Welcome back to another installment of Indie Comics Showcase, the weekly blog where we signal boost a few truly independent comics that are currently crowdfunding their projects, crowdsourcing their funding in some way, or just completely self-publishing on their own. Every little bit of support for these creators matters, from a single dollar pledge to the twenty-five dollar bundle, and of course the higher tiers are usually fun too! Even if you can’t back a campaign or buy a book, you can share or tweet about these projects to your friends and followers.
On Indie Comics Showcase, we interview the creators, show off some art, and tell you how you can check out the product for yourself. Below we have some outstanding crowdfunding campaigns this week for you to learn about, enjoy, and hopefully support by backing one or more of them! Thanks for checking these out and for being the best part of Indie Comics Showcase. Let’s jump in!
Jetta Raye Adventures
by Jim Tournas
The adventures of teenage space girl Jetta Raye, and her friends in the 22nd Century. Featuring two exclusive covers by Joe Sinnott!
Chris Braly: Tell our readers your ‘elevator pitch’ for Jetta Raye. Briefly tell our readers what it’s about and give us some background on it.
Jim Tournas: Jetta, and her teen friends, are from the 22nd century. The live in Neutron city and attend Neutron High. Their adventures take them around the Galaxy to many alien words and people.
The Brainchild of Ned Pines, a local guy to me, and Dan DeCarlo, as an answer to the popular Archie comics. They produced three issues in starting in 1952 that were actually numbered five, six and seven intentionally, to see if they could sell it as an ongoing series that kids missed. It did not sell well at the time, and Ned went on to other things.
Having read Jetta in my youth it was not hard for Rich Maurizio put the bug in my ear about an all new stories edition of Jetta years ago and had also himself put out a book on the history as well as a few other people. We then forgot about it until a little over a year ago when Rich, Jeff Shultz, Ken Wheaton and I got together at a convention and it was on. From there we recruited a team to create all new stories from the talented People.
CB: The artwork reminds me of Harry Lucey’s classic Archie work. Is this inspired by that era or comic series?
JT: That is funny, The Kennedy brothers did such an amazing job with their retro futuristic style, that is a fair statement as a couple of the artists mentioned the similarity. All the artists brought something stylistic to the table. The artwork across the board was just so amazing. I loved inking stories in this.
CB: Tell us about any previous comic work you’ve done and how you’ve brought your experience to this project and it all you came together.
JT: I had inked a six book mini series, Full Moon Craze, for Masterpiece comics. Inked Lettered and produced “Shylock” #3 by Mike Williams. Inked a slew pin-ups and covers for indy books, and many pages as ghost inker for guys, to help keep timely on other books. I did inks on a couple of Archie and Friends issues, as well as Spider-man Sunday strips. I also produced the Joe Sinnott, “Pope John the XXlll” hardcover for a successful Kickstarter campaign.
My favorites were Inking commissions for Gene Colan, Jim Mooney Carmine Infantino and many more through the years. But the best is Layouts for Joe SInnott. Jim Steranko was right. When you see what Joe does with your pencils after he is done, it is always like Christmas, you can’t wait to see how much he made your art shine.
CB: Tell us a bit about your creative team and what other creators that have contributed to this?
JT: Such a good feeling in comics to work with these people. Jeff Shultz has been a good guiding hand production wise. Rich, Ken, Bill as well.
The all new stories are from the creative minds of Chris Yambar, Matthew Manning, Craig Boldman, Paul Kupperburg, Angelo DeCesare, Rich maurizio Jeff Shultz and myself. Artwork is from, my pals Joe Sinnott and his son Mark Sinnott, sadly, Joe just recently passed and never got to do his story. He did finish two covers though. Al Milgrom, Pat and Tim Kennedy, Jeff Shultz, Rich Maurizio, Ken Wheaton, Bill Walko and George Broderick, Tim Estiloz and myself contributed to the art. Colors are by Michael Woods. Hand lettering is done by Eddy Chapman and Ken Wheaton with some digital lettering by Mattia Gentili of Italy and myself. I could not ask for a better team.
CB: What are you learning from crowdfunding and creating through this process?
JT: I have experience in producing books on Kickstarter. Aside from that it is daunting not having a staff to help organize. But I keep notes on everything to help. The advertising part is not strong. I am still learning that aspect to get the word out. So far everyone that sees what we are doing has been really positive.
CB: Tell us a little more about the story. Do you have an ending in mind? What do you hope readers will take away from this tale?
