The Campaign Corner: April 10th Edition

This week’s Campaign Corner features two flames!

FireBreak #2

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ringj5/firebreak-2-supervillain-mystery-comic

GREG: Welcome! I like to start off pretending that nobody knows who you are. So, here is your chance, tell us all about yourself.

JAY: Hey! I’m Jay Pear, writer and creator of Firebreak, a self-published miniseries about a villain investigating his nemesis after witnessing an escape that’s just a bit too impossible to believe.
What were the influences on this story?

Part of me gets a bit apprehensive about mentioning my influences in case someone checks it out because I mention something that they really like, and then they wind up not seeing that reflected in the actual story.

If I can indulge in just that for a second, though, I think of it as what would happen if you opened a Spider-Man comic to suddenly find a story about Doc Ock “keeping track” of every time that the titular character was shown swinging around without anything nearby to feasibly swing off from, and trying to figure it out in an investigation that has shades of The Protomen’s incredible concept albums, Venture Bros, and a tiny, tiny bit of Dirk Gently.

GREG: What is your creative process like?

JAY: I have nearly the entire six-issue story line already done down to minute details and conversations… it just isn’t all in a workable comic script form yet. Largely, my process is just doing that, making sure that it can be broken into the requisite 24-page issue installments.

GREG: What does this story mean to you, not just as a creator, but to you personally?

JAY: Over the last few years, I kept seeing that whole “subverted expectations” thing pop up constantly in worse and worse ways.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually love that kind of thing when pulled off well, however over and over it always turned into “we deliberately chose the most underwhelming outcome because it wasn’t what people were expecting!” instead of something that manages to actually improve the story and lead to a satisfying ending.

Originally having created the first issue’s main concept five years ago, I began to flesh the full story out with the express goal of making sure that expectations would be subverted in fun, interesting sorts of ways.

GREG: What is your favorite reward item for this campaign?

JAY: My favorite reward with this campaign has to be the “Debut” ashcan. It’s an extra eight-page black-and-white mini comic that shows Firebreak’s first outing as a costumed hero.

GREG: What does the next year look like for you in comics?

JAY: I mean, I’m in this until the end, which at this current rate might not be until early 2023 at the latest. Hoping to get both #2 and #3 out sometime this year, though.

GREG: Who is involved on the creative team, and where might people have seen their work before?

JAY: The internal art team of Ryan Best and HdE have done incredible, incredible work together on a good few other crowdfunded comics, however you can also find their separate work on indie labels like Zenescope, Action Lab, and Source Point Press.

The cover/title artist, John DeLucca, is most known for his work on the covers and posters for The Protomen.

GREG: Thank you for coming on and talking about your current works. I am looking forward to seeing what is next!

Blue Blaze

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/blue-blaze-the-rising-flame-part-1–2#/

GREG: Welcome! I like to start off pretending that nobody knows who you are. So, here is your chance, tell us all about yourself.

KONNER: Hi there, my name’s Konnor and I’m the founder of Kingdom Komix. We’re currently crowdfunding for our first comic: Blue Blaze, which is now live on IndieGoGo!

GREG: Tell everybody a bit about your project “____“, give us the elevator pitch!

KONNER: Blue Blaze is a story about a young hero, who after a few months of dealing with you everyday thugs, goes up against his first super-villain. But, after coming close to losing his life… Everything changes. He begins to realize he’s more powerful than he once thought! Not only that, there’s someone on his trail… And he doesn’t know why! Blue Blaze must struggle from disaster to disaster all while trying to do the right thing, and keep his City safe!

GREG: What is your creative process like?

KONNER: In terms of my creative process, I normally jot down any rough ideas I have in my notes, then expand upon it. It’ll usually take me a good few drafts before settling on a final draft and move on to the scripting process. While this is happening I tend to develop all the characters, even if they’re not as prominent in the comic to better understand what their goals and motives would be.

GREG: Who are some of your biggest creative influences?

KONNER: In terms of creative influences, I would definitely say that Blue Blaze is possibly the most unique project we have to date – as in it’s not necessarily inspired or similar to any one character, or at least in my opinion. This was purely an initial idea of a fire based hero, and it went from there. In terms of actual writing, I have to say the likes of Scott Synder and Tom Taylor inspire me, but I don’t try and limit myself to following any particular story telling style, rather take bits and pieces from here and there.

GREG: What does the next year look like for you in comics?

KONNER: Next year comics is (hopefully) going to be HUGE for Kingdom Komix! We currently have a few projects in the works, with 3 different books already at the stage of page work. All of the books we release will share the same universe, some being more connected than others.

GREG: What does this story mean to you, not just as a creator, but to you personally?

KONNER: This story for me, means a lot. It’s to prove to not only myself but anyone else out there who wants to, that making your own comic is more than achievable! Not only that, it sets up the start of our universe, which I can’t wait to show more of in the near future!

GREG: You said you were having a rough start with your Indiegogo, if I may ask, how long did you do marketing for the prelaunch portion of the Campaign?

KONNER: Originally, we were struggling to get off the ground with our IndieGoGo campaign, only having 4 backers after the first week. However, we’re now up to 19 backers with 88% of our goal hit! Personally, I think the artwork we showed off was a massive boost, as the artists have done an absolutely exceptional job. In terms of marketing beforehand, we used only Instagram, and started our page in November 2020. We only started fully promoting in the last couple months, by running some competitions like a DTIYS and a Create a Villain competition.

GREG: Thank you for coming on and talking about your current works. I am looking forward to seeing what is next!