Western tale seeks crowdfunding as publisher expands
An Oklahoma publisher seeks Kickstarter funding for a new title as it plans a national expansion.
Oklahoma City-based Literati Press, perhaps bestknown as the original home of Natasha Alterici's Viking epic “Heathen,” plans a relaunch this year featuring the comicbook titles “The Black-Jack Demon,” “Glamorella's Daughter” and “Rise and Fall of Babylon.”
The company is fundraising on Kickstarter for “The BlackJack Demon,” by Nick Hermes. The campaign runs through Sept. 17.
The logline for the story is as follows:
To avenge his father's unnatural murder, Silas sets on a dark path across the Old West and Beyond in this new comic by Nick Hermes.
Literati Press Creative Director Charles Martin discussed the title with The Oklahoman.
“Nick describes it as `True Grit' meets `Dune,' which is kinda hilarious,” Martin said. “Nick Hermes is a classically trained oil painter who was represented in a gallery in Santa Fe, but had been a lifelong fan of comics and figured the time had come for him to fulfill his dream of creating a comic series.”
Hermes first came in contact with Literati at weekly Ink & Draws held at Literati's bookshop at 3010 Paseo.
After meeting Martin and artist John Eric Osborn, Hermes shared some of his comic-book drawings with the pair, who believed he'd be a great fit for Literati.
“We went to work on the script for a good 10 months before he really started on finished pages,” Martin said. “It's been a wonderful project to work on because Nick brings both his professional acumen but also a ferocious curiosity and eagerness to learn and adapt. That he's able to be that good and still retain a strong humility is inspiring.”
The first season of “BlackJack Demon” is set to be three issues, releasing later in 2020 as part of the relaunch of Literati Press' comic publishing arm.
“We are trying to elevate ourselves to a mid-level publishing company,” Martin said. “After moving `Heathen' to a larger publishing company years ago, we'd always wondered what would happen if we were able to build the infrastructure to support the next breakthrough comic.”
“Heathen” began with Literati before moving to Vault Comics; the comic has since been optioned for film to be directed by Catherine Hardwicke (“Twilight”).
“With 'Black-Jack Demon,' 'Glamorella's Daughter' and 'Rise and Fall of Babylon' all ready to release one after another over the next year, we decided the time had come to transform Literati,” Martin said. “We have a very particular brand we've become known for in Oklahoma: progressive, innovative and cerebral storytelling. We want that brand to reach every state in the union and help shops expand their clientele in this new golden age of sequential art.”