Get thee behind the
Caravan of Comics
a series of letters by Bruce Mutard
It took Bruce a while to get back to me, which is why this information about the Caravan of Comics is a bit last minute. Last minute is not late, however! There is still time for you to hop on board the Caravan of Comics and support these comic book creators in a very practical way.
18 March 2013
Greetings and salutations my fine friends, human, quadruped, feathered, gilled, entomologic and amoebic.
You may have heard whispers in the wind that a submersible Winnebago was about to depart these antipodean shores for the northern New World. Yes, the proof is now in the pudding of mixed metaphors: the Caravan of Comics hits the road again for 2013. Myself, Mirranda Burton, Scarlette Baccini, Marijka Gooding, Patrick Alexander, Gregory Mackay and Dan Hayward will be hitting the Toronto Comics Arts Festival, Librarie Drawn & Quarterly in Montreal, Fantagraphics Bookshop in Seatlle and myself to the International Comic Arts Forum in May. We are taking our comics,, the Graphic Novels! Melbourne! documentary and the idea of Australian comics, to show them we have the right stuff, we have the left stuff, we have the STUFF that comics are made of.
Which is of course, the stuff of life.
We now entreat you, beseech you, solicit you, cajole you, perform weird fumbly acts upon you, to help support our crowdfunding campaign not only with some of the lovely horrible stuff that is oft called manna, moolah, dosh and tool of satan, but to help promote it via your social media networks, sites, tupperware groups, book clubs, swingers parties or whatever church you belong to. Find the share buttons on our campaign page and whilst there, watch the great Dan Hayward directed video and chuck some money in the tin:
Please head to http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/358899/emal/2677232
For lots of info, please head to www.caravanofcomics.com
We are also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caravanofcomics (okay to be updated very soon)
https://twitter.com/caravanofcomics
There you’ll find out who’s going and why. Also, you can get great rewards for your hard earned contribution. We will follow in the giant steps made by the Caravan of Comics, 2012, and make sure that those who follow us, will not find the barb wire drawn across the beaches, the gunfights trained upon cartoonists foreheads and barking dobermans ready to remove drawing limbs from their bodies.
Love, with freshly grated parmesan cheese on top,
Bruce.
24 March 2013
Greetings again you marvels of 70% water, bone, grey matter and gastrointestinal tract filled with masticated victuals,
One week now into our Indiegogo campaign to raise money to help the seven comically intrepid souls (actually, there are doubts that I have one, but, it’s the spirit of the thing), venturing to the old New World to bring them the marvel that is Australian comics. Look, they are waiting expectantly for us in Toronto, Seattle and Montreal!
http://torontocomics.com/news/caravan-of-comics-are-coming-to-tcaf/
https://www.facebook.com/fantagraphicsbookstore
But, we are a long, long way from the amount we are hoping to raise. This is a gentle reminder to get on board and contribute even a little bitsy amount. We think the perks are pretty good and want to make them to share with you. Okay, it’s not high priority right now; I’ve got work to do, hangovers to nurse, dogs to walk, birdcages to clean out, kids to take to playgroup, keeping your internet pyramid scheme afloat until you get your new identity from that bloke in the Bahamas.
It’ll take 8-9 minutes of your entire life – you can reasonably expect to live about 41 million of them – to look at the video Dan made, read the spiel and select one of our rewards, fill in your particulars and then your card or paypal deets. That’s 0.000000219% of your life. That isn’t much when you put it in that perspective.
Soooo… I wil beg if I have to, as I am a comics artist and have no dignity anyway, but not yet. When there’s two days left on the campaign and we’re still short as many lengths as a typical Black Caviar win, then I will get my knee pads on.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/caravan-of-comics-2013/x/2677232
xo
2 April 2013
Golly gosh, more spammy begging from that bloody Bruce guy,
Yes, sorry.
