Welcome back to The Beat‘s weekly crowdfunding comics round-up! Each week we’ll spotlight comics projects we think would be a great investment, whether it’s a one-shot story or a sprawling anthology. This week’s round-up includes a gorgeous artbook from Elsa Charretier, a zombie searching for the truth in Zed, and sci-fi beachside rockers Dr. Love Wave and the Experiments.
Let’s get going!
1. Camp Bitter Lake: The Case of the Stolen Stuff
Goal: $2,370 USD
Ends: Fri, November 22 2019 9:07 AM EST.
Creators: Jim Gibbons (Writer/Co-Creator), Julie Oliveira (Artist/Co-Creator)
Best Value Tier: $10 USD for a digital copy
There’s something strange about Roswell, New Mexico’s very weird summer camp — made even stranger by a sudden rash of mysterious cabin robberies. Four friends must band together, put their differences behind them, and figure out who the heck is stealing everyone’s stuff.
Camp Bitter Lake looks absolutely delightful. Julie Oliveira’s character designs are adorable, and it’s always great to see more kid-friendly spooky stories in the world. If you were a fan of James Tynion IV‘s and Rian Sygh’s Backstagers from BOOM, this looks like it’ll be right up your alley. You can get a PDF copy of this 20 page comic for $5, or the PDF and a bonus story for $10.
You can back the campaign here.
2. Dr. Love Wave and the Experiments #1
Goal: $3,000 USD
Ends: Mon, November 4 2019 5:55 AM EST
Creators: Greg Gustin (Writer), V. Gagnon (Illustrator), Joamette Gil (Letters)
Best Value Tier: $3 for a digital copy
Before that morning, Madre Bay, Massachusetts was known mostly as that sleepy little seaside town where you stopped to take a leak if you couldn’t hold it until you got to the soft sandy shores of Cape Cod. After that morning, after the water went missing and the town’s sanity went with it, Madre Bay became known as the frontline of the greatest battle the planet has ever faced!
This is a comic about a sci-fi themed rock band saving the world, so I’m hooked. $3 is a great deal for a digital comic, especially one with a premise this fun and absolutely gorgeous art and character designs from V. Gagnon. The fashion on display is out of this world — I’m already obsessed with Jessie Jupiter, Intergalactic Orthopedist, just from her incredible style. If you love a little swag with your Kickstarter pledges, for $20 USD plus shipping you can get a physical copy and PDF copy of the issue, a digital “director’s cut,” a guitar pick, and limited edition mini-print.
You can back the campaign here.
3. ZED 1-2 Limited Edition
Goal: $500 USD
Ends: Thu, October 31 2019 11:59 PM EST
Creators: Caleb Thusat (Writer), Katrina Kunstmann (Illustrator)
Best Value Tier: $10 USD plus shipping for a digital and physical copy
The PH-virus was relatively short lived thanks to Samuel Grace, genius scientist and the creator of the PH vaccine. His vaccine can prevent the spread of the virus, but cannot reverse it. Fortunately, Sam’s vaccine stopped the PH-virus before it decimated the world population, but the vaccine did not come without a cost. For three years Sam experimented on patient after patient, subject after subject. Creating the vaccine carried a cost of both human and post-human life. One such test subject was Zed.
Despite being a big baby about scary movies, I’m a sucker for horror, and Caleb Thusat‘s and Katrina Kunstmann’s ZED hits all the right notes for me. Thusat has made the first issue available for free, and by the end you’ll be anxious to know just what happened between Zed and Dr. Grace. Kunstmann’s art captures the natural goriness of the zombie genre (zombre?) without being so full-blown gross-out it distracts from Thusat’s writing. If you check out the issue #1 preview the full-color cover has quite a spray of blood that was a bit surprising in contrast to the black and white interiors, so be ready before you click! Thusat has a number of successful projects under his belt, so while there is a $3 digital tier, $10 plus shipping for a physical copy seems like a safe bet for this limited edition print run.
You can back the campaign here.
4. Elsa Charretier artbook
Goal: Approx $10,023
Ends: Thu, November 21 2019 2:37 AM EST
Creators: Elsa Charretier
Best Value Tier: Approx $31 USD plus shipping for a hardcover
This artbook is a first step in that direction. It’s a collection of some of my best pieces commissioned by collectors, comic book covers, and detailed process of my storytelling work from NOVEMBER and STAR WARS: DR. APHRA. I’m hoping this will be an opportunity to understand how I think a page and work as an artist.
It’s rare for me to want to recommend any comics work without a digital option, but Elsa Charretier is one of the most skilled illustrators working in comics today, and her first-ever artbook looks absolutely stunning. It looks absolutely luxurious — a wonderful way to curl up and spend an afternoon appreciation and learning from one of the modern greats in comics art. If you’re a die-hard fan of Elsa Charretier and her work, approximately $73 will net you the artbook and an exclusive commentary edition of her graphic novel collaboration with Matt Fraction, November.
You can back the campaign here.
5. SPOOKY BABES
Goal: Approx $11,435 USD
Ends: Tue, November 5 2019 10:00 PM EST
Creators: Peo Michie
Best Value Tier: Approx $35 USD plus shipping for a digital comic, stickers, and book of prints
Knights of Lust is a (limited) special Spooky Babe, consensual, Lesbian, Romance comic. The plot follows a not so noble Knight and her ethereal sidekick as they travel through cursed post-apocalyptic lands, seeking riches and slaying supernatural babes. This cute comic is a cute 20 paged, Perfect Bound, 12.5cm x 17cm, 2 colour risograph book.
The Spooky Babes Kickstarter is a double-whammy of spooky, sexy art, featuring the Knights of Lust comic (available as a stand-alone digital tier for $9) and an art book of absolutely gorgeous monster gal prints. Peo Michie’s illustrations are stunning and brimming with playful charm. Plus the artbook’s pages are perforated, so you can turn every page into a print for your wall, if you’re so inclined! There is also an irresistible enamel pin you should check out for yourself, which can be yours along with physical copies of the comic and artbook, stickers, and a digital comic, for approximately $62 USD including shipping.
You can back the campaign here.
The following campaigns from previous round-ups are still running:
- La Voz De M.A.Y.O. Tata Rambo #3 (Ends 10/28)
- Machina Corpse (Ends 10/30)
- Neverender: Issue One (Ends 11/1)
- Heartbreak Quadrant Issues 1-3 (Ends 11/1)
- Campfire Stories – A horror comics anthology (Ends 11/1)
- Old Head (Ends 11/2)
- Scott Pilgrim Miniatures The World (Ends 11/5)
- POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology VOLUME 2 (Ends 11/9)
- Moonlight: A Queer Werewolf Anthology (Ends 11/12)
- Strange Waters (Ends 11/18)
- The Plague and Doctor Caim
