Kick-Watcher: Golem and Igle's MOLLY DANGER

By: Henry Barajas

The comic books projects on Kickstarter just keeps getting better and better. Here are two projects that I found exceptional and worth advocating.

Project: Golem

Talent/Project Manager: Hilary Goldstein

Days to Go: 22

Goal: $8,000

“Golem is a graphic novel created and written by Hilary Goldstein (that’s me!) with art by Giovanni P. Timpano (G.I. Joe: Infection), colors by Laura Schumacher, and covers by Garry Brown (Incorruptible).”

The story follows Danya Ben-El’azar and her six-year-old son Jonah is known as the international mercenary team Golem.  The mother-son duo is out to get the man that framed Danya for killing the president and executed her husband in front of her.  The four issue, 100 page miniseries is available to you for only $30.00. That gets you the TPB, PDF copy, eBook short story prequel, special thanks in the book and site.

Incentives include digital downloads, signed graphic TPB, script books, t-shirts and original art. For only $500 a character will be named after you. For a flimsy $1000 your likeness will be drawn as a one of Danya’s victims.  There are more incentives then excuses for you to not pledge for this project.

Project: MOLLY DANGER

Talent/Project Manager: Jamal Igle

Days to Go: 22

Goal: $45,000

“Molly Danger is the story of the world’s most powerful 10-year-old girl. A seemingly immortal, super strong hero, Molly has protected the city of Coopersville for the last 20 years.”  This all-ages Kickstart exclusive will be printed in a 8.5 x 12 hardcover, European format Graphic Album series. The books are set to debut in September/October and limited to 2000 copies.

Jamal is offering MOLLY DANGER t-shirts, signed books, posters and commissions as incentives to pledges for the book. He hopes to hit this immense goal to dedicate more time to this project which he is very passionate about.  The preview art looks astonishing and I can’t wait to see the final product in the large format. It reminds me of the absolute editions that I love so much.

I got to chat with him and get more insight about his project.  He is truly one of the industry greats. He had an exceptional two year run on Supergirl. Igle worked on books like Action Comics, Green Lantern, Nightwing, Wonder Woman and Iron Man.  His Wikipedia page says he was a story board artist on Max Steel, which I’ll admit it, I was a big fan.

Henry Barajas: Tell us more about Molly Danger; where does the story start off?

Jamal Igle: When the story opens, Molly Danger is the world’s greatest superhero. While she is physically and emotionally a 10 year old girl; she’s actually been the same age for 20 years. The people of the city she protects and the world at large have come to accept the idea of an ageless, incredibly powerful alien girl. She lives and works out of the Molly Danger Museum, there’s merchandise and licensing based on her image and exploits.

The problem is, while she loves her job and what she does to help others, she longs for a normal life. She doesn’t have friends or a secret identity; she’s been Molly Danger as far as she can remember. The only family she knows died when their ship crashed on Earth. The organization she works with, D.A.R.T., keeps her sequestered in their headquarters and has told her that contact with normal people is forbidden. So she’s incredibly lonely. That’s really where the story picks up.

Why the large European graphic album format?
It’s a format that I love personally, one that I’ve had my work published in before. It’s a format made for collectors, it’s a format that’s popular in international markets. When you put an album ,or series of albums on a shelf it just has a great look. When you open the book, it’s a massive creative canvas that allows for more detail than the standard comic.

Have you taken this project to any publisher or did you go straight to Kickstarter?

I did actually; several in fact. The problem was that I never heard back from them or was told that they didn’t know where they could place it since they consider it YA (Young Adult) material. The publishers are all looking for clones of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” which isn’t what Molly is. So I put it on the shelf for a while. It wasn’t until I was approached by other people to put a project together and seek backing on Kickstarter that I decided to go this route. It was also fortuitous that my good friend Shawn Pryor, the President of Action Lab Entertainment offered to be Molly’s publisher.

Do you think the mind set of an industry looking for the next “Diaries of a Wimpy Kid” is the reason why creators are self-publishing?

I think so; I also think that there are a lot of projects that don’t fit into any particular category that are getting a chance by going to a site like Kickstarter. It’s a bit of a leveler for creators who have had a problem getting their product to a more traditional publisher.

How did you come to the 45K goal?

Research and experience. I accounted for the cost of paying for an inker, colorist, letterer, possible content editor and a designer to work on the book. I got printing quotes, quotes for some of the incentives and calculated how much would have to be put aside for federal and state taxes, the fees to Kickstarter, and the shipping of everything involved.

What do you suggest to all the aspiring cartoonists reading this and who want to start a Kickstarter to fund their comic book?
Do your research, and be honest. I have a lot of experience in publishing outside of just the comics market, so I knew what the rough costs were going to be and I started there. A lot of people hope for an “Order of the Stick” situation, where they shoot for a lower number and make 1.25 million in pledges. Be honest with yourself about your project, be realistic about your goals and promote, promote, promote. Don’t just throw a project up on Kickstarter and hope people will find it. Hit every available venue.

Will we be seeing any more creator owned work from you?
Yes you will; to use a phrase “Watch this space”. There’s another project that will be announced in the next few weeks for a major publisher.

Kick-Watcher Recap: I want to take this time to congradulate Joe Esposito and Zack Howard on their successful projects. Their achievement was contributed to great promotion, enticing incentives and their love for the craft.