Diseased #Comicsgate - The Culture Wars Hit The Funny Books!

[A nameless trool]

The problem is no one is building an audience, they're fighting for a share of a dwindling audience. Most streams are about CG drama or are filled with cliquey, self-referential jokes that don't do anything to draw anybody in. Most people in CG seem to think EVS invented indie comics, so it's not like you're going to pick-up people interested in discussing comics in general, worse the shilling makes streams look like a shopping channel presentation...and one for 'off brand' products at best.

The only way CG ever pulls in new people now is with new comics creators looking to get in on the grift, but who end up being like Ponzi investors not realizing the emperor has no clothes and so they spend-hard for exposure, and the trickle of non-comic reading culture-wars types who'll drop cash for a book they'll never read to 'own the libs', and lets be honest Doug is cleaning-up those types.

It's sad, because CG could have been great, a unified alternative to the mainstream & mainstream-indie comics, and instead it's become a pyramid scheme. This entire grow-your-channel BS is just that, BS. For all but the sharpest operator It's just a marketing trick to stop you realizing how bad a deal CG is for the little guys. You're constantly chasing subs rather than refining your craft, and to get the subs you either go into the chat of big streams, or talk about the big names, never realizing that most of the 'promoting' you're doing isn't benefiting you, it's just free shilling for the folks at the top.

TLR with some extra clarifications:
Most CG creators are morons who can't make it as indie comics creators and are just playing a losing hand pursuing CG instead of sucking up to the big two, like they used to...

Edit: And they are the same types that used to be the people laughing at the tweets of Gail Simone and the rest of the twitter cows working on the comicbook industry, or showing their tits at Warren Ellis. Only difference is, this time they do get to get their comics out, so this is an upgrade.

 

[Smug Freiza]

I agree with @Crescent Fresh that a lot of these smaller creators probably should be using Kickstarter to access a wider pool of potential customers for a better chance of their books getting funded. Frog and the larger CG creators don't really need it because of the sheer size of customers who follow them to Indiegogo, but I must admit I'm curious to see how well Cyberfrog: Bloodhoney and Rekt Planet would do on Kickstarter given the results from Doug TenNapel and Tim Lim.

CreatorGo is an interesting resource and I must thank @Mister Dongs for not only pointing it out but informing us of all these projects currently funding.

FROM CREATORGO
​

Currently there are 34 Comicsgate projects listed, with 2 in-demand and 1 failed. CreatorGo is quite helpful in designating campaigns with "badges" which are almost like achievements for campaigns, similar to video games.

I will breakdown the campaigns into their following groups and add several other groups for analysis, at this time no campaigns can be considered Legendary, Amazing or a Home Run.

GREAT - Alien Alamo, GROKEN, CREED: Re-Imaginary, ROCK N ROLL NINJA, Supervillains Anonymous

All the campaigns above have hit the 25K mark and come from either established pros or large youtubers; Graham Nolan, Kenneth Rocafort, Trent Kaniuga/ALL CAPS COMICS, Richard C Meyer and Adam Friended respectively. Graham Nolan's Alien Alamo is in the top position with $46,640 raised from 737 backers with 7 days remaining. It's highly unlikely at this rate he will hit the Amazing badge (100K) but possible he might get a Home Run (1000 backers).

GOOD - Thomas Valiant, SeaDog and Codename Killswitch 2, Shadow of the Kraken, BONDS: The Drive, Star Circuit, X-Farce Reloaded, NOT DAREDEVIL UNIVERSE, The Rabbi From Another Planet, Wart the Wizard 2, Shotgun Samurai

Thomas Valiant leads the pack on $14,436 from 237 backers but is still 11K away from moving up into the Great category. We can see some familiar faces among these creators including:

