A Legendary Comics Writer Howls at the Moon

Comic Title: Mounties Vs. Werewolves
Date Launched on Kickstarter: August 15, 2024
End Date & Time: September 14, 2024 @ 8:00 a.m. CDT
Creator: Good Alien

Number of Pages: 48
Lowest Digital Tier Cost: N/A
Lowest Physical Tier Cost: $25
Funding Goal: $35,000

You gotta love it when Kickstarter makes opportunity for any creator, but one instance in which it feels particularly sweet is when it features a creator-owned project for comics creators chained for literally decades to predatory corporate contracts that prevent them ever receiving residuals in any form from mainstream content juggernauts for which they were responsible.

Cover art by Guy Dorian, Sr., Kevin Conrad and Candice Han.

Such is the case with the recently launched Mounties Vs. Werewolves on Kickstarter. The writer on this title is Larry Hama, most famous for his four-decades-long involvement with Hasbro’s G.I. Joe line of action figures and accessories. Not only has Mr. Hama written the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic since its inception at Marvel in 1982 (and is still doing so today for Robert Kirkman’s Skybound imprint), but he also crafted the personalities and backstories for most of the classic Joe characters when he penned their file card biographies that were printed on the toy packaging. Hama is a prolific writer and is also responsible for an 80+ issue run of Marvel’s Wolverine in the 1990’s that is generally considered the gold standard for solo Wolverine material.

Unfortunately, the freelance writer contracts of those times did not include any ownership of intellectual property created by the writers or artists, nor did they include any residual/royalty payments on sales or use of the material in other media. So, beyond his initial page rate now decades past, Larry Hama has seen little, if any, payment for the use of his ideas and creations for G.I. Joe or Wolverine or many of the plethora of other characters and stories he created. So, in 2024, he brings a long-nascent property fully owned and controlled by himself, to Kickstarter in the form of Mounties Vs. Werewolves, which presents an opportunity for fans and cultural beneficiaries of Mr. Hama’s work to support his talents in ways we’ve never been able to before.

The Story

Art Sample from Mounties Vs. Werewolves

Here’s the story synopsis, straight from the Kickstarter page:

“In 1922, David Lawrence, a veteran of the Great War in France, and a Deputy Inspector in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is assigned to a remote outpost in northern Alberta. The quiet posting he had been expecting turns out to be anything but. The small rag-tag unit he commands is actually a top secret sub-agency whose mission is to kill werewolves and prevent them from spreading south to prey on larger settlements and population centers.”

The Creators

If you’re unfamiliar with Larry Hama’s work and style, he’s a master of layering high-concept themes and situations over gritty, down-to-earth characters, dropping them into often bizarre circumstances in which they must rely on their simple skills and, often, penchant for violence to extract themselves from complex dangers. On Hama’s watch, Wolverine wasn’t just slashing up Sabertooth at the X-Mansion. No, he was rocketing through space-time on a motorcycle with enemies Mystique and Spiral, pursued by a robotic version of himself on a rocket en route to a dimension ruled by a blobular cyborg television executive. I expect no less gonzo, conspiratorial adventure from Mounties Vs. Werewolves, and that’s a good thing

I’m unfamiliar with the artist, Guy Dorian, Sr., but he has a lengthy list of credits that include work for big comics publishers Marvel and IDW.

The Rewards

Mounties Vs. Werewolves features the 48-page introductory comic in five cover variants, each at a price point of $25 plus shipping costs (a very reasonable $6 in the domestic U.S.). Primary artists on the covers are: interior artist Guy Dorian, Sr., Mark Spears, Scott Hanna, J.K. Woodward, and Kelley Jones. Honestly, the four covers revealed on the campaign page (you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to see any but Dorian’s) are all styled similarly, with colors that seem a bit muddy and stiff figure work. I backed the campaign and selected the Kelley Jones cover that’s yet to be revealed. Jones has a wildly different style than the other artists (see Batman: Red Rain or Deadman), so I think I’ll like it better. There’s also a limited (to 300 units) edition hardcover featuring a black-and-white cover by the creators (Hama is also an artist) at the $80 level that includes a signed/numbered bookplate and bonus trading card. of course there are also slightly discounted bundled reward options that give access to all covers.

Mounties Vs. Werewolves Cover Variants

Strangely, there is no digital reward tier, nor is there any digital offering of the story at all. In 2024, that seems to be a major oversight and is likely costing the Mounties Vs. Werewolves team a ton of pledges. Because I’m a Hama fan, I would’ve picked up a physical copy of this book anyway, but I do most of my actual reading of comics on an iPad these days, and so do many of you. The campaign also offers a pair of Mountie/Werewolf mini-busts that are currently getting essentially no attention from backers, and multi-tiered opportunities for meet-and-greets and private dinners with the creators that range from $1000-10,000 that have (and will likely end with) zero backers.

So, the only rewards that matter are the variant floppy covers and the hardcover. $25 plus shipping for a 48-page comic on Kickstarter by a veritable comics legend like Larry Hama is a fair price. I’ve seen 20-page NSFW comics by nobody hacks go for more, and they’ll never actually be looked at beyond the cover. Remember, Kickstarter pricing is designed for producing the comic, not for selling it at retail. Your pledge represents actual participation in the funding and production of the book, not just picking up a copy from your local shop or book seller. Others refer to creator-owned and self-published comics such as Mounties Vs. Werewolves as “artisanal” comics in that they are crafted and sold directly by the same person/people. You may be backing this comic on Kickstarter, but that’s essentially the same as picking up a copy from Hama himself in a comic con artist alley or at a small town makers market. I do think $80 for the hardcover skews a bit high, but it’s not outrageous considering the bookplate and limited edition. A quick Hama remarque on that bookplate would’ve sold it for me.

The Verdict

Back this comic. I did, putting down $31 (including shipping), and I’m excited to get it in my hands, although the estimated delivery day is 10 months in the future (I assume the interior art is still to be produced). Despite the lackluster covers and paucity of rewards variety, the concept is a crazy fun one, and the writer is a proven teller of innovative and groundbreaking stories. Plus, Larry Hama deserves this book. He deserves a property that he controls and that directly benefits him from all sales and in all forms. That’s what Kickstarter is about for comics creators, and it should be no different for those who toiled away for the big comics publishers for what was ultimately nothing more than a one-time page rate in an economy that’s now four decades in the rear view mirror. I want to be a part of rectifying that unfair deal, and I hope you will, too.