Crowdsource funding for new Graham Nolan and Chuck Dixon project

[Greyweather]

As you all might or might not remember from the "Dark Knight Rises" discussions, Graham Nolan and Chuck Dixon are the creators of the Batman villain Bane [and are both conservatives].

Now they are looking to crowdsource (like Kickstarter) a new comic book series: Joe Frankenstein.

http://igg.me/p/249822

"Comics have really changed in the last 20 years. They've gotten darker and humorless. We want our project to reflect a time when comics were not only exciting, but fun to read. JOE FRANKENSTEIN is an all ages graphic novel in the same vein that Harry Potter was an all ages book. Kids and adults can read it and enjoy it on different levels.

•JOE FRANKENSTEIN is the kind of stuff that Marvel and DC are no longer publishing so we have taken it upon ourselves to do the kind of comics story that we, and a large part of the reading public are clammoring for.

•Your kind and generous support of this project will enable us to produce the art and story in a reasonable amount of time. Our goal, if fullly funded, is to have the books in your hands by Halloween of 2013.

•Nolan and Dixon have produced comics and graphic novels for all the major comic publishers for over 25 years so you can be assured this will get done and it will be really cool!"

[Marina]

I'm not into comics, but the idea sounds really cool.

[Greyweather]

Speaking as a fan of the medium, one thing that caught my eye was the mention of how this project is, at least in part, a reaction to the artistic/cultural shift in the comics industry.

I think that this just might have something to do with why the Japanese were able to swoop in and take a big bite out of the market with manga. Manga have more than their fair share of 'dark and humorless' but a lot of it, especially some of the bigger hits, are not. The free market being what it is, boom, huge shift in market share.

[Marina]

It's funny I just read a column on how there's a significant shift in readership towards YA because people are sick of "dark and humorless" that's becoming the standard of "respectable" adult literature.

[Greyweather]

I could believe it, though there is no shortage of dark and humorless YA. Example that springs to mind is Margo Lanagan's award-winning YA fantasy novel Tender Morsels. Dark, humorless, and sometimes downright cruel. Not a book I'd ever suggest handing a child or even a teen.