• Graveyard Shift and USAssassin writer Mark Poulton with SeaDog and Codename Killswitch 2, which is performing less than great compared to it's first entry in the series.​
• Vinnie Tartamella with Shadow of the Kraken which is performing far worse than his previous two flagship campaigns City of Venus and Through the Woods.​
• Don Chin with X-Farce Reloaded, Chin was the creator of 1980s indie series Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters.​
• Kiwifarms own @COMMI3 MARK with NOT DAREDEVIL UNIVERSE which is doing reasonably well compared to his previous crowdfunded campaign and stands a good chance of beating it in both backers and funds.​
• Resident Comicsgate e-thot Mandy Summers with her sequel book Wart the Wizard 2, which is massively underperforming the original Wart the Wizard campaign and her two subsequent books Super Dead and Pirate Queen.​

Summers and Tartamella seem screwed and I doubt they can grow on their previous projects, Mark Poulton might be able to pull it off but currently it appears doubtful and Commie Mark stands a good chance if he keeps promoting and gains access to non CGUK channels. Why Mandy Summers bothered to launch a sequel in the first place is beyond me, especially since Super Dead has the highest amount of backers and Pirate Queen earned the most money from all her campaigns. She should have just left Wart the Wizard as the curious oddity that got her foot in the door of Comicsgate and continued with those more successful properties.

GOOD IN-DEMAND - Tribulation Taskforce 1-3, Seeing Red: The Girl That Kissed Death #1

There's not really much to tell with the above campaigns except they both earned between $1545-$2188 from 47 and 48 backers respectively. I think the Tribulation Taskforce guy was called out by Micah Curtis over their characters being similar until Renfamous just laughed at them both, but I could be wrong.

A-OK - The Ace Vol 1, Thrilling Comics #1, Hybrids: The Killing Fields, Malevolent Rising #4

Again there's nothing really notable about the above books except for Warcampaign apologist Edwin Acevedo trying to sneak his way back into Comicsgate with "The Ace Volume 1" and Chuck Dixon and Sweetcast's collaboration on Thrilling Comics #1 which had previously failed to fund.

UNFUNDED - The Abductables 2, Automartyr #1, EVERMATTER: Conscript, Everlasting Survivors #1, The Tome of Reckoning, RAPTOR: The Preamble, Chateau Obsidian #3, Melvin #1, Albatross Junction Vol 1, Cross Comics Coloring Book, Kinetic, Pillowman and Blanket Boy 2nd Chance.

The only campaigns that stand a chance of being funded are The Abductables 2 (72% funded) and Automartyr #1 (86% funded) each with over two weeks remaining on their campaigns. The Abductables 2 is an interesting case as it features art from Ibai Canales (Iron Sights 1 &2) and the creator Michael Derrick was a staunch Warcampaign creator who appears to have come crawling back to Comicsgate. His last two projects The Abductables and Grayskale both funded, probably due to promotion on Warcampaigns streams but this latest campaign is struggling to find traction.

FAILED - The Current Plane Comic #1

Never heard of the guy or this campaign, not surprised it failed. Judging from the results of the unfunded category above, at least soon he'll be having company.

TLDR

​

Currently from 34 campaigns launched in CG2021 we have:

• 19/34 funded and continuing to fund (55%)
• 2/34 funded and in-demand (5.9%)
• 12/34 funding but remain unfunded (35.3%) with 10 of the 34 at serious risk of failing to fund (29.4%)
• 1/34 failing to fund (2.9%) which could be as high as 11 of 34 (32.3%) in several weeks.

Adding fuel to the fire is @Mister Dongs recent revelation that according to Jon Malin's latest Comicsgate Presents: Sign Up Edition stream there are a further 15 Comicsgate projects launching in the near future. One of the projects was Star Circuit which launched shortly after the stream.

This means within a few days/weeks there could be a further 14 entries on the CreatorGo website bringing the total Comicsgate books launched in the first two months of CG2021 to 48. This figure could also be incorrect as Comicsgate creators are required to register with the site and there could be more creators out there planning to launch without knowing the resource exists. Mid-tier creators like Mandy Summers and Vinnie Tartamella are definitely feeling the current squeeze, while the smaller creators are getting absolutely crushed under their own weight.

