Welcome to The Beat’s crowdfunding round-up: a collection of some of our favorite campaigns from the week including one-shots, on-goings, anthologies and everything in-between! This week, we’re checking out the goth demon comedy, Welcome to Our Hell, the queer grindhouse graphic novel, Glitter Vipers, and more.
Let’s get started!
Welcome to Our Hell
Creators: Alex Herndon (writer), Leila Elmanfaa (artist)
Goal: $1,000
End date: July 22, 2020
Goodies: A digital copy is just $3, and an upgrade to physical is $6, with higher pledges including signed versions, prints, and more.
Hello! And welcome to our Hell! Dive into our second issue full of color, wonder, and demon family fun.
Welcome to Our Hell is a hilarious Karen joke told over 20+ pages of beautifully hand-painted demon aesthetics. After seeing Elmanfaa’s art, I immediately went back and read the first issue, and the product is just perfect. Together, Herndon and Elmanfaa call themselves The Last Alley, a studio that’s also Kickstarted Lords of Marich, which I will totally be grabbing as soon as I can.
Glitter Vipers: A Queer Grindhouse Graphic Novel
Creators: Joe Glass (writer), Katie Fleming (artist)
Goal: $9,979
End date: July 23,2020
Goodies: Get in on a digital copy for $8, print for $12, with higher tiers including stickers, signatures, patches, and more.
A drag queen and their LGBTQ+ friends hit the streets to fight homophobia in this queer grindhouse, glitter noir revenge fantasy.
Glitter Vipers is a handling of queer trauma with an intentional focus on anger. On the Kickstarter page, Glass (The Pride) writes that, while bigotry is often overwrought in LGBTQ+ media, he feels that this particular emotion is often overlooked. This comic is an encapsulation of justified anger, told through the lens of a revenge fantasy grindhouse. To do that, the narrative follows the Glitter Vipers, the most fabulous street gang in the world, led by Manchester drag queen Bi Phallicia, as they step up to bigoted politicians and uncover a terrible conspiracy.
Beastlands #4 and #5
Creators: Curtis Clow (writer), Jo Mi-Gyeong (artist), Toben Racicot (letterer)
Goal: $14,000
End date: July 17, 2020
Goodies: Longtime fans can snag PDFs of both issues for $12, while newcomers can get the whole set for $24. Higher tiers include stickers, collectors pins, Beastlands map print and a high quality Beastlands Volume 1 Collectors Box.
In an unique fantasy world, a boy must journey to save his companion beast and get his friends back, before he pushes them all too far.
This is an ongoing series that I’m kicking myself for not being on board with sooner. Mi-Gyeong’s art alone is absolutely stunning – and the narrative isn’t half bad, either. Beastlands takes place in a world where certain people, including our three teenage heroes, have companion beasts called Keepers (AKA, just the raddest animal designs). Having read the free first issue, this comic is full of heart, and a must-get for the generation that grew up hoping to become Pokemon masters and Digidestineds.
Dash: The Gay Noir Graphic Novel
Creators: Dave Ebersole (writer), Delia Gable (artist), Vinnie Rico (artist), Sean Van Gorman (artist)
Goal: $15,000
End date: July 23, 2020
Goodies: The curious can grab the first issue for $4, a digital graphic novel for $10, $25 for a physical version, with higher tiers including signed prints, script reviews, and more.
A disgraced detective. A bad boy lover. A mysterious femme fatale. And lurking in the heart of 1940s Los Angeles… a primeval horror!
The title of this one really says it all: Dash is a detective/romance story following an on-the-outs P.I. doing what he has to do to get by – and subsequently is sucked into a much larger web of interconnectivity with him at the center. This edition, which collects the entire six-issue run, also includes three brand-new Dash stories drawn by Rico and guest artist Sean Van Gorman. Plus, Northwest Press will also be celebrating its 20th publication with this graphic novel, as it continues to focus on creating LGBTQ comics.
Don’t forget to check out last week’s ongoing campaigns if you haven’t already:
