Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Alex Siquig, Black Snow, digital comics, kickstarter, Michael Balistreri

Black Snow, The Wannabe Superhero

Michael Balistreri Jr. writes for Bleeding Cool

First off, I just launched a Kickstarter with my partner Alex Siquig to raise funds for printing our first graphic novel.  I'll share a secret with you, this is our 2nd attempt.  We failed about a month ago.  But that's the great thing about the internet, it's full of 2nd chances.

It's actually quite fitting that we failed, because we've basically been failing at comics for 12 years now.  I mean, you're a big comic fan reading this, and I'd wager you'd never heard of Alex, me or Black Snow until 1 minute ago.

So what has sustained us for this decade plus war of attrition?  It's pretty simple really, we love making comics and we're passionate about the story we have to tell.

Black Snow

A strange name for an even stranger story.

What does it mean?  Here's my favorite definition "Snow that falls through a particulate-laden atmosphere."

I didn't know that when I came up with the name, but I now feel it is rather apropos when describing this title and main character.

Black Snow takes place in Detroit, a city that was once the crown jewel of industrial America but has now fallen into poverty and corruption.  And honestly, is there any city more in need of a hero?  Similarly, the main character, Black Snow, was once a hopeful young superhero in training but over the years he's faded into a jaded drunk with questionable morals.

But I don't want to give you the impression that this comic is all gloom and doom.  It's more of a comedy than a drama.  By the way, you can read it online here.

Some of your first thoughts when first reading this comic are probably "Damn, that looks weird!", "There are a lot of characters," and "This is a superhero story?"  Well, it's not really a superhero story.  It's a story about people, some of which happen to be superheroes.  There is a strong focus on friendship.  Oh, and the visuals bear more than a passing homage to film noir.

When we started this comic as teenagers in high school I think it would be charitable to say we knew very little about making comics.  Much of our experience has been learning what works and what doesn't.

What this graphic novel represents is that decade worth improvements culminating in the best we have to offer.  And as cynical as I typically am, I have to say I'm incredibly proud of what we've accomplished here and excited to share it with the world.

So hopefully this Kickstarter won't fail again.  Why did it fail the first time?  In large part because I foolishly assumed it would be really easy based on the success I was seeing from a lot of other projects.  Kind of like when I assumed making a comic book would be really easy.  But at least I learn from my mistakes.

Why do I think our Kickstarter will succeed this time?  Because I realized how much work is actually involved, which is to say a ton.  Because I'm hitting up pretty much everyone I know, and many people I don't.  Because I did a bunch of research this time.  And because I'm doing stuff like writing this.

Why should you root for us and Black Snow?  Because America loves an underdog.  At least I hope they do.  Because believe you me, we're most definitely underdogs writing stories about other underdogs.  We are the little guy.  We embody the everyman.  And without support from people like you we will not succeed.

And on that note I'd like to offer a special stretch goal in honor of all you Bleeding Cool readers.  My good friend and regular Black Snow Comics contributor Mark "Rawr" Egan has offered a special pre-release digital copy of his comic compilation Back Office Vol. 1 if we can hit our 2K goal in one week!

So please give us a chance and I think you'll find we have something unique to offer.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!