By Chad Burdette

on September 23, 2023

We here at Comic Watch want to highlight and support those projects across the various platforms, especially those projects that still need a push along with those stretch goals.

Below is a brief synopsis of the project; for more details and to support the projects, click on the link to the campaign page.

Pink Midnight Presents: Barber Psychic

Follow eighty years in one man’s life, as Clarence tries to do what’s right by doing nothing, even as an increasingly uncertain future threatens to swallow him whole.

Current Funding: $3,522

Funding Goal: $4,000
Days Left: 12

Link: Pink Midnight Presents: Barber Psychic

Pink Midnight Presents is a weird horror anthology, in the vein of The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror and the strange stories of Robert Aickman and Stephen Graham Jones. But this horror doesn’t rely on blood and guts. Pink Midnight Presents invites you into a world where nothing feels real; where characters feel trapped by circumstances far beyond their control–and realize that self-destruction is often the only way to grow. And to escape.

Barber Psychic is the second story in Pink Midnight Presents following the acclaimed silent one-shot The Butterfly House. Its premise is simple, but is used to plumb the complex depths of one man’s psyche. Clarence Adams is a small-town barber with a horrible secret: when he cuts your hair, he sees your future. But Clarence tells no one, and does all he can to keep the future intact. He works. He gets married. He lives a life. He lives the life he knows is laid out for him. Pink Midnight Presents: Barber Psychic follows eighty years in one man’s life, as Clarence tries to do what’s right by doing nothing, even as an increasingly uncertain future threatens to swallow him whole.

Pink Midnight Presents is brought to you by writer Paul Allor (TMNT Vs. Street Fighter, GI Joe, X-Men), artist Juan Romera (IDW, CEX) and editor Claire Napier (The Magic Necklace, Image Comics). Juan and Paul have been working on strange comics together for more than a decade, and, along with Claire, are excited to bring this series of eerie stories to a brand-new audience!

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Previously featured campaigns still running and unfunded:

ONE-SHOT: A Chaotic Fantasy Adventure — 4 Days Left, 62% Funded
Arledge Comics’ 2023-24 Comic Line Up — 6 Days Left, 81% Funded
Here Comes CALICO – Issue 7 — 13 Days Left, 71% Funded
“Hell”oween — 13 Days Left, 20% Funded

Previously featured, fully funded Kickstarters Worth A Look:

NUCLEUS – The Legendary Mark Wheatley Art Book — 6 Days Left
Professor Dario Bava: Orgy of the Blood Freaks 1 & 2 — 4 Days Left
Hospice: One Damned Good Thing – A One-shot Horror Comic — 2 Days Left
ALTERED EGO: Blocked — 3 Days Left
DOUBLE FEATURE! Cereal Killer & Welcome to Monster World — 2 Days Left
START AGAIN: Naughty Surprise — 2 Days Left
Gateway City Vol. IV: American Trust — 2 Days Left

The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing

A comprehensive, 240-page guide to building a career in comics from Comics Connection’s Gamal Hennessy.

Current Funding: $6,656
Funding Goal: $5,000
Days Left: 26

Link: The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing

The success of indie comics like THE WALKING DEAD, SCOTT PILGRIM, HELLBOY, and TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES have inspired writers, artists and would-be publishers to try to break into the comic book industry, only to discover that the business of comics is chaotic and complex.

The vast majority of modern comic book characters and stories are created, designed, or produced by freelance creators.

But how do these professionals enter this strange world?
How do they acquire the skills needed to create comic art?
How do they find work?
How do they get paid?

Anyone interested in becoming a freelance comic creator or hiring them for a comic book project should understand the answers to these questions and explore the commercial realities of the art form to maximize their chances of success.

Check out our interview with Gamal on The Comic Watchers

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The Dancer: Psychological Martial Arts Thriller Grand Finale

THE LAST ISSUE! A dancer/ASSASSIN is forced to deal with her childhood trauma of witnessing her parents’ deaths.

Current Funding: $7,001
Funding Goal: $7,000
Days Left: 19

Link: The Dancer: Psychological Martial Arts Thriller Grand Finale

They Call Her…The Dancer is a story that focuses on the beauty and brutality of dance and martial arts, delving into the morally gray psyche of a professional dancer and assassin.

At first glance, They Call Her…The Dancer is about analyzing the similarities and differences between dance and martial arts. Dance is something that is seen as beautiful, but many don’t think about the pain that is done to one’s body to truly be a dancer. Martial arts are thought of as violent because it’s a form of “fighting”, but there’s also a dance like quality to this work of art.

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Headlocked: Tales From The Road Volume 3

An anthology of short stories set in the Headlocked universe, co-created by some of the biggest names in wrestling.

Current Funding: $12,716
Funding Goal: $15,000
Days Left: 9

Link: Headlocked: Tales From The Road Volume 3

In 2008, we had an idea for a wrestling comic…after getting turned down by every publisher in the biz, we set out to make it ourselves. That comic became Headlocked.

