About
CA$ 3,974
120
Ah, romance. That sweet emotion that tugs at the heart, or, if you're from Aldeberan-7, the secondary bile vent.
The creators behind Strange Romance came together with one purpose, to toast love and romance in comics form, with stories about aliens and dragons and all that crud. We like to think we succeeded, inasmuch as the emotion of "love" has not actually vanished from the universe. It was touch and go there for a while, too. Seriously. You puny humans will never know how close it was.
At any rate, the fruit of our labours is Strange Romance volume one, a 156-page, full-colour anthology featuring 14 stories by both up-and-coming and established creators on the aforementioned theme of love in a genre context, be it SF, fantasy, or horror. The comic has already been published in digital form on ComiXology, and we're already working on a second volume...but of course we want to offer it in a physical, dead-tree format with which you can curl up with by the volcanic rift in the tentacles of your beloved. This is where this Kickstarter comes in!
Our goal is to produce a print run of a trade paperback collection, in colour, plus money for shipping and bonuses. Extra money will go towards royalties for the creators, of course!
WHAT YOU GET: Our main offering is the anthology itself, over 150 full-colour pages in trade paperback form. Anyone who pledges $20 Canadian or over will receive the trade, along with a series of fun extras at higher pledge levels. Chief among these will be a series of valentines in the style of storebought cards--you know, like those things you used to swap in grade school--drawn by the artist contributors and featuring the characters in the anthology. The writers, meanwhile, are working on a series of microfiction love letters and love poems, essentially more short fiction along the lines of the anthology itself.
For lower-level contributors, there will be a digital PDF of the anthology.
We will also be offering a special bonus story which we're planning to feature in Volume 2--backers at the $50 level or higher will get to read it early.
Finally, some of our artists have committed to doing commissions. Pledge at a high enough level and they'll do original black and white or colour sketches, or even a full comic for you--either you can simply give us a vague idea or you can script the entire thing yourself. PLEASE NOTE: we do reserve the right to refuse to draw certain subject matter that we deem inappropriate due to offensive content or unreasonable demands. Likewise, we cannot agree to draw characters that are copyrighted or otherwise owned by corporations or other entities besides us. We're happy to work with you, but please be reasonable!
Here's the full list of stories and contributors:
"I Was a Teenage Human!"--Writer, Ryan Rosendal/Artist, Matthew Tavares
"The Center of Everything"--Writer, Alex Correa/Artist, Travis Hymel
"I'll Be Your Mirror"-- Writer/Artist, James Reilly-English
"Melange a Trois"--Writer, Sam Noir/Artist, Christopher Yao
"The Magician's Bargain"--Writer, Margot Blankier/Artist, Philip Rice
"Lifetime Supply"--Writer, Mike Levine/Artist, Sharon Gauthier
"The Admirer"--Writer/Artist, Shane Kirshenblatt
"My Own Worst Enemy"--Writer, Ken Lowery/Artist, Paul Milligan
"My Marble Heart"--Writer, Charlotte Finn/Artist, James Reilly-English
"The Heartbreak of Znortag"--Writer, Adam Prosser/Artist, Erik Rangel
"P.S. Cthulhu"-- Writer, Aaron Feldman/Artist, Rebecca Slack
"The Beast That Shouted Love"--Writer, Miike Something/Artist, Stephany Lein
"Too Close To The Flame"-- Writer, Julia Alfano/Artist, Nizamt
"Love Bug"--Writer, Daniel Reynolds/Artist, Christopher Yao/Colours, Stephany Lein
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is our second go-round to raise funds for this anthology on Kickstarter. Our first attempt set the funding levels too high and did not provide sufficient time, so we failed to meet our goal. We've since found a printer who should be able to put together our trade paperback for a significantly lower amount, which is reflected in our significantly lower goal! Also, big thanks are due to the Toronto Comics Anthology, with whom we share some contributors and whose editors have been incredibly gracious and helpful with their suggestions.
Stretch goals:
$5,000 If we hit $5,000 or more we'll add *four* more pieces of bonus content to choose from--anyone who has pledged will be able to select at least one (or more, depending their pledge level) to be added to their bonus goodies! These will include posters and so on.
$6,000 If we hit this level we'll give EVERY ONE of our backers a copy the digital PDF of the preview story for volume 2, and for the $40-and-above backers the bonus story will be another, longer preview story that will also be appearing in the next volume.
$7,000 At this level we'll do something one of our contributors, Sharon Gauthier, suggested but which we ruled out as too expensive for bonus content: a 12-month "Swimsuit" calendar with original pinup art, keeping to the SF/fantasy theme of course! We'll do versions featuring dudes and ladies (and maybe a version with a mix of both if it's requested?)
More stretch goals will be added as needed once the project is rolling!
More details at the Facebook group page, where you can also see process art and sneak previews of future volumes; we'd love it if you'd join us! We also have a tumblr, and we're on Twitter as @PhantasmicTales.
Risks and challenges
Strange Romance is COMPLETED. 100% done. No danger of not being finished on time whatsoever! We just need to get it printed and shipped. We plan to use Webcom publishing in Toronto, where we are located, and which has been recommended to us by friends who have run successful comics kickstarters as well. We also have special deals on local printing for the various bonus offerings. This being our first Kickstarter, we're trying to be careful about shipping costs. All physical media will be books, posters, prints and other paper products of this nature, so it shouldn't be tremendously expensive to ship. Incidentally, our editor is Canadian as are many of the contributors, so all prices are in Canadian dollars--Americans, your dollars will go a lot further here! Why not kick in for the $30 or $40 tier?
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Funding period
- (45 days)