Rainy Road Warrior Newsletter
July 13, 2025
So, yeah, that happened.
The Kickstarter for FrankenFury was a pathetic failure, with only 18 backers.
If that isn’t a clear sign that crowdfunding just isn’t for me, I don’t know what else could be.
So, then, what do I do when I still have stories that I want to tell and I genuinely think they are worth telling? The only solution is to jump off this dead-end road and start forging a new path.
Plan A
I’m sure you’ve seen posts and articles all over the internet pontificating on what can be done to save the comic book industry. Comics aren’t available in as many outlets as they used to be, their cost outweighs their perceived value and the younger generations just aren’t interested or don’t even know they exist.
As a matter of fact, back when I was living in China and came across The Walking Dead TV show, I was shocked to discover that it was adapted from a comic book. What shocked me was not that it began life as a comic book rather that comics were actually still being made!
So, when I set out to start making comics way back in 2013, one of my mains goals was to eventually be able to offer comics that were affordable and more widely available to help bring comics back to the mainstream.
But, I’ve come to believe that this is not possible. Not with comics as they are. Fundamental changes need to be made.
Sure, there are some people that have had success in crowdfunding and whatnot but I believe they’ve just carved an extremely niche market. Mostly fueled by the nostalgia of 40 and 50-year-olds.
At this point, “nostalgia” should be a commodity listed on the Stock Market.
I would like to see comics back in kids’ hands and rolled up in their back pockets. Because when the 50-year-olds are gone, they’ll be taking the comic book industry with them.
So, again, my comic book journey thus far was always with the end goal of being in a position to produce comics more affordably and offer them more widespread. But since all my crowdfunding attempts have failed miserably, I have to find another way forward.
Plan B
About 2 years ago, I received a sample print pack from a company called Mixam. Included in the pack was a comic in a 6 x 9 format. Several months later, I was at a comic book store and picked up a free Batman mini-comic in roughly the same size.
Now these were meant to serve as promotional material — just samples designed to advertise an upcoming comic. But, the more I thought about it, I said to myself, “Man, why can’t you just make a regular comic in this format?” (And I do believe DC Comics has since been printing manga-sized versions of some of their classic volumes in a “mini-comic” line.)
It seemed to me that making comics in this smaller format — similar to the size of manga — and with a smaller page count could be the way forward. This smaller size makes it easier to handle and it should make it cheaper to print and ship.
So, when I first got the idea for FrankenFury, I realized that it could be the prototype for this venture.
Build It And They Will Come
The last problem that needs to be solved is where can these books be sold? Kids don’t go to grocery stores or convenience stores anymore. And most people don’t even know that comic book specialty stores exist. So, where can I go to reach this hoped-for new audience?
Well, my son just finished his first season in Little League and one of the other coaches on our team has a card shop — mostly Pokemon but also sports cards and memorabilia. While, yes, the collectible card industry is heavily populated by grown men acting like fools thinking they’re playing with lottery scratch-off tickets, there are still a lot of kids that are into the hobby. Of course, many of them are also looking to hit the jackpot, so to speak, but at least they are at the store. Trust me! I’ve seen them!
So, it occurred to me that this might be the answer. Or, at least, an initial step in bringing comics back to a wider audience. Simply package a mini-comic with a trading card(s) and sell that alongside Pokemon cards, baseball cards, etc.
If that proved to be successful, then I could try to expand to other retailers.
A Journey of a Thousand Miles
So, this is how it shakes out:
All books will be presented under the umbrella of Book of Legend, which will focus on all-ages, heroic action-adventure stories and characters.
In each issue, there will be a primary, serialized story featuring a major character. FrankenFury will be the first.
These main stories will fill 12 to 16 pages. The total page count will be no more than 20.
There will be self-contained secondary stories unrelated to the primary stories.
There will be a one-page newspaper strip style story featuring a new character I’ll reveal soon.
There will be a short, prose story.
There will be a trading card included with unique artwork that readers can track with a checklist provided.
The interiors may be black and white, depending on if there is a significant price difference for printing.
There may also be extra “goodies” included, such as stickers or fold-out posters.
The goal will be to sell the entire package for $1 - $2.
Right now, Lucia is finishing the artwork for the remaining 10 pages of part 1 and I’m developing the stories for the other characters — the first of which may be GunEngine Zero or the “real” Roketto-Man.
I also need to figure out the retail packaging. I’m considering having everything sealed inside foil packaging and placed inside a small cardboard box just like Pokemon and sports cards. But that might be cost-prohibitive so I have to think more about that.
Final Thoughts
So, to sum up, I will just be producing a mini-comic with the first chapter of FrankenFury with my own money. I’ll probably put it up on Kickstarter and Fund My Comic just to see if I can recover any expenses. But I’ll primarily be targeting collectible card shops to carry the mini-comic (packaged with a trading card) and see how that goes.
Stay tuned because lots more info to come!
Until next time!
~Michael T Gonzalez
One of the things I learned via general observations is that when it comes to getting comics into the hands of kids, graphic novels and trade paperbacks that collect a relatively long-form story or multiple singe issues (serialized and non-serialized, one-shots and multi-volumed stories alike) into one book was something that seemed to work. Graphic novels (GNs) and trade paperbacks (trades) tended to be more accessible to youth readers than single-issue comics (floppies). They'd get stocked in book stores (and so not just niche local comic book shops) and even local libraries. (A slight aside, but you know you've made it when it comes to getting comics to be accessible to kids when they start popping up in local libraries.)
This will allow you to tell more longform stories, like what it feels like FrankenFury is (was?, but hopefully also still is?) lending itself to be, while putting it in a format that's more kid-reader accessible.
Just something that came to my mind after reading this that I wanted to point out to you.