Crowdfunding Spotlight: Kia Wordsmith #2

By John Freeman on June 1, 2020

Accent UK has launched a modest crowdfunding campaign for the second issue of Kia Wordsmith written by Dave West with art by Ian Ashcroft, following up on the success of the fantasy adventure’s launch via Kickstarter back in 2018.

Kia Wordsmith #2 Wraparound Cover by Ian Ashcroft

Kia Wordsmith lives in city where Magic and Science work in harmony, a city that has known peace for centuries… A city now at war.

Bored by the city’s attempts to carry on as normal Kia searches for excitement, and even welcomes a little danger.

In the Kickstarter-funded first issue, which raised over £2500 in support and earned the creators plenty of critical acclaim, we saw how this led to her stealing from a wizard. Issue 2 picks up right where that one left off, with 25 colour story pages, again illustrated by Ian Ashcroft.

Kia navigates a city that appears to be falling under the rule of gangs, its military force engaged elsewhere. Having freed the creature caged by the wizard Zax-Al, her city takes an even more sinister turn, as Kia finds herself hunted.

Haunted by strange dreams, has Kia’s reckless nature landed her in more trouble than she can deal with?

Fortunately for her, she finds allies in unexpected places…

“Issue 2 is complete and looking for funding to help with print costs,” says writer Dave West.

“We are hoping to get a lot of returning readers – and also attract some new ones,” he notes. “The story picks up a notch and Ian’s artwork continues to stun me.”

We’d certainly agree, based on the fantastic art Dave has kindly shared for this item.

“We have been a little nervous launching the campaign in the current global situation,” Dave admits, “but decided to do so and commit to providing a free PDF copy at the end of the project to all physical backers, so they don’t have to wait in order to read it.

“A physical copy will be on its way to as soon as it can be. Physical backers of both issues will get both PDFs, of course.”

The second issue of Kia Wordsmith will be published in difficult times for many comic creators – but the Accent UK team are determined to overcome the odds.

“We’re missing Comic Conventions and I’m not sure there will be any this year in the UK,” Dave notes in recent social media posts, “… but we are well and continuing with our production schedule regardless.

“The beauty of the digital age is that we all communicate by email and Zoom anyway, so this hasn’t effected the creative side of the process!”

• The Kickstarter campaign for Kia Wordsmith #2 is here and runs for another 30 days

• Dave West’s “Strangest of Times” Blog

• Find Ian Ashcroft on Instagram

• Read Tony Esmond’s “sneak peek” feature on Kia Wordsmith #1, published in 2018

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.