Until the size challenged person with the helmet, shield and spear sings, these calls to support the Caravan of Comics crowd-funding campaign will land in your in-tray until it officially closes, but I beg a stay to ponder rather than hitting delete.
You’ve no doubt asked yourself: WHY should I pay for a bunch of kids to go to North America on a holiday, having a whale of a time at comic festivals and book store signings? I’d rather put it towards MY holiday or pay for my kids dental treatment, or get my dog’s twisted bowel operated on. I mean, life, you know? It happens.
Indeed. But please consider that whilst it is true the principal beneficiaries of this trip are ourselves, for we get to showcase our work, to sell our books, to make connections with authors, publishers and the like, you too, can benefit. And it’s not about feeling good like you do with a charity donation. No, as the first caravan showed, it’s about building a bridge to the new markets and comics community overseas that will benefit us all. This bridge is one that everyone can cross in the future. It was because of the first caravan’s gumption to go, that we were able to get Australia Council backing for this second trip. But that didn’t even pay half the airfare. It’s a huge help, to be sure.
So think of it in these terms:
It’s not a holiday. It’s career building.
If you are a comics artist, you are investing in the future of your own success one day, for you too will be able to join a future caravan and show the world your wonderful work. Other caravans are planned for Small Press Expo in September and Angouleme in France.
If you are a publisher, your artists and others will show new markets what sort of comics are made in Australia and possibly lead to rights sales, sales if exisiting books and the discovery of new talent.
If you are an Aussie comics supporter, the success of the tour means that Aussie comics get seen and talked about and helps local talent to make more work. That has ot be a good thing.
If you are famly and friends, what goes around, comes around. Help us and we’ll help you.
It’s educational to all of us as we are going to document our trip in comics and video form – you can learn from us and others.
And of course, let’s not forget the exciting rewards you can get. You get something for something. 3 people have paid $500 to get 6 pieces of original art each. That’s a lot of money, but it’s also a major investment. But the original limited edition prints, the DVDs, the postcards drawn by us… there’s lot’s you can get. We will seriously love you all for helping us.
It’s not that irritating Australian inferiority complex drving us to prove we make better comics than anyone else, but that we make as good and professional comics as made anwhere in the world. Why not? Social media and the internet cannot come close to the physical presence at these festivals, where meeting new readers, other authors great and new is something that digitalisation simply cannot do. Not even virtually.
So, please consider supporting our campaign which is also your campaign. Please use the buttons on the page to retweet it, share it, email it, refer it to everyone you know.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/358899/emal/2677232
http://caravanofcomics.com/2013/
12 April 2013
Greetings and sorry for this spammish plea, again,
Did you know there’s only 5 days left on the Caravan of Comics campaign?FIVE!
Okay, so we went into it thinking ten grand was perhaps not unrealistic. Clearly it is, but now we think half that is not overly unreasonable. We are just above 4 grand now hoping for a last minute push. Some of you have received three of these solicitations before, some less. One or two of you found them annoying enough to swat me away, which is fair enough. It’s getting to the point where one gets quite a few crowd-funding requests and it’s like the endless requests to support charities; part of you really wants to help for you are very sympathetic to the cause, but… you’ve got far more pressing things to do with your money.
Well, the cause this time is Australian comics and gaining greater exposure for them in North America. Thanks to the self and part crowd-funded efforts of the first Caravan of Comics in 2012, we’ve been invited back to TCAF, we’ve been invited to SPX 2013 in Bethseda, in September. The bridges over the Pacific are being built and we are really asking you to help build them so that many of you may walk over yourselves in the coming years. Think of it as an investment in comics as art (which it is) and your comics if you make them.
No matter the level of support – $2 or $1200 – it counts in support of the idea. Of course, there are great perks for helping us and we really look forward to making some great comics, prints, documentary films and writing postcards to you from Toronto and Seattle to thank you for getting onboard with us. We will get behind you when you go over in the future. Now there’s as idea.
If you do hop on, please spread the word.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/358899/emal/2677232