JT: This is an all ages family friendly book dedicated to pure entertainment. Like earlier comics every story has an ending and very well crafted to entertain. To take you to differing areas of the future through the eyes of oyr teens. Very fun and relaxing comic to read. We believe comics are meant to entertain and take your mind on a fantasy ride around the galaxy. So after reading this book we hope they say…Where is number Two?!
CB: What else can you share about the project or the campaign? And do you have any final words for our readers?
JT: This is truly a labor of Love. It will also be the last work Joe Sinnott will have done in comics. Having his son Mark on this title will be the first in a comic book they both will be in, so I am happy to see that. It is 100 plus pages of entertainment that will have people wanting more.
CB: Thanks for chatting with us! Good luck and we are rooting for you!
Check out the campaign here!
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T-Bird & Throttle #4
Finale & Collected Edition
by Josh Howard
T-Bird finally confronts the mastermind behind the plot to destroy him while an enemy armada descends upon Centennial City! Past, present, and future collide in T-BIRD & THROTTLE #4!
Chris Braly: Tell our readers your ‘elevator pitch’ for T-Bird & Throttle #4 and the collected edition. Briefly get our readers caught up on what it’s about and give us some background on it.
Josh Howard: T-Bird & Throttle is the story of a former astronaut turned superhero who loses everything in a terrible accident involving his powers. 10 years later, he seeks to revive his career while battling a hostile media, a teenage daughter, and demons from his past.
CB: Sounds vaguely familiar… haha! What are you learning from crowdfunding and creating through this process?
JH: I’m just thankful to have this avenue to tell stories now. It’s creatively and financially freeing.
CB: Tell us about your previous work and how it lead to T-Bird and Throttle.
JH: My other creator owned work includes Dead@17, Black Harvest, and The Lost Books of Eve. But the creation of T-Bird goes back before all the others. I’ve just been waiting for the right time to make it a reality.
CB: Tell us a little more about the story. This wraps up the current arc. Do you have other stories planned?
JH: Book #4 is the end of the first big story arc. There are LOTS more stories planned. However, the next few will likely be stand alone issues. They will still further the big overall story and be 50-60 pages each, but they won’t be interconnected like the first 4. I won’t do multi part series until the story calls for it.
CB: What can your fans look for after this campaign ends. What’s next for Josh Howard?
JH: I’ve got ideas for other books, so may release something new in between this T-Bird campaign and the next, just to give myself a break and flex my creative muscles. But I’m really excited about T-Bird #5, because it’s fun and different, so I may jump right to it. We’ll see how I feel when I finish #4.
CB: Tell us a bit about your creative team and what other creators that have contributed to this?
JH: It’s all me. I handle every single aspect of creation, production, and fulfillment. The only thing I don’t do is the actual printing & delivery. Believe me, if I could I would!
CB: What else can you share about the project? And do you have any final words for our readers?
JH: I’ve been working in comics for 17 years now, but T-Bird & Throttle is special to me. I’ve carried it in my back pocket for a long time. I’m very grateful to every backer who has contributed to its realization and success. I’m also proud to say that the series will be re-released in the fall with Alterna Comics in special giant size newsprint editions.
CB: That’s great news, Josh. Big fans of Alterna here. Thankyou for chatting with us again!
JH: Thanks so much!
Check out the campaign here
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The Secret Protectors: Compendium
by Adam Wheeler
The year is 1982, on the surface, this Earth shares many similarities to our own. However, here, a single man’s actions have altered the world forever. Unbeknownst to all but a few, humanity is in perilous danger. The Secret Protectors must put their differences aside, join forces and put an end to this looming menace. A conflict thousands of years in the making is coming to a head.
Please Visit The Campaign Site Here.
John: Welcome back to and thank you once again for being a part of Indie Comics Showcase. Last we had you on was for Issue One of The Secret Protectors and now we will be talking about the compendium which collect’s issues one through 4.
Adam: Thanks for taking the time to invite me back on again! Yes, it’s been a while coming since Issue 1. To have completed our first Volume is amazing! Ben and I both feel a real sense of achievement.
John: Before we get started can you catch us up to how and what has changed since we had you on the first time?
Adam: Well, quite a lot really! The first time we were on was back in April 2019. Since then I’ve been pretty damn busy! I got married in August and then went on my Honeymoon in September, we did a road trip around California, which was amazing! After that I was back to my day job but Ben and I have kept collaborating closely on The Secret Protectors. We initially wanted to launch our current Kickstarter a few months ago but then, obviously, Covid happened and we thought it best to delay. It didn’t seem an appropriate time to go ahead with a crowdfunding campaign when people could be struggling. Instead we decided to try and get our comic into the hands of readers for free. So, we set ourselves up a Landing Page so now anyone with an email address can sign up and read our first two issues for free. Your readers can find us here.
