Kickstarter

Before I get into today’s update, I’d like to first welcome all of our new supporters. Thank you for contributing and joining our community. I’d also like to remind you all that Dave Wachter’s original watercolor painting is still available as a reward. So is Sean Gordon Murphy’s original page art from OFF ROAD. Get them while they're still available or let your friends know who collect art from these amazing creators.

Today’s the Saturday of San Diego Comic Con and I’m going to continue spotlighting comics creators who have supported THE CABINET, whether they’re at the show or not. My mom called this morning from Amherst, Massachusetts and told me she saw "people in costumes" on TV. For most of the world, that's what SDCC has become, a spectacle on their radar. I prefer to focus on its origins and feature the people making great comics that are (or should be) celebrated there.

Today’s spotlight is on Rich Barrett, who (mark my words) will be someone SDCC organizers will look back on and wish they had invited. I firmly believe that when Rich’s web comic NATHAN SORRY concludes, it will be held with the same regard as graphic novels like MAUS, PERSEPOLIS and FUN HOME. It’s a comic with insightful themes, about contemporary America and our changing identities.

That’s why I’m so flattered that Rich is a supporter of THE CABINET, because he makes good, smart comics. Rich created one of our limited edition prints and you can see his skill as a designer in the result, depicting President McKinley, the main characters and the Scowerer trapped in the arctic. He visually brought together the disparate elements of this story in a way I never thought of.

I first found out about Rich through Warren Ellis’ Whitechapel forum, where comics creators would share progress on their books. Turns out he only lives a few hours away and we’ve become social media friends since. Rich has been working on NATHAN SORRY for a few years now with over a hundred pages of material already finished. Here’s how he summarizes it:

Nathan Sorry is a hapless investment analyst who was supposed to be in the World Trade Center on 9/11 but instead disappears with a new identity and $20 million that he has inadvertently stolen. Two months later he shows up in a small southern town, waiting for his opportunity to flee the country, but his shaky plan begins to unravel as he gets a little too involved with some of the town’s residents.

Here's several pages from the story, showing you Rich's growth as an artist and the comic's evolution.

Rich has also done strips for clients like yesbutnobutyes.com and Charlotte Magazine. These show not only the diversity of style Rich is capable of as a cartoonist, but also how funny he can be.

Like Kelly Williams, myself and our other art contributors like Ben Towle and Eric Orchard, Rich is part of the Alphabet Collective. He's completed full sets for both Animal Alphabet and AlphaBeasts and is in process with us on the current project, AlphaBooks. Rich cleverly made his animal set into a series of flash cards that you can order for a measly $8. They make great gifts for baby showers, let me tell you! Everyone loves the honey badger. 

For Alphabeasts, Rich's eye for graphic design really came out. I especially liked how he was able to translate creature concepts into minimalist illustrations with the intensity of hue doing as much work as his brush strokes.

The last one above demonstrates what I think is Rich's secret talent as an artist – drawing sexy, but realistic women. Some of his newer work reminds me of Dan DeCarlo and he's mentioned being influenced by Bruce Timm's "good girl" art. This especially struck me when we began AlphaBooks. Ben and I teased him at Heroes Con, that we thought his theme was "depressed 1950s housewives" until we got to the letter F. His Humbert Humbert from Lolita was especially striking this week.

Two more of Rich's great pieces I'll share with you and then it's back to a Saturday afternoon of SDCC news and Kickstarter work for me. These last two were his contributions to the Heroes Con art auction in 2011 and 2012. I'd never seen Rich draw superheroes before this Emma Frost "magazine ad" and now I'd love to work on a story with him featuring someone like Big Barda or Renee Montoya. And his Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones is just great, showing how quickly he's developed his skill with watercolor pencils.

There's less than a week to go now on THE CABINET campaign. We're almost at $4,000 and it would be great if we could prove the statistics wrong and jump that number during a weekend in the middle of the campaign!

Spread the word! Tell your neighbors. Tell your kids. Tell your husband. Tell your wife.