Indie Comics Showcase #183: Overmind, Rayne of Ages, & Rabbit’s Badass Song

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!

Check out the campaign page here!

Chris Braly: Welcome back to Indie Comics Showcase, Jon. Hit me with the elevator pitch for your your latest graphic novel, Overmind!

Jon Del Arroz: Special Agent Ayla Rin is dispatched to a backwater colony planet where she discovers a rogue AI brainwashing the population and preparing for galactic domination. She must stop OVERMIND before it’s too late!

CB: What was the genesis of this story? Where did they idea originate?

JDA: I have had the idea of AI causing problems in the back of my head for years. People don’t realize how manipulated they are by algorithms on social media, and this takes it to the next step with a sentient being doing the brainwashing. It’s a commentary on social media destroying us, though it’s got a lot of action adventure too.

CB: What kind of reader will enjoy this most? Who is Overmind aimed at?

JDA: It’s science fiction, so people who like Star Wars will love this book and it would make a great replacement property for people looking for change from Disney’s disaster.

CB: Nice. Elaborate a bit on your writing style and how you like to work.

JDA: I worked out several different stories for Ayla Rin, the main character, before settling on this one. When I came up with the AI idea it just felt right and flowed very easily from there. Ms. Krimson wanted to present a beautiful woman who isn’t scantily clad to show that being sexy doesn’t mean being slutty, and also we wanted to present a redheaded character because of the gingercide going on with characters in Hollywood with race swaps and the like. It’s all about bringing it back to the classics

CB: Good deal. You’ve worked with several illustrators. Can you tell me who did the artwork this time?

JDA: Ms. Krimson is the artist on this project. She’s been working in comics professionally since the 1980s and is an amazing talent. She’s keeping herself anonymous to protect her ability to work, which is sadly the state of the industry these days.

CB: That’s too bad. This isn’t your first rodeo. What have you been learning from self-publishing and crowdfunding through this process?

JDA: Yes. I’ve done 17 crowdfunds successfully. And I’m an old hat at production and self-publishing now.  This book is 100% complete and even has an accompanying novel. My hopes is to use Ayla Rin and the Terran Imperium as a property forever. I recommend getting both the comic and graphic novel for the best experience.

CB: Sounds good, Jon. Anything else you would like to share with our readers?

JDA: I think this is some of the best written and produced science fiction you’ll ever read. We really did pay homage to the great works of the past like Valerian, Nexus, and The Incal. It’s something special and we’d love for you to get on board.

CB: Good luck, Jon.

_________

Chris Braly: Welcome to Indie Comics Showcase, W.S. “Sam” Quinton! Can you give us an elevator pitch for Rayne of Ages?

William Quinton: Yes. Rayne is the last surviving member of an ancient order of elven mystic warriors.  After untold centuries trapped in stone, she awakes in a new age, one where the empire she once proudly served is long dead.  Join Rayne and her new friends in the epic sword and sorcery, high fantasy adventures in Rayne of Ages!

CB: How did you come up with the idea for this story, and what led you to self-publish?

WQ: This comic was inspired by the source material for the Tarot Adventures, a series of adventure modules I also write and publish.  The ancient order of elven mystic warriors, known as the Brochelin Rochelin, were a staple of my homebrew campaign setting for almost 20 years.  When I began publishing the Tarot Adventures I incorporated the lore from my home game.  When my co-creator on Rayne of Ages, Nick Caponi approached me about creating a fantasy bad-girl type comic series I decided to incorporate my setting content and draw upon years of story resources for our new series. As for self-publishing, I’ve been releasing role playing game book since 2017 and comics since 2018.  Crowdfunding and publishing books in this vein is something I do regularly.

CB: Naturally. So who is this aimed at? What kind of comic readers is this best suited for?

WQ: Rayne of Ages is suited for mature readers who enjoy sword and sorcery, high fantasy action.  Fans of ElfQuest, Lady Death, Dawn and classic fantasy anime will enjoy this new series.

CB: Nice. Tell me a bit about your experience with crafting comics.

WQ: To date I have 4 comic issues out (include Rayne of Ages issue 1) and I’ve been refining the writing and production process continually since the first.  I start by outlining the series or story arc, pacing out what will be present in each individual issue, then outlining each issue in that arc.  I write the initial draft for an issue, then pass off the draft to Alexia Veldhuisen (editor on Rayne).  Once Alexia’s edits are in, I go through the process of making those changes and bringing the final draft into an actionable format.

CB: You’ve got a deep bench on your creative team. Tell me who’s on this book.

