CURSE OF THE VESSEL #1, a supernatural revenge thriller, is being offered via Kickstarter with an exclusive cover by Joëlle Jones ((Madame Xanadu, HelHeim, Spellcheckers). The story: A brutal criminal, cursed to be a vessel for the dead, relentlessly hunts the man who cursed him. This Kickstarter campaign is in support of the first issue of a four part series. The campaign ends Friday, January 10, 2014. Check it out here.
Filed under Comics, Kickstarter
Puck Magazine, an impressive collection of some of the leading comix artists and much more, launches its crowd funding campaign today. This is truly an international collection. If you are a fan of offbeat humor and you’d like a taste of it from around the world, then this is for you. Join the campaign here. It runs from November 26, 2013 thru January 4, 2014.
What follows is an informative essay on the Apocalypse, the history of alternative comics, and how that relates to Puck Magazine:
Welcome to the Apocalypse
Historically speaking, the Apocalypse is always now. By that I mean that at every period in human history, someone somewhere was certain that the world was about to end. Whether it was the author of the Biblical “Book of Revelation” (or “Revelation to John”) — surely one of the most mischievous tracts ever written — or some Vedic bard predicting the Kali Yuga, or urban street corner prophets ranting that “The End is Nigh,” the human imagination has repeatedly fixated on the end of the universe and the end of life as we know it.
It is not difficult to figure out why this is. At some undetermined point in time, for each of us, the universe will end. Death awaits us all, whether in a sudden accident or heart attack, or in a long lingering illness. That this is so seems like a monstrous joke, and so we repress the thought or, for many of us, we project it upon the world at large, finding solace in the thought that if we must die, so must everyone else, preferably all at the same time.
And yet, life goes on. Every prophecy of the End Times is, in some sense, a false prophecy. Predicted dates come and go, and true believers’ expectations fizzle out, only to be succeeded by new expectations which will eventually fizzle out as well.
Much of this apocalyptic fervor has been driven by religion, especially fundamentalist Christianity and Islam, which share similar scenarios of a Final Judgment. But there are no lack of secular apocalypses to choose from: catastrophic climate change, nuclear war, the end of Capitalism (a particularly elusive apocalypse), an impending police state, and the list goes on.
All of which brings us to the volume you hold in your hands, a smorgasboard of personal apocalypses conjured up by a stellar crew of cartoonists from around the world. For most comic artists, apocalypse looms as the rent comes due at the end of each month, so this theme was one that the assembled artists could really get their teeth into. As you will discover, some took the challenge lightly, producing humorous strips (including the inevitable Mother In Law joke), while others dove into full-fledged horror and paranoia.
The result is a well-balanced collection of unique visions that you will not find anywhere else. The locations change from strip to strip, usually manifesting the apocalypse in the artists’ own locales. If you’ve ever dreamed of making an Around the World Tour, but know you never will, this volume is a suitable substitute, albeit with rather more demons, cannibals, black holes, and Avenging Angels than you would likely encounter in hopping from country to country.
Sadly, I am told that this is likely the last PUCK volume for years to come, so it represents an apocalypse of sorts for the whole PUCK enterprise. PUCK’s staff has beat all odds in uniting cartoonists from numerous countries in its group projects that are done for the love of free and uncensored cartooning.
The Underground Comix movement was launched in the U.S. during the Sixties and spread its influence to England, the Netherlands, Spain, France, and Italy (among others), in the following decades. PUCK has been one of the most energetic recent manifestations of the underground impulse and Ivan and the rest of the PUCK gang deserve a round of applause for keeping the torch held high.
The Apocalypse is always now. Enjoy it while you can.
–Jay Kinney
Jay Kinney was a participant in the Underground Comix movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He edited and co-edited Young Lust, Occult Laff-Parade, Cover-up Lowdown, and Anarchy Comics, and contributed to many others.
He has since been a magazine publisher, book author, and antiquarian bookseller. Recently published is: Anarchy Comics: the Complete Collection (PM Press), a retrospective anthology of the hard-to-find four originals issues, plus never before published strips and sketchbook pages.
Caption for Mavrides-Kinney Armageddon panels…
The “End Times” erupt in “Armageddon Outtahere” by Paul Mavrides and Jay Kinney in Anarchy Comics #4. This story and all others from the comic series can be found in Anarchy Comics: the Complete Collection (PM Press).
Press release follows:
Filed under Comics, Comics Anthologies, Comics News, Comix, Crowdfunding, Zines
Fantagraphics Books Publisher Gary Groth invites you to invest in the FB spring season and be a part of the company that has published “the best cartoonists in the history of the world.” Check it out here.
No kidding, Fantagraphics Books is responsible for putting alternative comics on the pop culture map. Think of such great talents as Jim Woodring, Los Bros Hernandez, Daniel Clowes, Peter Bagge, Chris Ware and Joe Sacco, and you are thinking of FB artists.
The Fantagraphics 2014 Spring Season Kickstarter campaign begins today and runs for 30 days: November 5 thru December 5, 2013.
