Brett Uren, the creator of the acclaimed Torsobear project, has re-launched his bid for funding a second volume of stories on Kickstarter, his enthusiasm undimmed after an ambitious bid to secure £13,500 earlier in the year fell short of target, despite the incredible line-up of talent involved.
Torsobear: All Stitched Up is the second volume of a cartoon noir comic book about toy-on-toy crime in a fantastic city of playthings, created by Brett with many fantastic contributing writers and artists. This time round, the team are also partnering with UK Publisher Dead Universe Comics, who also carry Brett’s series The Vale, and Jon Scrivens’ Little Terrors.
This story is for anybody who loves cute toys and cartoons from the early 20th century to now. To handle them, you got to have stuffing of steel!
The creation of this new, bigger book will be funded from pledges – 30 plus creators, some new to comics and seasoned pros will use their great talents and true passion for the world of Toyburg.
Regular readers of downthetubes will recall Brett Uren previously tried to kickstart this volume of TorsoBear, but it does look as though the timing, launched at the same time as Broken Frontier’s successfully-funded anthology and Gene Ha’s MAE Graphic Novel, worked against its success. “The new £3000 target and £10/$15 book pledge will have more success, I hope,” Brett told us. “Plus I’m giving a PR firm and Thunderclap a go.
“Myself and many of the team have a track record of contributing to and/or running successful Kickstarters,” Brett adds of his hoped-for success this time around. “We’ve already completed and delivered one Torsobear book using this very model.
“Despite Diamond’s antipathy, anthologies have a big market and a place as creator showcases,” he enthuses. “Eric Esquivel got a DC Comics gig last month, and he was Fubar/Imaginary contributor. I’d love for someone to get a cool job off the back of TB, gawd knows we all need to give each other a leg up!
“With such a diverse team and complex project we’ve already had to put in a lot of the work that can be done upfront, to make sure the whole thing is able to be completed for delivery up around a couple of months after funding has been received.”
• Find out more about and back Torsobear: All Stitched Up here on Kickstarter
Stories intended for inclusion are:
- The Switch and Stitch – Brett Uren
- One Small Step for Toy – Frank Martin/Samir Simao
- Goodbye Kitty – Grainne McEntee, Lee Killeen
- Uncanny Valley of the Dolls – Cy Dethan/Nic Wilkinson
- Stones in Glass Playsets – Brett Uren/Giles Crawford
- A Tale of Woe from De-Fluff Row – Eddy Norden
- The Cult of the Collector – Glenn Møane/Sage M Coffey
- Play of the Dead – Kieran Squires/Ben Ling/Charlie Hogg
- … But when Geppetto talks to you – Janos Honkonen/Carlos Zamudio Broken Soldier – Jake Young/Dave Windett
- Remade in the Rough House – Brett Uren/Giles Crawford
- The Law Above – Pete Rogers/Mike Motz
- Action Gal – Jon Scrivens/Phil Buckenham
- Shooter Shattered – Jimmy Furlong/Andrew Hartmann
- The Dark Stuff – Conor Mahoney/Emman Padilla
- What Josie Said – Ronald Montgomery/Ashley Ribblett
- Someone Else’s Rules – Brett Uren/Giles Crawford
- About the Author
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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.
Categories: British Comics, Creating Comics, Crowd Funding Projects, downthetubes Comics News, Featured News