Words by Keith Crook
Breakdowns by Scott Shaw
Pencils, Inks, and Colors by Short Fuse Media Group
Letters by Evan Willhamster
Cover Andi Permana
After being active in the indie comic world I quickly realized that there are levels of commitment to this whole creating thing. I’m not trying to dog anyone that has a full time day job and creates when they have time, creating is hard to do, and I would only be dogging myself because I write sporadically when I can find time; but it’s very apparent with creators like Short Fuse Media Group that they are playing on another level. Short Fuse is responsible for some original superhero comics that includes an unprecedented collaboration called Heroes Ignited in which Nightwasp is a featured hero. Short Fuse is not afraid to tread new ground and strive to make their product special which is just one reason I had to back the Kickstarter for Nightwasp as soon as it went live.
The good folks over at Short Fuse sent over the issue for review as well as asking for the Kickstarter preview so I can say with 100% certainty that this is a truly unique and well done book. Not only is it funny and full of quips it has some artwork that can easily rival, or in some cases overtake, art from any big two book being published right now. If someone showed me the character profile of Nightwasp and tried to pass him off as a new character from one of the big two I wouldn’t have even questioned it.
The art itself is enough to want to pledge but what I find most fun is the funny and satirical writing style. I saw something that compared it to The Tick and I have to admit that that is a fairly close comparison but Nightwasp is actually a bit smarter and therefore a bit more satirical and smart ass which I like a lot. It’s fun but still on an adult level, at least on an adult like me that likes comic books level. A lot of people don’t really understand how hard it is to be funny and bring your product to a wide range of people without turning someone off but I feel like Nightwasp and the writing style of Crook can be appreciated most of all within the indie comic community. The characters themselves are in some ways a nod to pop culture with different qualities that make them unique. The Weatherman is probably the best villain since the Joker; in fact, he looks like the Joker and Ron Burgundy’s love child and is delightfully amusing.
Nightwasp’s reward tier and pretty much everything about the Kickstarter campaign is as good as it gets and on par with man other successful campaigns. Not only is there plenty of good descriptions and well thought out sections that descriptions the book and the campaign goals they have pictures to back up their words. I love to read the artist’s thoughts on their project as well as getting a sneak peek at some of the end products. I feel like it’s easy to see the level of commitment and the realistic budgeting aspects of the Kickstarter when the author of the Kickstarter gets detailed in their campaign descriptions and I like to feel like I know exactly what their plans are. Part of what is so impressive about the rewards is the level of commitment they show to creation; what I mean is that they provide realistic small pledge rewards that include the print copy of the book, but they also have higher tier rewards that allow someone to get action figures and they even go as far as to let someone become an intrical part of the book.
As of right now they only need about twelve hundred to fund and there is just over two weeks so I see this as more than possible. You should check out the Kickstarter and certainly consider pledging!
Great artwork and it sounds like a fun read too