Ted Sikora's Tap Dance Killer Is Getting a Collected Edition Thanks to Crowdfunding

Filmmaker and comic book writer Ted Sikora is bringing his creator-owned series Tap Dance Killer, based on a character first introduced in his Apama: The Undiscovered Animal (which is in turn a comic based on his movie Hero Tomorrow), to a collected edition, thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. The project, which will be available through Diamond and at comic book conventions, is expected to ship to backers in the fall.

Somewhat like the DC superhero Blue Devil, Tap Dance Killer centers on an actor who is stuck permanently in her role after a freak supernatural occurrence transforms her. While she was introduced originally as a villain (and many years ago) in a musical that Sikora wrote, he has reinvented her significantly for the comics, making her more heroic and making the whole book more multicultural. Written by Ted Sikora with art by Donny Hadiwidjaja (aka Nikolaus Harrison), and inks by Hadiwidjaja and Chis Arieswendha, the Tap Dance Killer Volume 1 Collection collects the first five issues of the acclaimed new series, and is loaded with exclusive extras like concept art, guest pinups, essays, and more.

"The original concept for the character came from a musical that I wrote back in the '90s called Nothing Like Vaudeville," Sikora explained. "I was writing songs for this concept album about a runaway freak who clashes with these kind of 1920s Vaud-villains, so 'Tap Dance Killer' was one of the songs. Through the years I've been working on this musical, different versions of it, and it really sat since about 2000. What happened is when we were doing our Apama series, I got the idea to have him join a community theater for a couple of issues. He gets sick of being a superhero because it's so tragic for him all the time. And the idea to bring these characters from the musical into the present day comic book seemed like a lot of fun, and then it was just redesigning them for the pages of the comic. One of the things I'm asked most on the comic con circuit is why I decided to make her a black woman. I'm married to a black woman, we have a daughter, and it was very important that we have this kick-ass black, female character in our world."

You can hear a longer conversation with Sikora above, in which he talks about the challenges of making an indie book that actually outperforms the book of which it's a spinoff. He compares it to Astro City, where new characters are introduced and you don't have to have read the previous issues, or maybe they weren't even published before and the backstory is given in the character's first appearance as two pages of exposition.

The crowdfunding campaign includes opportunities to get caught up with single issues, trades, digital comics, and of course Apama and Hero Tomorrow. As with most comics Kickstarters, fans can also get things like pins, t-shirts, a special thanks in the collected edition, and more. The project is already well past its initial funding goal, but serves as a good way to pre-order a comic that has captured the attention of critics and retailers.

The Tap Dance Killer Volume 1 is still on Kickstarter for the next day or so. You can back it and guarantee yourself a copy by following this link.