All it takes sometimes is a retweet on Twitter. That’s how Spike Trotman, the founder of Iron Circus Comics, found out about Kaneoya Sachiko. A long time artist showcasing her works online, Sachiko’s work has attracted a ton of fans over the past decade.
Now they’ll have a chance to own the first English hardcover artbook from her very soon.
After following Sachiko’s art for years after seeing the retweet, Spike eventually reached out to collaborate on a book, which is set to come out in September. But, to create a better quality book and allow people to grab an early copy, this led to the Kickstarter. At (as of this article) 40% funded, the goal is high, and so is the turnaround. Most Kickstarters run about 30 days, but this is running for two weeks.
Spike does believe this short time frame is the right one. “ICC has now run 15 Kickstarters, all successfully, and built up an audience eager to back our projects,” she said over email. “They respond very quickly, usually in the first three days and the last three days of the project; I refer to the middle 10 or 15 days of a Kickstarter as ‘the doldrums,’ where backing slows down and excitement ebbs.
This is an attempt to remove that part of the process.”
As this is set to be the first English language collection of Kaneoya Sachiko’s, the features are rich: a hardcover, bilingual volume containing over 200 pages of art, which will also include a detailed step-by-step creation of a painting, previously-unpublished-ANYWHERE sketches, and a foreword by Sachiko herself. But in addition to getting the book in print, by backing it on Kickstarter, digital copies can be obtained DRM-free as well.
“There’s just no other artist like Kaneoya,” said Spike when asked about what’s attracted her, and possibly others, to Sachiko’s work this entire time. “The themes she explores are singular. The monstrous feminine is one of my favorites; menacing, dangerous female creatures, and a guy, very passive, very reticent, unwilling to fight them off or even enjoying his part in the situation. I love that.”
For now the goals are simple, but if manages to reach them, there will be more stretch goals added to complement the book. We’ll have to wait and see if it does reach that point. If you’re interested in finding out more about the Kickstarter or about Sachiko, you’ll have to head over to the official page.