Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, HRL, kickstarter, this nightmare kills fascists

'This Nightmare Kills Fascists': A Comic At The Intersection Of Art And Politics

Published Sat, 08 Jul 2017 12:00:26 -0500

Eric Palicki writes:

Shortly after we launched our Kickstarter, Matt Miner and I received this question on the campaign page:

"I am very into politics. Does this comic touch on real world politics? Is it metaphorical? Liberal leaning? Conservative?"

Matt provided this reply:

"The title is a direct nod to Woody Guthrie and the idea of using art as a political tool. There's no specific definition of 'fascist' that needs to be adhered to – the title doesn't need to be taken literally."

Matt and I never intended to fill This Nightmare Kills Fascists with crude attacks on any one area of the political landscape. Not only because it alienates half the comics-reading audience, but also because it's boring.

Instead, we wanted an outlet to explore our unease over the state of the world. As we started to invite some of our friends to join us–and nearly everyone we asked said yes without hesitation — we found this uneasiness to be more universal than we initially suspected. We intentionally sought creative teams who would each approach the broad theme of "political horror" from a different perspective, and we've been delighted to see the writers and artists taking their stories in interesting, and often oblique, directions.

The creative pairings, many of which are revealed here for the first time, include Christopher Sebela working with Kelly Williams; Vita Ayala and Eric Zawadzki; Ryan K. Lindsay and Soo Lee; Tini Howard re-teaming with her Magdalena cohort Christian DiBari; Katy Rex and fellow Minnesotan John Bivens; and more, all wrapped inside a full-color cover illustrated by Ben Bishop.

The book was originally slated for 160 pages, but I'm pleased to announce here we're expanding the page count to 176. Campaign backers can get digital and physical copies of the book, autographed bookplates (numbered and signed by at least ten contributors), creator-centric multi-book packages, custom sketches, script reviews with professional comics writers, and more.

We're also offering a unique reward to backers who come to the campaign from Bleeding Cool. Add a copy of No Angel #1, autographed by co-writers Eric and Adrianne Palicki, to your reward for just $5. This add-on will only be available on Saturday, July 8th and Sunday, July 9th.

For those who are unfamiliar with No Angel, the publisher Black Mask Studios describes the recently wrapped four-issue series as "a cosmological and conspiratorial modern western in the style of Preacher meets Justified by way of Jodorowsky," or, according to one Bleeding Cool commenter, No Angel is "a comic that got worse with each issue that came out. I couldn't even finish #4." (Thanks for reading, user Tom Foolery). The book is co-written by Eric and Adrianne Palicki and illustrated by Ari Syahrazad, with colors by Jean-Paul Csuka and letters by Jim Campbell.

At any rate, Matt and I are very pleased with how This Nightmare Kills Fascists is coming together, especially with its approach to such important modern political matters as justice, same-sex marriage, gender equality, climate change, and the role of the media. We sincerely hope you'll give the campaign a look and consider backing the project.

You can find This Nightmare Kills Fascists at nightmarekickstarter.com.