It's your favorite time of the month! The time we heave our armored, primordial bodies from the muddy banks of the river we live in to write our Dungeon Crawler Carl: CROCODILE update!!
💚 PROGRESS REPORT
As you know, we like to keep it honest around here. To that end: the entire DCC: Crocodile creative team, plus everyone at Vault Comics and Aethon are as beautiful as they are brilliant (in a word, extremely). It's wild that we all happen to work on the same book. What's that? Wrong kind of honest? okay, got it. Sigh. You want accountability. FINE.
We remain on track for early book completion on DCC: Crocodile. The comic is REALLY off to the races. The final scripts are buttoned up, Brett has been drawing his arm off, and we're closing in on the halfway point of completion on inks. We're also excited to share our 100% final colors with you, hopefully for the next update.
We remain on track for early physical reward production on DCC: Crocodile. Your very own project Zev (the one writing this update) wants you to know that our priority is to have all physical and digital non-book DCC items produced by the halfway point of this year! We deeply want to get you your rewards to you as soon as those DCC: Croc books come in.
We're continuing to reach out to custom-reward backers. We've already started the info-collection process for many tiers, so thanks for your replies! If you're in an audio tier, you're next on the list, so keep an eye out for an email from us.
Brett has completed the DCC Webtoon Campaign-only Editioncover! As a reminder, this item is only available for this campaign, and when we original posted it (minus art), it looked like this:
inspiring (no)
...and here's the exclusive Brett Bean art we got in just yesterday!
This is the raw, unprocessed art... we'll be dressing this up soon (ie: adding important info like, you know, the title), but we wanted you to have the first peek!
A repeated reminder on the DCC Webtoon editions, also published by Vault Comics: we'll be shipping Campaign-exclusive books (with the Brett Bean cover shown above) to those who ordered one along with your DCC: Crocodile book rewards. However, the regular-degular DCC Webtoon with the standard edition covers will be in shops in late May 2026. So don't get surprised if you see those in shops--yours will be coming shortly!
If you somehow missed that we were offering exclusive covers, you can still add items to your order. Adjust your order via your Pledge Manager, or if you were originally not a backer, check out the Pre-order Store. You'll be able to adjust your pledge until we lock orders, which won't be for a few more months.
💚 UPCOMING FREE COMIC BOOK DAY
Did you know about this?? On May 2nd, head to your participating local comic book shop to pick up comics for absolutely free. And Vault Comics will be participating! On offer for this year is none other than DCC Webtoon #0, featuring original art by Yoshi Yoshitani. If you like free DCC stuff, mark your calendars now so you don't miss out, because we expect these free copies to fly off the shelves.
Free Comic Book Day 2026 DCC cover preview
Vault Comics will also offer a webstore-exclusive version of the DCC Webtoon #0 FCBD cover, featuring art by Nathan Gooden. This will be a nod to comic book fans... does anyone know what this new cover will homage? Here's a visual hint for you savvy-types:
Free Comic Book Day 2026 DCC (Webstore/ DCC: Croc backers only) cover preview. What could it be??????
If you're interested in picking up a webstore-exclusive FCBD cover, we're going to make it easy for you... we'll be setting aside copies for this campaign specifically and adding this webstore-exclusive cover to the DCC: Crocodile Pledge Manager store and Pre-order Store. We'll break our once-a-month schedule to let you know when those are up!
💚 PAY-AS-YOU-GO UPDATE
Pay-as-you-go folks, just a quick update to let you know that you're good, and not to worry! There have been a few questions about whether having chosen pay-as-you-go will affect anything from submitting custom reward info to availability of add-on items. We're replying to those questions as they come, but generally speaking, the answer is 100% that you're good and we are happy to accommodate any needs for extra time getting info or orders to us.
If you need to reach out, you can always do that at [email protected].
The definitive power fantasy LitRPG The Primal Hunter comes to crowdfunding with this Collector's Edition release. Get the deluxe box set, along with exclusive merch and rewards.
Definitely worth a follow, in this humble fish's opinion! This campaign is being run by our incredible collaborators at Vala, who also supported our success on DCC: Crocodile, and you know there are going to be a lot of goodies in store for die-hard fans of the series. This campaign launches next week... click here to follow!
