Sad Ramblings For Kickstarter: On John Campbell, Kickstarters and What It All Means [Opinion]

In case you missed it, here’s a brief summary of a thing that happened last week.

Cartoonist John Campbell of “Sad Pictures for Children” webcomic fame made an announcement on the Kickstarter page of his successful Kickstarter project. The project, which was done to fund a printing of a book of his comics and which had made over 600% its original goal, had reached an emotional breaking point — if you had not yet received a copy of your book from this Kickstarter, you never would. And to make it more obvious, a video was attached showing piles of the book being lit on fire.

Campbell added that for every message he receives asking for a copy of the book (of which there apparently still exists some), he will burn another copy rather than send it out — though, by the end of it he notes that he’ll probably just delete his e-mail address, so I guess there’s hope.

It was a very strange write-up, one I encourage you to read yourself and form your own opinion on. It’s a very long diatribe, one that takes a very emotional slant, but it ends in a very strange place. By the end of it, Campbell essentially turns the tables onto the backers as the problem; that their insistence they receive this “unnecessary physical object” (as the “natural world is being destroyed by unnecessary production”) in fact make them the the wrong-doers in this situation based on their obsession and complacency in a consumerism-dominated world.

Oh, and by the way, would anyone be interested in paying for his future living expenses?

The long and short of it is: this is a very bad way to tell people that the thing they gave you money for is not something they will have, as you’d rather see it set on fire than give it to them.

But see, here’s the thing: I don’t think that the real issue behind the “Sad Pictures for Children” Kickstarter is John Campbell’s apparent meltdown. It’s part of it, sure, but the real issue is what this says about, and means for, the Kickstarter publishing method.

Now, my goal here is not to ascertain whether or not there is legitimacy to Campbell’s post. I do think it warrants touching upon, though, as I think there are a few important bits and pieces largely being omitted by other press; specifically, two conflicting pieces of information:

1. That Campbell claims in his post that, at the end of 2011, “I experienced an emotional “crash” that fall, like most falls, but this was worse than others, in part because I ran out of money and went off anti-depressant medication for the first time.” That seems a rather key statement here, especially when Campbell mentions by the end of his post that he’s refusing to pay for rent and other things. But:
2. In 2012, Campbell in his own words said that he was pretending to be depressed for profit, only to quickly recant that because what an absurd notion that is.

Based on these rather conflicting posts, it’s all a bit hard to ascertain any truth. It’s like the end of LOST, where you can choose which explanation you’d like to believe in the most or just get mad about it.

Still, it’s hard not to look at his latest post and see it as anything but a rant, something akin to what a famous celebrity might do if they messed up big time in the public eye and didn’t know what to do, so they said “fuck it, I’ll put a bag on my head and roll with it.”

After all, that’s certainly what this thing has devolved into: what some are calling “performance art,” others a serious cry for help and others still calling it a big bag of nonsense. It seems that it is much easier for everyone to try and put Campbell in a category of sane or insane, something that  justifies his actions in a way that we can either choose to forgive and support or ignore and deride.

Or rather, just giving a kneejerk reaction to the Kickstartered insanity.

But digging a bit deeper only opens the mystery box further. Many of Campbell’s updates are for backers only, of which I am not one, and several of them from titles alone do seem like general cries for help. I do not know if he just wants attention, but that certain folks in the media would claim now that it was anything but genuine the whole time seems a touch arbitrary.

So do I believe that Campbell is depressed? Hmm. Well, taking my own personal experiences with depression, therapy and more into consideration, I’d really rather not put a definitive statement on it as that doesn’t seem fair. Campbell is clearly dealing with something here, and I wish him the best with it; to focus all of our attention on this meltdown without actually finding someone to tell us if he’s ok — which I’ve taken to understand is rather hard to do, as he’s cut off contact with those that know him — then any other statements about him sort of seems like bullying.

But I’m glad I didn’t back the Kickstarter, that’s for sure. And really, I think the only people with any legitimate axe to grind here are people who paid money for a book and are now not getting a copy. The rest of us are on the sidelines.

I think, though, that the entire ordeal is more reflective of bigger issues with Kickstarter.

One of the biggest criticisms of Kickstarter has always been that the users of Kickstarter retain very little rights. According to the sites Terms of Use, Kickstarter does not hold any liability towards a project that is funded; once that money transfers, they have nothing to do with it anymore. “All dealings are solely between users,” and “Kickstarter is under no obligation to become involved in disputes between any users, or between users and any third party.” It’s all right there for anyone to read.

However, I should point out: users can take legal action against their creators.

In fact, anyone who sees the video of their books being burned who has backed the project and not received a refund or a book can now legally sue Campbell, as he has broken Kickstarters contract agreement, specifically where it states: “Project Creators are required to fulfill all rewards of their successful fundraising campaigns or refund any Backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill.”

In fact, it all stems from a single infraction when Seth Quest failed his Hanfree iPad Accessory Kickstarter. After announcing that the project had failed and that he planned to refund backers, one backer Neil Signh sued Quest over the failed product, which bankrupted Quest and caused Kickstarter to change their terms of service. It’s what gave birth to the “Risks and Challenges” section of Kickstarter and a rewrite of their original policy.