Even good looking first timer's like BONDS: The Drive, Shotgun Samurai and Automartyr #1 aren't performing as well as they should and others with a history of fulfillment like Michael Derrick are struggling to get funded. I would like to see the CG landscape in two months once all these campaigns have ended in-demand, if this glut will be followed by a vacuum of CG books. A wise creator following these trends must realize that obviously by postponing their launch by a few months would probably pay off in the long run, especially as big ticket books like Bladedevil, Cash Grab, Rekt Planet and Graveyard Shift 3 begin to start fulfillment.

Source: https://creatorgo.com/cg/2021/

 

[NasserRabadi13]

On there, you don’t even need to be good at YT as long as your book is, y’know, good. It’s just utterly insane to me that you have so many people acting like being a good YT personality is the only way to sell comics if you’re a smaller creator when there’s literally an alternative with so much more money overall flying around to smaller creators, that people in CG pretty much universally don’t use because of one mistake a now-fired person made like four years ago.

A few people have said Kickstarter will just "find you customers" but I don't know how accurate that is, since there's plenty of comics--and GOOD comics that are launched there that fail. I think Antonio Brice launched BRAND on KS but I could be mistaken, but didn't his initial launch have like $95 in backers? And that campaign had incredible art.

The problem is no one is building an audience, they're fighting for a share of a dwindling audience. Most streams are about CG drama or are filled with cliquey, self-referential jokes that don't do anything to draw anybody in. Most people in CG seem to think EVS invented indie comics, so it's not like you're going to pick-up people interested in discussing comics in general, worse the shilling makes streams look like a shopping channel presentation...and one for 'off brand' products at best.

I don't think the audience is dwindling, especially when the CG crowdfunding numbers have gone up every single year. It's growing.

"no one is building an audience" and that's true for most of them. What these people need to do is talk about different things to bring in new people. That's why I'm beginning to do true crime videos (and thanks everyone for the feedback, I'm not gonna do the reading reddit theories thing anymore, I'll just do a video discussing it all myself like most true crime youtubers do).

Ethan does Star Wars, that brings in so many new people who will buy his type of comics--anyone who likes Star Wars will like Cyberfrog. That's what people need to do: "I like x, so I'll talk about x, because people who like x would like my book."

considering Nasser whimpered and cried for a measly 5 - 10k cut

if it's measly then you pay it. My paypal is NasserRabadi13@yahoo.com or you can send the check to: PO box 855 Oak Lawn, IL 60454

EDIT: TYPO

 

[5t3n0g0ph3r]

I forgot to mention this yesterday, but Richard Meyer is FINALLY fulfilling The Expendables: Go to Hell (well, a perk from the campaign):


Now, it would be great if he can ship the books.

 

[Newman's Own]

Frog and the larger CG creators don't really need it because of the sheer size of customers who follow them to Indiegogo

I agree that they don't need KickStarter to get funded but it's free money sitting on the table. What is there to lose if Malin runs a new Graveyard X-Men campaign selling a reprint of the first book with a cover done from repurposed artwork? The worst he could do is make a few thousand dollars or discover he doesn't have an audience there. If Tim Lim's Trump friendly books can shine on KickStarter what's to stop Malin or Fraga from picking up a few thousand bucks (maybe even tens of thousands) selling work they've already done?

I fail to see the downside. Is it perception because KS screwed Meyer a hundred years ago? The number of times CG faithful have flipped their opinions (sometimes their very perception of reality) when instructed too makes me think retconing KickStarter as a viable CG platform would be no big deal.

 

[FROG]

Who is pushing to abandon IGG? What's to lose by listing on both?

I'm not sure, and I'm also not sure of what there is to gain. There hasn't yet been proof that there are TWO distinct customer bases that don't travel between the two websites. It looks more like splitting your audience to me.

Considering that crowdfunding is something that happens with self promotion and word of mouth, It seems like a singular platform is simplified and less redundant.

"Here's my project. Do I have your attention? Then go here...OR go HERE" seems like another opportunity to confuse a backer and lose a sale.

