Yann (Writer), Olivier Vatine (Writer), and Daniel Pecqueur (Writer)
Goal: $7,500
End Date: December 15, 2023
Goodies: A digital copy, hardcover edition, graphic novel bundle, and campaign-exclusive, limited-edition postcard prints!
Presenting four cinematic graphic novels:
The latest release by Cassegrain, Don’t Let Go, comes as a reunion of sorts to the team behind Black Water Lilies, a 2020 Eisner-nominated adaptation of Michel Bussi‘s 2011 novel Nympheas Noirs. In Don’t Let Go, when a young mother disappears without a trace from the upscale Hotel Alamanda, an investigation uncovers a wealth of unanswerable questions, with all suspicions leading to her husband. When that suspect then disappears with their daughter in tow, the chase begins to save the girl and locate the wife.
Loosely adapted from Stefan Wul‘s 1958 sci-fi novel Piege sur Zarkass, [t]his madcap adventure has all of the hallmarks of a blockbuster buddy film: a colorful cast of characters, sharp-witted dialogue, high-concept plot devices, explosive action sequences, and beneath it all, genuine heart, [d]escribed as Apocalypse Now through the jungles of James Cameron‘s Avatar with a cast of foul-mouthed scoundrels and heroes straight out of Tank Girl.
Just as Don’t Let Go marks Didier’s most recent work, Tao Bang represents his first foray into the world of comics. Fresh from training at the famed Gobelins Cartooning School in Paris, he met the legendary Olivier Vatine while working at Disney Studios, who encouraged the young artist to try his hand at comics… and the result was the eye-popping pirate fantasy Tao Bang!
In Tao Bang, the trading port of Xarnath is the leading destination for pirates, profiteers, and scoundrels. Ruled with an iron fist by the Dragon Sheikh Ad Arphax, it’s an uphill climb for any ambitious businessman (or woman) to get a leg up on the competition… especially when that competition is Ad Arphax himself. Lady Ellora has an idea to boost her brothel’s business by recruiting some Sirens from the Island of Mermaids, but to find this island, she’ll need the help of a down-on-their-luck trio of adventurers and the notorious pirate Tao Bang! Can she trust this crew? And can they survive the pursuit when Ad Arphax finds out about this scheme?
LAST CALL to back Magnetic Press’s four graphic novels by artist Cassegrain! Offered via BackerKit, it’s easy to select which of the four graphic novels you wish to purchase, whether it be one or all four! With over $22,000 crowdfunded, fans want to see this project soar, and we at The Beat believe this is something no fan would want to miss.
A.B.O. Comix
Creators: A.B.O. Comix
Goal: $2,000
End Date: December 31, 2023
Goodies: Tax deductible donation
A.B.O. Comix is a collective of creators and activists who work to amplify the voices of LGBTQ prisoners through art. By working closely with prison abolitionist and queer advocacy organizations, we aim to keep queer prisoners connected to outside community and help them in the fight toward liberation. The profits we generate go back to incarcerated artists, especially those with little to no resources. Using the DIY ideology of “punk-zine” culture, A.B.O. was formed with the philosophy of mutual support, community, and friendship.
Our collective is working towards compassionate accountability without relying on the state or its sycophants. A.B.O. believes our interpersonal and societal issues can be solved without locking people in cages. Our mission is to combat the culture that treats humans as disposable and disproportionately criminalizes the most marginalized amongst us. Through artistic activism, we hope to proliferate the idea that a better world means redefining our concepts of justice.
We are three months out from the end of the year – and with it, the close of our annual Holiday Commissary fundraiser! Hopefully, this is plenty of time to gather the resources and community support needed to send donations to every contributing artist whose work was accepted into Volume 7 of A Queer Prisoner’s Comix Anthology: A Better Solution.
A.B.O. Comix amplifies the voices of queer prisoners, publishing comics about their experiences. If possible, A.B.O. offers additional help to anthology contributors if they need it. This holiday season, A.B.O. needs your donations to keep publishing anthologies and other comix, connecting queer prisoners with resources, helping its contributors, and promoting the message of the healing power of art. We at The Beat love what A.B.O. Comix does!
Miss any of our previous Comics Crowdfunding Round-Ups? Check out the archive here!
