The mission of The Comics Crowd is to curate the crowdfunding campaigns in the Kickstarter Comics category in order to identify and spotlight those projects most likely to yield actual comics and to yield the most high quality comics in terms of story, design, and cover/interior artwork.
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Last Ride of the 4 Horsemen is the tale of Cager Dobbin, a local hired gun, and his battle to survive and destroy the monstrous, Apocalyptic Horsemen who emerge, one by one from nowhere, to obliterate his town of Promise.
But why did the Horsemen target his town? Why did they hunt him and his circle to near annihilation? What unseen master unleashes them on the world? And what arcane power do they wield so destructively?
Over the 264 pages of story in these three volumes of Last Ride of the 4 Horsemen, Cager embarks on a quest to answer those harrowing questions and, in so doing, must overcome his old frenemy Wilbur Fairless - in many lethal forms - on his mission of vengeance against the celestial forces that ignited the Steampunk Apocalypse.
Seven comics campaigns launched on Kickstarter yesterday, August 17, plus two more submissions that turned out not to be sequential comics at all (see The View from the Gutter, below).
Across the seven comics: $5,139 raised from 156 backers, an average pledge of $32.94.
Not one of the seven reached its goal on day one — the closest was THE MATRON at 51.1% funded.
Two of the seven creators are based outside the U.S. (Australia, Italy).
Two of the seven are NSFW.
The day's biggest single-campaign draw for backers was Sexy Spies, & Rock 'n Roll, which pulled 63 backers on its own — more than the other six campaigns combined.
IPI Comics (Brisbane, Australia) · Folk horror / slasher
Folk horror set anywhere other than New England or the Pacific Northwest is rare enough to notice on its own, and IPI Comics uses its setting well — Smrtholka, the death-woman of Slavic winter myth, tearing through a changing Central Texas town gives the slasher throughline a mythological weight most axe-wielding icons don’t bother with. This is also the third time IPI has crowdfunded this story (a solo Volume 1 campaign, then a Volumes 1–2 bundle, now this complete 1–3 omnibus), and the fact that backers keep showing up for each pass says something about how the earlier chapters landed. Worth a look for horror readers tired of the usual American gothic backdrop.
$1,451 raised / 34 backers / 51.1% funded
Frank Martin (New York, NY) · Sci-fi adventure
Frank Martin has quietly built a National Geographic-flavored adventure series one arc at a time — Antarctic ice caves in Glacial Depths, Bornean jungle caves in Equator’s End, and now an African volcano in the double-sized finale, Scorched Earth. With dozens of prior Kickstarters to his name, Martin is about as known a quantity as this platform has for comics, and bundling the complete six-issue run into one pledge makes this a clean entry point for anyone who missed the earlier arcs the first time around.
$1,162 raised / 41 backers / 46.5% funded
The day split cleanly along experience lines. IPI Comics and Frank Martin — both multi-campaign veterans — landed the two best-funded books of the day at 51.1% and 46.5% respectively. The other five campaigns, all from creators with one, two, or effectively zero prior Kickstarters behind them, filled out the bottom of the table between 24.9% and 1.5% funded. Debut and small-scale creators aren’t doing anything wrong by launching thin — every campaign starts somewhere — but yesterday’s numbers were a clean before-and-after of what a built-in backer list does for day-one momentum.
On the question of foreign versus domestic funding: yesterday’s data actually runs against the assumption that international campaigns start slower. IPI Comics (Brisbane, Australia) posted the day’s best percentage-funded at 51.1%, and Andrea Artusi (Venice, Italy) at 26.5% outfunded three of the five U.S.-based comics. Both of the day’s lowest performers — Ash and Amber and Help! The World is Ending but I Can Only Talk to Plants — were domestic debuts. That’s a sample of seven, not a trend line, and international creators often arrive with tighter goals or an existing following built elsewhere, so we’re not calling this a pattern yet — but it’s worth tracking across more days before assuming geography predicts funding.
Sexy Spies, & Rock ‘n Roll drew more backers on day one than the rest of the slate combined (63 of 156 total), yet sits at just 24.9% funded — a reminder that a built-in audience for an established franchise doesn’t guarantee a fast funded badge once the ask scales up with it. Its $7,777 goal is more than three times the size of anything else in yesterday’s slate.
