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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2023 1:58:47 GMT -5
Have you looked at the character sheet variant covers IDW did for some of the D&D comics? They did some as back covers as well.   I find the pure b&w a bit dull, especially with only the small character portrait box with actual art as a front cover, but I thought it was clever when they did it as a back cover or an inside cover rahter than as a front cover variant. -M |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958 
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Quest
Mar 23, 2023 13:49:39 GMT -5
Post by Crimebuster on Mar 23, 2023 13:49:39 GMT -5
Here's the throwback module variant cover!  This is based on the module The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, from 1982 -- the art is an homage to that cover's art by Erol Otus. Here's the original  I wanted the image to be bigger, and the text to be smaller, so I changed the aspect ratio of the image box (which had to be changed anyway since the comic is a different width than the module) and zoomed in on the art some. I also felt the original was very brown on brown on brown, which was made worse by the fact that my monster is a rust red -- and that removed the blue element from the original monster. So I decided to make the background caverns blue instead for more contrast, and I like how it came out. I tried to keep the feel of the original art, so it's definitely not too slick. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it came out! I may change the text at the bottom to be more about the story and less about the game supplement material. This variant won't just be a variant cover, it's also going to have 4-8 bonus pages of game supplements that the other versions of the comic won't have. |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Post by Crimebuster on Mar 31, 2023 22:59:27 GMT -5
I just got the flatting files back from the colorist! This means I can now finish the artwork -- and then letter it, and Bob's your uncle, a comic book. My hope is to have the comic done by the end of April, for a May launch. We'll see! I should have the pre-launch page up and running within the next two weeks. I just spent the evening working on the cover. I may tweak a few things (like possibly the location of the issue number) but here it is!  |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Quest
Mar 31, 2023 23:04:10 GMT -5
Post by Crimebuster on Mar 31, 2023 23:04:10 GMT -5
After finishing it, I realized the logo I came up with must have subconsciously inspired me to design the trade dress (i.e. the issue number in the circle, with that font and the #) in a style very reminiscent of Star Reach.
Since I'm going for a 70s fantasy vibe, this must have been in the back of my head, and I am okay with it!
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Quest
Mar 31, 2023 23:29:13 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2023 23:29:13 GMT -5
After finishing it, I realized the logo I came up with must have subconsciously inspired me to design the trade dress (i.e. the issue number in the circle, with that font and the #) in a style very reminiscent of Star Reach. Since I'm going for a 70s fantasy vibe, this must have been in the back of my head, and I am okay with it! I was going to say, I liked the placement of the #1 and that it reminded me of something, but I couldn't place it, but as soon as you mentioned Star*Reach, I was like, yup that's it. Looking forward to this one. -M |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Quest
Apr 12, 2023 17:13:09 GMT -5
Post by Crimebuster on Apr 12, 2023 17:13:09 GMT -5
The prelaunch page is now live!It will still be a month or so before this launches, I have a lot of work left to do. But I expect to be able to share a preview of the first five completed pages hopefully some time next week. I really want to try to get to 100 followers before launch this time, which I'm not sure is possible with my current reader base, but I'm going to be working my ass off for the next month to get everything lined up to try and make this a success. I've set my official goal at $2900, but I think for this one I'm going to need to hit at least $4000 to come close to break even. We'll see how it goes! I'm very excited by how the finished pages are looking so far! 🤗
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2023 17:35:38 GMT -5
The prelaunch page is now live!It will still be a month or so before this launches, I have a lot of work left to do. But I expect to be able to share a preview of the first five completed pages hopefully some time next week. I really want to try to get to 100 followers before launch this time, which I'm not sure is possible with my current reader base, but I'm going to be working my ass off for the next month to get everything lined up to try and make this a success. I've set my official goal at $2900, but I think for this one I'm going to need to hit at least $4000 to come close to break even. We'll see how it goes! I'm very excited by how the finished pages are looking so far! 🤗 I shared on my twitter feed. Hopefully you might get another pair of eyes or two on it. -M |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Quest
Apr 12, 2023 17:52:51 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Crimebuster on Apr 12, 2023 17:52:51 GMT -5
The prelaunch page is now live!It will still be a month or so before this launches, I have a lot of work left to do. But I expect to be able to share a preview of the first five completed pages hopefully some time next week. I really want to try to get to 100 followers before launch this time, which I'm not sure is possible with my current reader base, but I'm going to be working my ass off for the next month to get everything lined up to try and make this a success. I've set my official goal at $2900, but I think for this one I'm going to need to hit at least $4000 to come close to break even. We'll see how it goes! I'm very excited by how the finished pages are looking so far! 🤗 I shared on my twitter feed. Hopefully you might get another pair of eyes or two on it. -M Thank you, I appreciate it! |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Quest
