Kukuburi
If you've never supported an artist's crowdfunding campaign this might be the one
Book title: Kukuburi (Vol 1): A Cotton Candy World
Author: Ramon K. Perez
Publishing Date: Kickstarter May 24 2022 Publisher: Intended to be Self Published
Intro
Wow. Just wow.
Ramon K. Perez is a phenomenally talented professional comic book artist. His list of accomplishments is on par with some of the greatest artists in comics. He has over two decades of professional experience and a large list of awards. He has done work for Marvel comics, DC comics, Archie comics, BOOM Studios and he was the artist for the Jim Henson graphic novel “Tale of Sand” in 2012. Ramon is a remarkable penciller, inker and as we shall see, I wonderful writer on his own webcomic.
On top of all of that, Ramon is a Canadian. What more do I need to say!
Physical book quality, design and manufacturing
Ramon’s project, will be live on Kickstarter tomorrow, May 24 2022. Usually, with a kickstarter project, I would expect the printed book to be produced within a few months of the close of the kickstarter campaign. Once the campaign is live, I’m sure Ramon will provide details of production and scheduling.
That being said, because this project has been a decade long passion project, and much of the book’s content has already been published online, those of you who may be interested can read the first 190 pages of the book on your computer or tablet (I really don’t think a tiny phone screen would do it justice), Right Now! Ramon’s Webcomic for Kukuburi can be found here.
We will all have to wait and see what the physical book will look like, but I expect, it will be worth the wait.
Story and characters
Ramon’s protagonist, Nadia and her trusty chameleon sidekick, Mr. Bojangles, as with many fantasy stories (my own included) are thrust into a strange world where she has no idea what is happening, or how she got there.
Mr. Bojangles however seems to be curiously knowledgeable about this strange new land. Nadia finds this bizarre landscape of floating rocks and islands, filled with strange creatures, both fascinating and frightening. She discovers allies, and enemies but is not always certain which is which. Naida comes face to face with a skeletal figure and quickly realizes that he is her nemesis. The story has evolved, over time, since it’s beginnings in 2009 but finally, with this kickstarter campaign, will reach it’s conclusion. Reading Ramon’s blog posts and website bio, it is clear that he has always planned to publish this in book form, but has not had the opportunity due to the reality of working in the industry and just trying to “get by”. Webcomics, while an amazing way to get your ideas out into the world, are not a feasible way to pay the rent.
The story uses the old standard of symbols within the dialogue to represent “curse” words, but does not contain any inappropriate language, sex or gore. It is very appropriate for young kids in my opinion. Don’t just take my word for it, take a look at the webcomic yourself and you decide.
Art style, consistency and quality
Ramon’s art on this project is absolutely beautiful. The line work is bold, the character design is immensely attractive and the colours are literally “out of this world”. Initially, when you begin the webcomic, Ramon uses colour effectively to make his characters and prominent objects stand out from the background. As the story progresses, the colours become even more vibrant and thrilling. Exactly what you want for a comic that is aimed at kids. I have to say, I only discovered this webcomic when the upcoming Kickstarter project was recommended to me because I had supported another project that was connected to the same collaborative publisher (RAID Press). Once I realized that the webcomic was available, I started reading, and could not stop until I ran out of pages.
As an amateur artist myself who is currently working on my own webcomic/graphic novel project ( shameless plug ) I aspire to draw pages that are as bold, engaging and attractive as Ramon’s pages in this webcomic. Ramon’s style here is graphic and distinctive. The characters are cartoony in the best possible way and the colours blow me away.
I sometimes have concerns when I see beautifully coloured material online, because I know enough to realize that printed books can’t necessarily match the colours possible on a computer screen, but with Ramon’s 20+ years of experience, I trust that he will make sure the printed book is reasonably close to the webcomic version.
Final thoughts
I am enthusiastically looking forward to supporting this Kickstarter project tomorrow. Having had the opportunity to read 190 pages of the webcomic online, I am almost desperate to find out what happens to these wonderfully interesting, fun characters. If you have never explored kickstarter, or any crowdfunding platform, or have looked but been hesitant to commit, this may be the campaign for you. After years of self publishing pages of this story as a webcomic, you can easily see the quality of Ramon’s work, and know that he is backed by a winning collaborative organization with RAID press. Although no crowdfunding campaign is every “guaranteed” I would rate this one as a pretty safe bet. Could be a really good time to give it a try.
I’m going to support the project, how about you?