Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, Easy Pieces, kickstarter, Neil Dvorak

Dvorak's Easy Pieces Takes a Step Back, Kickstarts With a Vengeance

By Hannah Means-Shannon

Cartoonist on the subtle, often quite haunting series Easy Pieces published on the open access webcomics platform ACTIVATEComix and on its own website, Neil Dvorak launched a Kickstarter for an animation based on his comic, raised substantial funds, but didn't succeed in hitting his goal. It happens, and especially on a first Kickstarter from talented, ambitious people who want to shoot for the stars. But Dvorak turned the situation around, chronicling the experience in comics form, picked up his own pieces and had a think about the future of his animation project.

In an e-mail reaching out to supporters and friends, he laid the situation bare in what can only be described as a brave manner. He gave himself some time to evaluate Kickstarter, its strengths and weaknesses, cut away some of the excess he was planning (though trying not to do an entire animation by yourself is not exactly an excessive goal), and came up with a new plan.

Easy Pieces, the animation, is back, and Dvorak has taken his experiences on board to give the project much more of a fighting chance. His new Kickstarter goal is $11,000 rather than $18,000 and though it only launched on Wednesday, it started generating donations right away. There's no doubt many of his original supporters, who raised over $8,000 in the original campaign will be back, and some are already.

What is it about Easy Pieces that raises peoples' interest? Dvorak's comics are strangely hard to describe, but it doesn't stop people from trying, and the stranger they are, the more intriguing it is to see them in animated form. Easy Pieces is reflective, honest, funny, and has a unique stillness to his autobio and often workaday esoteric musings. He talks about life, the universe, and everything really, and does so in one of the most appealing clear line styles you'll see out there today. His choice of creamy, uncolored back-drop gets under your skin. It gives everything a manuscript feel. For developing a sense of dialogue with the reader, a sense of personal encounter with another mind working in comics, Easy Pieces can't be beaten. It stays with you, and changes your own sense of perception. Dvorak, by the way, is no stranger to animation, working on several short projects previously, so it's a chance for him to explore his skill set on an original work close to his heart.

It's not a project that deserves to be set aside easily, and Dvorak's choice to get up and keep fighting is an excellent example for other indie artists who may give up too early on crowdfunding if it doesn't generate the interest they had hoped for quickly enough. But, as many creators can attest, sometimes the work just won't let you go and demands further action. Easy Pieces, the animation, is one of the projects that has tapped Dvorak on the shoulder and asked for another lease on life. We'll be watching closely to see how Round 2 goes, and it's certainly starting off with a can-do attitude. Congrats, Neil!

You can watch the Kickstarter trailer for Easy Pieces, the animation, here.

Hannah Means-Shannon is a regular contributor at Bleeding Cool, writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org, and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress. Find her bio here.

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