 

[SaidNoOneEver]

I'm not sure, and I'm also not sure of what there is to gain. There hasn't yet been proof that there are TWO distinct customer bases that don't travel between the two websites. It looks more like splitting your audience to me.

Considering that crowdfunding is something that happens with self promotion and word of mouth, It seems like a singular platform is simplified and less redundant.

"Here's my project. Do I have your attention? Then go here...OR go HERE" seems like another opportunity to confuse a backer and lose a sale.

Why open a Patreon for monthly subs when people can sub to your YT channel? Isn't that splitting your audience?

I suppose creators could offer different exclusive perks for IGG and KS but that would really be a dick move, right?

 

[NasserRabadi13]

I'm not sure, and I'm also not sure of what there is to gain. There hasn't yet been proof that there are TWO distinct customer bases that don't travel between the two websites. It looks more like splitting your audience to me.

Considering that crowdfunding is something that happens with self promotion and word of mouth, It seems like a singular platform is simplified and less redundant.

"Here's my project. Do I have your attention? Then go here...OR go HERE" seems like another opportunity to confuse a backer and lose a sale.

Agreed. Everyone makes it seem like you'll just put your project on KS and gain 5,000 brand new customers with no effort at all.

I don't think it works that way. If some backs your campaign, nine out of eight times it's because they heard you yourself mention it. It's rare for someone to just stumble across it and back it that way.

 

[FROG]

Why open a Patreon for monthly subs when people can sub to your YT channel? Isn't that splitting your audience?

I suppose people could offer different exclusive perks for IGG and KS but that would really be a dick move, right?

Because I'm asking superfans for $10 per month rather than $5 per month, for a different bonus gift at either place. I'm not under the illusion that there are different customers on Patreon from the ones on my YT channel.

It would make perfect sense to do what Doug did, and offer different perks on KS and IGG, with his leatherbound IGG exclusive volume. But that's not what's being suggested here, is it?

 

[COMMI3 MARK]

I agree with @Crescent Fresh that a lot of these smaller creators probably should be using Kickstarter to access a wider pool of potential customers for a better chance of their books getting funded. Frog and the larger CG creators don't really need it because of the sheer size of customers who follow them to Indiegogo, but I must admit I'm curious to see how well Cyberfrog: Bloodhoney and Rekt Planet would do on Kickstarter given the results from Doug TenNapel and Tim Lim.

Kickstarter is clearly a much larger and more famous platform than IndieGoGo.

Maybe its because of the way the algorithm and the blockchains funnelled me into the "right wing" Twitter bubble but I almost never see any promotion of Kickstarter comics. Well other than the times we've been baited into talking about and reacting to Keanu Reeves and that Power Rangers collection.

I will 100% be putting KRISHNA KID on KS after IndieGoGo. I think it'd be foolish not to. I suspect thats where all the chakra tattooed, "peace and love", rainbow haired types buy their comics, right? So it's on brand for this project. The response from creators and show hosts in the back rooms when I've floated this idea have mostly been like: "Do it. Nobody is gonna flip out over it, don't leave any money on the table. Just don't expect anyone to help you promote it."

1.2bn Hindi newsprint versions? Maybe. One day.​

It seems that projects over on KS live or die without promotion so I don't see any harm in planting a seed over there and just seeing what happens. Especially if all the book is already funded and I have the complete printer files ready and waiting to go. It's easy for us to get caught up in the "oh this book made $XX on its campaign" and lose sight of the real prize of crowdfunding: having been paid to create the master file you can chop up and reprint into eternity and sell like any other regular book. Write a classic hit like some Alan Moore level shit and sell them on Amazon and even Comixology or an alternative (if the boomer wing gets over its phobia of pdfs). If I could sell 3 comics a day every day I'd be able to retire. In poverty sure. But that'd fund my brand of "Socialism in one House."

