What's Happening - February 2025
Hero of Legend #3 is on Kickstarter! And all my other thoughts and feelings about comics for the month of February.
Welcome to my monthly newsletter, giving you updates on the things I’ve been writing, reading and lettering this month.
What am I writing?
This month, Hero of Legend has once again returned to Kickstarter. I really love this issue, and I've been happy with how well the Kickstarter has been doing. We had the best day one of any of our issues so far, we're on track to raise the most of any of our 3 issues with the highest number of backers, and Kickstarter was kind enough to bestow the Project We Love tag on our campaign.
All of which is amazing, and I am so happy about! Usually when I have a Kickstarter running, I try to keep these newsletter pretty light and mostly pointing in the direction of my currently active Kickstarter, without too much else to distract from that goal.
But I guess part of making comics independently is that it never quite feels like enough. I made a post on Bluesky a few days ago that I deleted about 20 minutes later because it felt too bitter, but I do feel it in my soul: They should make a Kickstarter platform for comics that are safe for work.
It's easy to get bitter about the state of independent comic creation. I don't like to link to Substack (because of the Nazis) but Kevin LaPorte has been doing the work to run the numbers on what kind of comics are on Kickstarter and how much money they're making. And the answer, surprising literally no one who spends time on Kickstarter, is that NSFW comics are by far the most successful on the platform. Almost 50% of the money made is from NSFW books!
It makes me sad sometimes, because this definitely hasn't always been the case. But the visibility you get with a project that isn't either an established IP or NSFW is a fraction of what it was. And as much as I'm proud of the work our team has done making Hero of Legend into a project Kickstarter "loves," the effect that tag has is distinctly muted compared to the boost it could give to a campaign even 5 years ago.
But, all that being said, Hero of Legend is still doing well! Best of any of our campaigns so far. We've hit our first two stretch goal, unlocking a comic sized print for everyone who backs and a copy of the script for Hero of Legend #3. And hey, we have 4 days! Let's see how many of these other goals we can hit before then:
So, go back today, and lets see how high we can push this thing before it's done!
What am I reading?
Crimson Fall
I backed the Kickstarter for Crimson Fall: The Shore Tower and picked up the previous issue Lambs of God with it. These are really fun, self-contained fantasy stories following a bounty hunter and a priest as they investigate supernatural phenomena across a medieval country side. I've been really enjoying this sort of episodic adventure recently. Simple, well-crafted comics that hit their marks and tell a fun story is something that I think is missing, from both the direct market and independent comics. The creator, Derek Laufman, has a really expressive style in his artwork that leads to some really great action and character moments.
Both volumes are great (Though I'll be honest, I think I prefer the Black and White art of Lambs of God) and I think there's a decent chance that if you like Hero of Legend, you'll enjoy this as well.
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
I usually restrict the "what I'm reading" section to books and comics that I've read. But, hey, Citizen Sleeper 2 is a video game that is mostly reading. Makes as much sense to say that you've read it as it does played it. I played this the weekend it came out and just absolutely devoured it. The Citizen Sleeper games are dice based RPGs where you play as a Sleeper, and android who has a copy of a cryogenically sleeping human mind placed inside of it and is forced to work to pay off that sleeping human's debt.
The first Citizen Sleeper was pretty simple mechanically, and at a certain point reveals itself as a game that doesn't ever actually have any hard fail states. I think that makes sense for the story it was telling, but while the writing and art were fantastic, I have a hard time with visual novels or other games where there aren't actual stakes for the actions I'm taking. For a game to really work for me, I need to be able to lose.
Citizen Sleeper 2 fixes that problem with some great, new, much more challenging mechanics, while still keeping the heart and soul of the writing and artwork. It's a beautifully written game, deeply effecting and moving, and one of my favorite pieces of science fiction I've engaged with in a long time. It's one of those games that, as a person who writes, makes my brain itch with games that I would someday like to make (despite the fact that I will never make a video game.) Anyway, it's a great game, and well worth diving into if narrative RPGs are something you enjoy.
What am I lettering?
One of the struggles of any commercial creative work is continuing to create even when you're not quite in the headspace to do it. As you could probably tell from my mopping in the Writing section of this newsletter, I've been in a bit of a mood this month when it comes to my creative projects.
I think these sort of moods and ruts can be dangerous when you're lettering comics. It's really easy to lean into a sort of mechanical, get the job done lettering style if you're not feeling particularly inspired. And the hard part is that, as a letterer, it's something you have to self-police. It's rare for most of my collaborators to call me out on it when I'm turning in lettered pages that are just basic, rote act of placing dialogue and sound effects on top of some artwork. Frankly, I think it's challenging for a lot of folks making indie comics to even notice or figure out how to voice their complaints if they do notice. Unless you're actively entrenched in lettering comics, it's easy to let uninspired lettering slide.
Luckily, the easiest way to break myself out of this rut is working on books that force me to rise to their level. When the line art and the coloring and the script are all in perfect harmony together, I think I'm incapable of not putting my all into making sure the lettering is as high a quality as everything else in the book. One of my favorite things in making comics is completing the lettering and being that final puzzle piece of having a truly spectacular book come together. Remembering that feeling, or swapping over to project that actively makes me feel that way as I'm working on it, helps me push through on those projects that aren't quite as inspiring.
Lion of Olympus #1
Devin Arscott is one of my favorite people in indie comics. He edits Hero of Legend, but he's also a great comic writer in his own right. This is Lion of Olympus's second time up on Kickstarter, and I really hope that this book can get funded.
In the city of Thebes, Herakles has stopped to rest from his travels, but that rest is interrupted due to Hera’s machinations and unwavering hatred. Hera enlists the aid of Ares and his Dogs of War, who are sent to kill Herakles, and end him once and for all!
The Lion of Olympus is the first issue in an ongoing Greek mythology series, which will feature epic new tales and explorations of old stories featuring Greece’s most famous hero. This initial two part story will kick off Herakles adventures before jumping into this alternate take of his heroism set throughout Greece.
If you're a fan of fantasy stories, Greek Mythology, or just good comics, take a minute and check this one out!
Some other prelaunch comics:
Some fun lettering:
That's it?
Yep! Bye.