From Henry Chamberlain’s “Ballard Comics”
I am heading out to Comic-Con International in San Diego this year and this is the year that we take things to a new level. With your support, we can do some exciting new things here at Comics Grinder and beyond. You can check out the new campaign, “Support A Comics Reviewer and Creator,” over at GoFundMe right here.
The great thing about GoFundMe is that it can be open-ended with no set limits. For what I am attempting to do now, that is the ideal platform. The main idea is, “The more I can raise, the more I can do.”
Top Ten Awesome Reasons To Support A Comics Reviewer And Creator:
1. Henry Chamberlain Is A Comics Journalist Going Back To 2005.
I began to regularly review comics, starting in 2005, with the Poopsheet Foundation and it grew from there to include other notable venues such as Comic Book Bin, Newsarama, and GeekWeek. Since 2010, I’ve concentrated my efforts on my own website, Comics Grinder.
2. Henry Chamberlain Is A Comics Creator Going Back To 1999.
While I had created comics before 1999, particularly a couple of comic strips in my college paper at the University of Houston, my first full length comic book was a political satire entitled, “Clinton’s Darkness At Noon,” that explores the many machinations behind Monicagate.
3. Henry Chamberlain Has Interviewed Numerous Notable Figures.
I have had to honor to interview many accomplished individuals. I do my research. I am in tune with the content and the individual. Among the amazing people I have interviewed are: Mark Z. Danielewski, George Clayton Johnston, Antonin Baudry, Stephanie McMillan, Craig Frank, Keith Knight, Jeff Smith, Clare Kramer, Matthew Johnson, Curtis Armstrong, Martin Olson and Olivia Olson, Paul Buhle, Robin Ha, Charles Yu, William Clausen, David Chelsea, Ellen Lindner, David Lasky, Frank M. Young, Jim Woodring, Phil Yeh, Greg Koudoulian, Adam Rifkin, Steve Kriozere, Steven-Charles Jaffe, Zineb Oukach, Larry Schwarz, Marc Palm, Emi Gennis, Liz Plourde and Randy Michaels, Carlos Gabriel Ruiz, Ken Pisani, Robert Nathan, Tim Hanley, Brad Bernstein and Rick Cikowski, and many more.
4. I Ran A Successful Kickstarter Campaign.
I ran a successful all-or-nothing campaign at Kickstarter in support of the creation of my book, “A Night at the Sorrento and Other Stories.” I am grateful to my backers who have supported me through that process. I hope to have your support with this new campaign. It is an essential campaign on many levels. One key goal is to move forward with the promotion of “A Night at the Sorrento and Other Stories.” The process of shouting it from the rooftops has begun and it sure helps to have funds to pursue this as far as possible. Also, just as high a priority, inextricably linked, is sustaining what I do here at Comics Grinder.
5. The Time Is Now
As a creative person, I am doing the best I can to elevate what I do to the highest standards possible. I am coming at this from a “now or never” spirit. If I am going to flourish and grow, now is the time. I believe, for those of you who have been following what I’ve been up to, that this will prove exciting news. As this whole process evolves, more compelling results will emerge. I will not only create more work, I will have that work made known to a wider audience, and that will feed the next project.
6. Need To Promote The Heck Out Of My New Book.
As you know, I am in a unique position as someone who regularly reviews comics as well as creates his own creative content. I write and draw comics. I do various works in visual and literary art. This year is big for me with the release of my first book collecting some of my best work in comics, “A Night at the Sorrento and Other Stories.” I am taking that book with me and I want to do everything possible to spread the word at Comic-Con and beyond: postcards, flyers, prints. If possible, I’d like to make a short movie this year at Comic-Con and build on that.
7. The Key Term Is “Upgrade.”
And, in tandem with that process, I want to do everything I can to raise the profile of what I do on Comics Grinder. I am looking at upgrading as much as possible by developing the website further and upgrading equipment. The main piece of equipment that would really make a huge difference is getting a proper camera for bigger projects, actual movie-quality work. In order to reach a reasonable level of quality, I am hoping to get the type of camera that Lena Dunham first used when she was creating work, a Canon 7D. It’s the Lena Dunham camera and, if my campaign should progress as I hope it will, that will be the first substantial upgrade I will make.
8. One Step At A Time.
If I can reach the sort of budget I would like, a few thousand dollars, I will be able to further develop the Comics Grinder website, promote my book, and, as they say, take things to a new level. I will see what is possible every step of the way. Maybe I can significantly upgrade my website. Maybe I can get the camera and laptop that I need. One step at a time. All sensible. All logical.
9. Comic-Con And Beyond.
Visit the GoFundMe campaign and I hope I can count on your support. It will stay open until further notice. The urgency, right now, is for the first phase of the campaign to focus on Comic-Con in a few weeks. It takes place July 23-27, 2014. There are some more key points ahead and I will update you as we go. The goal is to get this ship on course and we’ll follow a logical step by step process. I have a proposed budget in mind. If we can reach that goal, maybe even more, then that will have been quite a successful campaign and we’ll bring it to a close with great celebration.
10. See You At GoFundMe.
We’ll just see how things progress. Right now, as we near Comic-Con, that event is the hot spot and we’ll have a few more in the months ahead. This is an organic process. Any contribution, of course, is gratefully appreciated. The goal is to be able to further pursue what I’m doing with some needed upgrades. We’ll plan on wrapping up this campaign’s run by the end of this year. I look forward to your support. You can visit the GoFundMe campaign right here.