OUR House

GOOD - Thomas Valiant, SeaDog and Codename Killswitch 2, Shadow of the Kraken, BONDS: The Drive, Star Circuit, X-Farce Reloaded, NOT DAREDEVIL UNIVERSE, The Rabbi From Another Planet, Wart the Wizard 2, Shotgun Samurai

Thomas Valiant leads the pack on $14,436 from 237 backers but is still 11K away from moving up into the Great category. We can see some familiar faces among these creators including:

• Kiwifarms own @COMMI3 MARK with NOT DAREDEVIL UNIVERSE which is doing reasonably well compared to his previous crowdfunded campaign and stands a good chance of beating it in both backers and funds.​

I launched Best Korea a little later in the year on February 29th to be precise - a feat I won't able to replicate till 2024 (sequel maybe?) and it made less in the sixty days than NOT Daredevil did in the first six weeks. While Best Korea picked up nearly 200 backers this time we are yet to break 100. This is most down to my incompetence and inefficiency on Best Korea which didn't utilise add-ons and each variant was its own thing. Which inflates the backer count obv. This is reflected in the massively increased average spend per backer.

Some people are losing their calm heads as they see the landscape moving under their feet. This happens all the time, the deck is constantly being shuffled. The key is to get closer to the front of the pack each time. Where people see gloom and doom and stress all I see is opportunity.

Also my channel was monetized last night so i look forward to getting paid $2 a time to karate chop @TESTEFY-HD's attempted super chat shit stirring out of the air.

 

[FROG]

Kickstarter is clearly a much larger and more famous platform than IndieGoGo.

Maybe its because of the way the algorithm and the blockchains funnelled me into the "right wing" Twitter bubble but I almost never see any promotion of Kickstarter comics. Well other than the times we've been baited into talking about and reacting to Keanu Reeves and that Power Rangers collection.

View attachment 1929805


I will 100% be putting KRISHNA KID on KS after IndieGoGo. I think it'd be foolish not to. I suspect thats where all the chakra tattooed, "peace and love", rainbow haired types buy their comics, right? So it's on brand for this project. The response from creators and show hosts in the back rooms when I've floated this idea have mostly been like: "Do it. Nobody is gonna flip out over it, don't leave any money on the table. Just don't expect anyone to help you promote it."

View attachment 1929795

1.2bn Hindi newsprint versions? Maybe. One day.​

It seems that projects over on KS live or die without promotion so I don't see any harm in planting a seed over there and just seeing what happens. Especially if all the book is already funded and I have the complete printer files ready and waiting to go. It's easy for us to get caught up in the "oh this book made $XX on its campaign" and lose sight of the real prize of crowdfunding: having been paid to create the master file you can chop up and reprint into eternity and sell like any other regular book. Write a classic hit like some Alan Moore level shit and sell them on Amazon and even Comixology or an alternative (if the boomer wing gets over its phobia of pdfs). If I could sell 3 comics a day every day I'd be able to retire. In poverty sure. But that'd fund my brand of "Socialism in one House."

OUR House

View attachment 1929835




I launched Best Korea a little later in the year on February 29th to be precise - a feat I won't able to replicate till 2024 (sequel maybe?) and it made less in the sixty days than NOT Daredevil did in the first six weeks. While Best Korea picked up nearly 200 backers this time we are yet to break 100. This is most down to my incompetence and inefficiency on Best Korea which didn't utilise add-ons and each variant was its own thing. Which inflates the backer count obv. This is reflected in the massively increased average spend per backer.

Some people are losing their calm heads as they see the landscape moving under their feet. This happens all the time, the deck is constantly being shuffled. The key is to get closer to the front of the pack each time. Where people see gloom and doom and stress all I see is opportunity.

Also my channel was monetized last night so i look forward to getting paid $2 a time to karate chop @TESTEFY-HD's attempted super chat shit stirring out of the air.

View attachment 1929877

Great attitude.

Winning at this is simple, but not everyone can do it. Create a fun atmosphere on YouTube, treat your customers like they’re vital and they matter, create a business that feels like family, and keep your customers connected to your IP always.

i recommend you build a franchise and stick to it, instead of offering different concepts each time.

