The Most Crude Post Ever

But it's been so long since I posted anything, probably no one will see it anyway. ;-)

My "career" as an Indiegogo/ Kickstarter supporter is somewhat spotty. Most creators have come through with their promises even if most of that group has been late in delivering.

Rob Mackinnon / Vigilante Comix and their Deborah Daring book has been among the most reliable projects I've supported. I enjoyed it a great 

When I received issue number four some time last year, I recall being a little disappointed that the series would only run for six books in total and hoping that a sequel series would be announced in the future.

My wish was half-met. As Deborah's book prepares to come to an end, Vigilante announced the following series would be crowd-funded next month.

Our tale begins 300 years ago in the Athabasca River area of the Canadian North West, when a dying Cree shaman places a curse on the white settlers that brought disease to the people of his tribe.

Fast forward to 2016 when the Shaman's spirit is awakened by a terrible wild fire that ravages his burial ground near the oil town of Fort McMurray.  

Let's have a better look at some of that art by Dario Carrasco..

Pretty swell stuff. MacKinnon has other irons in the fire in 2019 in books called Hardboiled and Hildebrand - Valkyrie. It's very encouraging to see Vigilante Comix growing. You can find out about their plans on his recently updated and expanded website.

Now I have to be honest and admit that initially, by its name, I believed that this was a bit of a rip off from the Crude story that has been running through the True Patriot Presents anthology book from Chapterhouse.

Reading more about MacKinnon's concept cleared that up quickly; a name similarity appears to be all they truly have in common.

It did, however, remind me that much like Deborah Daring's adventures appear to be coming to an end, at least temporarily, Crude's (and that of all the characters that appear regularly in TPP) may as well. The most recent issue, #11, was released on January 2nd and it confirmed that the series is coming to an end.

The penultimate issue of True Patriot Presents. Get in on the ride while you can! This issue features Dominion Jack! Crude! The Canadian Sentinel! The Family Dynamic!  

Look for an oversized issue #12 in less than two months, plus important True Patriot News!

That's quite the drag but at least there's a hint of something being on the horizon.

I suspect that anyone reading about Canadian superheroes already supports True Patriot Presents but if you do not on the basis that it is a digital-only book or simply don't hear about the book being released, I would suggest your reconsider and/or look into it. At $2 a pop on Comixology, it is an inexpensive way to support Canadian creators.

Deborah Daring #4 Getting Kickstarted Soon!

I've praised the folks behind the Psychosis book a few times over the handling of their crowdfunding campaigns but Rob McKinnon, the man behind the Deborah Daring limited series, deserves those same accolades as well.

Rob sent a campaign update earlier today in which he apologized to some backers over a delay in shipping the collected edition of the book that they'd pre-purchased. I've backed individual issues and have encountered no such delays. If any of the three books were late, it wasn't particularly noticeable.

The update came with cover art for the next issue which I very much plan to support again. Artist Jae Korim is a great choice for this book.

Canuckdrum Books, part 1: Peelers

Sometimes, it's easy. You come across an independent small press publisher's book. It's called The Leaf, the lead character is wearing red and white, has a cape shaped like a maple leaf, has a maple leaf in his logo, the publisher is called Red Leaf and you figure "you know what? This dude just might be Canadian and therefore good content for my little blog about Canadian comic book characters".

But it's not always that easy. Not everyone is so eager to identify their product, or even him(or her)self, as Canadian.

I guess Canada is not always considered a "sexy" setting by some and therefore not much of a marketing point in solicitation text.  It's fine if you feel that way, I suppose. I'll never invite you to my awesome cottage then, and that's just something you'll have to live with for making me work harder, doosh.

This is what the "Canuckdrum" series of posts is about. It refers to books that sure seem like they take place in Canada but don't really announce themselves as doing so. Or if they do, they do it quite quietly (perhaps that's just part of stereotypical Canadian humility).

And so we start this mini-series off with Peelers.

I did not know a single thing about Peelers until a few weeks ago when the creator of Deborah Daring: The Private Eye With Attitude contacted his Kickstarter backers (a group to which I belong) to make us aware of his plans for the third issue of that fine, fun series (cover at right, by Jae Korim), subtitled "Russian Face-Off".

To those who are unfamiliar with Deborah, she is a sassy, sexy, private detective with a boring-ass day job but is based on the creator's (Rob MacKinnon) wife, so mind how you speak about her. And if you take a glance at the left side of that cover, it will be quite clear that the book takes place in Toronto (no, not Seattle, smart guy).

But what the hell is Peelers? When the Kickstarter campaign was announced for issue three, it was said to be a "double feature" along with a Peelers book, sub-titled "Double The Fun". I had never heard of such a book in my life.

That's because it isn't a book, but a movie. The book that is being funded is a prequel to the flick.

Clearly this is also some Jae Korim art. His style is rather easily identified.

As for Peelers, the official website for the film describes it as...

What starts out as the last hurrah on the closing night of an infamous small-town strip club, quickly turns into a night of bloodshed when a crew of coal miners shows up and with them a deadly contaminant.  Former baseball player and current club owner, Blue Jean Douglas has decided to hand over her bar to a new owner and leave town for good, but her plans are thwarted when she discovers the magnitude of the epidemic that has been unleashed. With victims piling up, Blue Jean must step up to the plate to protect her family, her friends and her bar before it's too late and she loses everything she holds dear.

It was shot in British Columbia (Coquitlam, I believe) and lead actress Wren Walker is Ontario-born. Hell, IMDB identifies it as a Canadian flick. Plenty to raise a glass of maple whiskey to right there. I just can't quite seem to nail down whether the story actually takes place in Canada. But I can't identify that it DOESN'T, so let's just assume...

The Kickstarter campaign is just over 75% funded as I write this, with two weeks to go, so it seems like a safe bet that it will meet its goal just as the previous two issues of Deborah Daring did. If you missed those and are now interested, the campaign's structure makes it easy to catch up, focus on Deb, or on Peelers. Whatever suits your fancy. There's plenty of preview material there as well.

If you're still unsure, maybe check out a splatterfull trailer for Peelers first.