💚 REBORN AS A DEMONIC TREE CAMPAIGN
Progression fantasy fans are eating good this month! Another extremely popular series Kickstarting right now. Xkarnation's Reborn as a Demonic Tree is an Isekai LitRPG Adventure that's been published as a webnovel, in chapters on Patreon, as an ebook, audiobook, light novel, print book (there's even a physical cd available in case you know anyone who still owns a cd player).
The story has earned a horde of loyal fans across all of these formats, and it's finally time for Demonic Tree to assume it's final form, as a feature-packed true collector's edition.
And, we've got one more message from our buds at Renegade Games:
💚 COMING SOON! DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL: RPG
Lovers of Dungeon Crawler Carl might be interested to learn our friends at Renegade Game Studios are launching the official role-playing game soon, right here on BackerKit.
Play as a familiar face, such as 🧨 Carl, 👑🐈 Donut, 🐊 Florin, 🐐 Prepotente, or build your own unique crawler, complete with a customizable class and race (if you survive to the third floor)! Entertain your viewers, gain followers, and survive an onslaught of horrors that will make your tootsies curl. This full official TTRPG lets you become a crawler in the brutal, televised labyrinth known as the World Dungeon. Enjoy expansive character creation rules for your own custom crawler. Choose from dozens of backgrounds, create your own skills, choose a race, a God to worship, and a class for a nearly infinite number of combinations!
And... a final note from us, we might have a very special bonus gift for DCC: Croc backers who also back this RPG project. More on that later.
💚 CONGRATS TO BRETT BEAN!
We're nearly done with this big update, but we wanted to give one more shout-out... Congrats to Brett Bean for his success on the comic D'Orc, which we previewed to all DCC: Croc backers last year! If you've enjoyed all the art we've shared with you so far, you'll surely love his work in D'Orc too. Go grab a copy at your local comic book store if you haven't already.
💚 BACKER-ONLY CONTENT TIME!
We'll, we've shared a lot of love, and we have a lot more love to come in the coming months. Now that we're at the end of this monthly update, why not close like we usually do, with a bit of a reward for backers?
Backers, you know the drill... Backer-only content is below the cut, for your eyes only, featuring Brett's original sketches for the DCC Webtoon Campaign-exclusive cover. Not to be missed!
We at Vault truly hope that you had a wonderful turn of the year (and that Backers enjoyed the comics gift--check out the previous update for the link if you missed it!), and that 2026 has been a great one for you so far. As promised, here's our monthly DCC: Crocodile update for you~
Surveys pt I: you got em!
As we mentioned in our previous updates, surveys were rolling out to Backers. As of right now, all surveys have been sent out!
Example survey, so you know what they look like!
If you haven't received your survey yet, there are three potential reasons why:
The survey from us went to your provided email, but was marked as Spam (so check your folder!)
You signed up for a Pay Over Time option (see the section below for more info)
You hallucinated the entire campaign in a fever dream and this update isn't real
I guess there's a sliiiim chance of the fourth option; "we made an error on our end". If you've ruled out the above options and suspect shenanigans that we can help fix, please reach out to us at [email protected] and we'll take a look! We also do very much see your comments here but email is best, since we may need to confirm private info such as your email or mailing address.
Surveys pt II: Info for Pay Over Time Backers
Folks have (correctly) noticed that surveys have NOT yet gone out to folks who chose the Pay Over Time option. For Pay Over Time backers, your surveys will be released upon full payment for your rewards. There is a comprehensive information page about Pay Over Time offered by BackerKit, which you can read at that link.
A mea culpa from us: this was our very first time offering the Pay Over Time option on our end, and we would have made this information about the Pay Over Time survey release clearer last month had we been aware that this would be a point of confusion! Just letting you know that we hear you and will do better with the communication on this aspect in the future.
Additional Note: we intend to keep the additional Backer-only Survey add-on store available for those who will be filling out their surveys later, in case that was a concern. So there should be no real downside to filling out your survey now vs later, aside from the peace of mind of knowing that you've done so!
Surveys pt III: Custom items!
Many of our highest tier Loot Boxes came with custom items, including draw-ins, write-ins, and more. We just wanted to put this info in one clear place so you know you're on our minds!
Draw-in/ mob cameo folks: we heard you like surveys, so we put a second survey in your backer survey specifically for you guys to provide visual information about yourselves for the cameo drawing. We've asked for everything we'll need, and it should be fairly straightforward, but please reach out to us if you have additional questions!
