Roman Muradov makes comics. They are loosely narrated, wildly imaginative, sometimes dark, sometimes funny, and at all times brimming with a certain vibrant energy.  This summer, he'll also be sharing a table at San Francisco's ZineFest with fellow comic wunderkind/Kickstarter creator Phil McAndrew, and he's prepping a brand new full-color mini-collection of tragicomic funnies for the event. The comic will be based on a recurring character he calls Psychic Detective, and describes as a "demented recluse, a third-rate stand-in, an office plankton, a depressed lunatic, an everyman’s everyman, a rose, a rose & none of those."

If there's one thing that comics are great for, it's transforming banal, very human woes (office plankton, third-rate stand-in) into fantastical, elaborate adventures spiked with humorous lunacy. If craziness is the currency of a well-crafted comic world, then Roman is definitely rich, and, lucky for us, his idiosyncratic gifts spilled over into his project's reward tiers. 

Take his five dollar tier, for example:

It can sometimes be a struggle to conceptualize low-level reward tiers that are both financially feasible and infused with real value for the backer. It takes a bit of mental sweat, but, as exemplified by Roman's "illustrated whinefest," even something that is technically worth less can offer a lot in terms of spirit, charisma, and experience. How neat is it that you get to talk to Roman directly, and take home a personalized memento of his art?! And for five bucks?!

Short and sweet. A one buck pledge is a backer's gateway into the creative world of any project. How cool that creative world ends up being is up to the creator — and there are a lot of ways to make it great. Roman's way works for me: cool, original artwork, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of his creative process.  A peek at what's in store:

To me, it's worth the dollar (or more). Check out Roman's project and more of his work here.