About this project
$8,673
186
Update at $7,000 mark: Goal reached! Thank you so much for all your support! We're going to add the following stretch goals, if enough people pre-order through this Kickstarter:
Total of $10,000: Free postcards! If this Kickstarter reaches $10,000 total, every backer at the $35 level will get a free bonus Off*Beat postcard--and every backer at the $50 level and up will get four different postcards. Collect 'em, send 'em to loved ones, rub them over your face in the privacy of your own home. We don't judge!
Total of $15,000: Off*Beat goes audio! Jen will work with the Chromatic Press audio department to develop an audio story with your beloved Off*Beat characters. The audio will be offered as a free extra through Sparkler, no subscription necessary. Literally give a voice to Tory and Colin! WHOA.
Welcome to the Off*Beat Vols 1-2 (New Editions) Pre-Order Kickstarter, brought to you by Chromatic Press!
Since discovering Jen Lee Quick’s work in the pages of I.C. Entertainment’s AmeriManga Magazine in 2002, the editors of Chromatic Press have been insatiable fans for...jeez, over a decade now. When Jen launched her coming-of-age comic Off*Beat with TOKYOPOP in 2005, and was eventually paired with editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl, it was a perfect marriage of business and intense fangirl enthusiasm. But after the publication of Volume 2, TOKYOPOP closed the doors of its English-language publishing house and Off*Beat was left unfinished and in publishing limbo, causing intense fangirl tears. The best chance for Off*Beat to come to its proper conclusion was if a new publishing company bought TOKYOPOP’s rights to Off*Beat and hired Jen to complete the series. Unfortunately, that publisher didn’t seem to exist.
So we started our own publishing house--both to help Jen thrive and to publish work by the many independent creators who move us. And we chose Off*Beat to be our first shining star.
The newly founded Chromatic Press is releasing new editions of Off*Beat Volumes 1 and 2--including special bonus material and ebook versions of the books for the first time ever--and will be serializing Volume 3 in its upcoming digital magazine Sparkler Monthly. Lillian Diaz-Przybyl is one of the founders of Chromatic Press and chief editor of comics; she'll be back editing Off*Beat right from where she and Jen left off at TOKYOPOP. Volume 3 and Sparkler will begin this summer, and the grande finale of Off*Beat will eventually be released in ebook and print book versions as well.
But in the meantime, you want those new editions of Volume 1 and 2, right? As soon as possible? With all sorts of bonuses? Of course you do. And you’re in the right place.
Pre-order your copies of Off*Beat Volume 1 and 2 (print and/or digital) from Chromatic Press on Kickstarter, and also get access to:
1.) Off*Beat posters, keychains, and buttons!
2.) Special Chromatic Press and Sparkler bonuses, so you can be first on board when we start Off*Beat Volume 3!
3.) Jen Lee Quick signing your stuff!
4.) Jen Lee Quick drawing you into the background of Volume 3!
About Off*Beat:
Christopher “Tory” Blake is a little too smart for his own good. His flights of fancy can whisk him off to odd places, but some of the oddest are those involving his mysterious new neighbor, Colin Stephens. Quiet and unassuming, it’s obvious that Colin is up to something, right? And it’s apparently something called the “Gaia Project.” Now if only Tory could get to the bottom of what makes his neighbor so fascinating. From switching schools to better stalk--*ahem*--observe Colin, to becoming his study partner, to...well, it turns out that Tory’s instincts may actually be onto something. But as he and Colin get closer, first as friends and then perhaps as something more, Tory discovers that he’s got just as much to figure out about himself as he does about Colin.
A critically acclaimed hit, including a silver medal for Best Graphic Novel of 2005 by ForeWord magazine, Off*Beat is a brilliant story of growing up...and the risk-benefit analysis of being an obsessive weirdo.
Here's what other amazing women in comics have to say about Off*Beat:
"Jen Quick makes the kind of comics I like to read. Fun, sexy, mysterious, well-drawn (especially the boys), she always keeps me turning pages to see what happens next." Faith Erin Hicks, Friends With Boys
"Off*Beat has been a treasured possession on my shelf for years now and I cannot wait to finally find out What Happens Next. Compelling mystery story aside, I love Jen’s art and sure-handed storytelling--her characters walk and talk like they could really exist." Svetlana Chmakova, Dramacon, Nightschool
"Jen Lee Quick's Off*Beat is an original and heart-felt story that combines the drama of teenage romance with the fantastical. It is a thoroughly enjoyable read with engaging characters and beautiful art." HamletMachine, Starfighter
"It might start out as a quiet mystery, but when you're not looking, Jen Quick's quirky characters and witty sense of humor will sneak their way into your heart. Off*Beat is perfect in its deceptive simplicity, hilarious in its relatability, and heart-fluttering in all the right places. You won't be able to contain your feels!" Becky Cloonan, The Mire, Conan the Barbarian
About Jen Lee Quick: A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Jen Lee Quick has been a professional comic creator for over a decade. Her credits include Soul Union for I.C. Entertainment, the art for Once in a Blue Moon by Oni Press, and the webcomic Witch’s Quarry, currently a premium title at MangaMagazine.net. The setting of Off*Beat is lovingly based on her years in Queens.
About Chromatic Press: The four founders of Chromatic Press collectively bring 25+ years' experience in the manga industry to the table, and their passion (both past and present) is deeply rooted in fandom. Read more about the staff on the Chromatic Press website here.
Where the money goes:
The funds raised through this Kickstarter go to the printing costs for Volumes 1 & 2 of Off*Beat and the creation of the merchandise extras. Although the books and most of the merchandise will eventually be sold to the general public, the first copies will reach Kickstarter backers prior to the books’ official street date, along with any extras exclusive to this Kickstarter.
After/if we clear our financial goal of $7,000, any additional funds we raise (minus Kickstarter fees and retail value of awarded rewards, etc.) will be split, with half going right back into the launch of Sparkler Monthly, and the other half going into a bonus check for Jen Lee Quick herself. So your extra dollars are literally going into more Off*Beat, not the pockets of any editors running away to the beaches of Aruba!
Risks and challenges
As a publisher, Chromatic Press is prepared to overcome any and all obstacles that may unexpectedly arise in fulfilling the pledges of this Kickstarter. After the struggles of Off*Beat and Jen Quick of the last several years, we're bringing this one home.
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Funding period
- (30 days)