John: Tell us about The Compendium; where it’s been, where it’s going, and your plans for it.
Adam: The Secret Protectors is our take on the Superhero mythos. Our world and story is focused on inter-personal tensions and drama. For instance, our heroes agree on what the ‘mission’ is, they know what they want to achieve but where they often find themselves at loggerheads is that they fundamentally disagree on how they get there. That’s causes issues which our characters need to try to overcome! As for where we’re going, Volume 1 establishes the core of our cast. It brings the reader into this world so they can see where it is similar and where it deviates. So far, our emphasis has been on setting this out. With future issues we’ll be introducing more of our villains and they’re motivations for doing what they do, why are they where they’re at!?! They may wear the insignia of S.C.I.M.I.T.A.R but are they truly just ‘evil’? Our plans currently are that our first story arc will be culminate in issue 10. If after that, there’s an audience for more content, then personally speaking, I’d love to bring them more.
John: How do you keep the story fresh and interesting?
Adam: The way Ben and I work together has definitely evolved over the course of the project. We’ve tried to keep our process us straightforward as possible though. I’ll write up the issue as I see it ‘in my mind’s eye’ so to speak. Ben will then take that and translate it into the comic medium. Story wise our narrative is consistently and constantly playing out within our comic. The beauty of being the small press guys is that we can choose our page count. If we need extra pages we get to dictate that. The rules are more malleable. We also like to add extras in! We’ve already got our concept art pages but past that we have our Dossier Files from Commander Grey. This is an in-world document produced by S.C.I.M.I.T.A.R detailing their organisations intel on our heroes; The Secret Protectors. On cursory reading this may seem like a nice little gimmick but, not giving anything away, there’s a lot of lore in those pages. Some of it, on investigation, may leave you with a lot of questions! Questions which we will be answering!
John: How have you tackled this campaign as compared to your previous ones?
Adam: It’s an ass-kicker! We’re currently at DEFCON 9 levels of alert and readiness! At the time of writing this we’ve just tipped over the 50% funded mark, that’s huge for us and we’ll scrap our way to the target! We learnt a great deal during our first campaign. We made our target but we also made a bunch of mistakes for sure, I had no idea what I needed to do, in all honesty. This is our second run and I feel like we’ve covered our bases far better, still things could be better. The important thing is to keep learning and adapting. Anyone whose run a Kickstarter I’m sure will attest that it is a fulltime job. You need to be on it! 24hrs a day if possible! In fact! Even that probably isn’t enough! Make 25hrs a day! Plus then we’ve got the world recovering from Covid etc. All we can do is put out our best work, let people know and hopefully they believe in the project like we do!
John: Have you been reading any mainstream comics recently?
Adam: A few! On Honeymoon last year I picked up a few graphic novels! I’ve been slowly working my way through them. I’ve still been working throughout Covid so I haven’t been had a load of extra time. I just recently finished Daredevil ‘The Man Without Fear’ and I’ve recently started The Dark Knight Returns. I’ve got a bunch more lined up too!
John: Have you been reading any Indie Comics recently?
Adam: Oh yes! I’ve got a bunch on my reading list from some fellow Kickstarter creators! I’ve found myself over the last few years really trending towards fellow indie creators. Being an indie creator you begin to realise just how tough it is! People who do this, do it because they truly, genuinely love it! So that’s what I’m mainly reading. Titles in particular I’ve been reading are What If! Stories by Matt Stapleton, The Show by Jed McPherson & Daughter of Titan by Richard Mooney. There’s others I’ve got, I just haven’t had the time to read them!
John: Is there anything else you want to share with us before we sign off?
Adam: Yeah, there is one thing I’d really like mention. I don’t want to get all sentimental but I’m sure I speak for a lot of small press indie guys when I say thank you, John! Thank you for giving us a platform to share our projects. I’d also extend that thanks to all those who spend their hard earned money on our work too, it’s something Ben & I never take for granted. Those who take the time at cons or online to speak with us about our work, even if it isn’t for them, thank you! Because you and them get it! They get the community! They get the days, weeks, months and years of planning that goes into bringing these stories to life! That love and warmth spurs creators on because we want to deliver to you our very best work.
John: Once again Adam, I would like to say thank you for being a part of indie comics showcase. We wish you the best of luck on this campaign and all future projects.
Adam: Thanks! Always a pleasure!
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That’s it for this installment! Support these indie comics!!!
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