One of our favorite Kickstarter success stories was last year's Unite and Take Over, a graphic collection of songs inspired by the lyrics of The Smiths.
Editor and writer Shawn Demumbrum took to the crowd-funding site to raise the $3,000 needed to press the comic. It worked. The book debuted at the Tucson Comic-Con in November, 2011, and can now be found at record stores, comic shops, and online. As with a lot of compilations, not every story moved me -- though Shelby Robertson's vintage Image-y "Handsome Devil" cracked me up, and I don't know if it was intentional -- but most of the tome, especially Dave Baker's "This Charming Man," Sterling Gates and Ernie Najera's noir "William It Was Really Nothing," Foo! and Sam Laggren's coming of age "How Soon is Now?" and Kayla Cagan and Tara Abbamondi's "Boy With a Thorn in His Side," adeptly tapped into the awkwardness, loneliness, and maudlin humor of Morrissey and the 'Lads.
Well, as the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, launch another Kickstarter campaign to press Unite and Take Over Volume 2, featuring more stories inspired by the lyrics of the Moz." Demumbrum has considerably upped the ante, looking to raise $6,000 to press the book, which will include new contributors (including Brad Dwyer, of Up on the Sun's weekly comic strip Record Heat), and some returning writers/artists. Demumbrum is looking to release the comic on Record Store Day (April 21 on normal calendars).
With just over two weeks to go, Demumbrum has raised $1,111 of his goal. Pledging to the Kickstarter essentially acts as a pre-order for the new book, which features a photographic cover, and variants by Alfred Trujillo and Jason Pedersen (penciling a groovy looking Johnny Marr).
"In order for this project to be successfully, we need your support," Demumbrum writes on the Kickstarter page. "Not only do we need your pledges, but we need you to pass the links to our Kickstarter page to your friends. No everyone is a fan of the Smiths (gasp), but most people know people who like independent comics, music related projects or unique storytelling. Helping to get the word out about our project would help us as much as your pledge. Thank you for your support."
Visit Kickstarter and the Unite and Take Over blog for more information.
