Kickstart the Week 72: Flying the 1959 Hellride to Section Zero!

This time around I wanted to shine the light on a couple of Kickstarters that have both fully funded but that are excellent comic projects by some truly cool talents.


Jim Lawson has been a favorite artist of mine since the 90s when I first discovered him as a regular artist (and later writer/artist) on Mirage's original version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He's got a unique but shockingly deep art style that I will always enjoy whether it's in black and white or color. He's produced a couple different books on Kickstarter, but right now he's got two new projects I'm excited about in one great Kickstarter.

The first is the complete edition of Dragonfly, the first part of which he funded on Kickstarter several years ago. It's the tale of a turtle like being, a woman, a dog and some aliens on a strange island where everything is pretty much not quite right. The first volume was fun and now this edition will finally bring the story to completion.

Hellride is the second title, and while Lawson is a bit more vague on the subject matter, it sure looks like the description is in the title. Our protagonist in on his motorcycle for a ride straight through Hell!

Both books look superb and you can help fund one or both at the same Kickstarter.


The second project of the day is the long awaited second volume of Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett's Section Zero. After funding the completed version of the original six issues as a book, they've got the new book on the market both as a Kickstarter exclusive and as an upcoming series at Image. (I'm enough of a fan that I'm supporting both.) Now they're going back in time with the series to explore the early days of Section Zero in Section Zero: 1959.

If you're wondering what it's about, think Challengers of the Unknown meet Area 51. I'm not trying to spoil anything else for me with this book though, so anymore details you will have to find at Kickstarter.

Kesel and Grummett are two of the finest comic creators still going. They've both been at it since the 80s and together are probably best known for creating the Kon-El Superboy. They had two amazing runs with the character in his original series and Section Zero is the continuance of one of the best creative pairs in comics. Head over to Kickstarter to support it!

Kickstart the Week 57: The Box City Wallops are back!

Jim Lawson has been a favorite creator of mine since I first discovered the original Mirage Studios version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that he drew off and on for about two decades. He's a consummate professional and a great artist with his own unique style.

So I'm always glad when he has something new. Case in point: the third and fourth issues of The Box City Wallops.


I talked about the first two issues in a previous post and since receiving them have to say they are some fun, truly unique, superhero comics. New people wanting to back the project shouldn't worry however. The previous two issues are also available through the Kickstarter.

So if you love fun heroic adventures, strange characters or classic Ninja Turtles, it is hard to go wrong with this book. Check it out at Kickstarter and consider backing it!

Kickstart the Week 47: The Box City Wallops

Even as I seem to give up on more comics than I start these days, I still have a few creators whose work I can never seem to quite get enough of. One of those folks got his start in the halcyon halls of Mirage Studios, working on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics just as the series became an epic international phenomenon. Outside Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, no one was more responsible for the greatness of the original incarnation of the Turtles than Jim Lawson.

Lawson's career almost certainly hit a bump when Peter Laird sold the characters to Nickelodeon, effectively ending the Mirage run with the characters. (Laird and Lawson actually finished a few more issues of TMNT after the sale, but the book has been done for years despite Laird retaining rights to continue it if he so chose.)

Since then, Lawson has done a lot of commissions and has tried his hand at Kickstarter success. Though a series drawn by him and written by Secret of the Ooze star Eddie Reyes Jr. sadly never got off the ground, he funded two great books in Dragonfly and A Walk Through Dinosaur Land. Now he's back with his return to weird superheroes however, perhaps his biggest new title since his Turtle days.

The Box City Wallops aren't traditional superheroes, but the alien family certainly have strange powers. It also certainly has some of the weird design work that exemplifies Lawson's always weird worlds.


Unlike his previous projects, this will be a regular comic series instead of a graphic novel. The Kickstarter funds the first two issues with the hope of more possible in the future. And while the Kickstarter has already met its funding goal, it is also the kind of weird book that will need all the financial support it can get. So if you're interested in superheroes, strange comics or just good fun, go give The Box City Wallops your support before the Kickstarter expires on Wednesday morning.

Image credit: Jim Lawson via Kickstarter.

Kickstart the Week: A Walk Through Dinosaurland

Jim Lawson is one of the legendary artists of the original Mirage Studios run of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As I really started to fall in love with the characters, he took over as primary artist. I still have fond memories of his work on the “City at War” arc as well as his follow-up color series. Over the years, he became the premiere artist on the Turtles, drawing more issues featuring them than anyone else.

Now he is on Kickstarter with his second project and it focuses on one of his great loves: dinosaurs. Featuring gorgeous art and tons of thunder lizards, A Walk Through Dinosaurland looks like tons of fun while even being (gasp) a bit educational. As a nice added bonus, backers at $35 can also get his other dinosaur series Paleo in its entirety.