By Zack Quaintance — Welcome to Baby’s Got to Back, a new monthly round-up of the top Kickstarter comics that are live or about to be live right now. Anyone who has dabbled even a little bit on Kickstarter (as I have), knows that the platform has a ton of great content. So much great content, in fact, that knowing what to back can at times feel overwhelming. This monthly feature aims to provide some help.

Let’s check out our inaugural class of great Kickstarter comics picks, complete with a Q&A with the writer of our first-ever KICKSTARTER OF THE MONTH, Jason Inman.

January Kickstarter Comics Highlights

KICKSTARTER OF THE MONTH
Super Best Friend
Writer: Jason Inman
Artist: George Kambadis
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Back It Here: Super Best Friend on Kickstarter
What if the world's greatest superhero had a best friend who livestreamed his every fight and adventure? An original 48 page comic!

ZACK QUAINTANCE: So, I really love the concept for this book, and it seems right in line with your personal experiences, having hosted DC All Access as well as spent time podcasting. Can I start by asking how your personal experiences with online media informed Super Best Friend #1?

JASON INMAN: My connection with online superhero fandom is the heart of this book. From 2015 to 2018, my full-time job became interviewing, promoting and chatting about superheroes for DC Comics. That’s when I conceived the original story seed of Super Best Friend. I thought to myself, if superheroes existed in the actual world, these super powered beings would be all we “normal citizens” would talk about! That’s the top layer of Super Best Friend.

Another layer is the connection we all have with our fandom in the modern online world. Anyone who has worked in covering pop culture (whether it’s film, TV or comics) knows sometimes you have to cover a piece of media which doesn’t align with your tastes. However, you put on a smile, and go on anyhow, it’s the job.

My principal character, Mattie Moore, has a similar conundrum. He loves the superheroes of Terrific City, and he loves recording them for his channel. But it’s become his entire life. He observes nothing happening in front of him if it’s not superhero related. As someone who’s been in a similar situation to Mattie, I can empathize and it’s the part of my life that shaped him. One cannot survive on superhero fandom alone. It’s time for Mattie to walk outside and smell the roses.

ZACK: I understand you created Captain Terrific back in 2006, and I always really like story like that, just the notion that you kept thinking about an idea until the perfect story clicked. What was it more than a decade later that made you feel like you had the perfect story and situation to expand on the idea for Captain Terrific?

JASON: Captain Terrific was a superhero character I created for a one-act play in college. It’s a comedy piece about a sidekick complaining to his “boss” who became Terrific. I let the character lie on the back shelf for a long time until I co-wrote him into a couple of short comics back in 2016 called “Terrific” and “Thief.” (Those stories were co written by Ashley V. Robinson and drawn by Nick Robles. Nick designed Terrific’s costume for the original story, which we’re still using in Super Best Friend. It’s so outstanding to see him drawing the big DC books now.)

Captain Terrific transformed into my back-up character, who I would insert into a story when I desired the archetypical superhero. Then I stumbled into creating Mattie Moore, and he needed a superhero. So, I dusted-off Terrific again. Mattie needed a superhero best friend, and Terrific was the only choice. They’ve both become stronger characters within this comic. That’s why this is the ideal story to bring him back.

ZACK: What kind of powers are we talking about for Captain Terrific? And are there any classic heroes he homages?

JASON: Captain Terrific has “Terrific” powers. Basically, if the ability is powerful and “terrific,” he can do it. Flight, terrific strength, terrific speed, invulnerability, and various terrific vision powers will all be seen in this comic. I made this choice for the story as I didn’t want to box Terrific into any corners with his power limitations; if the story demanded a new power for Terrific, we would create it immediately. These ever-changing powers are like many of the superhero power sets in the Silver Age of Comics.

Many eagle eyed readers would say Captain Terrific is similar to the last son of Krypton, and I would never deny that fact. I’m a farm boy from Kansas; superheroes with red capes is virtually our religion in my home state.

