Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, HRL

There's No Shame in a Reboot: The Atomic Thunderbolt

Published Sat, 09 Dec 2017 12:30:47 -0600

Kevin Powers writes:

In recent years, Kickstarter has become crucial to the development, distribution, and, ultimately, the sustainability of the comic book industry for independent, small press, and creator-owned projects. I know this because I've run three successful campaigns that have funded projects that otherwise wouldn't exist. I've supported creators that work for the big publishers, and creators like myself who are working to create their own thing. But crowd-funding is a trial and error exercise; I also know this because I've run campaigns that haven't been successful (including first tries on the successful ones).

That's what prompted me to write this up. For the past couple of weeks, I've had a campaign for the second issue of my golden age revival, The Atomic Thunderbolt, running on Kickstarter. After a successful first campaign and a lot of positive feedback, I've been excited to continue the series. When it came time to finally launch the second campaign, I implemented a plan I had mapped out months ago and hit the launch button. Pretty standard, right?

That was until the next morning. Despite the campaign doing well, I woke up unhappy with it. I looked it over and started to question the rewards and how I mapped out the entire thing. I also noticed there was an error on shipping costs on one of the levels and wanted to adjust certain tiers. I corrected the course, and even though everything was going well, I still wasn't happy.

"The best laid plans," as they say. I don't really buy into the idea that there is a right and wrong time to run a Kickstarter. Maybe running one during the holiday season is a bit of a risk, but looking at some of the other projects that have been funded recently, I don't think so.

As I started to redo numbers, examine rewards that not only could have been, but should have been, I talked to some friends who also regularly run Kickstarters. I talked to my good buddy Mike Kingston, the creative force behind massive Kickstarter success story Headlocked, and Shon Bury, the genius behind Space Goat Productions – and I decided to relaunch.

Why did I want to write this? Why did I ask Bleeding Cool to run it? Simple: I want creators to know that there's no shame in taking a step back and reworking a project — be it a Kickstarter campaign or a book as a whole — to find a better balance and ultimately greater satisfaction with your work. One of my primary goals with my small publisher TJ Comics (www.tjcomics.com) is to put out high-quality work that rivals the big dogs. The greatest compliment I receive is when readers tell me the quality of my books is above what they expect from the indies. The first campaign for The Atomic Thunderbolt #2 ran counter to my mission.

So, I just relaunched the campaign for The Atomic Thunderbolt #2, and frankly, it's how it should have always been. I'm happy with it.

Comics is a funny business and there's no shortage of creative ways to fund and market your book, especially with the prominence of Kickstarter. I tend to agree with Justin Gray that Kickstarting isn't the most sustainable long-term way to maintain a comic line, but I'd argue it's one of the best ways to reach new readers and to create personal projects that the big publishers may not want to take the risk.

The Atomic Thunderbolt is a great character with a lot of potential. A Golden Age one-hit wonder that has developed a bit of a cult following amongst public domain enthusiasts, I first discovered him a few years back and was absolutely fascinated by him. The first issue of the series is a homage to the original — in the Kickstarter Edition of the first issue, I reprinted the original and you can draw the parallels between the two.

The second issue kicks off a whole new story arc for The Atomic Thunderbolt. I've teamed up with artist Rowel Roque and colorist Donna Gregory to continue my original story exploring what happened to the titular hero. So far, he's been recruited by the soon-to-be CIA to take out pockets of Nazi resistance that still control Hitler's fabled super-weapons. Of course, there's a mysterious Nazi leader who is somehow connected to our hero and seeks to confront The Atomic Thunderbolt. The story also features an underlying mystery about what happened to the other heroes of the Golden Age — a play on the history of the end and aftermath of World War II.

In re-working my campaign and the numbers, I budgeted to allow free shipping to the US for certain reward levels. I've also – for the first time – added stretch goals that will bring extra rewards and content to the second issue. Overall, this is probably one of the best campaigns I've run, and I will feverishly refresh my email hoping to get the coveted "Project We Love" from Kickstarter.

Right now, there's a Launch Day special, which I've extended through Monday morning for Bleeding Cool readers. You can get The Atomic Thunderbolt #1 (50 pages, Prestige format includes the reprint of the original, $8 cover price) and The Atomic Thunderbolt #2, including both PDFs, for just $10 (+2 US shipping). After the launch period, that level jumps to $15 (and includes a 6 x 9 Issue #1 cover print set). You won't be disappointed.