A 250 word (or less) review of Leaving Megalopolis: Graphic Novel/Volume One
by Gail Simone, Jim Calafiore, and Jason Wright; Kickstarted
Leaving Megalopolis is the Kickstarted survival horror/superhero mashup comic by Gail Simone and Jim Calafiore. It tells the story of a small group of survivors trapped in Megalopolis, a sprawling city infested with murderous, insane superheroes. And its up to these survivors to escape the city and leave Meagalopolis before their former guardians can rip them apart. It's a great little comic with some fun moments, some properly horrific events, and a few clever plot twists. Leaving Megalopolis really plays to it's creators strengths: Jim Calafiore is a wizard at drawing deranged violence while the stripped down, straightforward plot allows the characterization that is Gail Simones greatest strength to really shine. In so many ways Leaving Megalopolis is exactly what I wanted from these creators . That said, I'm pretty unimpressed by the whole Kickstarter experience. While the comic is very good, it was delivered much later than initially promised, and for a pricepoint (with expensive Canadian shipping) that I feel like could have gone much further with a conventional publisher. And the fact that Leaving Megalopolis is now coming out from Darkhorse adds a certain amount of insult to injury. It's great that everyone can now read the book, but I bought into the Kickstarter because it was billed as the only way to get the comic. If I had known a conventional publishing option was forthcoming I would have waited. So, yeah, Leaving Megalopolis was a pretty great comic but a pretty poop Kickstarting experience.
Word count: 247
Or my mixed feelings for Kickstarter.
Kickstarter, at least in concept, is a really great idea.
When I first heard about it, it seemed like this great device for putting the power of publishing into the hands of people who seldom get to wield it. The idea of Kickstarter to my liberal-ish mind immediately leads to this notion of
crowd funding creators, especially new and marginalized ones, to finance
projects that wouldn't otherwise get off the ground and to get new voices heard. Kickstarter would help break the creation monoploy of big publishers which would bring more variety of content, diversity of creators and a bigger audience to the world of comics (all of which it sorely needs). It would be a creative revolution. Power to the people man!
Kickstarter is also nifty from the perspective of how art gets made. I'm sure I'm oversimplifying the crap out of this, but from what I understand there are two prevailing and competing paradigms for publishing. One, the kind you'd associate with Marvel or DC, is this profit driven Ayn Randian approach that is about maximising the money the author/publisher receives from a project. The object of the art is to make money, essentially. The other model is more about getting the art out while ensuring the artists make a sufficient amount of money to fund the production of the artwork and to, you know, keep them alive and off the street and such. It's a model that's more about breaking even and keeping creators fed than turning huge profits. Think public radio. Historically this model of publishing has gotten by laregly from government subsidies and arts grants but Kickstarter, at least in theory, provides a new avenue for creators interested in pursuing this kind of publishing model.
(One could also add a third publishing strategy with straight up patronage... but until I am an eccentric billionaire it isn't super relevant to me.)
So yeah, Kickstarter at first glance seems pretty rad.
And sometimes it is.
There are certainly a wide variety of worthy
projects that are Kickstarted by generous (and sometimes insane) people. The world is richer for
these projects, the generosity/avarice of the crowdsourcers, and honestly for Kickstarter. Despite any of my misgivings, I'm genuinely glad Kickstarter exists and that there are people inclined to Kickstart wicked cool projects.
Hell, after I started writing this as a Kickstart is crazy essay, I saw news that Gail Simone and Jim Calafiore announced Leaving Megalopolis, a comic about people trying to survive superheroes gone crazy that would be thematically similar to the beloved and departed Secret Six. And well, THIS IS A THING I NEED and it is available exclusively via Kickstarter. So yeah, I'm helping to Kickstart this one at the $20 level which will get me a print copy of the book sent to Canada. I love these creators, know that they will produce a quality product, and believe that they will deliver this comic in a reasonable time frame. Gail Simone also seems like one of the nicest people alive so I'm confident that my money will not be stolen or squandered. The project has since been Kickstarted into existence.
It's also important to note that my Kickstarter experience is a pre-purchase for something I would buy anyways and can only get through the Kickstarter as opposed to generosity, patronage, investment or, you know, choice.
However, despite my participation, I still have some substantial misgivings about Kickstarter and how it's being applied.
My misgivings after the cut:
