Total nerd Explains How Kickstarter Changed Comics Forever

Kickstarter is a wonderful thing

It's helped legions of people usher their bold new ideas into the world. It's also helped a guy make $55,000 for some potato salad

I'm Dave Baker. Today on Total Nerd, we're going to explain the history of Kickstarter and how it and other crowdfunding sites

helped change the face of comics, solve an antiquated distribution system, and made rock stars out of young cartoonists

Before we get into the specifics of crowdfunding, let's take a step back in time, back

to when you needed a duotone board to be taken seriously. Back to a time when the only way you could sell a comic

was if it starred an anthropomorphic talking animal or elves. Lots of elves

Dark elves. Elves. Elf quest. Elves. Poison elves. Elves. Thor? There were lots of elves in the 80s, right

I don't know. Well, anyway, let's get back to a time called the 1980s

when an enterprising young cartoonist could make a book that actually got into shops

The direct market had multiple distributors at this time. Pacific, Capital, JepiWorld, Diamond, and Seagate

There were a diamond dozen because there were so many distributors, they were all looking for content

And they would basically accept anyone who could hold a pencil and put together something that vaguely resembled a comic that

was moderately professional. Regardless of how stupid at first glance anything actually looked

they would accept it. I mean, come on. Think about it. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

In a vacuum, that sounds like an acid trip induced by an inside joke that's only funny to three dudes

with neckbeards. But it was a massive success and spawned an entire generation

of DIY creators who said no to bad deals from publishers that wanted to strip mine their creative efforts

And they bet on themselves. Some of these people made out like bandits. And some produced highly forgettable books

doomed to clog up back issue bins for the next 20 years. But you know what? At least they did it by betting on themselves

As the 1980s black and white boom led to the 90s gold rush

things changed. Speculators seeing TMNT and other low print run books sell a grip thought that they should get into this game

by snagging multiple copies of every book that was published. This caused a massive overordering and a faulty accounting

and eventually a fiscal implosion. Multiple distributors were left unable to pay the bills

Simultaneously, Marvel decided to get into the self-distro game. They bought the distributor Heroes World

with the intention of opening up Marvel comic book stores, similar to the Disney stores that were so popular at the time

Ultimately, this was a very bad decision. When Marvel pulled all their contracts

the final few distributors had a bidding war to lock down the rights to distribute DC Comics

in order to ensure their survival. This led to Diamond distributors landing DC and Capital City

the sole remaining distributor going under Diamond bought up the corpses of everything else including Heroes World which had recently gone under thanks to Marvel Comics belly flopping and going bankrupt

Now by the late 90s, there was literally one distribution game in town, Diamond

They made a point to push small publishers out by increasing mandatory minimums, and because all

of this business came from a corporately controlled Marvel and DC business, it was in their interest

So needless to say, indie comics floundered. There was no distribution system, no access

to a wider audience, no DIY spirit. It was a sad day for creators and readers alike

If you wanted a weirdo comic, you really had to seek it out. Where there's a need, there's a way

That's a line from Jurassic Park, right? In the early 2000s, web comics became popular

as a direct response to a lack of access and a barrier to entry that the direct market

had put up around itself. This manifested in the explosion of people not usually

being represented in typical comics field, making new works, exciting new techniques and advances

and a narrative mechanic that took advantage of the newly blossoming digital form

And also lots of porn. Like, so much furry porn. As the rising wave of comics online

gathered more and more of a fan base, with books like Penny Arcade, TJ and a Mall, and Homestuck

there needed to be an outlet for these fans. It was only a matter of time until someone figured out a way

to actively tap into these growing fan bases. Yes, there are many crowdfunding platforms

but Kickstarter has always been at the center of this conversation. So we're going to focus on it for the time being

Kickstarter was launched on April 28, 2009. Over the course of its life, the platform

has been used to accrue $4.6 billion and bring 445,000 projects to life

Surprising to no one, comic book creators needed this help. And Kickstarter proved to be a massive boon

One of the breakout stars and early Kickstarter adopters is the cartoonist turned publisher C. Spike Trotman

Born on November 18, 1978, she originally gained wider recognition for her webcomic Templar Arizona

She was very active in the burgeoning comics community of the early 2000s with projects

like Sparkneedle and Lucas and Odessa, which she would eventually put out through Girlmatic

After adopting Kickstarter to print her early collections of Templar Arizona, Trotman began using the crowdfunding

platform to produce anthologies, giving new creators space to show their work

She eventually went on to publish the collections for noted web comics, like Shadow Eyes by Sophie Campbell

and The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amal by E.K. Weaver. Over the course of running 14 Kickstarter campaigns

