After a long Thanksgiving weekend it’s time for us to tuck-in to another crowdfunding round-up. This week’s edition will explore recovering from brain injuries, a new zine-anthology featuring love stories told by Muslim women, and the latest from small press Forward Comix. So sit back, relax and rest your weary Cyber Monday deal searching eyes to explore what these creators have to offer.

Habibi: A Muslim Love Story Anthology

This campaign came across my proverbial desk last week and it took all of my will power to not write about it then. Habibi is a zine-like-anthology from Hadeel al-Massari (organizer, GeekGirlCon) and Nyala Ali (journalist, Women Write About Comics) featuring an array of love stories by Muslim women. With fifteen different writers from all over the globe, Habibi promises a look of love in all its shapes and manifestations.

Pop culture media portrayals of Muslim women leave a lot to be desired. Muslim women in media are rarely depicted as individuals with agency capable of giving and expressing love. That’s why the creators of Habibi joined with Bedside Press (The Secret Loves of Geek Girls) to create this anthology. The anthology will feature a blend of comics and prose. Contributors to the 147-page black and white softcover include: Autumn Crossman (illustrator), Priya Huq (artist, Mana), Naziyya (artist), and many more.

It was important to tell a wide range of stories about something so personal as love. Our contributors are truly diverse and include women-identifying and femme-Muslim women of different races, levels of practices, sexualities, and countries.

Rewards include a Digital Rights Management (DRM) free version of Habibi, meaning it will work across electronic reading devices, a limited edition enamel pin, and postcard set. This Kickstarter campaign will run through December 21, 2017. I’m so excited for Habibi and for the wonderful (and incredibly needed) addition to the comics universe it will make.

Like An Orange

Surgeons often describe the brain to patients like an orange. That’s what autobiographical artist Wallis Eates found out in 2016 after spending six weeks at the East London charity, Headway. Headway is dedicated to supporting and amplifying the needs of those who have survived brain injury. During her time at Headway she spoke with artists in recovery about memory, language, and what we share as humans traversing this grand planet. Headway encourages those in recovery to develop and practice art in their Submit to Love studio.

My experiences with the people I met at the studio had a profound effect on me. Namely, it led me to reflect on the dynamic between memory and identity, and how we are each individual units while at the same time undoubtedly connected to each other in myriad ways – rather like the wiring of the brain itself.

Overall, I want the book to capture the individual stories, my experience of meeting everyone there, the positivity of the studio, and how we connect through words, language, experience, art and creativity.

Like an Orange is billed as a collaborative graphic novel that will combine autobiography with additional words and artwork from survivors Eates spoke with. It’s a reflection on the past, present and those threads that bind us to ourselves and one another.

Below you’ll find some sample interiors slated to be included in the novel, which is still seeking funding:

Nowhere Man (Plus)

http://kck.st/2hASlIf

The Brooklyn-based small press outlet Forward Comix has taken a unique approach in their latest Kickstarter as they look to fund their slate of 2018 offerings with one campaign. Forward Comix prides itself on telling and featuring stories from those in our society we don’t often get to hear from.

Their award-winning Gwan Anthology focused on stories about the immigrant experience from a diverse array of authors and creators. Nowhere Man is a graphic novel depicting the struggle of NYPD Detective Jack Maguire as he fights the ghost of his father’s death. Their current Kickstarter is hoping to raise enough capital to publish the final volume of the Nowhere Man series which finds Maguire facing off against his former lover Rose.

Using various reward tiers, pledges have the choice of backing all four projects or they may choose an individual project to support. The other projects include: the fantasy novel, Revolting; the graphic novel Moon’s Ostrich, and new comic title Zu Umbi.

Below you’ll find additional information about each of the projects:

Forward Comix has successfully launched two previous crowdfunding campaigns for Nowhere Man and Gwan. The funding deadline for this project is December 5, 2017.