The UK indie comics circuit is brilliant, in every way you can define that word. It’s a shining beacon of intelligence, energy and enthusiasm in an industry that’s regularly predicted the world ending since at least 1999. It’s crammed full of incredible talents and the work they produce and, bluntly, it’s a beacon that puts the lie to every piece of negative crap that this industry regularly spews out. As a journalist in the field, I get all too used to endless snark and hipster disinterest, or the disillusionment of seeing a character or title taken the ‘wrong’ way or mishandled. It’s depressing, endlessly negative and crucially, insular. Comics aren’t a medium that will flourish through in-fighting and smirky jokes that fifteen people, all in the industry, ten of them guesting in your comic, will get.
Comics will flourish through smart, hard working, inclusive, good comics.
Comics like Clockwork Watch.
A multicultural, multi-part steampunk comic, Clockwork Watch is a collaborative project with Corey Brotherson (Editor), Fabio Duarte Martins (Front Page Design), Mike Stock (Letterer), Jennie Gyllblad (Illustrator), and Yomi Ayeni (Author). You may recognize several of those names. Click here and find out just how ridiculously talented this team are.
Right now they’re funding the final volume of TickTock IPA. Here’s what it’s about:
Tick Tock IPA is the story of Ervin, a Clockwork Servant who falls into a brewery’s fermentation tank, and gains his sentience. Exactly the opposite of what would happen to a human being. He finds himself in a world sick to the core, searching for a miracle.
The series is a continuation of a story from the Steampunk world of Clockwork Watch. It’s a tale of perseverance and determination against the odds, the fight for freedom, and an alternative / fictionalised history of the Victorian era’s first internationally renownedIndian Pale Ale – Hodgson’s IPA.
Robots, beer, excellent hats. What’s not to love? Here’s what the art, done by the phenomenally talent Jennie Gyllblad, looks like:
As I write this they’re on £4536 of their £5000 goal and have 14 hours left. £10 gets you the following:
An exclusive digital copy of all three Tick Tock IPA books, packaged in a unique form, with editors notes on the original script.
Along with updates about production. The rewards only get better the higher you get too. Plus, whatever you pledge you’re also getting the knowledge that you’ve not only helped this exceptional team of creators out, but have continued to make the comic industry a better, delightfully weirder, happier place.