Spring has finally actually joined us in the northeastern United States, and with it came new set of incredible comic campaigns! From historical documentaries and collection, to introspective anthologies, to artfully illustrated BDSM comics, Kickstarter is currently teeming with gorgeous work to feast your eyes upon. So treat yourself! We survived the winter, go and have some fun.
No Straight Lines
Vivian Kleiman, Justin Hall, Andy Black
Ends May 23
No Straight Lines is a 2013 anthology of queer comics, collecting historic pieces from queer comic creators from the last 40 years. This campaign is for an accompanying documentary, featuring interviews with Howard Cruse, Alison Bechdel, Mary Wings, Emeric Kennard, Ajuan Mance, and many more. The team has a big chunk of principal photography done, but needs funds to wrap out interviews with Rupert Kinnard, Jen Camper, and maybe even Ian Velez, Jr. and Scout Tran. Once principal photography is complete, the campaign already has guaranteed funding for post production—all they need is a final push to finish filming!
Neither Here Nor Hair
Alisha Jade
Ends May 27
Neither Here Nor Hair is an anthology about… hair! Inspired by the response to editor Alisha Jade’s own minicomic, Disgusting!, the book brings 14 creators together to explore their relationship to their own hair and the barrage of hair-related value statements and expectations that come from peers, the media, and everywhere else. If you spend a lot of time thinking about gendered expectations, self confidence, and messed up beauty standards, this book is probably for you (you can also get a custom posca marker painted shirt as part of the campaign, so that’s pretty dang cool)!
MADNESS IN CROWDS: The Teeming Mind of Harrison Cady
Beehive Books
Ends June 5
Beehive Books’ whole thing is art books that are art themselves, with awesome production values and distinct design sensibilities. MADNESS IN CROWDS is their latest project, collecting the prolific magazine work of illustrator Harrison Cady in an enormous cloth-bound hardcover. At 10”x14”, the book will be large enough to see every frantic detail in Cady’s complex illustrations. Beehive is also creating a limited run of slipcase covers that come with real magnifying glasses!
ARRO, Volume 2
Ali Burke, Tara Harris
Ends June 7
ARRO is the passion project of Tara and Ali, beginning in 2009 and only growing from there. The story follows Jon, a shaggy-haired scout, as he and his team explore what’s left of the southeastern United States in the aftermath of a brutal water-borne epidemic. Tara and Ali printed Volume 1 two years ago (and you can read everything on the webcomic’s site!), and this campaign is meant to bring Volume 2 into the physical world. The books look lovely, too—the creators already have physical proofs!
Heart of Gold: Volume I
Eli Baumgartner, Viv Tanner
Ends June 9
Heart of Gold is an ongoing webcomic about miracles, curses, and faith, bundled into a gorgeously painted mystery/romance shell. The Kickstarter—which launched just over a week ago—is raising funds for a hardcover print edition, complete with gold foil and an extra 10-page background comic. The campaign has already blasted past all its stretch goals, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take this chance to treat yourself.
The Lady Eudora Henley
Megan Rose Gedris (Rosalarian)
Ends June 15
Rosalarian is back with a story of lesbian dominance and submission, told from the point of view of a nameless narrator as she, already dissatisfied with the sex life inherent to her new marriage, is drawn into a much more interesting underground world. The Lady Eudora Henley is “not quite a comic,” with full page illustrations accompanying prose… much like a children’s book, but very, very much not for children. This story ran on Filthy Figments from 2012-2016, and the campaign describes it as “a very graphic novel”—so maybe save backing The Lady Eudora Henley until you’re back home, unless you have a really cool boss.
