Kickstart This!

Look. I know I said I'd try to limit how many "Kickstart This!" blog posts I do to help spare your bank accounts, and I really am trying. It's not my fault there are so many amazing projects out there to support! I'm genuinely holding back a whole lot of stuff, and trying to give you the things that deserve the SRPS attention.

Things like The Last Cowboy.



I mean, look at how beautiful this thing is! And the creator Zoe Coughlin is so amazing. You can read the story here, but something this gorgeous and compelling really deserves to be in print. Which is why she needs you all to back her project.

The Last Cowboy is a science fiction story set sometime in the future, many years after humanity made first contact-and contracted a disease which leads them down the slow road to extinction. Now, though humans have fully integrated into a wider galactic society, the dark specter of their fate always hangs over their heads.

You'll be opening up this world to more readers, who really should be able to get know the main characters, Adsila Bell, Luna Silva, and Eve, and the worlds they live in.

The Last Cowboy is about three women whose lives are linked by the discovery of a mysterious alien planet. One lives on it, one studies it, and one is using it to hide their dark secrets. The main characters are Eve, a little girl who was raised by aliens; Adsila, a former activist who now works as a researcher and is dealing with a lot of her own baggage; and Luna, a successful robotics tycoon raising her daughter on earth.
(From her Comics Alliance interview)

This story about these amazing woman (women of color, I'll point out) is really great. The mainstream publishing houses might be a bit hesitant to print the works of women artists telling women's stories, but that doesn't mean there isn't a crying need for these comics. Until the big houses realize they can and will make money on these stories, we'll just have to print them ourselves.

A few years ago I made a pact to myself that I will never write a story about another straight white boy. We have plenty of those. The Last Cowboy is about women of color, for women of color. It also deals a lot with reproductive rights, and feminist issues in general — subjects which I am very passionate about. It’s a story I’ve always wanted to read myself, so I made it myself.
(From her Comics Alliance interview)

I know it's last minute and there are only a few days left to help fund this project. I know that the pledge rewards are a bit higher than for other projects by big name artists, but even a smaller donation would help her toward her goal. And I'm broke, but even I'm giving her a few bucks I can spare. Who needs Starbucks when you've got great comics to read while sipping tea at home, right?