I love a good indie comic book series; especially one with an exhilarating story, witty dialogue, amazing action sequences, stellar illustrations, an ex-mercenary monkey, and giant, killer robots. Yeah, Jake Smith‘s This Off Beat Town is my kind of book.

After a successful Kickstarter campaign for the first issue, Jake is back with the quirky, “off beat” characters that make the city of Nero so entertaining. With a goal of $10,000 for issues two through four, Jake’s new campaign has already raised almost 90 percent with 15 days to go, and has some awesome rewards as well!

I was able to speak with Jake about his project and am happy to share the interview with all of you here at Geeks of Doom. Check it out below along with his Kickstarter campaign video!

GWAR!

Seriously, if that one word doesn’t make you smile and lean forward to read more, then your whole life has been a sham or you’ve been living under a rock. But not a good rock, more like a Nickelback version. Some folks look to KISS or Alice Cooper as leaders in the world of on-stage antics. However, GWAR beats them hands down, along with almost everyone else, for pure entertainment and shock effect. I first saw them thanks to an ex-roommate of mine, John Stange, a life-long fan. So there we were, watching The Skatenigs open up for what turned out to be one of the best shows I saw in the nineties: GWAR live in concert. With goo-spewing guns that shot a variety of substances (don’t ask) into the crowd and a particularly graphic scene involving the disemboweling of a variety of public figure effigies, their presence rivaled that of my own favorite band, Skinny Puppy! I left drenched and smiling; what more could I possibly want? Well, how about a five-issue comic book series from the shock rock metal monsters themselves? That’s right, GWAR comics! And they have named it GWAR: Orgasmageddon, which didn’t surprise me at all. Plus, in addition to the comics, a plethora of GWAR collectibles have been made available to fans. That’s right, this is a Kickstarter fundraiser where you pledge your hard-earned money and help make the concept a reality and you get cool stuff for doing it!

You may not know the name of Mike Diana, but you should. He is an underground comic artist who courted controversy and tackled challenging and provocative subject matter in his self-published series Boiled Angel. His gleefully, graphically grotesque artwork, influenced by comics legends like Bernie Wrightson and Jack Davis, depicted acts of sex and violence and was definitely not for all tastes.

One particular issue of Boiled Angel sold to an undercover police officer in his small Florida town led to Diana being ensnared in an ongoing murder investigation in the town of Gainesville and the first artist unjustly prosecuted and jailed on charges of obscenity. The Kafkaesque turn of events that resulted in Diana being banned during his three-year probation from producing any drawings or writings and becoming a lightning rod for artistic censorship is the subject of The Trial of Mike Diana, a new documentary from cult horror filmmaking legend Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case, Brain Damage). A Kickstarter campaign has been released for the documentary, and you can learn more about it and watch a trailer below.

Ragnarok Publications has a new Kickstarter for an anthology that looks to be extremely cool! Hath No Fury is a collection of 19 short stories from some of today’s leading science fiction, fantasy, and urban fantasy authors, focusing on female leads and inspired by some amazing women from history, literature, and film.

The new anthology will be edited by Melanie R. Meadors (Ragnarok Publicity and Marketing Director) and J.M. Martin (Ragnarok Owner and Creative Manager). I had the chance to speak with Melanie, who has some great things to say about the book and the Kickstarter process in general. So read more about Hath No Fury, watch its Kickstarter pitch video, and see what Melanie had to say below!

Emily Lawrence, an actress, writer, and veteran audiobook narrator, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a short film she is writing, producing, and starring in titled Lilith in the Garden.

Described as a sci-fi drama that “looks at what makes us who we are,” Lilith is to be directed by Leslie Bumgarner, a longtime cinematographer who recently started to take on directing projects for short features and television, with actor Rob Mathes set to play the male lead. The target fundraising goal for the campaign is $5,000, and donors will be treated to all manner of juicy perks depending on the size of their donation.

Continue below for more on the film and to watch the Kickstarter video.