The old adage is mistaken: simplicity, not ignorance, is bliss. This is particularly true when it comes to crowd-sourcing — if you want someone’s support, it’s better to give them something short and sweet, rather than risk boring them with over-explanation. Perhaps that’s why Devon Devereaux’s explanation of Cackling Imp Press’s Tales of Hot Rod Horror Volume 2 can essentially be boiled down to three questions:
Do you like comics? (I’m assuming the answer to this is yes)
Do you like classic horror? (I would hope so)
Do you like hot rods? (Optional, but it probably wouldn’t hurt)
If you said yes to all or any of the above, then you will probably be down with Tales of Hot Rod Horror Volume 2. Cackling Imp has put together a second anthology of black and white horror stories, all related in some way to cars (hot rods in particular), and now they just need the funds to print it. No waiting for artists to finish up or anything like that; the printing process is all that is left. As can be seen in the preview video, the creative teams strike a number of different styles, from vintage, EC-era horror, to greyscale oil paints, to something more along the lines of Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time — though that last one is because Andy Ristaino, the lead character designer, is one of the contributing artists. It isn’t just a matter of artistic styles, though; from the previews and synopses present in the video and the updates page, it looks like this collection of comic stories will hit all the bases when it comes to old school horror. Supernatural wackiness with ghosts and ghouls, reserved, cerebral horror akin to The Twilight Zone, psychedelic nightmares… Tales of Hot Rod Horror looks like it will cover all the bases.
As a reminder, this is an anthology. Long-time Multiversity readers will know me as an anthology fan, particularly when it comes to blind buys. Look at it this way: if you pick up two comics of the same size and price, one of which is entirely by one creative team and another that is an anthology, without being particularly familiar with any of the creators involved, the single-team book is in a make-it-or-break-it situation. If you do not like that comic that you paid money for, well, you’re out of luck. With an anthology, though, it’s less likely to be a complete waste — theoretically, the more stories there are, so long as they don’t reach a point where they’re choked for space, the less likely you are to go home completely disappointed in your purchase. This is, of course, a double-edged sword: with an anthology, you are also less likely to walk away 100% satisfied (though it is still possible). When you’re betting on your entertainment with your money, though, I always find it better to be safe than sorry.
The Incentives
As before, simplicity is bliss: $10 gets you a signed copy of Tales of Hot Rod Horror Volume 2, which clocks in at 114 pages of comics. Even better, though, is the next highest incentive, at $15, which will get you both that and the previous volume. Considering the list price of the first volume of the series is $10, that’s a pretty sweet deal. It only takes an additional $10 to round out your purchase with a sketch not only in the second volume, but the first one as well. The team even has a specific option for retailers: $40 gets three copies each of both the first and the second volumes. Above that, you see the pretty typical incentives for comics: original pages, sketches, and comissions, but there aren’t too many high price options. Devereaux and Co. are clearly interested in earning their keep primarily by selling their product, and at such a great price it should work without a hitch (though I highly encourage anyone who really likes the look of this and whose wallet needs to lose some pounds to get the oil portrait). It isn’t a bad risk to pay $10 for a 114 page anthology, and if you’re going to spend $10, might as well spend $15, right?
As I’ve repeated, though, simplicity is bliss — and brevity is closely related to simplicity. Even if Devereaux could perhaps do a better Rod Serling impersonation in their promo video, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be willing to put down ten or fifteen dollars on this anthology, or why you wouldn’t share it with other fans of vintage horror.