Audio/ write-in folks: We will be reaching out 1-on-1 at a future date. These items are pretty custom and may require some conversation, so we figured email will be the best way to proceed. We'll give a head's up in a future update when we're ready to produce those rewards.
Late Pledge Store
This DCC: Crocodile Late Pledge Storeis still open! Thanks to all who have partaken so far, we're glad to know that folks who missed the original campaign were able to grab some rewards. We'd also like to casually point out that the DCC V2+V3 Hardcover Kickstarter Late Pledge Storealso exists, for those who might have missed out on our sibling DCC campaign.
Other upcoming projects from Vault (with exclusive reveal)!
Vault's next campaign might be of interest for enjoyers of progression fantasy and LitRPG... it's the hardcover collected edition of the popular series, The Primal Hunter. Not a comic this time, but a very slick set of Collector Edition books (and other goodies) for a series that deserves this degree of publishing love.
And, we've got permission to do an exclusive reveal of one of the sweet items being offered with this campaign. If you've read the first few volumes of The Primal Hunter, you might recognize this guy.
The Fallen King pin design
This campaign formally launches next month, so keep an eye on it, or consider place a your $5 reservation at the Launch Party page if you're in the mood for extras~
That's awesome, but let's get back to DCC: Crocodile!
Yes, let's. What else, what else... the Bumper Sticker design poll (extended edition) finally wrapped, so we'll jump into producing the final designs you voted on! The winning design, "Will Crawl for Loot", will be included with every reward that contains a single bumper sticker. For reward tiers that included the 3-pack, you'll receive "Will Crawl for Loot," "Shotgun," and "Croc Around and Find Out" with their final designs and art.
And to finish us off, shall we do another art preview for Backers? Spoilers incoming? You know the drill? You sure do. We've got a thumbnailed page from an upcoming boss battle scene. Please don't view if you'd like to avoid being spoiled.
It's the most wonderful time of the year... the time when that one publisher, whose big scaly comic you backed once upon a time, decides to send out yet ANOTHER update. IT'S A GOOD ONE THOUGH, we promise!!
First up... we're Doing The Things
Sending out Surveys... easy does it!
Remember those Surveys we mentioned in our last update? We're finally getting those sent out, starting with some rather prudent baby steps. The DCC: Crocodile campaign has sent test surveys to a limited percentage of backers. This will help us determine if our surveys require any additional tweaks before we send it out to the other thousands of youalls. We'll let our test group put our surveys through the wringer, and if all looks good, we'll send the rest of the surveys out to everyone soon after.
Your surveys will look roughly like this
The DCC V2+V3 Kickstarter campaign is ALSO sending out their survey tests today, so if you backed both campaigns, make sure you fill out BOTH surveys. (And yes, we gotchu: there's a section to double-check your info with us in regards to the crossover sticker sheet reward with the Kickstarter.)
If you haven't yet received a survey from us today, please don't fret--that just means you aren't in our test group, but you'll be getting yours very soon.
Breaking News: The DCC: Crocodile creative team continues to kick major ass
Matt, Mike, and Brett continue to rampage through the production of this book. Check out the backer-only section (and/or our Discord) for another mob preview!
Additionally, Brett is locking in his designs for those rewards that we'd had placeholders for. Check out the updated art for the Croc Patch, voted upon previously by backers.
before...
...and after!
This isn't the 100% final production-ready design (if you know anything about us, it's that we love to keep tinkering and improving), but as you can see, Brett is pumping up all original art that we marked "placeholder" to make sure that all our rewards come out looking fresh. Only the best for Team Croc.
And, we're still always paying attention to what backers want most out of our campaign and designs. We've extended voting on the Bumper Sticker designs until January, so you've got a lot of time to pick your fav.
Check out Brett's new comic!
Did you know: there's even more Brett Bean art in the world for you to enjoy! We at Vault love his work so much that we've snagged him for some upcoming covers for the newest arc of our fantasy-comedy series Barbaric (more on that later), but Brett's also been working hard on his own original series called D'orc.
This isn't a Vault-published comic, but how could we not support more Brett comics? We'd love for you to check it out when it hits comic shops. And, yes, Matt is a fan, and gave his blessings for us to share this here with you as well.
