The Four Color Media Monitor

The Herald-Banner of Greenville interviewed Matthew Holland, who's developing a comic with some industry veterans on an indie production called Intergalactic Riptoadz. It begins awkwardly though:

With superhero movies still consistently filling movie theaters and pulling in subscriptions to streaming services, the comic book format of extraordinary do-gooders facing off against villainous masterminds continues to entertain and inspire audiences of all ages.

One must wonder why they don't acknowledge the box office receipts are dwindling for superhero movies, and it's for the best, seeing where both Disney and Warner Bros. are going with the wokeness. That told, the premise of the comic in focus is certainly interesting:

One person who is in the process of taking his love of the genre from mere appreciation to creating his own comic book is Matthew Holland of Greenville, who’s working with talented artists and industry veterans to bring his vision – The Intergalactic Riptoadz – to fruition.

The Intergalactic Riptoadz belong to a species of amphibious aliens and they are refugees from a war-stricken planet, Holland said as he started to explain the premise behind his comic book.

As the Riptoadz continue on their travels, they notice that large populations of various species are mysteriously disappearing, and find out that an alien trafficking ring is preying upon the inhabitants of several different planets. The Riptoadz then end up leading an intergalactic revolution in which they battle space pirates and other wicked foes.

“One of the ideas behind the project is to increase awareness of human trafficking, and it’s about how a lot of times there are people in power who are behind the scenes pulling the strings and profiting from the suffering of others,” Holland said. “For centuries, peoples’ lives have been stolen while those who are guilty of trafficking often walk freely.”

There is still modern slavemongering going on in Islamic countries in north Africa, for example, and more recently, there's a crisis of human trafficking making its way into the USA from - but surely not limited to - Latin America, via all the illegal immigration that's been filling up the country as a result of Joe Biden and company's pathetic policies. I'm very impressed Mr. Holland and company thought of developing even a fictionalized metaphor for the topic, because from past to present, it's still a very serious and harrowing issue.

While Holland, himself, has long enjoyed drawing, for the Riptoadz, he is mostly handling writing duties. As for the drawing and inking, he has enlisted Brazilian artist Emanuel “Manu” Silva – and for coloring, he is working with Dan and David Kemp of Kemp Studios.

“Me and Manu belonged to a lot of the same (Teenage Mutant) Ninja Turtle fan groups and we just hit it off, so we’ve been sharing art for years,” Holland said. “I think that what we’ve been able to make together has come out pretty cool.”

Meanwhile, colorists Dan and David Kemp are industry veterans, and their work has been seen in several well-known comics, such as Spawn, Spiderman, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and Wolverine.

To continue to fund the project, Holland plans to launch a campaign in May through Kickstarter – which is a well-known crowdfunding site used to fund creative ventures, such as films, music, video games, board games, and publications including comic books.

They'd be strongly advised to enter Kickstarter with an awareness that the company are woke leftists who're willing to suspend their campaigns over Orwellian Thoughtcrimes, as they did with Mike Baron's Private American campaign, and the president of the Canadian-based Crowdfundr did a few months ago. Which reminds me, last time I looked, the guy locked up his Twitter account, apparently turning tail in cowardice and running from the arguments he'd engaged in previously, yet he didn't do so very honestly.

Again, I'm wishing Mr. Holland good luck with selling his comics adventure, which builds on metaphors for an important subject. But I hope he realizes that Kickstarter could be a poor choice in the long run for gathering funds to pay and buy the book in development. Maybe they'd want to consider Fund My Comic instead?

Labels: Africa, history, indie publishers, islam and jihad, misogyny and racism, politics, technology