Kids Comics Studio Anthology
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kcsanthology.bsky.social
Kids Comics Studio Anthology
@kcsanthology.bsky.social
410 followers 2K following 190 posts
Kids Comics Unite Studio members are up to something exciting as we create an anthology of kids comics coming in 2025!

Kickstarter: http://kck.st/4jEJkdv

Check us out at: https://kidscomicsunite.com/anthology/
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kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo!

The culmination of an ambitious project over the last 16 months and a wild #Kickstarter campaign.

We can't wait to get our book printed and into the hands of the 246 backers.

Thank you for your support!

#kidscomics #success #💙📚 #grateful #kidlitart #goal #comics #celebrate
May 25, 2025 at 8:21 PM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... CELEBRATE!!!!!

Thank you! 245 of you got us across the finish line of our final stretch goal!

ComicCon, here we come!

kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #kidlit #kidlitart #makecomics #anthology #kickstarter #crowdfund #booksky #comics #art #writing #success #celebrate #grateful
May 25, 2025 at 7:10 PM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
Thank you to the 220 backers so far!!!!

15 hours to add another $580 to hit our final stretch goal ⏳🏁

kck.st/4jEJkdv

#KidsComicsStudioAnthology
#kidscomics #kidlit #kidlitart #makecomics #anthology #kickstarter #crowdfund #booksky #writing #countdown #goal #art #comics #illustration #community
May 25, 2025 at 5:07 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... NOW! Only 20 hours remain in our #Kickstarter: kck.st/4jEJkdv

Only 7% left to our final stretch goal - $610 away!

Help us & @kidscomicsunite.bsky.social make it to ComicCon!

#kidscomics #kidlit #kidlitart #comics #crowdfund #💙📚 #goals #countdown #art #illustration #writing
May 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... NOW! Only 24 hours remain in our #Kickstarter!

Only 10% left to our final stretch goal - $843 away!

Help us and @kidscomicsunite.bsky.social make it to ComicCon!

#kidscomics #kidlit #kidlitart #comics #crowdfund #💙📚 #goals #countdown #art #community #illustration #writing
May 24, 2025 at 7:07 PM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... READ our latest blog article with a special interview with @karenkrejcha.bsky.social of Autism Empowerment!

kidscomicsunite.com/we-are-not-o...

26 backers are donating a book to kids in need through Rising Star Outreach and Autism Empowerment!

kck.st/4jEJkdv

#community #art
May 24, 2025 at 2:44 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... READ what @sarahesteinberg.bsky.social shares in her take-over article with emphasis on ADHD's impact.

We are 88% of the way to our final stretch goal, can you help us get there in the next 45 hours?! kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #kidlitart #comics #ADHD #kickstarter #writing
May 24, 2025 at 1:11 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... SEE what @plugo.bsky.social shared on his take-over day including some insights into crowdfunding and marketing.

Then hurry to be the 200th backer of our #Kickstarter! kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #kidlit #kidlitart #makecomics #selfpublish #kickstarter #crowdfund #💙📚 #writing
May 23, 2025 at 10:04 PM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
Well this is one of those fun magical number coincidences!

$7777 raised so far!
199 backers!
46 hours left!

Who's going to be number 200?!?!?!?!

#KidsComicsLetsGo
#kidscomics #kidlit #kidlitart #makecomics #anthology #kickstarter #crowdfund #booksky #writing
May 23, 2025 at 9:49 PM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... READ @michellemullen.bsky.social thoughts on why we love scary stories and get a sneak peek at Michelle's comic SPOOK LIGHT HILL.

Less than 48 hours remain in our #Kickstarter and you'll love her spooky tale! kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #kidlit #kidlitart #comics #💙📚 #writing
May 23, 2025 at 9:25 PM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... READ what @marzkim.bsky.social shares, well, actually the characters from her anthology comic TERRA TRIPS UP share in their take-over.