The D'orc himself
If you're a seasoned comics enjoyer, you can request that your local comic book store pre-order D'orc by using Lunar Code 1225IM0269.
Want a more hefty preview? We'll get to that in a sec. First, a reminder that...
The DCC: Crocodile Late Pledge Store is STILL open!
We'll just re-mention this, but if you know someone who missed out on the original campaign and was still looking to back, you can always point them at the DCC: Crocodile Late Pledge Store. They might not have access to all of the great rewards offered in the original campaign, but they'll at least have a chance at grabbing some goodies that won't be available once the book is formally out in stores.
Maybe you found your way to us in time, but missed out on the Kickstarter? You're in luck--that team has also got a DCC V2+V3 Hardcover Kickstarter Late Pledge Storewhere you can still scoop up an available tier! We know there was a lot of FOMO feels after the V1 Hardcover Kickstarter, so hopefully any late DCC collectors can take advantage of this opportunity.
Last but not least: we love you guys, so you get some Vault-y gifts from us.
🎁 GIFT TIME 🎁
Thank you all so much again for taking this project and making it something that was, frankly, way more fun and deranged that we'd ever imagined 🍠 🛥️ We laughed, we cried, we opened sparkly boxes.
Running this campaign was the highlight of our year, so as thanks, we've got not one but TWO entire volumes of Vault comics from writer Michael Moreci. Download links for these are in the Backer-only section of this update.
Michael is the only creator from DCC: Crocodile who we haven't been able to spotlight as deeply until now... If you aren't already familiar with his work, boy howdy you're in for a treat! Each of these volumes collects the first arc of the respective series. We hope you enjoy getting to see why Michael is the perfect fit for adapting Matt's original Florin storyline into the comic format.
If we don't update again this year, we hope that you all have a lovely holiday season and a beautiful start to your 2026!
We hope you've been having an excellent few weeks since our level collapse... on this new floor, we've been furiously working to get everything organized ahead of some big milestones for the project! Let us get you up to speed...
Coming soon to an email near you... that's right, it's ✨ Backer Surveys ✨
What are Backer Surveys? For those using a Crowdfunding platform for the first time, this is a digital survey where we collect your address, finalize your order, and give you a chance to add any last items you might have been chewing over (if they're still available)!
For BackerKit specifically, this survey will be sent to the email address you provided when you signed up on the platform. We'll send another update to let you know when they've been sent, on the off-chance that the survey wound up in your Spam box, but the final surveys are being reviewed right now and we're expecting to roll that out to everyone this month.
The DCC: Crocodile Late Pledge Store is OPEN!
Were you one of the unlucky few who missed out on the original campaign? If so, good news: the DCC: Crocodile Late Pledge Store is now open! If you were too late to back but were hoping to pick up a tier or some limited extra rewards from the campaign, this store will be your final chance to do so. This Late Pledge store will remain open until sometime in 2026, so to any stragglers: you've got time to think about it.
Note: Folks may notice a few differences in items offered, as well as price between the original campaign tiers and the tiers listed in the store. In order to keep things fair to our original backers, some of the prices have been adjusted to reflect the additional treatments, items, and upgrades that were unlocked and voted upon in the campaign. We also are not re-offering the more limited or tier-locked add-ons.
We're extremely grateful to everyone who supported the live campaign and helped us unlock upgrades, so original campaign backers will always get the lowest available prices across all of our project as thanks. And, it's a good tip to keep in mind for any of our future projects you might be interested in backing.
But... how will you know about those upcoming campaigns? There's a few ways! One way is simply to follow any of our Vault accounts to keep up with our (non-spammy, we promise) emails and updates, and the other is to join the 'cord.
Which cord? Discord!
Did you know...? We have a Vault Discord! Pretty cool, right?
You can keep in touch with Vault folks, other community members, and get sneak peeks about our upcoming projects both in the print world and the crowdfunding world. We've got a brand-spankin' new DCC: Crocodile channel set up for those who want to use it. See you in there?
Miscellaneous updates
Just because it's nice, here's a few more updates for you all:
Actual art production on the DCC: Crocodile comic is rolling along nicely. We've got a huge new set of pages being worked on right now, which will take us past the halfway point of this volume.
