After successfully funding his first issue on Kickstarter, Kyrun Silva of Taurus Comics‘s Shaman’s Destiny recently took to the crowdfunding platform to promote the second issue of Xob the Lightning Wielder.
The series centers on Tracy Lor, who has been infused with the power of the Hmong lightning deity, Xob. Given super human strength, flight and the ability to wield lightning, Tracy’s world becomes more complicated when Danny, a shaman, tries to steal her powers. He attends to use her powers to stop Lord Eklips from escaping the Dark Realm and conquering our world. Now the two must work together to take down Eklips and his horde of dark demons.
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“This is the highest number of backers I’ve had on a project and I am so grateful for everyone that has pledged,” said Silva, who is coming up on his goal with about a week left in the Kickstarter.
Silva joined ComicBook.com for a quick Q&A about the series, what to expect, and why he’s going back to Kickstarter after the success fo his first issue was a success.
Obviously Kickstarter is no longer a new platform for funding indie comics. After your experiences with the first issue, what made you want to go back there for the second?
Like that cliché goes, I had to strike while the iron was hot. After just finishing one successful campaign, I knew I had to produce another issue right away to keep people’s interest up. Kickstarter gives me a perfect platform to do this. It allows me to keep in contact with previous backers and let them know what we were planning.
Kickstarter also has features that allow people to search for random projects or be featured on their front page for people to see. This is a great way to introduce what we are working on to new potential readers.
Kickstarter is still just one tool that I use though. I’m still grinding on social media every day. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, along with my mailing list, are heavily used along with Kickstarter to ensure we are successful.
This is a series that, because of the nature of the lead character’s appearance and powers, seems to rely heavily on coloring. How important was it to nail the design and the color palette to make Xob work?
Coloring was huge part of getting this book; I don’t feel like it would have the same impact if this book was done in black and white.
We really wanted to make sure Xob looked like she was infused with lightning and not fire. That was definitely the hardest part of the coloring. The first few pages that Federico, our colorist, sent over I had to ask him to tone back the use of reds and oranges because it looking too much like her hair was engulfed in flames. I feel after a few tries, we were finally able to get a look down that represents lightning well.
I will say that from issue 1 to issue 2, Federico has truly found a groove in his coloring work. He’s grown so much as an artist. You can see it from one issue to the next. Having more time with David Jaxon, our pencil artist helps also. Their synergy is growing and it makes me want to step up my game and produce even better scripts for them to produce.
I feel like with a name like Eklips, it seems pretty obvious this is Kirby-inspired. What other influences do you have in this series?
The initial appearance of Lord Eklips has a few influences. You can easily see aspects of Thanos and Darkseid in his look. Along with those characters, I also used parts of Trigon and even Skeletor. My goal was to make this big hulking villain that most people are used to seeing as a villain. I wanted him to have that intimidation factor in him.
Don’t get too used to his look though. Eklips will be going through a metamorphosis to expose his true form. I don’t want to give too much away but the look that he has in issue 1 is because of his entrapment in the dark realm.
If you had to name some other books that people might like if they like Xob, what would they be? What kind of feel are you going for?
If you wanted to compare Xob to other books, I would have to say Thor would be close to it. That mix of mythology with superhuman action is what I am going for in this book. Ms. Marvel also could be seen in this book. A young hero trying to find her way. Making tons of mistakes as she goes. I feel that is a nod to her lack of experience. She needs to make mistakes in order for her to become the great hero she is destined to be.
I would add Spiderman as a book that is close to what we are producing. Spiderman’s sense of responsibility is showcased throughout the book. Xob feels like she was given her powers for a purpose. She can’t squander this gift that was given to her. Sometimes though, her willingness to do good and try to save the day will make things even worse. That’s where she is going to have to learn from those mistakes.
You have some fun and different Kickstarter rewards this time around. What’s your favorite — and is it tough, once you’ve done more than one Kickstarter, to keep that stuff fresh?
It’s definitely tough to keep things fresh and interesting. It’s hard to keep coming up with rewards that aren’t copies from the first campaign or even knock offs from other creator’s projects. I spent a lot of time creating lists and racking my brain trying to find something different that people haven’t seen before.
My favorite reward, besides the book, is the hakobot template. A hakobot is a like Pop. They are figures that people put together themselves and can display them. I was introduced to them by painter and creator, Chris Cinder. He has been making hakobots for years of characters like pokemon, mincraft and others.
During an event, I commissioned him to make one of Xob the Lightning Wielder. A few months later, I saw him and what he presented to me was this amazing figure that just blew my mind. I just couldn’t stop admiring it. So when I was thinking of rewards for this kickstarter, I thought other people might love this also.
So, Chris and I worked together to create this template of Xob that people will be able to easily put together. I really think this is something that no one else is doing and people will really enjoy.
Obviously “Greenville, WA” is not Metropolis or New York. What’s the appeal of writing a hero who doesn’t live in a massive city?
When I first thought of a city, I didn’t want to do a city that people were familiar with. I wanted to be able build my city. I wanted to have control of the city and be able to mold it into anything that I imagined.
If I did a known city like New York, Los Angeles or somewhere else, I feel there would have been pressure to represent the famous landmarks that that city has in order to make it authentic. With our own city, we can let our imaginations go wild and create a city that people will maybe want to live in.
Diverse casts in comics and other media have become a lightning rod for trolls and controversy. Did that play into your decision when “casting” the series at all?
When I set out to tell the story of Xob, I knew the lead character was going to be Hmong because the mythos is from their culture. Hmong are an ethnic group of people from Southeast Asia. They helped the United States during the Vietnam War and some ended up migrating and becoming US citizens. I realized that if I was going to do a character that is derived from these people’s culture, it would be disrespectful to put another race as the lead.
After creating the origin for Xob though, I realized that I could make this story more unique by having her be female. There is a huge trend to create strong characters that aren’t just sex objects and I wanted Xob to be part of that also. I wanted her to be someone that my nieces could look up to and want to be. I wanted them to be represented in comics.
