At the time of publishing this article, David Crispino and Matt Heuston’s Kickstarter project for their comic “Control” is just about 24 hours from its deadline. And, at the time of writing this article, it is only about $1,000 from making its $6,000 goal. If, by the time this goes live, “Control” has been fully funded, that’s great (though you should still contribute)! If, however, it still needs a little bit more to make the cut, then I highly suggest you give this enigmatic project a little bit of a push — even if it does share a name with one of our editor-in-chief’s webcomics.
Writer David Crispino has taken a bit of a gamble with this project. The synopsis that he gives for “Control” is very vague: man wakes up bound and being tested on, has no idea where he is, tries to remember. Obviously, there’s a bit more to it than that, but Crispino is playing this one close to the chest, not wanting to give too much away. This is refreshing when compared many mainstream comics, where we know the conclusion before the series is even a few issues in, but it is a bit of a risk when using a crowd-sourcing platform like Kickstarter. Some people (such as myself) love the prospect of a mysterious blind buy, but some others aren’t quite as willing to put dollar on the line without a little bit more of a plot outline.
Why show your hand, though, when you can instead show people the comic itself? The first dozen-ish pages of the comic are available on the project’s page, and let me tell you, they look gorgeous. Some artists use stylization as an excuse to avoid detail, but Matt Heuston’s artwork doesn’t cut any corners. His environments are complex and fascinating, and, if the preview is any indication, we’ll be seeing many more wild and wonderful landscapes as the series continues. Beyond that, it is clear that Heuston has a clear grasp on sequential storytelling, choosing interesting but clear angles in order to keep the reader interested, and avoiding panel after panel of floating heads. Crispino still doesn’t give much more information about where this story is going, but his narrative style does a fine job of drawing readers into the mystery and keeping a good pace. This looks to be a comic that will have a specific kind of fan base — the kind into psychological, slow-burning comics — and considering the success of articles such as our Morning Glories Study Hall, I have a feeling more than a few of our readers fall into that category.
As always, there are a couple of “basic” incentive levels for those of you looking to just get the comic. $3.00 will allow access to the digital copy of “Control” #1, whereas a donation of $10.00 nets you the physical copy as well. At the $10.00 level and above, you can also add $5.00 to your donation and get a Riley Rossom variant (and you know how much we here love Riley Rossmo). For $15.00, you get a bookmark along with the comic and your name in the thank you page, though you can choose to just stick with the thank you page for $13.00. There are some pretty neat rewards in the $20-$50 dollar range, with various combinations of an oversized copy of the issue, a “foundation” copy (no colors, sketches, and script), and a t-shirt — as well as the previously mentioned physical copy, digital copy, and thank you mention — in pretty much any arrangement you can think of. $85.00 gets it all, while $100.00 throws in a print as well. The highest priced incentives are the four sketch incentives, which range from $200-$500 depending on whether you want black and white or watercolor and just the comic or all the cool swag. There are a lot of options available, so be sure to pick whatever best suits your liking (and your wallet)!
“Control” looks like it could be a wild ride, and I don’t know about you, but I want to see where it goes from those couple of pages. Let’s give Crispino and Heuston’s comic that extra push over the fence — or, if it’s already funded by the time this goes live, make sure they have a little bit more wiggle room to work with.