No campaign in yesterday’s slate hit funding-in-60-seconds or $0/0-backer territory — a comparatively quiet day for outliers.
Non-NSFW Rankings
1 — THE MATRON Volumes 1, 2 & 3 (Comics I Like) — IPI Comics — $1,451 — 34 backers — Goal $2,840 — 51.1% funded — Avg pledge $42.68 — Horror/Slasher — Active
2 — The Polar Paradox 1-6 (Comics I Like) — Frank Martin — $1,162 — 41 backers — Goal $2,500 — 46.5% funded — Avg pledge $28.34 — Sci-Fi Adventure — Active
3 — Ash and Amber Series #1 — Jeffrey Snow / Snowstorm Comics — $166 — 8 backers — Goal $1,000 — 16.6% funded — Avg pledge $20.75 — Urban Fantasy — Active
4 — HAZMATALOTL: Attempt Two — Louden Benson — $77 — 2 backers — Goal $1,500 — 5.1% funded — Avg pledge $38.50 — Post-Apocalyptic Comedy — Active
5 — Help! The World is Ending but I Can Only Talk to Plants-Vol1 — Kiley & Kai — $38 — 2 backers — Goal $2,500 — 1.5% funded — Avg pledge $19.00 — Fantasy/Manga — Active
🔞 NSFW Rankings
1 — Sexy Spies, & Rock ‘n Roll Graphic novel! NEW! Origins! — DJ West — $1,939 — 63 backers — Goal $7,777 — 24.9% funded — Avg pledge $30.78 — Erotica/Spy-Action — Active
2 — Quantum Lips — Andrea Artusi — $306 — 6 backers — Goal $1,156 — 26.5% funded — Avg pledge $51.00 — Erotica/Sci-Fi Parody — Active
PIN-UP Artbook: Cosplay Edition — 18+ — AGL Comics · $200 raised / 3 backers · 20% funded · An 18+ illustrated pin-up gallery of cosplay-inspired character art from five artists, not a sequential-art comic.
Vignettes of Debauchery: Hardcover Collection Volumes 5-10 — Entheogen Publications · $4,242 raised / 37 backers · FUNDED ✓ · A 256-page hardcover collecting adult pin-up/illustration work from four artists across volumes 5–10, not a sequential-art comic.
Creator: Jeffrey Snow (Snowstorm Comics) · Location: San Diego, CA · Genre: Urban Fantasy / Political Thriller · Goal: $1,000 · Raised: $166 · % Funded: 16.6% · Backers: 8 · Avg Pledge: $20.75 · End Date: October 16, 2026 · Pages: not stated in submitted screencap · Lowest digital/print tiers: not visible in submitted screencap · Prior campaign history: debut creator, first Kickstarter
In a near future where vampires and other supernatural beings live openly among humans, Snowstorm Comics’ debut series follows a vampire candidate’s run for governor as it threatens to upend an uneasy peace. Three leads — bound together by blood, loyalty, and secrets — navigate political intrigue, hard-hitting action, and romance as old prejudices resurface under the campaign spotlight. Creator Jeffrey Snow, running his first Kickstarter, pitches the book as part of a wider push to tell diverse stories the mainstream industry has often passed over.
Day-1 note: $166 raised from 8 backers against a lean $1,000 goal, an average pledge of $20.75 — modest day-one traction for a debut title with 59 days left to build momentum.
Cover and interior art at the Kickstarter page.
Creator: Louden Benson (Utility Knife Comics) · Location: Rio Rancho, NM · Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Absurdist Comedy · Goal: $1,500 · Raised: $77 · % Funded: 5.1% · Backers: 2 · Avg Pledge: $38.50 · End Date: September 16, 2026 · Pages: not stated in submitted screencap · Lowest digital/print tiers: not visible in submitted screencap; book is currently digital-only, and this campaign is specifically raising funds for a first print run · Prior campaign history: ⚠️ second Kickstarter for this title — see Creators with Unfulfilled Prior Campaigns below
Set after humanity’s extinction, HAZMATALOTL follows Arthur, an axolotl freshly reassigned into a world overrun by flesh blobs and bipedal amphibians, through a string of fortunate and unfortunate events. Creator Louden Benson, sole owner of Utility Knife Comics, is funding a first print run for a debut issue that has so far only existed digitally, with stretch goals earmarked for art supplies, convention booths, and marketing. The scratchy, black-and-white line art leans into the book’s scrappy, DIY horror-comedy tone.