ZACK: I really enjoyed George Kambadais’ work on the comiXology series, The Black Ghost, and I was excited to learn you two are teaming up. How did you work together to develop the right look for Captain Terrific?

JASON: I’ve been a fan of George ever since The Double Life of Miranda Turner. One day on Twitter, George announces that he was open for new projects, and I hopped into his emails. He loved the concept and jumped onboard. Right away, George dove into the style of the book, and knocked out a sketch of Mattie Moore that I didn’t change at all. It’s still Mattie’s main design! That’s how great George is.

Overall, George has brought a softness to the book which I didn’t expect. He drew Captain Terrific much softer and with more heart than I expected. So, I rewrote my script and included Terrific’s mother and father into the second half of the first issue. I yearned to watch this invincible superhero hugging and visiting with his mother. That’s the genuine power of a great comic artist like George.

ZACK: Finally, I just ran my first Kickstarter, and I found the rapid expansion of the platform really exciting, both in terms of creators and readers who use it. You’re a veteran of it, with this being your fourth campaign, so I was wondering if you had some quick hit advice you could share? Maybe one thing you’ve learned that you didn’t know each about what to do before, during, and after a campaign?

JASON: I saw your campaign! (In fact, I re-read your Kickstarter advice columns to make sure I had missed nothing. They were excellent.)

I have two pieces of advice for anyone that wants to run a Kickstarter. One, create an action team for your book that will show up on day one. Email a preview of the campaign to about ten to fifteen of your friends and ask them to donate on the first day. Boom, they’re your action team. Most will respond yes if you ask nicely, and that will help boost your first day numbers, which are important.

Second, celebrate every victory and log off. The night you launch, sit back and eat a good meal. If you cross 50% funded, buy yourself a good meal and log off. When the campaign ends, take the weekend off and relax. The only person you can guarantee who will celebrate your successes is yourself and running a Kickstarter is a tremendous accomplishment. Celebrate it and rest because you earned it.

More Excellent January Kickstarter Comics

Cult Heroes #1
Writer/Artist: Raymond Estrada
The skies are crowded with people in capes. A mysterious disfigured self-proclaimed hero, A Cult Hero, sets out on a murderous path alongside Razor Blade Mary, The Holy Mother of Blades to make room up above. Their bloody pile of caped crusaders leads to an aimless young gifted Jamie, daughter of a long-retired hero, to face his bloody penance. This is Cult Heroes. No Heroes. Just Villains.
Back It Here: Cult Heroes on Kickstarter

The Effervescent Adventures of Fight-Bunny
Writer: Nate Cosby
Artist: Jennifer L. Meyer
Letterer: Ariana Maher
The Effervescent Adventures Of Fight-Bunny is a new hardcover graphic novel meant for ALL AGES! For the young and young at heart...for anyone who loves mellifluous mammals saying silly things, as hijinks and high adventure ensue!
Fans of Paddington, Ratatouille, Babe, and Winnie The Pooh will want to spend time with Fight-Bunny and her beautiful bevy of beleaguered beasts in The Great Flooded Forest!
Back It Here: The Effervescent Adventures of Fight-Bunny

The Effervescent Adventures of Fight Bunny.jpg

The Myth Butcher
Writer: Danny Gorny
Artists: Daniel Caval, Alessia Gasperini, Nico Gamboa, and Kayla Raney
Colorist: Berril Vargas
The year is 1903, and the sun never sets on the British Empire. But it could. Colonel Jordan travels the world to prevent catastrophes and gain intelligence for the Crown. Where do these monsters keep coming from? The Myth Butcher is a 28-page anthology of monster stories, featuring beautiful illustration from three up-and-coming artists and dynamic colours by Berril Vargas.
Back It Now: The Myth Butcher on Kickstarter

