Tag: Kickstarter

My New Hobby Craves Violence Review

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

I’ve got a review of a minicomic zine appearing in Issue 4 of The Comics Courier, which is crowdfunding until July 1 on Kickstarter (here)!

I wrote about My New Hobby Craves Violence, a botanical horror story that’s also about becoming trapped in an addiction to receiving positive feedback online. Kristyna Baczynski is famous for her wholesome nature illustrations, so seeing her take on botanical horror mixed with toxic positivity is a lot of fun.

Here’s an excerpt from my review:

Pip’s situation is all too relatable as she ignores the warning signs of an unhealthy obsession while devoting her attention to the uncanny plant that serves as a consistent source of new content. Still, the analogy of “unhealthy growth” doesn’t work if the botanical horror doesn’t operate on a visceral level, and Baczynski’s horrible little houseplant is amazingly creepy. Its thickly veined leaves twist and squirm across the pages as the comic panels become increasingly crowded and claustrophobic. Text message bubbles pop up between scenes of Pip’s collapsing life, competing for the reader’s attention and engendering a palpable sense of urgency as Pip grabs a pair of pruning shears and struggles to disentangle herself from the clutching vines. 

The Kickstarter project has already met its funding goal, so the issue should be out soon. The Comics Courier is a fantastic publication – I really enjoyed the first three issues – and I’m very happy to see it loved and supported.

You can preorder a copy of The Comics Courier with my review here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiffanybabb/the-comics-courier-a-comics-criticism-journal-issue-4

That One Matt Bors Comic

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

I have an essay appearing in a book called That One Matt Bors Comic, an anthology about internet meme culture that has a lineup of incredible names attached, including Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics fame and Ryan Broderick, the host of Panic World podcast. Many of the artists who work with the comics journalism website The Nib are onboard, as is the amazing Matt Bors himself.

I’m not entirely sure why I’m included in this constellation of stars, but I’m not complaining! I have a lot to say about online discourse, especially in progressive spaces. When people talk about “how the internet warps our minds and culture,” I think there’s a tendency to focus on right-wing discourse on mainstream platforms like Twitter and TikTok, but people in left-wing communities on Tumblr definitely have their moments as well.

The book is currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glennf/that-one-matt-bors-comic

Carpe Noctem

~ Kathryn

Carpe Noctem: Vampires Through the Ages is an anthology of original art, comics, and historical fiction about vampires around the world. The backer campaign lasts until Saturday, December 11, and you can read about the project and order a copy of the book on Kickstarter (here). Carpe Noctem was fully funded in three days, and four stretch goals have been unlocked since then. You can check out contributor bios, merch illustrations, and previews of art and writing on the project’s Twitter account (here).

I’m contributing a short story about a Heian-period vampire titled “The Kumo Diary,” which follows a Meiji-era scholar’s assistant who discovers an old manuscript that she initially mistakes as a lost chapter from The Tale of Genji. Along with The Tale of Genji, I’ve drawn inspiration from Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short story “Rashomon” and Fumiko Enchi’s eerie postwar novel Masks. In the excerpt above, you can see my homage to a fictional essay in Masks called “An Account of the Shrine in the Fields.” It was a lot of fun to write about Heian-period demonic women, and I also enjoyed doing research in order to put together the Meiji-period frame story. I’m very proud of the ending, and I hope readers will get a pleasant chill from the gradual transformation of the two narrators’ distinctive voices.

Carpe Noctem is scheduled to be published in August 2022. You can back the Kickstarter campaign to pre-order a copy of the anthology along with a collection of the dark and stylish merch created as a promotion. There’s a special NSFW zine and a bonus story told through a collection of physical documents that are exclusive to the Kickstarer campaign, so please check it out if you’re interested!