So with every Kickstarter, there is a risk. The money that was given to Campbell for this project is his to use to fund the project, and that’s the end of that discussion; whether you get your copy or not is largely irrelevant to Kickstarter, because in terms of the Kickstarter, it is a success — almost a runaway one at that. You can’t take any action against Kickstarter.

And all those books Campbell threw on a pyre? You helped fund that. That’s your Kickstarter money at work.

And for every person that is now out of a book from John Campbell, Campbell feels he is under no obligation to deliver the product — however, point blank, he’s wrong because he violated the rules of creating a project on the platform.

But will users take legal action or bite the bullet? Is it even worth it to sue?

Many seem content to a) not really understand how Kickstarter works and b) shrug their shoulders when it fails because legal action is probably more difficult than it’s worth, so any failure that comes out of a Kickstarter is often just eaten in terms of one person’s lost wages.

And certainly Campbell’s failure at Kickstarter is not a sole offender, not even close — especially not in comics. Mark Andrew Smith rather famously in the comic community botched the “Sullivan’s Sluggers” Kickstarter (a project I am not shying away from my backing of, obviously) by making a book that was essentially too expensive to match the funding. It ultimately resulted in Smith flailing to recoup funds after a public feud with artist James Stokoe (of which many, like myself, backed the book for), claiming that Stokoe ruined his life and he was now unable to fulfill backer rewards.

Since then, Smith has disappeared for a while, only surfacing when he gets his artists to start Kickstarters for his other projects.

Many people still do not have their copies of “Sullivan’s Sluggers” today. And they’re not happy about it.

I do. And as most entitled people will say, gee, I could care less about my copy now.

But no one has sued Smith. At most, websites have taken him to task and been stonewalled when we reach for comment.

And I feel this will be the exact same thing with Campbell: we’d all rather watch from a safe distance, because getting involved will just be more tiresome.

It even seems people would rather throw the blame directly at Kickstarter, who is certainly an enabler in some regards I suppose, but there also seems to be this disconnect in that people think they shouldn’t hold the project creators responsible.

It’d be like blaming a cart for a wheel not working, even if the cart itself is kind of crappy itself.

This, to me, is the biggest talking point about Smith’s crappy Kickstarter and Campbell’s crappy Kickstarter — the Kickstarter method, as intriguing as it is, is a fundamentally flawed system for the creation and distribution of a product. Backing a product does not inherently mean that you will receive a product and most people won’t fight for theirs, so hey, might as well just throw your money into the fire now for all the good it’ll do.

Still. I wouldn’t be too down on Kickstarter overall. I tend to be pessimistic, but Kickstarter doesn’t ostensibly call for it.

Why? Because next week, we’ll all be able to see the Veronica Mars film.

That may sound weird in context of everything else (comparing a film Kickstarter to a comic Kickstarter with goals and budgets that don’t even remotely compare), but honestly, think about it.

The Veronica Mars film is arguably one of the most successful Kickstarters of all time, bringing back a cancelled show for a sequel film, asking for $2,000,000 from fans and making more than double that. OH! And then making the film, of course, which releases March 14, 2014. Backers will get to watch their own digital copies (if you backed at that level) or you can go see it in select theaters nationwide next weekend.

And the the estimated delivery of  goods and services from the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign? March 2014.

In many ways, honestly, that’s kind of insane in its own right. I mean, it’s insanely awesome, but it’s also entirely unbelievable. And there are certainly more things you can talk about what the success of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign means (it opened the door for others like Zach Braff to try Kickstarter, it directly changed how independent films get made for better and for worse), but I think the sheer success of it is an incredibly important talking point.

The thing is, Veronica Mars had pretty much every opportunity to fail in a much bigger and much more public fashion. For everything that Campbell did or Smith did, it was all very much by themselves; Rob Thomas (the other Rob Thomas) made it clear that the studio wasn’t going to do the film and so it relied entirely on backers, with the lack of studio support potentially leading the film to imminent disaster of Thomas, Bell and all involved couldn’t get the thing to work.

And if they had messed up? Man. That would’ve been a disaster on such a grander scale, it’s almost inconceivable in relation to Campbell’s. That money that you or I backed would’ve been spent, and you can almost guarantee there would be no easy way for that to be refunded.

But they made the movie. And you’ll see it very soon.

There were a few stumbles, but Thomas and Co. were always upfront and honest about everything going on with the production, allowing backers a first-hand look into production of the film. So the Veronica Mars Kickstarter is a massive success story, and it’s a good reason to have faith.

And that’s what Kickstarter comes down to: faith.

There are many more Kickstarters out there like Veronica Mars, where backers like yourself or me are able to help fund things we have faith in, things we want to see become a reality and then do: “God Hates Astronauts.” “To Be or Not To Be.” “Bad Karma.”

Cards Against Humanity.

When even thinking about backing a Kickstarter, understanding that the issues of responsibility go both ways is tantamount. Yes, the person running the Kickstarter is the one who is most responsible for actually delivering the product, but at the same time I believe that you and I share a certain amount of responsibility as a backer, as an investor; you’re the one putting your money down, so you should be sure to understand who and what you’re giving your money to.