Day-1 note: $77 raised from 2 backers against a $1,500 goal, avg pledge $38.50 — a slow reopening for a campaign explicitly titled “Attempt Two.”
Cover and interior art at the Kickstarter page.
Creator: Kiley & Kai · Location: Dallas, TX · Genre: Fantasy / Manga-Style Adventure-Comedy · Goal: $2,500 · Raised: $38 · % Funded: 1.5% · Backers: 2 · Avg Pledge: $19.00 · End Date: September 11, 2026 · Pages: not stated in submitted screencap · Lowest digital/print tiers: not visible in submitted screencap · Prior campaign history: debut creators, first Kickstarter
Forielle can talk to plants and nothing else — which is a problem when she’s told she’s one of only eight people left on a dying world with elemental power. Debut creators Kiley and Kai, a sibling studio, send Forielle out to find the other seven elemental heirs and restore the world’s fading hearts, blending fantasy, comedy, romance, and straight, gay, and lesbian pairings across an ensemble cast. The right-to-left page format and included black-and-white preview pages signal a manga-influenced visual approach from a first-time Kickstarter team.
Day-1 note: $38 raised from 2 backers against a $2,500 goal — the slowest start of the day’s slate, though the campaign was only hours old at capture and 24 days remain.
Cover and interior art at the Kickstarter page.
Creator: DJ West · Location: Asheville, NC · Genre: Erotica / Spy-Action Anthology · Goal: $7,777 · Raised: $1,939 · % Funded: 24.9% · Backers: 63 · Avg Pledge: $30.78 · End Date: September 10, 2026 · Pages: 120+ · Lowest digital/print tiers: not visible in submitted screencap · Prior campaign history: This campaign is credited to a Kickstarter account called "DJ West," which has created only three campaigns total. The same "Sex, Spies, & Rock 'n Roll" franchise, however, has been crowdfunded far more extensively — anthology volumes, catch-up bundles, a relaunch, a "Spades" spinoff, and a pinup art book — through a separate, much more prolific Kickstarter account under creator Jeff Douglas Messer. I could not confirm from available sources whether DJ West and Jeff Douglas Messer are the same person, collaborators, or a formal studio arrangement, but readers backing Origins should know they're pledging to a second account within a shared universe that has a long, separate fulfillment history under a different name. Worth watching before backing.
The Origins graphic novel continues the long-running Sex, Spies, & Rock ‘n Roll universe, tracing Jon Spade’s rock-and-roll playboy ambitions as they collide with an encroaching world of espionage. At over 120 pages, this is billed as the next chronological entry in a franchise being re-released in order from the early 1980s forward so new readers can jump in easily. The book continues the series’ signature blend of pulpy spy plotting and explicit content aimed at an adult readership. Adult content — 18+ only.
Day-1 note: $1,939 raised from 63 backers — the most backers of any campaign in yesterday’s slate — against an ambitious $7,777 goal, putting it at 24.9% funded on day one with 23 days to go.
Cover and interior art at the Kickstarter page.
Creator: Andrea Artusi · Location: Venice, Italy · Genre: Erotica / Sci-Fi Parody · Goal: $1,156 · Raised: $306 · % Funded: 26.5% · Backers: 6 · Avg Pledge: $51.00 · End Date: October 1, 2026 · Pages: not stated in submitted screencap · Lowest digital/print tiers: not visible in submitted screencap · Prior campaign history: debut Kickstarter creator (professional cartoonist/illustrator since the late 1970s, per campaign bio, with no prior Kickstarter history found)
Quantum Lips is an explicit graphic novel parody of a famous time-travel TV series, following scientist Becky Samuelson’s malfunctioning mind-transfer experiment as it turns her into the story’s “sexy time traveler.” Creator Andrea Artusi, a professional Italian cartoonist and illustrator since the late 1970s with credits at major European publishing houses, is making his Kickstarter debut with the project. The pitch leans into broad, comedic sci-fi framing around its explicit content rather than playing it straight. Adult content — 18+ only.
Day-1 note: $306 raised from 6 backers against a $1,156 goal, 26.5% funded — modest day-one traction for a debut Kickstarter from an industry veteran, with 44 days to go.
Cover and interior art at the Kickstarter page.
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