Alas, another Monday begins. We’re all here at our computers, staring at the screen until our eyeballs turn into raisins. I’ll try to keep this week’s crowdfunding round-up short and sweet. This week we’re going to be looking at female superhero’s, from the Folklórico dancing Jalisco to two women just trying to make it by selling collectibles from that old chestnut of a planet known as Earth. And away we go…
Jalisco
Over at Seed&Spark, an inclusive place for film, tv creators and fans, filmmaker Kayden Phoenix is working to fund a short about a Latina superhero named Jalisco. Phoenix is committed to not only creating a superhero for girls but one that uses her heritage in a positive, non-stereotypical way. Here’s what phoenix has to say about why she believes this character is so important:
Little girls have few female superheroes and role models to look up to Jalisco is a Latina superhero who is not only proud of her Mexican roots, she uses them to slay the bad guys. This project is a stand for diversity. The cast will be mostly Latino actors and the crew all female.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=hCGSMTv4u-c
Jalisco is an assassin who utilizes the grace and agility from dancing to excel at her job, slicing the necks of enemies. The show is billed as a Desperado meets Kills Bill. Jalisco dances the Baile folklórico, which translated from Spanish it means “folkloric dance.”
A collective term for traditional Mexican in dances that emphasize local folk culture with ballet characteristics – pointed toes, exaggerated movements, highly choreographed.
So often we hear about shows about women created by well, not women. It’s encouraging and exciting to see Jalisco with an almost all female creative and development team. There’s a few days left to fund Jalisco, which hopes to enter the short in film festivals. The team has currently raised about 50% of its $15,500.
Heroines
Ted Naifeh, the artist known for his work on Gloomcookie (SLG Publishing) and creator of Courtney Crumrin (Oni Press), has launched his first crowdfunding campaign with the help of Space Goat Publishing.
Naifeh is hoping to raise funds for the graphic novel Heroines, which will be released as a complete series on Space Goat’s Backpack Editions (digest-book imprint). Here’s a video of the campaign from their Kickstarter page:
A synopsis:
Heroines tells the tale of Marcy Madison, a bright, capable young woman just out of college, blessed with boundless optimism, a fresh perspective, and a nifty superpower–ready to make the world a better place. Marcy finds that most of the world is trapped in its own dysfunctional stories, mired in pessimism, and is more than ready to dismiss her. However, she’s determined to blaze her own trail, which soon proves dangerous.
Mired in pessimism sounds about right for the current world climate. Naifeh gave an interview over on Graphic Policy where he delved into more detail about the lead character Marcy. Madson decides the best place to start looking for a team of heroines is by placing an ad on Craigslist. If you’ve ever done anything on Craigslist, chances are you might already know that the responses Marcy receives range from the good, the weird, to the downright dangerous.
The first arc of the story is complete and Naifeh and Space Goat are hoping to fund the second arc. The graphic novel is eight chapters in total. The team has posted the link to the first chapter of Heroines, which is a nice bonus if you want to know what you are getting into before you back. There’s a slew of backer tiers and if I tried to get into them all here I’d spend the rest of the day writing them, safe to say there’s a little something for everyone.
Funding for this project ends on December 29, 2017. Currently, this Kickstarter has raised $6,561 of its $25,000 goal.
Heartbreak Quadrant: Phase Two
http://kck.st/2hJdtiN
Three words: Sub-standard replicated nachos.
Artist and illustrator Barrett Stanley is back with a follow-up to his science fiction comic Heartbreak Quadrant. The comic follows two women, Ida and Kumi who make their living buying, selling, and trading collectibles from planet Earth (which was destroyed twenty years ago). The duo travel the galaxy in an alien spaceship called the Red Grapefruit. All they want to do is settle down and live a quiet life in the Charm Quadrant but of course, that’s not so easy when you pepper in technological disasters and double-crossing clients.
In Phase Two Ida and Kumi face a nanoplasm eating away at their ship, an enemy hell bent on revenge and an insatiable hunger for junk food. Here’s the truth: Ida and Kumi are my kind of people in addition to being my current fashion goals. You can get a solid preview of the first 30 pages by following this link and a look at Phase One. There’s a bunch of reward options like prints, coloring pages, and watercolor character paintings available for backers.
From the Kickstarter, here’s a look at what your financial support will be backing:
The goal of the Heartbreak Quadrant: Phase Two Kickstarter is to fund a print edition of the second issue. This issue is full color, oversized (10″ x 10″), and more than double the length of a standard comic (53 total pages of story, including the 5-page black and white bonus story “Circuit Bored,” created for the HQ: Phase One Kickstarter campaign.)
Funding for this comic ends on December 18, 2017. Stanley is looking to raise $4,000 and is over half-way to achieving this goal.
Well, that does it for this weeks round-up. I’m not even sure if I’m awake or writing this in some sort of coffee-fueled-fever dream, but I do know this: I’ll see you next week, same time, same place. Until then, thanks for reading.
