Excellence, the Image Comics/Skybound series from creative team Khary Randolph, Brandon Thomas, Emilio Lopez, and Deron Bennett, is getting a deluxe hardcover collection. Image announced today that they’re looking to fund Excellence: Book One via Kickstarter, with the book planned as the first in a series of Skybound Signature hardcovers available via the crowdfunding platform. The collection will feature the first nine issues of Excellence, which is slated to return with new issues starting next month. The Kickstarter campaign for Excellence: Book One will launch on February 23rd.
Image is the latest big publisher to turn to crowdfunding for special projects. BOOM! Studios has run several successful campaigns on Kickstarter, including last year’s campaign for BRZRKR, the upcoming series co-written by Keanu Reeves and Matt Kindt and illustrated by Ron Garney, which raised nearly $1.5 million. The publisher’s current Kickstarter, for a series of high-end Mighty Morphin Power Rangers hardcovers, has raised more than ten times its $50,000 goal and still has just under a week to go.
Reception for major publishers using Kickstarter to product things has been mixed-to-negative in the past, but in this instance it seems like a decent way to get a wider audience of eyes on a quality book by a team made up of creators of color. And who doesn’t like a handsome hardcover loaded with bonus material?
Read the full announcement for the Excellence: Book One Kickstarter below. The campaign, which you can sign up for updates on here, begins on Tuesday, February 23rd.
PORTLAND, Ore. 01/28/2021 — Brandon Thomas and Khary Randolph’s Skybound/Image action fantasy series EXCELLENCE is getting an exclusive deluxe hardcover, available exclusively through Kickstarter. Comic book enthusiasts can order starting on February 23, 2021 and can get more details about the Kickstarter campaign HERE.
EXCELLENCE: BOOK ONE will encompass the first nine issues of the magic series, with additional never-before seen content. The deluxe hardcover is the first release from Skybound Signature, a line of graphic novels debuting on Kickstarter.
Thomas, Randolph, letterer Deron Bennett, and colorist Emilio Lopez stated: “In 2019 we set out to create an action-fueled, fantasy-rich comic the likes of which nobody had seen before. We wanted a comic that channeled and reflected the many experiences and emotions of Black people everywhere, and then to surround it with magic and intrigue. Excellence has been an incredible journey to be a part of so far, and we cannot wait for it to continue. Make sure to stay up to date on the campaign, new bonus content, and more! We want to make this the hardcover edition of your dreams. And remember… Excellence is real.”
For more information on EXCELLENCE and all Skybound titles, follow Skybound on Twitter (@skybound), Instagram (@skyboundent), and Facebook (@SkyboundEntertainment).