Jaime Hernandez’s “The Love Bunglers,” part of the FB Spring Schedule
As any publisher of comics will tell you, the business can experience some rough patches. For Fantagraphics Books, the loss of its Co-Publisher, Kim Thompson, in June of this year, was greatly felt. In practical terms, Mr. Thompson left a roster of books he was editing still in progress, not ready to meet the upcoming schedule. This takes a big bite out of the next line-up of books. To make up for the loss in upcoming revenue, Mr. Groth is taking it to the people with a $150,000 Kickstarter campaign. Visit the campaign here.
Filed under Comics, Fantagraphics, Fantagraphics Books, Kickstarter
Jack Conte of Patreon.com
Seattle Interactive Conference, or SIC, is in town October 28, 29, and 30. My first impressions are that this is a very cool place to be for whatever your creative bent. Case in point, a presentation I just enjoyed put together by Jack Conte of Patreon.com. I include a quick sketch I did during the session. Conte has a great way with people. He makes you feel like he’s a friend with a really cool idea to share with you. And, well, that’s basically what he turned out to be. He is the founder of a new crowfunding platform for creators who release digital content and that could be just about anything, music, video, and even comics.
Patreon is unique. You can think of Kickstarter to get a frame of reference but then quickly move on from that. With Patreon, your patrons pay what they want to receive your content one piece at a time. If you are a musician, well, then it’s one song at a time. And so on. What’s really cool about this model is that creators and patrons find the right fit in a whole new way and everyone wins in the end. How do musicians and other digital content providers earn money today? Check out Patreon.com.
Be sure to check out the Seattle Interactive Conference. Visit them here.
I begin here with a video of Amanda Palmer giving a talk on the art of “asking.” It’s not begging but that’s the misunderstanding. That said, Amanda Palmer is a good point of departure as I enter the last stages of my own Kickstarter campaign. One by one, individuals chose to help her get to where she wanted to be. More power to her and her group, The Dresden Dolls! In that empowering spirit, I humbly submit to you the Top Ten Reasons why you would want to consider my comics project at Kickstarter, A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES, going on now thru May 6. You can view it HERE.
EDITOR’S NOTE: After compiling this fun list, I started thinking of more reasons. One of the most compelling, to be sure, is a new reward I just added. At the $15 Reward level, you have an opportunity to be interviewed by me in complete Comics Grinder fashion. That means an in-depth and upbeat interview complete with your portrait rendered by yours truly, if you like. Maybe you have a band, or book, or film you’d like to promote. Whatever it is, Comics Grinder has got you covered. Check out my Kickstarter campaign for more details here.
10. I don’t need to succeed but it sure would be great. To see this collection of comics get a nice print edition will make a really big difference and help secure a wider audience.
9. You get something special for your support. This is a collection of short stories plus it includes a full length graphic novel.
8. Consider this a life’s work, phase one. The graphic novel component to this book, ALICE IN NEW YORK, is a significant work in itself, a daringly offbeat coming-of-age tale.
7. The zero to hero angle. There’s something to be said for the “zero to hero” myth. Of course, we’re all heroes, and no one is a zero. Getting this book into print and into the spotlight does count for quite a lot.
6. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think it mattered. Absolutely true. This is all heart-felt and thoughtfully created work. You get a lot of good stuff all in one 200-page book.
5. 24-Hour Comics. For fans of the 24-Hour Comic model, all the short works, including the title story, originated with 24-Hour Comics Day challenges. I did not create these completely during these events. Instead, I chose to refine the works over time. Makes for the best results, I believe.
4. The Offbeat and Quirky. If you’re a fan of the original televison series, “The Twilight Zone,” then this book has got you covered. That’s one way of looking at it. This is not your usual boy meets girl stuff.
3. Gen X Autobio. The autobiographical story in alternative comics made great strides with the Gen Xers. It’s just the way it played out. You can look to great leaders of the movement, from Julie Doucet to Charles Burns. The stage was set and the talent came running. I humbly include myself within that world view: authenticity at any price, baby!
2. Steampunk. Now, this term gets thrown around a lot. Part of the appeal for me is going back in time. I love the sensibilty of the Victorian era, as well as the latter Dieselpunk era, and tweaking it in various ways. This appeals to history buffs, fans of fashion and style, and fans of science fiction. You’ll find a healthy dose of steampunk in this work, partly in the graphic novel and especially in the title story. I am bringing in aspects of Seattle history that have yet to be explored by other cartoonists.
1. If Not Now, Then When? The time is now. I’m not afraid to ask. This is me standing before you naked, unfraid of what you might think, and confident in my pursuit.
I look forward to your support in any way you can. It would be something to get as many pledges as possible. Enough micro-pledges would do it. There are various ways to crunch those numbers. Believe me, I’ve been crunching them.
Support A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES right here.
Thank you.
Filed under Alice in New York, Comics, graphic novels, Henry Chamberlain, Kickstarter
A Night at the Sorrento and Other Stories