Apr 19, 2023 23:07:36 GMT -5
Post by Crimebuster on Apr 19, 2023 23:07:36 GMT -5
I've put together a PDF with a sneak preview of the first five pages of the story plus the covers and some bonus material. You can download it here if you're interested!I'm tentatively aiming for a May 15 launch date, presuming I get enough done between now and then finishing the art. It's very far along but I still have some work to do, plus lettering. At the moment we're at 66 followers on the campaign, which is actually the most I've ever had before launching. I'm hoping over the next month to be able to boost that to 100. A good first day helps the algorithms on Kickstarter a lot so I'm trying to do as much promotion before the launch as I can to get followers and first day backers. Here's the pre-launch link again in case you want to share it with anyone. Kickstarter now has an official advertising partner called Jellop who works with campaigns. I haven't done any paid advertising at all since I think the first issue of Crimebusters but I am considering it with Quest #1. Doing well with the first issue can help a lot for future issues as well so it may be worth it, but I haven't decided yet. |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Quest
Apr 24, 2023 23:29:22 GMT -5
Post by Crimebuster on Apr 24, 2023 23:29:22 GMT -5
We're up to 79 followers, which is great. Still out there stumping everywhere to try to get it to 100 before launch. When that launch will be is still slightly up in the air. I am hoping for May 15, but it may be pushed back to May 22 depending on how much I can get done between now and then. I want to get all the art 100% done (I have 9 pages done and 15 left that need inking and finishes) before launch, and I am also hoping to finish fulfilling the last Kickstarter for Crimebusters #5 before launch too. So we'll see. The next three weeks are going to be super busy one way or the other though! I also am talking to a new artist about doing a pin-up for the back cover. I had someone working on a back cover but he seems to have vanished, so I need to line up someone else ASAP. If push comes ot shove I can always draw it myself, but I don't really have time for that at the moment. MAKING COMICS!!!!  |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Quest
May 8, 2023 14:03:10 GMT -5
Post by Crimebuster on May 8, 2023 14:03:10 GMT -5
We've got an official launch date: May 22! I've also got some new art to show you. I know a lot of creators put ads on the back cover, but I don't want to waste that space on an ad, so I've commissioned an artist to do a series of back cover drawings for me. He's working on the back covers for issues #2 and #3 at the moment, but here's the back cover for issue #1:  I really wanted an artist who could kind of capture the feel of the black and white drawings from the D&D rulebooks of the 70s and 80s and I'm pretty happy with the result! This will be the back cover for all versions of this issue, so you'll get it regardless of which variant cover you choose. At the moment we're up to 106 followers, which is great! We've been stuck on that number for a few days now though so think I've kind of exhausted my various promotional channels. I'm not sure how many more I'll be able to drum up before launch, but I'm going to keep working it! Here's the link again: |
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Crimebuster
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Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Quest
May 22, 2023 9:16:42 GMT -5
Post by Crimebuster on May 22, 2023 9:16:42 GMT -5
Quest #1 is now officially live!!
I will also be doing a Livestream Launch Party tonight at 9 pm ET for anyone who wants to join me!
Thank you all for all the support! I really appreciate it very much!
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Quest
May 23, 2023 22:34:28 GMT -5
Post by Crimebuster on May 23, 2023 22:34:28 GMT -5
We had a great first day!
Then the second day fell off a cliff.
The patterns on Kickstarter are definitely changing, making it really hard to figure out where your project is going to go or end up. But, we're around 45% funded after 2 days, so I'm optimistic we'll at least hit the official funding goal. I'll need to go well past that to break even, but first things first.
I will probably begin announcing new add-ons this week, including a new variant cover -- a real "variant" as it's the art from the regular cover, but presented in a different way that I hope some of you old school dungeoneers will enjoy!
Thank you for all the support!!
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Quest
May 24, 2023 21:31:03 GMT -5
Post by Crimebuster on May 24, 2023 21:31:03 GMT -5
Just had my first big scammer backer. Guy with a new account backed for $550, then left a comment saying he couldn't pick any rewards and wanted to know if he could get any of the loot. Not entirely sure what his angle is, but my guess is he wants me to send him stuff outside the Kickstarter channel and then he'll cancel his pledge or something.
There have been a lot of scammers that have been trying to extort creators in the last few weeks - they will back for $500 or $1000, then send you a message asking you to hire their promotion service, and if you don't, they'll cancel their pledge. Of course, if you do pay them for their "service," they cancel anyway, and then you're not just out the pledge, but out the money you sent them.
It sucks, as this is very difficult and quite stressful without these yahoos jerking us around, but there's nothing much that can done about it. I gave this guy a instructions on how to back correctly and I'm just waiting for him to cancel the pledge and move on.
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Quest
May 25, 2023 13:35:27 GMT -5
Post by Crimebuster on May 25, 2023 13:35:27 GMT -5
I was able to get the scammer's pledge removed, so that's good. Even better, we hit 50% funded today! To celebrate, I made a new variant cover What cam I say, I enjoy homage covers, and I basically made this one for myself. It's available only as an add-on, but I tried to keep it affordable for everyone, so it's $13. Homaging some of my absolutely favorite books from childhood:  |
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