As for Kickstarter, your customers will go where you link them. It doesn’t matter which platform you use. I’ll be watching your next project!

 

[NasserRabadi13]

i recommend you build a franchise and stick to it, instead of offering different concepts each time.

I have so many different ideas, and I'm not sure which one should be the main franchise.

However, I think it will end up being my and Kojiro's book, Cassandra the Twilight Witch. Book one: The Shadow of the Gargoyle.

Years ago Cassandra banished an ancient witch to hell. Now she's coming back.

Pages begin this month.

 

[Newman's Own]

There hasn't yet been proof that there are TWO distinct customer bases that don't travel between the two websites.

There hasn't yet been proof that ivermectin saves lives but doctors who aren't afraid of their shadows keep prescribing it and studies keep showing it works.

Why open a Patreon for monthly subs when people can sub to your YT channel? Isn't that splitting your audience?

Why open a Patreon and a SubscribeStar? Because some people boycott Patreon and some people aren't comfortable moving to SubscribeStar.

If you don't open both you're failing to monetize a portion of your audience.

It seems that projects over on KS live or die without promotion so I don't see any harm in planting a seed over there and just seeing what happens.

Exactly. It's low to no risk with potentially high reward.

It's easy for us to get caught up in the "oh this book made $XX on its campaign" and lose sight of the real prize of crowdfunding: having been paid to create the master file you can chop up and reprint into eternity and sell like any other regular book.

Ethan seems to understand monetizing everything he's doing. It's strange that he wouldn't at least encourage people to give KickStarter a try if he isn't willing to take advantage of them himself.

Ivermectin isn't going to kill a Covid patient but it might just save their life.

 

[SaidNoOneEver]

It would make perfect sense to do what Doug did, and offer different perks on KS and IGG, with his leatherbound IGG exclusive volume. But that's not what's being suggested here, is it?

I'm not familiar with what Doug did but I'm one of those suggesting offering your product on as many venues as possible. I don't know how that would split the customer base, it would only expand it IMO.

Ivermectin isn't going to kill a Covid patient but it might just save their life.

Or turn them into a horse.

P.S. I bought a 3-pack from Amazon just in case anyway

 

[NasserRabadi13]

don't know how that would split the customer base, it would only expand it IMO.

The ranking, for one.

Most people choose to sell ebooks on Kindle and only Kindle because if people have to go to one place, it boosts your ranking.

Likewise with trending on Indiegogo. If people are gonna skip the IGG because they know the KS is gonna come soon, then your traction goes down. It's also harder to determine stretch goals--say you have a goal in mind for a certain dollar amount, are you just gonna hold off on production to see if the alternative platform gets you to the cumulative total you need?

 

[FROG]

I'm not familiar with what Doug did but I'm one of those suggesting offering your product on as many venues as possible. I don't know how that would split the customer base, it would only expand it IMO.

Doug did EWJ 2 on Kickstarter, and then offered it on IGG with an optional exclusive leatherbound version of the first book. Combined, both campaigns made about $500K, which is less than the $800K he made on the first EWJ on IGG alone.

IMO, people don't "shop" crowdfunders. They have to be lead to specific campaigns, either through self promotion or word of mouth. So putting the campaign everywhere rather than in one location is more likely to cause confusion. There has been no comic book to disprove this. The closest is Tim Lim's KAMEN AMERICA, which funds on KS, and then moves to IGG, and will break 6 figures for this newest campaign across both platforms. But there's no reason to believe that if Tim didn't simply launch it on IGG and leave it there In Demand, he'd get the same result.

 

[Smug Freiza]

I will 100% be putting KRISHNA KID on KS after IndieGoGo. I think it'd be foolish not to. I suspect thats where all the chakra tattooed, "peace and love", rainbow haired types buy their comics, right? So it's on brand for this project. The response from creators and show hosts in the back rooms when I've floated this idea have mostly been like: "Do it. Nobody is gonna flip out over it, don't leave any money on the table. Just don't expect anyone to help you promote it."

