There are two comic books currently on Kickstarter that I wanted to share with you: The Wormworld Saga by Daniel Lieske and Sithrah by Jason Brubaker. Both have already funded and are going after stretch goals now, and if you love beautiful books they’re definitely worth a look.
I’ve written several times before about The Wormworld Saga, which began its life as an online-only comic. It’s about a young boy who finds a doorway into another world, and it is absolutely beautiful. Lieske managed to raise enough money in 2011 to quit his job and work on the comic full-time. Since then, he has successfully run two Kickstarter campaigns: one was to fund the development of an app for the comic, and the other was continued funding for the comic (which included lots of cool physical rewards).
The first volume of the comic has since been published as a hardcover book in German and in French, and Lieske is running another fundraising campaign to print the book in English. $10 gets you a digital copy, $25 for the hardcover, and there are all sorts of other goodies you can get. Lieske is even open to suggestions for rewards—if you want something specific, he’ll build a reward level for you!
Currently the campaign is working on a stretch goal to introduce a deluxe clothbound version of the book, as seen above. If the goal is met, you’ll be able to upgrade to the deluxe version for an additional $15.
For more information, visit the Wormworld Saga Kickstarter page.
I don’t actually know a whole lot about Sithrah other than what’s on the Kickstarter page, but I’ve read Jason Brubaker’s earlier Kickstarter-funded comic, reMIND, a two-volume set that features a girl, lizardmen, and a cat in armor, among other things. Although the plotline can be a bit twisty, it’s beautifully illustrated, and the cloth-bound hardcovers are a real treat.
Sithrah is Brubaker’s next project. Like reMIND, it started as an online comic (you can read it from the beginning here) and now Brubaker is raising funds to publish it in hardcover format. The description from the Kickstarter page says:
SITHRAH is an all-age sci-fi about a seven year old girl who ends up alone when her plane crashes in a unfamiliar land. Trying to locate her missing father, she starts seeing an invisible creature that has been following her.
The campaign has already unlocked the stretch goal for cloth-bound hardcovers like his earlier books, and is closing in on an audio book and stickers for everyone, along with some other things.
Lieske and Brubaker happened to launch their first campaigns at the same time and got to know each other then. This time, without planning it, they both launched concurrent campaigns again, so they’ve had some cross-promotion and it’s been fun to see the two of them working together to promote each other.
Since both books have already hit the funding goal, at this point it’s just a matter of hitting additional stretch goals. If you’re happy reading on-screen, you can check out The Wormworld Saga and Sithrah. If, like me, you just like the feel of a nice hardcover, then consider backing these projects.
Awesome artwork!