Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, kickstarter

Kymera Press Invades The Boys Club

Published Sun, 13 Jul 2014 12:00:27 -0500

Gates of Midnight Writer/Creator: D. Lynn Smith. Artist: Amelia Woo. Color: Mirana Reveier. Letterer: Jessica Jimerson. Close Date: July 8. Publication Date: November 2015

Be a part of the Kickstarter campaign for Kymera Press' women-created comic Gates of Midnight. This supernatural thriller pits Raven, a combat medic recently returned from Afghanistan, against the mythological gods and monsters of mankind's ancient cultures.

By Autumn Daughetee

When I think of comic books I imagine a comic book store that looks a lot like the one on Big Bang Theory. When a woman walks in the door everyone freezes and stares. Since their inception, comic books have been the province of men. The ladies of Kymera Press are going to change that.

Kymera Press founders Debbie Lynn Smith and Maggie Field are kicking down the doors to the boys club and making a place for women in comics. "Our mission is to give women creators and artists of comic books an outlet where they can create women-friendly comics. Our secondary mission is to encourage more women to read and enjoy comics," said Debbie.

The founders of Kymera Press first met when Maggie was working as a film and television literary agent and she took on Debbie as a client. When Maggie closed her agency in 2006, the two remained friends and occasionally worked on projects together.

The seeds for Kymera Press were sown when Maggie suggested that Debbie turn her television pilot script, Gates of Midnight into a comic book. This lead Debbie to spend the next year and half researching comics, taking seminars and talking to people in the comic industry. "When Maggie suggested I turn it into a comic book, I was skeptical. I hadn't read comics since the Archie Comics when I was a kid. Imagine my surprise as I started reading the independent comics like Saga, The Last Man, Voice in the Dark, Fatale, Ghosted, Afterlife with Archie … I could go on and on. I turned into a total fan and have spent lots of money catching up on what I've been missing all these years."

In the course of their research Debbie and Maggie attended ImageCon. "Debbie and I were in research mode when we attended ImageCon in San Francisco in July of 2013. It was a one-day event, and as the day progressed we noticed that everyone on the stage, everyone on every panel was male," said Maggie.

"In the hotel room late that afternoon, we had a long conversation about how what we wanted to do went far beyond just putting out my comic Gates of Midnight. We decided then and there to use all women in the development of Gates," said Debbie. "And we decided that we wanted to provide an outlet for the incredibly talented women currently working or trying to break into the comic world."

While the first four issues of Gates of have been funded and are in various stages of production, Kymera Press has initiated a Kickstarter campaign, to fund issues 5-8 and a graphic novel that will collect issues 1-8 in one place. This campaign is in its last week of funding, so act now before it's too late. If you'd like to learn more about Kymera Press, please visit the website at www.kymerapress.com or the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kymerapress.

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