Spike has raised over million and turned her company Iron Circus Comics into Chicago largest comics publisher So much for having access to traditional distribution means Screw Diamond do it yourself baby

Wait, why would I say Screw Diamond? Behold, the previews catalog. If you're wondering what this is, well, it's paper

It's how you order comics. Because in the comic book industry, we're stuck in the goddamn stone age

To order books, a retailer needs to go through this catalog and pre-order the comics that are coming out three months

from now. The expectation is that you, the reader, are supposed to tell them at your local comic

store what you want them to buy. And then they'll order it for you. Can you imagine going to a movie theater

and being told that you can't see the new insert whatever your favorite movie franchise is here

because you didn't pre-order your tickets? You have to order those three months ago

You got to order them three months? What are you doing here now? It was three months ago. Ugh

This is just one of the ways that Kickstarter has helped revolutionize the business of comics

People use the platform as a pre-order system. Imagine that, a digital, easy to access way

to buy comics online. Crazy. Kickstarter's creation has really helped indie creators

connect with their existing fan bases. Aaron Diaz's highly talked about web comic, Dresden Kodak

was another early smash hit. The comic surprised everyone, completely demolishing its $30,000 goal in its first 24 hours

Ultimately, the book made over 500 grand by the time the campaign was over

Same thing for Ngozi Ukazu. Her webcomic, Check Please, was launched on August 8, 2013

Her first Kickstarter made $74,000. Her second, $400,000. Her third, $350,000. I feel safe in saying that a comic book about a figure skater

turned hockey player who's obsessed with baking pies was probably not on the top of many comics publishers

Dear God, I wish that someone would give this to me in a pitch form pronto list

However, thanks to the coupling of a web comics presence and Kickstarter distribution, this book

has proven to be a massive weapon in the indie comics creators' war on books

In the last year, Kickstarter's impact on comics only continues to grow

Over $16 million in pledges, which is up by 26% from 2017

Roughly 1,500 projects were funded, which is up by 14% from 2017

Overall, Kickstarter is breaking down barriers for independent creators and helping them bet on themselves

Kickstarter is far and away the single most disruptive element that has entered into the comics landscape

over the last decade. And as such, companies are trying to get into the game. Kickstarter is meant to be used as a tool for creators

to self But because of the archaic system that comics has knotted itself into companies are attempting to use the avenue to reach readers through the platform IDW has run multiple successful crowdfunding campaigns

Archie very publicly attempted to use Kickstarter to get a slate of books off the ground

But thanks to people like the recently deceased comics journalist Tom Spurgeon, we're shamed

into not using the platform for such purposes. Should Kickstarter be a place for the individual

Should it be a tool like any other that a business can

avail itself of. I don't know. But it strikes me as weird that there's a massive company

who's just really bad at getting books in the hands of people that needs to use crowdfunding in order

to offset risks. But that's just me. What do I know? As the face of comics started to shift

both literally and metaphorically, other crowdfunding sites popped up here and there

The only one that really caught on was Indiegogo. They're basically the greasy kid brother of Kickstarter

What's the difference, you ask? Well, Indiegogo approves everyone. And they let you keep everything that's donated

as opposed to Kickstarter, which you get to keep the money only if you meet the goal

But more importantly, they don't stop dudes from scamming readers. They don't care if you're an alt-right comics-gate

who hates ideas like diversity and empathy and not being a complete dick all the time

Unfortunately, a lot of people have made a lot of money off of weaponizing hate

And comics is just like every other walk of life. There are dicks in these trenches too

I could spend more time going through how certain people are, but I'm not going to give them the time of day

Let's focus on the positive. Which brings us to the final aspect of Kickstarter

that no one wants to talk about. Kickstarter, over the last few months, has been embroiled in a labor dispute

The ultimate tool of creative democracy is staunchly anti-union. They repeatedly let go employees that

have been attempting to coordinate unionization efforts within the company. They have repeatedly not listened to the employees' concerns

regarding treatment and compensation. This situation ultimately resolved in Kickstarter recognizing the union

But that doesn't mean that things weren't really bad for an extended period of time

The issues with comics distribution systems aside, there are more books being put out right now

than ever in the history of the medium. It's a golden age for creativity, for genre, for format

The medium of comics is expanding across the board, From the rabid growth in the bookstore market

thanks to creators like Raina Tagelmayer and Dave Pickley, to the booming self-publishing market

comics is a medium that has a very, very bright future. Yes, there are news reports that the direct market

is seeing stores close every five minutes. And yes, the MCU is everywhere, even though big two comics

are just at all-time lows. But the medium itself is making bold strides

and it has a diverse reader base. And Kickstarter is the forefront