View attachment 1929795

1.2bn Hindi newsprint versions? Maybe. One day.​

I'm not a fan of Best Korea meme books or public domain heroes that nobody remembers, but that Krishna Kid book does look interesting and I've checked out the sign up page previously. When it launches I'll be sure to add it to the CG News Update I do every so often, so far I've netted around 14 referrals and I only ever post links here. The artwork and coloring looks professional grade and the concept seems unique and interesting.

Care to give the thread a quick pitch? A synopsis, page count, estimated price and launch date?

 

[Crescent Fresh]

Doug did EWJ 2 on Kickstarter, and then offered it on IGG with an optional exclusive leatherbound version of the first book. Combined, both campaigns made about $500K, which is less than the $800K he made on the first EWJ on IGG alone.

IMO, people don't "shop" crowdfunders. They have to be lead to specific campaigns, either through self promotion or word of mouth. So putting the campaign everywhere rather than in one location is more likely to cause confusion. There has been no comic book to disprove this. The closest is Tim Lim's KAMEN AMERICA, which funds on KS, and then moves to IGG, and will break 6 figures for this newest campaign across both platforms. But there's no reason to believe that if Tim didn't simply launch it on IGG and leave it there In Demand, he'd get the same result.

People absolutely don’t shop IGG crowdfunders, because IGG’s setup makes a horrible shop. KS, on the other hand, is set up far closer to an actual shopping experience, with curation and chronological listings and such.

Doing what he’s doing now, Tim would absolutely never get similar results if his next campaign stuck to IGG. While the audience “shopping KS” isn’t enough to fully replace people getting it from elsewhere (I believe the general number I’ve heard from KS themselves somewhere was that an average 1/3rd of backers find it from KS alone), that number can only build when you consider he could then be growing his audience by a third with every new campaign, which appears to be exactly what he’s doing. Suddenly shifting to IGG alone would only serve to cripple his sales... which, I mean, would only be a net positive thing for you, so I totally get why you’d want that.

Similarly, of course Doug’s second book did worse than his first, wasn’t that after you and him broke up? Your YT machine is absolutely a boon to the big names that can actually get on your show, I’m absolutely not disputing that. However, you’re just one man that can’t carry the weight of like 40 smaller campaigns alongside the 10 or so big names that you’d actually want to promote.

I’m basically just advocating to drop the exact stigma that @COMMI3 MARK just pointed out, where since he’s trying out KS, most names in CG won’t promote him at all due to, again, a bad decision that a now-fired person made four years ago. I’m not championing a mass exodus from IGG or some bullshit like that, I’m just saying that it’s a better platform for smaller creators and that there’s absolutely no need for it to be as taboo as it apparently is right now.

 

[Mister Dongs]

The problem is no one is building an audience, they're fighting for a share of a dwindling audience. Most streams are about CG drama or are filled with cliquey, self-referential jokes that don't do anything to draw anybody in.

Early on in Comicsgate, when people decided to be creators since the previous tactic of boycotting the mainstream failed, there were two competing approaches as people were figuring out how to get comics funded. One was to attract as many crowdfunding customers as possible and the other was cultivating as large a following as possible and then directing them to the crowdfund platform of choice. Frog (along with many others both in and out of comics) chose the latter and one can't argue with success. There was also a lingering drive from the people around during the beginning to carry on some kind of boycott of some form, in this case against Kickstarter for taking down Zack and Mike S Miller's campaigns. Comicsgate business philosophy is a composite of these three different approaches mashed together haphazardly into an often incoherent dogma.

A good example would be on Frog's Gina Carano firing stream and the chat calling on him to abandon Twitter and Youtube, stop being a cuck and get on Gab and D-Live with Frog plaintively trying to explain that kneecapping his business by restricting himself to alternative channels doesn't actually own the SJWs. Rather the opposite in fact. But if you aren't building a platform to direct people to your product like he is and are instead trying to drawing potential customers to what you're offering, restricting oneself to IndieGogo amounts to the same thing.

