Created by Brian Lee Byrd
Written by Brian Lee Byrd and Sarah Hollis
Pencil and Ink by Saint Yak
Color by Matt James
Lettering by HdE
One of my absolute favorite things to do is to help out indie comic artists in their journey of creation and in doing so I have found myself stuck on Kickstarter for hours on end as I look at projects. Creators put everything on the line in hopes that other comic book fans like their product enough to back them. Luckily for Mr. Byrd and everyone involved in Bullets and Angels it has been one of the more successful ventures. As I sit writing this it has thirty-five days left and is already over its goal. Byrd has gone above and beyond to make sure his product is successful adding some really good rewards for little money backing. Some awards include; PDF digital copies, print copies, original scripts and drawings, a spot in the book as a villain or good guy helping the main protagonist, and other tangible things like posters and T-Shirts. I feel like the rewards are very well thought out and are exactly the sort of things backers are looking for. I think PDF and print copies are standard fare anymore and the fact that they have shirts and are willing to put people in their future books is what I consider innovative and really shows that their serious about their book. Byrd has had two failed crowd funding projects and like a true indie go getter he didn’t quite, he put his head down and powered through. Byrd learned from his mistakes and came back to Kickstarter with a vengeance and I believe his attitudes as well as his knowledge of what not to do were big contributors to this campaigns success.
Normally I like to tell a little bit about the book but I don’t see a point in telling everyone myself when Byrd has a perfectly good synopsis already to go.
“Bullets & Angels is an ongoing occult action-drama that follows the exploits of demon hunter James “Ace” Hollister and his partner, Alli Gomez. The pair are stationed in modern day Las Vegas, NV by the Vatican to look into the sudden rise of demonic activity in the area. Several supernatural occurrences interrupt their mission, including the sudden disappearances of nine local women. In their hunt for the truth, the two find themselves face to face with hellhounds, a priest slayer, and of course, demons.”
For me personally, I love the supernatural. I feel like it’s a great genre for comics and I believe artists thrive when given the chance to go wild on the creative end. Saint Yak and Matt James make a great creative team and really push the boundaries of what scary monsters and hard as nails heroes can look like. The monsters and demons are freaky scary and the main protagonist reminds me of Wolverine with his bushy sideburns.
It’s not just the art either; HdE has a seriously good lettering style that extends to every piece of lettering in the book. The dialog is fairly standard but beefed up a lot where the character is yelling or screaming, giving the thought bubbles character and nice break from the norm. HdE doesn’t stop there either, the exposition bubbles are done fantastic and with a nod to the main character Ace some of them have a spade in the corner. Sometimes good letterers don’t get the recognition they deserve but with this book the lettering is what really brings it together.
I have not read the book, only followed the Kickstarter and social media. My opinions are based on pages I have seen from Kickstarter and Facebook. Bryd is a friend of mine on Facebook because I’m active in comic book groups and writer pages and I feel that I have to let it be known but I would never let that cloud my opinion. I only commented on the Kickstarter and the art because it was available to me but even though I haven’t read the book I can say for sure that I want to and if I wasn’t such a broke joke I would have already pledged some money. The fact that this book was funded with over a month left before it’s over should be a clue that I’m not the only one that looks forward to this book.
If you feel like contributing, following, or checking any of their stuff out you can find them here.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bulletsandangelscomic
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1028017026/bullets-and-angels-rosary
Bryd can be found on Twitter and Tumblr and anywhere else with the handle @ComicsWriteMe
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/comicswriteme
