BLACK COMIX RETURNS - African American Comic Art & Culture

An unforgivable silence
over 6 years ago – Mon, Sep 04, 2017 at 10:04:03 PM

Hey everyone!

We can't hide from the fact that it has been a loooooong time since our last update, and that's just wrong wrong wrong. All of the possible excuses (San Diego Comic Con prep/attendance/follow-up, multiple-relocations on our team, wrangling material and talent, etc) aren't any viable reason for not at least staying in better touch with all of you through updates. That's just a massive failure on our part, allowing distractions to sidetrack us from sharing news.

That said, production has been going full-bore for the last two months, and Deron Bennett's AndWorld Design has been knocking out the layout like a champ. This is a big book -- 200pgs with almost 100 artists! -- and making sure each spread represents each contributor in the most exciting light is no small task. 

Here's a glimpse at a couple of spreads chosen at random:

But all the hard work is paying off: we're about 85% done!  Don't believe us? Here's a full set of contact sheets showing all the pages --

Yeah, you'll see a couple of blank spots but those are being filled in right now. (In fact a couple might already be filled since I made these contact sheets.)

"So what's the timetable looking like?"

Production-wise, we will be done this month. No ifs, ands, or buts.  This book is going to the printer no later than Oct 1. That's a firm deadline in order to have this book in our hands in early January.

"January? What happened to 'in time for Christmas'?"

Well, a few things: 1) production -- as mentioned above, its a massive task, involving wrangling a lot of stuff from a lot of people (and in a few cases, swapping things out to avoid trademark issues and the like), but we're knocking it out, 2) our publisher has decided to solicit it to be in stores in February, as part of their Black History Month line-up, and 3) we're working on lining up some additional promotional things for the book to happen around that time frame as well, including possible gallery shows in a few different locations. That's all being discussed and worked out now, so nothing is ready to announce, but stay tuned! We PROMISE to update you as soon as we have news on that!

We're also syncing up with Craig Rippon, who's been traveling around getting the last bits of footage for his BLACK INK documentary. The extra weeks on our end will also allow him a little more time to finish up his project so we can support each other on release. It's going to be a nice collection when both are ready.

Thanks again for all of your patience and support. We're excited to see this thing come together, and all of the extra work going into it only makes this experience more rewarding. We hope you agree!

What's news?
almost 7 years ago – Sun, Jun 18, 2017 at 08:23:52 PM

Hey, everyone!

Been a little while since the last update, but things are moving along, admittedly a bit slower than anticipated, but when you're trying to wrangle content, art, and release forms from nearly 100 different creators, it gets a lot more complicated than you'd think...

Fortunately we've got about 90-95% of what's going in the book in-hand, still chasing down that last 5-10%, but now in the active process of laying out the book.  In fact, we've brought in the uber-talented, and Eisner-and-Harvey nom DERON BENNETT to tackle the final book design and layout!

If you don't know him, you probably know his work.  Check out this awesome video he was in by TYLT for an introduction:

Deron's got literally dozens of projects on his plate right now, but we're really excited to be one of them, and we know its going to look hot when he's done...

"Which will be when, exactly...?" I can hear you asking out loud...

Aside from gathering that last 5-10% of the content, we're genuinely shooting to have this book ready for print ideally by the end of July. It's a big book though, 200 pages takes a while to do right, and with two big shows between now and then (ALA this weekend, and SDCC in mid-July), that's a lot of distraction. But we're trying to stay focused to get this thing to you in a timely fashion. 

Now that we're working with Lion Forge on distribution, we also need to coordinate with them a bit, and lean on their expertise for proper release dates and marketing when the time comes. But we're hoping to have the books to you well in advance of whatever store-date they decide on. As soon as we can get the book printed, we want it in your hands!

If we can indeed get it to the printer by end of July, that usually means having it in our hands in November. Printing overseas is great and cost-efficient, but the shipping time adds 5-7 weeks alone.  That would mean ideally having all rewards out and in your hands in early December (in time for Christmas).

That is a bit later than we originally thought, but it also gives the BLACK INK folks more time to wrap their documentary and get discs made.  So all in all, a little more time in the oven will be a good thing. :D

We'll try to post updates more regularly too, especially as layout and proofing gets underway.

Thanks everyone!

Check out the NIOBE Kickstarter
almost 7 years ago – Tue, May 23, 2017 at 06:33:41 PM

Hi everyone.

Just thought you might be interested in the crowdfunding campaign for Stranger Comics NIOBE, by Sebastian Jones, Amandla Stenberg, Black Comix Returns cover artist Ashley Woods, Sheldon Mitchell, & Darrell May. The campaign has already been funded, but there are some awesome stretch goals that are definitely worth a look!

