Crowdfunding Is Creating A Bonanza For Comic Art Fans

Though comics is a visual medium, the artwork is usually in service of the story. Fans who want to appreciate the creativity, imagination and technique of the industry’s best artists purely as artwork generally have to wait for rare gallery exhibitions, wait in line for pricey commissions, or hope for a publishers to produce a volume that meets expectations for quality and content – typically done on short print runs at high prices.

Today crowdfunding is changing the landscape. Kickstarter and similar platforms are giving creators a direct way to finance the publication of beautiful deluxe editions under the complete control of the artist (sometimes in partnership with quality-oriented small presses), while forging closer connections with their biggest fans. This month, several campaigns are teed up for artists who are well-known within the comics world but might not otherwise get this kind of treatment from the mainstream publishing world: Arthur Adams, David Mack, Alex Maleev, and Jorge “Zurdo” Molina.

Adams, who has been dazzling comic art connoisseurs since the mid-1980s with his intricately detailed linework and rich compositions, is Kickstarting a 180-page retrospective edition featuring full color and black-and-white reproductions of both published and unpublished work. The Art of Arthur Adams is produced by Flesk Publishing, an established fantasy art book press known for the annual Spectrum collections of the years’ top illustration work.

“Kickstarter offers the opportunity to create and do what we love, while connecting and giving back to our supporters in a personal way,” said publisher John Fleskes in a note on the site. “It is also gratifying to have the opportunity to continually add value to the project through stretch goals. I’ve never felt that we are making products. Instead, we are making unique art books and prints. This is done with great care to best allow us to showcase Arthur’s art in a way that we can be proud of.”

Mack and Maleev, who are both known to comics fans for their distinctive, painted work on titles like Marvel’s Daredevil written by best-selling author Brian Michael Bendis, will also be launching publisher-backed Kickstarters this month for deluxe collections of their work. These are being produced by Clover Press, a San Diego-based small press focused on work with high artistic and literary quality, as part of their newly announced The Marvel Art Of… series, licensed from Marvel Entertainment.

Mack’s Marvel work includes Jessica Jones, which was adapted as a Netflix
NFLX
series last decade, and production work with Marvel Studios. Early in his career, he launched the independent title Kabuki, which evolved into a showcase for his increasingly experimental art and storytelling.

“The Beehive Books Illuminated Edition of Pinocchio with illustration Mike Mignola book was a great success and inspiration,” said Mack. “The crowdfunding approach actively engages fans and supporters and gives them specific choices from what they want with the book, including original signature, original drawings, limited portfolios, and exclusive cover or dust jacket, and even original art to be a part of this process.”

Maleev’s Marvel work includes long stints on Moon Knight and Spider-Woman in addition to Daredevil. The Bulgarian-born artist is a fan favorite for his moody, evocative watercolor style that transcends typical expectations of superhero comics artwork.

Finally, Molina is an illustrator, designer and concept artist who has worked in comics, entertainment, and the video game industry. Though his attractive work for DC, Marvel and other publishers is well regarded, he is exactly the kind of cult favorite artist who can thrive by connecting directly with fans. The campaign for his forthcoming book Zurdo: The Art of Jorge Molina, just launched on the Zoop platform.

In all these cases, crowdfunding solves a couple of important business problems. Printing art books is expensive, especially the kind of deluxe editions designed to pry open the wallets of dedicated fans. Big specialty publishers like Taschen or Abrams may not want to roll the dice on anyone but the biggest names most familiar to general buyers. Meanwhile the smaller presses like Clover and Flesk can’t afford to guess wrong, even on short print runs. Crowdfunding puts the financial decision (and risk) in the hands of fans, and also helps artists cement a more intimate relationship with their biggest supporters. The inclusion of higher-tier rewards including limited prints, autographed and remarqued editions, and even original art can also bring in significantly more revenue that the books alone.

This current crop is not the first group of artists to take advantage of this platform, but the fact that we have four highly regarded professionals all undertaking campaigns this month is an indicator that the market – and this particular model – is becoming fully mainstream.