Alright folks, gather 'round! Your friendly neighborhood artist, Steve Rude (the one with the crippling art supply habit!), is back with a brand new sketchbook project: The Art of Steve Rude 2025 Sketchbook!
This bad boy's hitting crowdfunding in January, and lemme tell ya, art supplies ain't cheap. That's why your support is golden!
Speaking of gold, be sure to check out our Patreon page – those dedicated dudes and dudettes get some special deals during the launch.
And hey, while you're at it, head over to our launch page (www.steverude.com/2025skb) and sign up for the Backerkit livestream! We'll be dishing all the juicy details about the sketchbook and maybe even throw in a few laughs.
Now, to keep this humble dude motivated, let's hear it! What kind of goodies would make YOU excited for the next crowdfunder? Hit that poll and let your freak flag fly! (Select all that apply)
We just wanted to let everyone know that work on the comic is currently underway, and to say thank you to everyone for their patience. We joined onto the comictopia project on rather short notice, but during the campaign it became clear that while we love Backerkit for our fulfillment solution, we've just built up too much of a an audience on Kickstarter to try and move everyone over here. So we will be launching issue 1, the full issue, over on Kickstarter next month, and we will have enough art to finalize assembly of the ashcan very soon.
Artist Antonio Baldari also had to take on another gig unexpectedly but is back working on CSR, and also contributed this awesome cover for the upcoming full length issue.
So hopefully if everything lines up right, you will have the ashcans in hand just as everyone is starting to talk about the first issue, before it goes to press. This will also get a wide circulation through comic book stores nation/world-wide, making this limited ashcan release something special. As soon as the new kickstarter pre-launch page is live we will share that too. More to come soon!
Thank you to all who've helped bring Indiginerds to life! We're happy to report that as of right now the shipments are completely fulfilled-- save for a few stragglers that have not completed their surveys!
If this is you, please be sure to get that done by May 22nd as that is the final call period for a few titles of ours!
If you do not receive your package, or are having issues with your survey, let us know!! We're available at [email protected] and will reply to emails issued there faster than comments left here on BackerKit.
We've officially completed the shipping for our 2025 Art of Steve Rude book! If you haven't received a shipping notification you're in one of these catagories:
(1) PAY OVER TIME
If you chose to pay over time your final split payment is next week. At that time you will need to complete your checkout including paying for shipping. We will email you around May 1st so please watch your inbox.
(2) INTERNATIONAL - SHIPPING DUE
If you are International we have gone over all the orders and emailed you options for final shipping due.
(3) CHECKOUT NEVER COMPLETED
If you never completed checkout then you probably have a balance due or we need your shipping address. If you're in this group we've sent you at least 3 emails. We will hold your order for 90 days then restock it.
THIS STARTED AS A REPRINT, BUT IT'S BECOMING IT'S OWN BOOK!
If you already have the "How to Draw the Animated Nexus" this new book will be all new! Launching on Free Comic Book Day, first weekend backers will not only receive a FREE COMIC BOOK (*add-on), but also have the opportunity to purchase a set of exclusive prints from livestreams sketches done on Free Comic Book Day!
Thank you to all who've backed Rigsby, WI thus far! We're happy to report that as of right now the shipments are completely fulfilled-- save for a few stragglers that have not completed their surveys!
If this is you, please be sure to get that done by May 22nd as that is the final call period!
If you do not receive your package, or are having issues with your survey, let us know!! We're available at [email protected] and will reply to emails issued there faster than comments left here on BackerKit.
Thank you, everybody, for your efforts and goodwill. You almost had me in tears. So far, you helped us raise $5,500 in a single day!
The campaign is still going. Apparently, as long as people keep backing, the campaign remains live. So, if you want to get a late pledge in, please do!
TLDR: Getting a little personal, achievements, stickers, and more cool rewards!
Hi everyone!
First off, I want to thank you all for supporting this project, and I'd like to get a little more personal than I usually do. If you don't want to read it, you can scroll down, I'll indicate where my rambling stops so you can read about news from the campaign!:)
I became a scientist and worked in research for more than a decade now because I have this need to understand things. Really understand them as much as I can.