Final 48 hours of BLACK INK documentary campaign! Spread the word!
about 7 years ago – Wed, Apr 19, 2017 at 11:17:55 PM

Hi all!

Just a quick update to encourage everyone to hop over and support the BLACK INK documentary project on Kickstarter -- it ends Friday evening at 7:15 CST, and they've still got a ways to go to reach their goal... But don't let that be any indication of the quality of the project!  It is coming together GREAT, and everyone at Headlight Filmworks are topnotch pros, so you you know this thing is going to be slick.

If you haven't checked out the trailer yet, please do right here:

 They've got some really inspiring creators involved already (and more if they can hit their goal!) -- just check out this lineup already confirmed:

Shawn Martinbrough, Chris Williams, Anthony Piper, LeBeau Underwood, Barbara Brandon-Croft, Jamal Yaseem Igle, Joe Illigde, Regine Sawyer, Eric Battle, Tim Fielder, John Jennings, David Walker, Chyna McCoy, Marcus Williams, Greg Burnham, Micheline Hess, Robb Armstrong, Sebastian Jones, Maia Crown Williams, Andre Batts, Roye Okupe, Jamal Pryce Campbell, Paris Alleyne, N. Steven Harris, Dawud Anyabwile, Guy Sims, Keith Knight and more all sharing their stories of struggle, personal commitment and triumph.

This is a deep look at the contributions to the comic book industry by people of color: the challenges and the triumphs inherent in overtaking stereotypes and replacing them with archetypes that can shape generations of comic creators, fans and pop-culture. Now with movie studios and television networks mining comics for source material, as well as internet shows devoted to comic books, comics are big business and a powerful cultural influence.

They have just under 2 days left to raise another $4k in finishing funds -- please help them hit that goal!  Spread the word to everyone you know by sharing this link:  http://kck.st/2m2cwlV  !

This is a great project and a great complement to the BLACK COMIX RETURNS book we're working on right now!

(Some of you have asked what happens if they don't hit their goal -- will the DVD bundle upgrades still be fulfilled or refunded?  That question will lie entirely on the folks at Headlight Filmworks... we know they're passionate about finishing the project, but without funding it could take a bit longer... so we'll have to figure out what will happen in the next 48 hours!)

Backerkit is set up and surveys are coming! FAQ
about 7 years ago – Sun, Mar 12, 2017 at 11:17:47 PM

Hi everyone!

Just a quick update to let you know that Backerkit surveys are now being sent (you may have already received it).  A few things about how Backerkit works:

• Backerkit surveys will be sent to your email address associated with your Kickstarter account. If you used Facebook to log into Kickstarter, they will use the email address associated with your Facebook account.
• The survey emails will include a customized, secure, personal link to their site, where your pledge information will already appear. You don't need to create an account; everything is already set for you. The survey process is pretty easy through that link; just follow the steps and enter the info along the way. PLEASE FILL THESE OUT AS SOON AS YOU CAN! Even though you can change your responses, add or remove items, and update your shipping info, the more we have from you early will make our preparations that much smoother.
• If you do add items to your pledge, and if there is a new balance due, you can pay for those extras right there in Backerkit (at "checkout"). They take all credit cards, its pretty universal. :)
• Add-on items do affect shipping costs, and we did the best we could to keep those costs reasonable particularly since they stack with each item added. Unfortunately Backerkit's shipping calculator isn't very robust, so if you feel that the shipping added up to something rather unreasonable, please message us what you ordered and how much shipping you paid, and we will calculate a more accurate, actual shipping rate and refund you the difference.
• If you don't receive the email with your personal link, message me and we'll resend it. (Check your spam folder first, though.)

While our dashboard is showing all surveys sent, it may take a couple of hours for them to propagate out to the various mail servers used. If you haven't gotten yours by late tomorrow, check your spam folder first, then let us know if you simply didn't get it at all via a kickstarter message (along with the email address you are checking; we may have a different one for you).

NOTE: Backerkit requires us to "lock down" orders before credit cards are charged for any extras or upgrades. We will lock down your responses roughly 24-48hrs after you fill out the survey. This way, you have a day to think about whether or not you'd like to add on anything more. :) Once your order is locked down, your card will be charged for any balance due. Don't worry -- you can still change your shipping address up to the final fulfillment date (which we will announce later).

You can also share the Backerkit Pre-Order page with your friends, even if they didn't back the campaign -- now late-comers can get in on the orders too!

Simply point them to www.blackcomixreturns.com where there will be a "pre-order" button to the Backerkit store.

That's about it!  Let us know if any of this isn't clear or if you have any questions!

Thanks!