Projecting an image to win Kickstarter: Part 2
Last week we talked about developing one killer image to best show off the By the Time I Get to Dallas comics project on our next Kickstarter launch. To review, this will be the big ass launch where I complete my apocalyptic medical adventure comic book saga by launching By the Time I Get to Dallas #5 and #6 and Trinity Project #5 and #6all at once!
(BTW, we really want to build up our Project Followers on Kickstarter. Click on the link and hit “Notify Me,” and when we hit 100 followers you’ll get an exclusive preview of the first seven completed pages of By the Time I Get to Dallas #5!)
So last blog we reviewed three Project Image Concepts. The poll of readers leaned towards Concept 1, Heroes Surrounded, with Concept 3, Human Anthill, coming in second. Thank you for all who voted!
Here’s a summary of my own notes to Ben on the ideas:
Human Anthill pops visually, the composition and negative space grabs me, it makes me want to look closer and see what the hell is going on. I think it will grab eyeballs. I don’t think a flag is going to work in this though, Texas flag I think will not be recognizable, and American flags are just a very loaded thing these days. Though I do like the composition of the flag flowing behind them, maybe there’s another element we could use like that, bloody mist enveloping them? And I’m wondering what we want in the right upper corner of the panel, what Rudy is reaching for, seems like we need something there?
Ben took another shot at Human Anthill:
Yeah, we’re getting there! We committed to this concept, with a plan possibly to do Heroes Surrounded as well, and maybe use Gulliver’s Travels for an alternate or postcard along the way.
Next step:
Yeah!! I love watching the artistic process for this stuff, these volume sketches are just the coolest thing, you feel the energy getting quickly onto the page (screen, in Ben’s case).
And finally:
WOW!!!
Now that’s what I’m talking about. Dramatic, weird, hint of medical theme (white coat), it’s serious and silly, a crazy journey reaching its climax, all the elements we want.
And now, with inks from Chis Arieswendha:
I’m dying to see how this baby looks in color, as soon as I have it I’ll share.
Now that we’ve got this far, today I’m dropping the pencil version on our Prelaunch page, which you saw up above, but actually now looks like this:
As for the books, we’ve got our first art pages coming in for the final issues of both By the Time I Get to Dallas and Trinity Project—stay on target!
Thank you as always for your support!
Colin
Colin Devonshire
Colin is an emergency physician in Boston, Massachusetts. The seeds of his comics project were sown when he took a sabbatical from the ER for creative writing. His creative non-fiction has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.