Panel Borders: Kickstarting the Riven Seal

By John Freeman on June 17, 2015

Continuing a month of shows about comic book creators who have used online fundraising to launch various titles, Alex Fitch talks to Amanda Gomes and Julie Wright about their webcomic Riven Seal – Ars Ianua, which is hopefully being collected as a graphic novel via Kickstarter funding.

Mixing positive depictions of LGBTQIA characters with manga and anime style art, Riven Seal is a historical fantasy set in the 1860s, in a world where magic has always existed and onset of demon summoning has brought upon major changes throughout the world. While the story interweaves several plot lines and a diverse cast, a young man named Janus lies at the centre of web of fate that connects them all. His encounter with a unbound demon is the catalyst for a series of intrigues and magic that has not been seen in centuries.

Amanda and Julie discuss the origin of the comic, their use of sites such as Patreon and the commissioning of branded tea bags to fund their work, and interactions with fans at gaming and comic conventions.

Julie Wright graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design in 2009 with a degree in Illustration and has been working on comics ever since. She has provided colours for Lora Innes’s The Dreamer and Skipper Martin’s The Goblin Chronicles. She was brought on as the primary penciler for the webcomic Snow by Night in 2014 and has most recently produced a short story for Alex Woolfons’s The Young Protectors.

Amanda Gomes is an academic, not a traditionally trained artist. She has her B.A and M.A in Asian studies and has spent over seven years working and conducting research in Japan. However, much of her free time is dedicated to art and collaborating with Julie on Riven Seal. She is also excited to be producing a short story for the anthology Vertoscope.

• Panel Borders: Kickstarting the Riven Seal airs at 11.00am Thursday 18th June, repeated 7.00am Saturday 20th June 2015, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.