Taking the first 4 issues of my webcomic bean and compiling them into a graphic novel.
Nominated for a 2011 Wil Eisner Award for "Best Digital Comic"
"The Bean is the webcomic story of a young Dishwasher, who works in an inn with a bunch of ogres. One day the Ogres send the boy for shrooms and he is kidnapped. During this time he finds a sword that is broken and now must heal the sword and find his true destiny. " Read the comic for yourself at www.beanleafpress.com
10 years ago I wanted to tell a story my way. It has been a long road with a lot of bumps on the way. Yet in 2009 I found that my dream had life and proceeded to start my adventure as a webcomic for all the world to see. I also realized that people wanted a paper version of my tale and so with my own money, I started to publish individual 40 page issues of the webcomic at low quantities to keep the story going.
8 issues and 304 pages later Bean was . It was then I realized that I needed to start compiling my story into something a little thicker than a 40 page b/w comic. The idea of compiling the first 4 issues into graphic novel was the way to go. I know you can read the whole story so far, here at www.beanleafpress.com but i also know that it works so much better in print.
I would love to fund it by myself, but as father of 5 fantastic kids, I find that money has been needed for other things. So I present my project to you to help me get this done plus share it with like minded people.
All the artwork is all but done. All I need to do is finish the cover art. The printer has been chosen and I want my work to be affordable to others, so I have worked really hard to keep the quotes low. I also want to make sure that Vol 1 was done right. So here are the specs. I will constantly post cover art and such here and at my website. I figure this project once funded will be completed in less than 2 months.
The Bean, vol 1 by Travis Hanson 172 pages (152 pages of story + extra art b/w) with a Full Color wrap-around cover. The printing cost for the first 2000 books with shipping is $5200 not including isbn fees and registration which after all is figured will hit about $6500 mark. All I will need is $5000 and I will be putting in $1500 of my own money to help make this work. It is important for me to support my project as well, it strengthens my commitment to it. PLUS I will cover all Shipping!
One day when the story is all done (36 issues total or 9 volumes) I will go back and color it all. Right now the goal is to finish the story.
I am a strong believer that all dreams are possible, if you want it bad enough.
Thanks again for all your support.
FAQ
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A commission piece is an original inked illustration by myself. The piece is based on what you would like it to be by choosing the characters and letting my go to town. You will receive the original inks to hang on your wall. You can see some variations of previous commissions here at http://www.beanleafpress.com/...
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The Bean is an Eisner nominated Epic Fantasy Tale of a Dishwasher. Published as a black and white webcomic in 2009 it has also now available as individual 40 page issues. There are currently 8 issues now available. I am currently working on issue 9, 10 & 11. This project is to help fund compilation of issues 1 to 4 (about 152 pages of story).
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Yup, I leave the inside cover blank just for that purpose.
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Vellum is tracing paper. I ink solely on tracing paper due to it's incredible ability to scan a perfect line. Whoever pledges the big one, gets the original front and back cover art.
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yup and they keep me really young
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There are several reasons. The first is I like epic tales and bean will be close to 1368 pages long. I realized that since I color all my own work that for me to write and color everything and still support my family I would be in my 80's when I finished the story. So my main goal is to tell my story first and then one day go back and color it.
2nd, I love b/w stories also, I am a huge fan of early Elfquest, Bone, and Newspaper comics. Each started as a b/w story before they went to color. It was just the most economically way to get it done.
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Sadly yes :)
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The Bean started as a webcomic in one form in 10 years ago. It then morphed into a comic book, which failed and then again into a written illustrated novel that also failed, both in part by listening to other people suggestions and not trusting my gut feeling. Part of the problem was that I relied on teams. I was not going to let my dream story die so I went back to my original format, took over all the responsibility myself and made it happen the way it should have. The Eisner nod was testament that I made the right choice.
Can I buy the novel?
nope not anymore... I pulled it, because I was devastated that the project fell apart and donated the last books to a school. -
Yes you can. Bean is a webcomic. I do not charge, because it is getting harder and harder for independents to survive in comics. By making it a webcomic, my audience has grown ten-fold. People all of the world can now enjoy my story. There are many also that support this when they find out there are actual comics for sale.
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Yup - the book is a trade of the first 4 issues. It puts the story in one book instead of 4. 5 through 8 will be volume 2
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The interior is Black and White. As much as I love to do color and would love to see the bean in color I want to finish the story first. By going back and coloring the pages that would slow the whole process down. So since I want to finish to the tale it will be b/w, with color covers.
When the last page is drawn though I will go back and color the whole thing. I like to call it the jeff smith (bone) method.
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yup, i'm shipping all the rewards out for FREE, but only if the project funds
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Well if I overfund, than I will increase the print run or put it towards vol 2. I will cross that bridge when I get there. I am though looking at a bigger print run:)
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Well, once it funds, I'll get your address and then sign and draw in all the books. Then I will ship it to you at my expense. Even international... I will cover it. That is important to me and I don't want you to have to worry about it.
246
Backers
$8,126
pledged of $5,000 goal
0
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Funding period
Jul 30, 2011 -
Sep 28, 2011
(60 days)
- 4 created · 12 backed
- Travis Hanson 1068 friends
- Website: beanleafpress.com
Pledge $15 or more
94 backers
1 copy of The Bean vol 1: Riddles and Shrooms. (Signed and sketched in)
Pledge $25 or more
80 backers All gone!
1 Full set of the issue comics (with illustrations in each book) 1copies of The Bean vol 1: Riddles and Shrooms. (Signed and sketched in)
Pledge $30 or more
22 backers
1 copy issues 6 through 8 and 2 copies of bean vol 1: Riddles and Shrooms. Plus your name in the book
Pledge $50 or more
30 backers All gone!
1 Full set of the issue comics (with illustrations in each book) (8 comic books) 2 copies of The Bean vol 1: Riddles and Shrooms. (Signed and sketched in)
Estimated delivery: Dec 2011Pledge $100 or more
12 backers
2 Full set of the issue comics (with illustrations in each book) (16 comic books) 4 copies of The Bean vol 1: Riddles and Shrooms. (Signed and sketched in) Plus your name in the book.
Pledge $250 or more
4 backers Limited (6 of 10 left)
2 Full set of the issue comics (with illustrations in each book) (16 comic books) 10 copies of The Bean vol 1: Riddles and Shrooms. 1 Custom b/w commission 9x13 piece Plus your name in the book.
Pledge $500 or more
0 backers Limited (4 of 4 left)
For the $500 pledge you will receive one of 4 original inked vellum covers. 2 Full set of the issue comics (with illustrations in each book) (16 comic books) 20 copies of The Bean vol 1: Riddles and Shrooms. 1 Custom b/w commission 14x19 Plus your name in the book.
Pledge $1,000 or more
0 backers Limited (1 of 1 left)
For the $1000 pledge you will receive the original inked vellum covers for the book 2 Full set of the issue comics (with illustrations in each book) (16 comic books) 25 copies of The Bean vol 1: Riddles and Shrooms. 1 Custom b/w commission 13x19 Plus your name in the book.