Headlocked is a coming-of-age story chronicling theater student, Mike Hartmann’s quest to become a professional wrestler. We follow his journey through the underbelly of the wrestling business as he chases his dream of making it to the bright lights of the WFW. Think of it as an HBO-style drama set in the world of wrestling featuring cover at by WWE Hall of Famer, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and art by wrestler/artist, Michel Mulipola and independent wrestler turned artist, Doug Hills.

Now, to date, we’ve published twenty chapters (the next five are in production as we speak) become a staple on the convention circuit, impressed a ton of wrestlers, and got featured in places like Sports Illustrated, Forbes, and even WWE.com.

We were having so much fun making Headlocked and we’d impressed so many wrestlers with our work..in 2016, with the help of WrestleCrate USA and now Pro Wrestling Crate, we decided to launch a sister title called Tales From The Road!

To date, we’ve collaborated with over forty wrestlers on stories for Tales From The Road from legends like Ric Flair, Booker T, and Mick Foley to current stars like AJ Styles, Thunder Rosa, Cody Rhodes, and Brody King! We’ve told stories in just about every genre you can imagine from a Troma-inspired urban legend by Dolph Ziggler, to a Christmas-themed tale with deathmatch legend Nick Gage, to a video game based story with Kenny Omega.

And when you mix the general insanity of the wrestling business with the creativity of professional wrestlers and the limitlessness of comics…it can get a little crazy.

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Morsels: The Main Course

You’ve had your appetizers. Now, it’s time for the main course. Just be careful, because you’ll scream until you pop!

Current Funding: $4,193
Funding Goal: $12,400
Days Left: 11

Link: Morsels: The Main Course

If you thought the scares were over, think again. Those terrifying tales from volume one were only the appetizer. Morsels is back for the main course with three meatier, scarier tales that will scare you until you burst! Morsels: The Main Course is 56 pages packed to the brim with zombies, creatures, mutant animals, and even more hilarious and terrifying horror ads. It’s a book you’re not going to want to miss… Or read in the dark.

Morsels was a scary good time but it’s time to turn the fun up to eleven. Not only will a second volume allow J. to continue to scare readers, but it will give a new group of artists their chance to shine, while also inviting some familiar faces along for the ride. Morsels started off as a way to show that horror cannot be constrained to just one style, and will continue to show that the true face of terror hides behind many masks

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“just for me” concert posters vol. 1

collecting 30 of my “just for me” concert posters… for you!

Current Funding: $5,271
Funding Goal: $4,000
Days Left: 12

Link: “just for me” concert posters vol. 1

it’s a collection of my “just for me” concert posters… for you!

so, in the age of digital tickets, i’ve started making my own quick, personal concert posters as a keepsake… (cheaper than a real poster, and i’ve already got too many t-shirts)…

it started with matthew sweet in 2017… and just kept going.

i finally decided to make a limited run book collecting the first 30 of these ”just for me” posters, bumping right up to the covid lockdown in 2020…

and to make it more than just a collection of posters and art, i’ve decided to add set lists (if i can find them), design notes/pre-lim sketches, personal anecdotes, photos and more…

it’s gonna be a self-published, extremely limited print run not to be sold in stores…

68 page hardcover a4 (8.3“ x11.7”), 100lb satin finish interior pages, gloss laminated cover, printed in the USA.

besides the LIMITED EDITION HC, i’ll be offering signed bookplates, a limited number of remarqued editions… and the chance to get your very own “just for you” concert poster (created digitally OR original art on bristol) and a 13×19″ archival print! (for personal, non comemrical use only)…

since all the posters are done (and playlists mostly tracked down), it’s just a matter of getting all the pages together, which should be done by the time the campaign ends!

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The Muck by Aaron Thompson

One person’s trash, is another person’s terror. ‘The Muck’ holds the key to changing your life forever. Fantasy/Psychological/Thriller

Current Funding: $1,636
Funding Goal: $3,124
Days Left: 14

Link: The Muck

The Muck is a 20 page Psychological Thriller comic book, set in a dystopian fantasy land called “Irradia“

Jaisy /JAY-ZEE/ and Project image for The Muck by Aaron Thompson

Trason /TRAY-SON/ are “Sifters“, a profession not for the weak of heart, or for those with even a slither of strength in their wealth.

Hailing from the city of Domlen, they sift and rake through an area known as “The Muck“. The sludge that makes up this area is farmed for what all understand to be its “rich minerals”. However, for those who do the dirty work it acts as a chance to find oddities, to sell for some coin that could feed them for a week or a lifetime, though this comes with a cost. People lose their minds or their lives in certain parts of The Muck, Collectors avoid these areas, unless they have no choice, or are led astray.

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That’s a wrap for this week from us, next week we will return with new projects to spotlight also if you are crowdfunding a project and would like to be put in the Korner, drop us a line at chad@comic-watch.com, and we will take a look when we put together next week’s post.