A BLACKWOOD man is thrilled that his comic book dream will be made a reality – after a crowdfunding campaign was reached and exceeded in just 16 hours.
Aria Black, 23, first came up with his Tail-less character while in college and this is the character his comics have been based around since.
“It was a funny story,” he said when asked where the inspiration came from. “I was sat in college in my Maths exam – anyone who knows me knows that me and Maths do not get on – and I looked at the paper and couldn’t answer the questions, so I turned the paper over and started doodling this character.
“Tail-less looks nothing like how I started, but backers of my comic will be able to see the character’s journey from a scrawny character to the beefed-up piece you see in the art today.”
He describes it as being perfect for people who loved classic Saturday morning cartoons like Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Thundercats.
Mr Black put the story onto crowdfunding website IndieGoGo to help fund his publication of the comic, with backers able to receive a number of perks including all the comics, figures, extra information showing the development of Tail-less, trading cards, posters and original artwork.
The Adventures of Tailess cover
The goal was to raise £2,000 - but within 16 hours of the campaign going live, it has reached and surpassed this number, standing at £2,708 at the time of writing.
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“It’s incredible to see the support in such a short space of time the campaign has been live and for a first time campaign that is really good numbers," he said.
“I’ve been working on the book for two years now.
“The first four comics are out in the public already as I was selling them independently through eBay, but this project will see those four joined by three more new ones that nobody has read yet – so the book compiles seven stories and shows the journey of Tail-less through from his initial design as I’ve developed him over the past two years.
The Tail-less Keshi figure available on select tiers of the IndieGoGo campaign
“Backers will also be able to get the original artwork which shows my development as a comic book artist as well as the character, this includes the sketches I first made all the way through to the finished product.
“I wrote the story myself as well as designing and creating the artwork.”
Backers are expected to get the comic and their additional perks before December.
“I set this date to make sure that everything would go well, and we would have plenty of time to sort out the logistics and that way people wouldn’t be disappointed if it happened to be we had to push the date back," said Mr Black.
“I’m already working on the next book so definitely want to make sure my backers have this as soon as I can.”
He also hopes that his story could inspire others in South Wales to pursue comic creation. “It is a very small community in South Wales who are creating comics, but it can be done.”
You can still back Mr Black’s IndieGoGo campaign and find out more about Tail-less here https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-adventures-of-tail-less-in-outer-space#/
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