The success stories are often greater than the failures, though that doesn’t mean we should ignore Kickstarter when it doesn’t work. I really do believe, as an avid Kickstarter fan, that it’s wonderfully flawed — but I also think being personally culpable and holding a certain set of responsibility to yourself and what you choose to give your money to is just as important as anything else.

I’m not a big fan of Campbell’s work or his webcomic, but I can tell you that he’s not someone I would’ve had faith in to deliver the product in the first place. The more I read about him to prepare this article didn’t help either, and I’m saying this as a backer of the “Cerebus” Kickstarter, as much as that’s a backhanded compliment to Sim.

But, hey — look at all the issues and failures that the “Cerebus” Kickstarter encountered (of which there were MANY), and then look at how honest and forthright Sim and Scrudder were throughout the process with frequent (and often long) updates.

And, hey, remember when they called backers and asked backers to call them if they had not received any items they had backed?

The end goal was achieved, everyone (I assume) received their items and the updates still come in order to inform backers of what’s still happening with Sim and his career and future projects.

Kickstarter can be quite great, if you know what you’re doing.

When I talked to Alec Longstreth last week about his incredibly successful “Basewood” Kickstarter, Alec said this:

For me, personally, I think Kickstarter is an amazing tool — but it needs to be used correctly. I never contribute to projects where it’s like, “pay me to draw a graphic novel! I’ve got a great idea and I need $20,000 to give me time off my day job to draw this book!” I’d never contribute to that, because you’ll never see that book. Most people, we see people show up at the Center for Cartoon Studies all starry-eyed and in their first year they want to draw a graphic novel, and it’ll be two-hundred pages you know, and then at the end of the year they’ll have fifty pages. Which is great, it’s a lot of work, but their spirit is still broken a little bit. So if someone is telling you they’ll get their graphic novel drawn in a year and get it to you, it’s like, no, they’re out of touch with reality.

I think the main way to use Kickstarter should be, “I have a project. It’s done. Just need some help putting it together.” Like with “Basewood”: I was totally done with the project, you weren’t funding me drawing it, I just didn’t have $15,000 in my bank account to pay the printing bills. There used to be something called the Xeric grant which ended a couple years ago, Peter Laird from “TMNT” had set-up, and I think that was a good business model; their rules were very strict, you know? They did not help you draw your book, your book had to be done and then they’ll help self-publish and get it out to the community. I think that’s the most successful use of Kickstarter for cartoonists.

I agree with Alec very much, even if this ordeal with Campbell is pretty much the proof that this statement is flawed.

The notion that we need to accept personal responsibility is probably not what most people would assume this article would’ve been about, but I stand by it.

I won’t mince words: it’s absolutely shitty that Campbell is burning copies of the book. I would be curious to see even one person successfully contact Campbell (which, again, I understand has been nigh impossible) and I think it’s important to see if he’s OK, but burning the books is and was always a bad idea on his behalf, and if it’s performance art as some suggest then that’s even worse.

Some people don’t seem to mind. 4 days ago, user ohhhelloghost wrote:

So, you gladly paid $75 to receive a small item with no practical purpose, but would MOST DEFINITELY NOT have paid $75 to help keep a fellow human alive and housed a little longer as they go through some difficult times, had you known at the start this is what it would be spent on?

If you can afford to speculate money on cartoon books, you can afford not to be annoyed when it doesn’t go the way you wanted.

And Ben Morse (not to be confused with Ben Morse of Marvel Comics, I don’t think) wrote:

I absolutely support you on this: “I will not be responsible for the manufacture of any more unnecessary physical objects. The natural world is being destroyed by unnecessary production.”

I originally supported this kickstarter because I wanted to support your work and your artistic development. I don’t need a physical object. I’m one of the backers who did not get the second book and I’m totally fine with that. If I had known how much shitty stress this would bring down on you I would have tried to warn you and/or help with that instead of backing.

Thanks for the update, and for moving on to better things hopefully!

So clearly some are absolutely fine with how this turned out. That’s their prerogative, I suppose.

But if you’re a backer of Campbell’s Kickstarter and are unhappy with the situation, I implore you to do something about it. Snarky posts on websites referring to Campbell in a derogatory fashion ultimately don’t help, and only serve to exacerbate things. If you put your money down, Kickstarter has it all on their legalese that the next step is up to you, so aim your ire correctly.

However, I wouldn’t let failures like Campbell’s ruin the Kickstarter experience. Kickstarter offers a lot of potential, and it’s often times potential that should be encouraged — once you understand what you’re doing with your money.

Do I have a few Kickstarters that should’ve been fulfilled by now? Certainly: Corey Lewis’ “Sun Bakery.” The ComixWriter script-writing software. A game from a local company called Pack of Heroes.

And if these all crash and burn (not entirely likely, but I suppose possible), I’ll accept my own personal responsibility in them. I had varying degrees of faith in all these creators before backing and I fully believe they should deliver a product, but I still think it’s on me a little bit here, not just them.

And I certainly wouldn’t give up on Kickstarter.