Another example of contradiction is the practice of setting the target goal to something like $500 to try and game the IndieGoGo algorithm, which makes no sense if you're relying on your followers to fund your campaigns and comes with the risk of potentially having to fulfill a campaign at a loss, as Matt Wenger (Dragoon Knight Aldrake) and Richard Meyer (Rock N Roll Ninja) most famously discovered. This practice looks to be dying out fastest among the veteran small-scale creators like Michael Derrick, who more than anyone should be aware of the reality of holding the bag for an improperly budgeted loss leader of a campaign.

However a lot of the current crop of debuting CG creators appear to be adopting neither approach, where they aren't building a following to direct at their projects or putting their product where the most browsing customers will notice them.

 

[COMMI3 MARK]

Winning at this is simple, but not everyone can do it. Create a fun atmosphere on YouTube, treat your customers like they’re vital and they matter, create a business that feels like family, and keep your customers connected to your IP always.

If youre not having fun while living the dream youre doing it wrong.

i recommend you build a franchise and stick to it, instead of offering different concepts each time.

I agree. If YBZ can't pull off multiple titles a year with his platform then I don't stand a chance. Not yet anyway. I've got the next four years of Krishna Kid lined up in my mind, providing this one does well enough. I think it has that iconic look of a main character that can carry a big franchise. I'm hopeful this is the one that will see me "go pro".

One of the things I spoke about a lot during the Best Korea promotion was "writing the legend of Commi3 Mark" in real time. In the future when people ask me "how did you get started in comic books?" I can tell them I made a meme book in paint that I printed off my printer and sold on the internet. There is no starting point lower than that.

Offering different concepts each time is what earned me my reputation as an interesting and fun avante garde creator with a history of delivering both entertaining meta campaigns and actual physical books to peoples door steps. I think had i opened with Krishna Kid, or something like it, it would have only made Best Korea level money. Instead I've built a little audience of ^devout^ followers and a wider audience of people waiting for me to do something like this.

I'm not a fan of Best Korea meme books or public domain heroes that nobody remembers,

...but that Krishna Kid book does look interesting and I've checked out the sign up page previously. When it launches I'll be sure to add it to the CG News Update I do every so often, so far I've netted around 14 referrals and I only ever post links here. The artwork and coloring looks professional grade and the concept seems unique and interesting.

Care to give the thread a quick pitch? A synopsis, page count, estimated price and launch date?

Krishna Kid is basically an adaptation of already epic ancient Hindu texts (the Bhagvad Purana and Srimad Bhagavatam). For people who dont know much about Hinduism - Krishna is the 8th Avatar of the supreme being Vishnu (the ultimate top king of the gods) on the earth in human form. Like Jesus. You know, god on earth in a human body. But it ain't preachy Krishna is more like a Loki in personality than a JC. He's not the messiah, hes a very naughty boy.

The other gods have lost track of the magic baby and the race is on to find him before the evil King Kamsa and his hordes of demons do. Kamsa is kinda like King Herod - it was prophesised Krishna would kill Kamsa so hes obsessed with trying to kill him first and sends "a monster of the week" after him.

Spoiler: Vs the Bull Demon

All the while this is going on Brahma - the god of creation - temporarily in charge while Vishnu is asleep/on earth grows in pride and jealousy and makes a move on the throne setting up an epic final battle for the fate of the universe. The Complete Eye of Brahma saga will be a perfect bound 60 pages and the way ive written it it can also be broken down into three 20 page floppies or even six 10 page chunks for a shonen jump anthology type thing or w/e.

I'm aiming to launch in the summer. The tighter NDD is delivered the sooner KK will come. Both of my books for far have been priced well below the CG average at around 10 or 12 dollars depending on currency exchanges. (If i'd have charged the CG standard Best Korea would have been a 10k campaign and NDD would be pushing those numbers too) This book will be twice the size and three times as good as any of those. AND i have to pay an artist this time. So i'm going with the standard $25. And this time I don't feel rude asking for that much. It'll be worth that much.