When I sat down to write Back To Earth, it was one of the few times in my life that I was overwhelmed. I needed to get the angst and introspection about the future out. So I imagined a future not far from now where technology has taken over every aspect of life. From cyborgs to literal robots, this world became a mix of Blade Runner and The Last Of Us. But then things caught up with what was left of humanity, and the apocalypse hit. What then? What happens when everything seems to have collapsed?!
It's easy to break things. It's harder to rebuild them.
Through time, I realized that when facing hardships, what counts above all are the connections we made along the way. I wanted to channel that in this story. When you can count on people, and they can count on you. The true spirit of community. But also on a deep personal level of that ONE person who sticks with you through thick and thin. You are stronger because they are by your side, and you can face anything. They are your best friend, your lover, your world.
Enter Sasha and Leora and their exceptional bond. It's a love story for the ages in a way.
Anyway, as soon as I finished the script, I only had one artist's name in mind: Kej. I collaborated with them previously—albeit briefly—for my debut graphic novel Kiwi, and I knew they'd be the perfect match for this deeply emotional story. I was thrilled when they read it and accepted to jump on board.
What followed was a year full of discussions about world building, about those characters that became family, and gorgeous art at every step of the way. Kej (and Ines) are dream collaborators, and in my opinion they should be on everyone's radar. They bring beauty and uniqueness to the table in ways I can't even describe (and I'm supposed to be the writer here haha).
They made literal magic with my words.
What you're seeing in this project is only the beginning. We have more in store for you, and if you give us a chance we aim to bring you this specific graphic novel, but also more queer stories full of heart in the future!
ENOUGH WORDS HAVE BEEN TYPED! ONTO THE FUN NEWS ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN!
We officially surpassed 50% funding! We're actually more than half of the way there! We can do it!
It also means that we unlocked two new stickers since last time I posted an update, so here are all the currently unlocked designs:
Aren't they so pretty? Which is your favourite so far? The cyborg's arm floating in water? The wind chime made of robots remains? Sasha's backpack with Twinkle the star? Sasha's side view? The pinky fingers hold? The sequoia with pine cone split horizontally as comics panels? Let us know! :)
As hinted at previously, we have some fun surprises for you all! As you already saw on the campaign page, as soon as we get funded, everyone is getting a high-res wallpaper from Liana Kangas, and the oversized sticker sheet/digital wallpaper of them by Vern, but there's more!
We are thrilled to announce that as soon as we get funded, all backers at the Budding Tier or higher will also instantly get three extra prints added to their packages. Those prints will be of exclusive illustrations by Fell Hound, Emily Schnall, and Natasha Alterici (it was a stretch goal, but why wait? With Natasha, we agreed that it would be instantly activated upon funding!). The illustrations will be slowly unveiled in the next few weeks leading to the end of the campaign, but with them you can bet they're going to be gorgeous!
We are currently working on updating the main page to reflect this update in rewards, but all the creators have already been added to the Team section :)
We are also in talks for another quite exciting bonus to offer upon funding (hint: might be a variant cover) so stay tuned for updates on that front.
That's all for now! We're wishing you a wonderful weekend, and thank you again for the support everyone :)
Everything is ready to go to print but we need a final push if you haven't pledged yet! Here's another teaser, this time we bring you another danish creator! NMAAR is an Illustrator, designer and artist, born and lives in Denmark. graduated at Seminariet for Kunst & Håndværk i Kerteminde 2004. In the artgroup "The Wayward Sons" with Jesper Bolo Petsersen. Certified Artmoney artist. Worked as an illustrator for the graphic design company "Pixed Interactive" 2008-13. Plays and records music in Extended Suicide & De Forbandede.
Space Monsters #1
And while we have your attention, do check out this other awesome horror anthology from legendary publisher Fantaco! Space Monsters #1 is a 100-page squarebound magazine covering all aspects of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. Designed especially for collecors. Contributors consists of Casey Orr (aka Beefcake The Mighty) of GWAR, Donald Farmer, Nicholas Vince, Donald F. Glut, Jason Brazeal, Simon Pritchard (cover and comic story), Elizabeth Belmont, Sadie Katz, Steve Strout, Steve Werblun, Frank Dietz, and Dennis Daniel.