Brett is also working hard on updated reward art; mystery covers, dust jackets, pins, stickers, and patches. Yes, even the yam patch. It was interesting explaining the relatively simple, yet confounding, concept of a Yam Yacht to him. You're welcome. 🍠
We're getting ready for production on many items, starting with... POLLS. What?? Yes, polls. We've got a lot of designs and we want to make sure you're getting the ones you want. We're kicking off with the bumper sticker poll (see below), and will check in with you all to see which design options are the most popular with our lovely backers.
Production is underway on items that we already have accurate order numbers for, such as the Noble Steed reservation-backer sticker! Once surveys are out, we'll be able to place even more orders, and thus will have a lot more to show you. We're not ready to ship yet, but won't you sleep easier knowing that we're getting all our rewards created early so we can mail you your stuff as soon as the book is ready? We certainly will be 💤 Future updates from us will include previews of the fully-produced reward items, so stay tuned.
O lawd they comin' (at a very respectable 4" size)
You might have noticed that BackerKit doesn't have an internal direct messaging system the way Kickstarter does, so if you've got any specific questions about your pledge, the upcoming surveys, or anything else, we always encourage you to reach out to us at [email protected].
What's next?
We'll be updating at least once a month from here on out (and maybe a bit more for certain important news, like the release of surveys). So we'll be seeing you again very soon with more update and news and previews.
Speaking of which, let's have another one. yayy. Spoilers below, Backers only!
⚠️Spoiler warning: new page art below the cut, for backers only! ⚠️
A silver Vaethon Benefactor Box earned and unlocked
19/20 achievements completed
An unexpected Borant takeover defeated
Most inexplicable yam memery of any project before or to come
Undoubtedly one of the most motivated and organized participants of all time
Longest Overtime Backer Train of all time, extending well over a week in length
Most funded AND most backed Comic project ever on the BackerKit platform
#4 Most funded AND most backed project of any kind, EVER on the BackerKit platform
...and most of all, you helped support Dungeon Crawler Carl: Crocodile creators Matt Dinniman, Michael Moreci, and Brett Bean in this brand-new format and expanded character focus in Dungeon Crawler Carl universe. Please take a HUGE round of applause, you've earned it.
Celestial Fan Box results (and a surprise) ✨
The results of the Celestial Fan Box, unlocked in the depths of Sunday night, are now IN. The winning upgrade is the two-sided dust jacket for protecting all of your BackerKit Exclusive editions.
As some of you guessed, we had one last trick up our sleeve. ✨As a final thank-you, we'll be including the "Florin Gets Dressed" side comic IN each book, every edition, for all to enjoy. ✨
We couldn't have done this without you, and you all deserve only the best from us.
What comes next for the DCC: Crocodile campaign?
Well, first and foremost, please expect us to stay in touch! We'll be making regular updates to keep you all informed on what we're getting up to, but here's a general sketch of what the next steps will be for this project:
We'll prepare to send out surveys for everyone to review and complete their orders. We're estimating that we'll have these out before the end of this year, likely this very month. IMPORTANT NOTE: we'll be charging all shipping costs later in the process. We'll let you know when that moment arrives!
We'll continue production on the comic, of course, but will also being production on the other rewards once we have that info from the surveys in hand.
Once we're close to fulfillment, we will confirm your addresses and collect shipping costs at that point.
If you've got any issues with or questions about your order, please submit to those to [email protected] and we will take a look!
We'll be managing fulfillment with our incredible partners at Vala Marketing, so a big yay for them and all their help in making sure that you all have the smoothest fulfillment process possible.
What comes next for Dungeon Crawler Carl?
One big thing... the DCC Volume 2 and 3 Hardcover Kickstarter is ending this week!! If you backed at a physical book tier, it is NOT too late to back the Kickstarter and grab your amazing bonus sticker sheet. You've got a whole four days left to ponder the princess, so... start pondering!
What comes next for Vault?
Aside from riding our fleet of crocodiles off into the sunset, we've got some other stuff cooking up in the background. You're a bunch of highly-motivated smarties, so you could always give us a follow and be the first to be notified of the next projects we're working on... but as always, we'll be sharing more soon.
From the entire Vault Comics team, a sincere thank you once more for a wonderful campaign. We laughed, we cried, we glittered yams, we made one of the most successful comic crowdfunding projects of all time...