Polar Paradox #1
Writer: Frank Martin
Artist: Antonio Mastria
Antarctica. One of the last frontiers in the world. And that's just above the surface. Deep below the ocean ice is an unexplored alien world unlike anywhere else on the planet. It's a place so incredible no scientist could resist...until a research team goes missing and a trio of elite divers are sent in to rescue them. Their mission is dangerous. Down right impossible. And will uncover a mystery that could unravel the Earth as we know it.
Back It Here: Polar Paradox #1

Ruination #1
Writer: Ryan Bis
Artist: Giulia Lalli
Colorist: Kaytee Brown
Letterer: Matias Zanetti
Keila, Jalen, and Dante were born into a world destroyed by centuries of war and haunted by the dead. Among the first born during peacetime, they are the generation that will define how the world is rebuilt from the scraps left by their forefathers. Though their elders have trained them to be enemy combatants, they join together to stop a madman from reigniting the war between Saldyria and the rebels known as the Fallen. In the process, they discover a lost form of magic hidden away in ancient ruins and learn that the world is more complicated than they thought. Can they prevent the ruination of their world?
Back It Here: Ruination #1 on Kickstarter

The Scent of May Rain
Story: Mark O. Stack & Rae Epstein
Script: Mark O. Stack
Art: Kaylee Rowena
Lettering: Cardinal Rae
Pat Parker, War Nurse Created By: Jill Elgin
A graphic novella following a golem woman's life over 100 years of her existence.
Back It Here: The Scent of May Rain (launching soon!)

Space Bastards, Vol. 2 Hardcover
Writers: Eric Peterson and Joe Aubrey
Artist: Darick Robertson
Colorist: Diego Rodriguez
Letterer: Simon Bowland
In the future, violence is everywhere. Corporations are exploiting the weak and disenfranchised. And while America has taken to the cosmos, unemployment is rampant, infrastructure is crumbling, and basic services are unreliable. Getting mail between planets is damn near impossible. The Intergalactic Postal Service offers the best paying, yet deadliest, jobs in the universe.
Back It Here: Space Bastards Vol. 2
Read our review of Space Bastards #1!

Starweed #1
Writer: Lex Wilson
Artist: Tony Gregori
Colorist: Claudia Aguirre
Letterer: Lauren Norby
Starweed #1 opens in the year 2085. Our best scientists have discovered how to get you high from smoking human remains! And our best dealers have discovered that you'll pay even more for famous human remains! Just think: you could smoke a long dead composer! Or a long dead actor, athlete, or media mogul/businesswoman/gaufretter of fried potatoes! Or long dead Vladimir Lenin, whose body is just sitting there in Moscow's Red Square! Why not heist that body and smoke it?! And then tell all your friends how you heisted and smoked it?…
Back It Here: Starweed #1

This Land #1
Writer: Mark Abnett
Artist: P.R. Dedelis
Colorist: Liezl Buenaventura
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
What would you do if YOU had the powers of a God? What would you do if those gods wanted that power BACK? An Ancient War An Impossible Choice An Unbreakable Promise A world where the people of Te Rui-a-Māui have formed new tribes and have been gifted with the powers of long-forgotten gods. A land divided but learning from the errors of the past and looking further back to create a better world for today. Now the forgotten gods have returned and they are not happy with what they have found.
Back It Here: This Land on Kickstarter

Torch: Reclaim The Skies
Writer: AJ Rojek
Artist: Tom Hoskisson
Colorist: Daniela Barisone
Letterer: Joel Rodriguez
Coming soon to a galaxy near you, it's Torch: Reclaim the Skies. Torch was once the best star pilot in the galaxy - a true kid prodigy - until she was put out to pasture. Now older, retired and bored, she lives with her younger brother Spark, drinking away her pension. That is until one fateful trip to the city lands the duo in hot water - reawakening Torch's thirst for adrenaline! After a wild bar fight and evading the police, Spark sees the joy that being on the run brought his sister, so the two decide to become fugitives!
Back It Here: Torch - Reclaim the Skies on Kickstarter

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.