What's the deal here?
Three years ago, I came to realization: I'd always wanted to make a full comic, and--on the birth of my second child--I knew it was now or never. So I made The Legend of Ricky Thunder, the tale of a pro-wrestler who must overcome the sudden confrontation of his entire reality being false. The book is filled with awesome dialogue, super sweet fight scenes, some founding fathers and an alien invasion.
Yeah. It's a little bonkers. In the best way.
So What's The Deal?
I posted Legend of Ricky Thunder's glorious 162 full color pages (8"x5") twice weekly on the internet from 2010 to January of 2012, and during that time Chris Sims of comicsalliance.com deemed it the Best Wrestling Comic ever. This comic was deemed the BEST of something by someone who is basically an expert in these things and it's sitting there all quiet on the internet. To prepare it for print I added some new art, pages and altered some dialogue. It's not a 100% copy of the comic that existed on the web. But this dude is ready to print RIGHT NOW.
I want to emphasize this: The book is done. It's ready to go. There won't be any of the finger crossing that a Kickstarter comes through with its ethereal promise. All I need is the support of you awesome people to fund the printing. And that's the goal: a print run that I can take to conventions, sell in stores, and share it with the general public (and you righteous bros).
I'm also wanting to take this thing on the road - some of the larger conventions I'd like to take Ricky Thunder too (specifically SPX and HeroesCon) are pretty expensive endeavors. Past the cost of a decent sized print run (i.e. the goal amount) the additional funds will be put towards funding getting the book into the hands of comic book fans in this manner.
But I'm Not A Wrestling Fan
The Legend of Ricky Thunder is most definitely about a pro-wrestler. And it definitely has other pro-wrestlers in it. And it definitely has a gigantic climactic fight scene at the end which is, basically, the most amazing wrestling match ever.
But it's not a wrestling book. It's about a man coming to terms with his own self doubt right at a time when the pressure to absolutely NOT do that is at its greatest point. We can all relate to being put into a corner and the universe attempting to crush you into submission. This is that story. Just with a dude who has an awesome mullet who kicks people in the face and says "bro" a lot.
Get the book and you'll see, and if not, well, I bet you know a wrestling fan who would enjoy it. But you better tell them too, because I bet if you love good time jaunts in storytelling and some deft genre mashing you'll enjoy it, keep your book and then they'll miss out on the chance to have something pretty sweet too.
So What Do We Get?
Outside of the book in either its physical or digital form (which is awesome) and a postcard that will be made from all new original art using characters from the book you will also have the option of acquiring a small black and white single figure commission of your choice or an awesome watercolor painting of your favorite wrestler, which will look a little something like this:
Not a wrestling fan but are totally digging on those killer paintings? In the next higher tier I will paint the single figure commission of your choice (or your favorite wrestling tag team!).
Pretty cool, right?
But not the coolest.
The highest tier gets EISNER and HARVEY award winning editor (Adam P Knave) a look at your comic script and a brief Skype session with him. Adam is not only an award winning editor he's the co-writer of Monkeybrain Comic's AMELIA COLE AND THE UNKNOWN WORLD and ACTION CATS amongst other stuff. This is basically a priceless opportunity and it's available here. AMAZING.
You Got Any Of Those Stretch Goals, Man?
How about this, if we get to $4000 I'll draw an all new 8-12 page Ricky Thunder mini-comic, that will get included digitally in the digital packages, and a throw in to all the other packages. I'll also open up a tier where you can get a chance to be drawn into it. If things get really crazy, say $8000 I'm going to look into getting Ricky Thunder Wrestling Buddies made. I bet can come up with all sorts of awesome stuff.
$4000 Goal - Ricky Thunder Mini-Comic ACHIEVED - Everyone who bought a physical book will receive a copy of a brand new, 8-12 page Ricky Thunder mini-comic. It will be good times, I promise! (it will also be included in with the digital copies)
$5000 Goal - ACHIEVED - Everyone who participated in the TELEVISION TITLE ($25) on up will receive three awesome stickers! They will depict Ricky's Title Belt, Ricky delivering his awesome finishing move and a speech bubble with the phrase "Now the weiner dog is in the dang snake hole, dude!" Just like the picture below but they will be re-colored for maximum awesomeness. I will also post the B-Roll from my Kickstarter video of me taking several unused chair shots.
$6000 - ACHIEVED! -Ricky Thunder Trading Cards Everyone at the $25 tier and higher will receive a 9 piece trading card representing the Ricky Thunder wrestling universe. The commission levels and higher ($45 and up) will receive a couple extra cards as a reward for their additional contribution! Also opening a tier to get yourself drawn in as one of the cards where you get to select your wrestler's name and finisher and receive the original artwork for your card.
$7000 - Kyle Starks Short Story collection 36+ pages of awesome comics
Awesome Things People Have Said About Ricky Thunder
Ken Lowery, Co-Creator of "The Variants" and Fake AP Stylebook
"The Legend of Ricky Thunder will make you laugh, cheer and then laugh and cheer even more. Kyle Starks is a real talent and the world better recognize soon, or else! This stuff is pure comics at its master-level best."
Adam P. Knave, Eisner and Harvey award winning editor, and co-writer of AMELIA COLE and the UNKNOWN WORLD
"Starks takes the standard beats of a wrestling match, from Ric Flair's knife edge chops to Hulking Up, and then throws in some of the funniest dialogue I've ever read for good measure."
Chris Sims, comicsalliance.com
"I know very little about wrestling (outside of the fact that I would like The Rock to hug me), so I presume Ricky Thunder is a documentary. An aggressively funny and occasionally heartbreaking documentary."
Kevin Church, Writer, Cover Girl, Wander, The Loneliest Astronauts
Risks and challenges
The only risks or challenges are:
1) The printer can't keep up
2) I can't keep up with commissions
and those won't stop anything. They'll just delay it.
I don't see how either is going to happen.
Questions about this project? Check out the FAQ
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Funding period
- (30 days)