WQ: For Rayne of Ages our team is very stacked! Nick Caponi, who is an instructor at the Kubert School, is the co-Creator and our principle artist. Alexia Veldhuisen, also a Kubert School grad, is the editor. Taylor Esposito handled the lettering and I wrote the comics and manage the crowdfunding side of things. We’ve also got some great cover artists, including Aysegul Sinav and JP Buzio, and Nick Caponi, our main artist, is doing two variants.

CB: So what is the current status on the book and what’s your production workflow like?

WQ: Issue One is complete and the workflow on that issue was pretty smooth. After the first script draft was completed, Alexia went over it for edits.  Changes were made to script to bring it inline with editor changes and sent to Nick for layouts.  Alexia reviewed the layouts and we made some final changes to improve the flow of the narrative panels. Nick then did the penciling and inking, Taylor took those pages and added the lettering, Alexia reviewed the finished pages and I formatted them and sent the finished file to the printer. For the IGG Exclusive Virgin Variant, Nick completed the cover and I’ve formatted that cover onto the new print file.  Now we’re running the Indiegogo campaign to fund the printing and so we know just how many we’ll be producing.

CB: What sort of crowdfunding and self-publishing experience do you have?

WQ: I’ve crowdfunded and produced several books now and each has always taught me something new. For Rayne of Ages the lesson has been on the important of processes.  This issue’s production was very smooth and I attribute that to working with professionals who knew their roles precisely, and a work flow that fed work to each team member in a timely way.

CB: Is this an ongoing? Are there more stories you want to tell in this universe?

WQ: Yes, Rayne of Ages is an ongoing series. Nick Caponi and I intend to ramp production of this series to complete two issues in 2022, and to reach a steady production cadence for four issues in 2023. There are a LOT of adventures ahead.

CB: Are there any special features in this book or special perks you want to highlight before we conclude?

WQ: One of the special things about Rayne of Ages is that it shares a setting with the Tarot Adventures.  To that end, I slip in bits of lore about the setting to reveal information to the comic reader that they can take with them when playing through the Tarot Adventures series.  As for special perks, the original Kickstarter hit its funding goal, but fell just short of our $7k stretch goal. Since I knew we would go to IGG later in the year, that campaign was fulfilled with that stretch goal tier as if it had been met.  Our IGG perks include those stretch goals and we’ve added two cool new buttons that were developed after the Kickstarter fulfilled.  In short, the IGG tiers are very well stacked!

CB: Nice. Any last words?

WQ: Nick, myself and the whole team are very proud of how Rayne of Ages issue 1 came out and we hope everyone will enjoy it. The IGG exclusive virgin variant will ship to backers in July and will NOT be going to InDemand as it is a very limited production run. Digital copies of the full crowdfunding digital rewards are available directly, outside of the IGG campaign, through drivethru here:  drivethrurpg.com

Check out the campaign page here!

Chris Braly: Welcome to Indie Comics Showcase, Christopher, tell me about Rabbit’s Badass Song!

Christopher Elston: Rabbit’s Badass Song is a gritty, gory, southern, anti-hero story following The Rabbit and his quest for revenge… and fried chicken.

CB: Sounds fun and bizarre. Where did the idea for this comic come from, and made you decide to self-publish it? —

CE: A combination of love of exploitation cinema, horror films and superheroes! We decided to self publish because we felt no publisher would want to publish such an obscure concept!

CB: Hard to say these days. What kind of comic readers do you feel these comics are best suited for?

CE: If you like The Boys, Watchmen, Brat Pack, the Walking Dead and Marshal Law this is for you! And especially if you are a Quentin Tarantino fan!

CB: Since you’re self-publishing this, what can you tell me about creative process?

CE: We are a two person writing team. My fiancé Chassity brings the sharp dialogue and character development, whereas I bring the pacing and page layouts. We work from outlines and several drafts. So it’s me and Chassity Lassiter writing and creating. Halil Mete is our penciler and inker. The colors for our cover were handled by Jose Antonio Lopez, and our letterer is Toben Racicot.

CB: How far along are these books and what are you learning about self-publishing through this process?

CE: The books are complete and most are already printed. What I’ve learned most is the importance of promoting, networking and just marketing

CB: Any plans beyond this book? Further adventures in this world?

CE: Yes! This will be an ongoing title that will take 10 years to complete

CB: Good luck, Christopher! Is there anything else you’d like to share about the campaign or comics before we sign off?

CE: Yes! We do random drawings every week for physical backers to get free prizes, so if you like darker, gritty stories with new cool characters, dynamic art and storytelling check us out!

Check out the campaign page here!