(Image Source Tim Lim)
At the beginning of 2020 Tim Lim (artist) and Mark Pellegrini (writer) offered Kamen America Volume 1 on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, less than five years later they are shipping Kamen America Volume 10 to backers this week. Kamen American is a fun, tongue-in-cheek, super-heroine indie comic book. The series is somewhat of a silly and self-aware celebration of American exceptionalism, with manga-inspired elements. The lead character Carly Vanders starts the story as a costume designer and performer for the USO, gaining superpowers after being struck by cosmic debris.
A loyal fan base has solidified around Kamen America, and now it's a growing hit in Japan with licensed merchandise, cosplayers, and yes Japan is buying manga from America - Kamen America is now offered in both English and Japanese for all editions. Kamen America is published (and back issues are available) from Iconic Comics. A spin-off webcomic "Kamen Academy" is free to read on webtoons.
KAMEN MANGA
Tim and Mark's next chapter of Kamen America is tentatively titled "Kamen America Alpha" a 180+ black and white tankōbon formatted to be read right to left in traditional manga-style, initially printed in both English and Japanese. The release was announced on X(Twitter) in a post by the Kamen American team and featured a few select images from the upcoming book.
Question and Answer with Tim Lim
I persuaded Tim to take a short break from closing out the Kamen Ameria Volume 10 campaign, to answer a few questions.
You are shipping Kamen America 10 - and you've announced a Manga-formatted edition of Kamen America tentatively titled "Alpha' is this a good jumping-on point for new readers?
It is, since we will also be offering a new reprint of the Kamen America Omnibus
Will this be offered on Kickstarter?
YES!
Your publication model has differed from others in the crowdfunding space in that you have substantially completed works before offering them, what led to this choice?
We surveyed the comics market at the time, and the biggest pitfall was the failure to deliver. Before anyone projects and says this is an attack on XYZ, let's not forget the late campaigns of people like Rob Liefeld, B Clary Moore, and Joe Madureira (whose work I respect and admire). Artists who are used to a "conveyor belt" approach to making comics often fail to consider the process afterwards. Some artists even pass away, unfortunately, before a comic can even be completed. We wanted to remove as many obstacles that were in our control as possible, and one of them was to gamble on ourselves by doing most of the work ahead of time.
**Can we expect to see more Black Hops in the future? **Full disclosure the author of this article had a cameo appearance in Black Hops #1
(Image Source: Iconic Comic)
Black Hops 7 will conclude the series this fall, but the characters will appear in Kamen America moving forward
Iconic and Rippaverse teamed up for a Christmas Card, can we expect a collaboration in the future? Perhaps with Yaira?
Nothing is in the works as of this writing, but we have a cordial, professional relationship with Rippaverse.
The Christmas card was a joint project with Rippaverse Comics and Iconic Comics, featuring characters from both imprints and was a tribute to a Christmas cease-fire in World War One.
**Thanks to Tim Lim for field some questions, and congratulations to the Kamen America team and Iconic Comics for their ongoing success. **
Social Media Contacts for Kamen America Team:
Tim Lim (Artist)
https://x.com/SumpKun
Mark Pellegrini (Writer)
https://x.com/PelleCreepy
Kamen America
https://x.com/kamenamerica
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