To see what happens to them in her comic check out our #kickstarter: kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #kidlitart #comics #💙📚 #illustrator #oc #art
May 23, 2025 at 8:46 PM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
[black and white image from film with caption Yes, that is Margaret Hamilton: The Wicked Witch of the West!] As the situation worsens, their seemingly quixotic example starts to inspire the dispirited townspeople to recognize their rights. [black and white image from film of man at typewriter with caption The power of print!] Ultimately, the townsfolk step up and use their power to unseat the wealthy, chiseling swindlers who’d been exploiting their resources, sapping their hope, and bleeding them dry for years. [black and white image from film of woman with arms outstretched and caption Give ’em heck, Mary: the (second) toughest gal in town! (after Vinnie McLeod, of course.) ] Yeah. This was Cagney’s message. His first independent production after leaving Warner Brothers. The first role he chose after winning the Oscar. He made it then, and left it for us. And if there’s, perhaps, some whiff of familiarity about it… Well maybe, that – at last – is the point. Sure, Cagney had fame and fortune but, even with those advantages – or, perhaps, obstacles – his attempts to produce stories that fell outside studio and audience expectation left him facing rejection, judgment, and some meager reviews. Still, Johnny scored an Oscar nomination for Best Score. And Cagney continued to pick projects that held something he wanted to say, wanted to share, wanted to leave behind. He accepted the risks, and made it happen. [black and white image of 2 men in suits with caption William and James Cagney] And he’s not alone. That spirit, that need to create and share despite the odds – it’s very much still with us. It exists in our Kickstarter Campaign, our Anthology project, our collaborative efforts to bring our stories to life. To craft a book our readers can hold in their hands. [image of our anthology book in mock-up with the title Let's Go and kids crossing a tree branch over some mermaids swimming down a river with the words OUR PROJECT next to it over a treasure map path with red x] Support our Kickstarter Campaign for Let’s Go! A Kids Comics Studio Anthology In today’s climate, the examples left to us by creators like Cagney shine like a golden thread, connecting past to present. That matters, because it’s only in the present that we can make choices, toss pebbles, start ripples that may still be felt in the future. [stock color image of water drop with ripples and caption Behold: the clichéd stock image!] So, let’s keep writing, keep drawing, keep creating, and keep supporting each other’s efforts. Because it’s not always about what will sell. It’s about the stories we share with each other, and produce for ourselves. And that, I’d argue, is the point. Thanks for reading, Rowena P.S. Here’s my own crowdfunded graphic novel trilogy, The Adventures of Nicki and Ricky, Baffling Birds! Created in collaboration with fellow KCS Anthology contributor, Sarah E Steinberg! [image of book cover for Baffling Birds with 2 kids waving on the front one in a yellow jacket and the other in blue sweatshirt] To quote the great Cagney: “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” Thank you so much for supporting independent projects like ours! 😊 More Resources: If you enjoy movies like Johnny Come Lately (1943), check out Storm Center (1956). Starring the incomparable Bette Davis as a small-town librarian facing a book ban, this was the first movie to overtly confront and criticize McCarthyism. Like Johnny Come Lately, it’s a time capsule of a film, and much of what it reveals still resonates today. Enjoy! [image of the movie poster form STORM CENTER]
May 23, 2025 at 3:33 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... READ anthologist Rowena Zahnrei's article answering the question: What's the Point? It's a longer one, worth the read, so don't miss the next images too!

You can read the comic she wrote in our anthology!
kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #comics #writing #💙📚 #why #art #jamescagney
Left side features illustrated avatar of author Rowena Zahnrei. Left side features the title of the article: What's The Point? Some musings on the state of things, and why our Kickstarter matters... You’ve probably heard some of these ol’ chestnuts: You want to write for kids? Don’t give up your day job! Reading comics isn’t reading! Studios and publishers only take projects they already know will sell. What’s the point sending your stories out? Perusing the news these days, it can seem like the whole world’s become a plague pit of discouragement. The plight of print! Local bookstores replaced by gyms! Books banned, libraries and archives purged…and our reactions to it all somehow both dulled and exacerbated by overwhelm, ennui – the distraction of social media as attention spans continue to fracture and shrink. [drawn image of a stack of books, their spines read out READ_BANNED-BOOKS] Seriously, where would we be without Atticus Finch – or Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland! Thing is, for writers, artists, playwrights, actors, vaudevillians, creatives of all kinds— It’s kinda always been that way. Just ask Voltaire – he spent a month shy of a year locked up in the Bastille and later faced exile for his satire. Sure, his wit remained unblunted to the end. But we, here in the second quarter of the twenty-first century, may expect to boast a few demonstrable improvements over pre-revolutionary 1717. [Image of Voltaire] Here’s Voltaire looking smug with a book. 😊 Still, censorship and self-censorship remain an ongoing and growing concern. New works struggle to root, let alone sprout in the shadow of culturally-entrenched intellectual properties. Chasing trends is like entering a race after the fact, and pop fads get outdated quicker than slang. Skibidi. People say they want the new, the different, the cutting edge. But they buy the familiar, the popular, the nostalgia-bait husks of beloved cultural touchstones. So... What’s the point? Let me tell you a story… Back in the Golden Age of Hollywood, studios polished and packaged celebrity like baubles to tantalize the paying public. Pigeon-holing talent simplified marketing, and Jimmy Cagney’s gleaming star reflected his tough-guy image as the galaxy’s favorite gangster. [Black and white photo of James Cagney in tux and bow tie with caption: James Cagney: “Hollywood renegade.”] Well, mine, at least. Edward G. Robinson was pretty snappy too. [black and white photo of Cagney and Robinson in suits and fedoras with caption Cagney and Edward G. co-starred in Smart Money (1931).] Anyway, Cagney was a dynamic guy, eager to learn and try new things. That’s great for a creative mind; not so much for a pre-packaged star. His dancing and singing skills didn’t quite fit the bullet-scarred box Hollywood provided, and his refusal to curl up and keep quiet in there led to several scraps with the studios. So, after he won the Oscar for the musical Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), James Cagney teamed up with his brother William to start an independent filmmaking venture. [Image of YANKEE DOODLE DANDEE movie poster] I love the scene where Cagney tap-dances down the White House steps! And from all this tumult, we were left my favorite Cagney movie…possibly tied with 1949’s White Heat. It’s pretty close. Johnny Come Lately (1943) marked Cagney’s first film after Yankee Doodle Dandy, and his first chance to play a character he wanted to play in a story he wanted to tell without a studio head peering over his shoulder. [Image of JOHNNY COME LATELY movie poster and a picture of a green book cover titled MCLEOD'S FOLEY] It’s a period piece (and cinematic time capsule), set in 1906, based on the book McLeod’s Folly, by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Louis Bromfield. And, despite a lukewarm reception and similarly critical subsequent descriptions, Cagney’s film, the characters in it, and the obstacles they face are anything but – as Cagney’s biographer characterized it – “mild” (Cagney, John McCabe). Here’s the basic breakdown: In the time of the robber barons, like Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, and Carnegie, Cagney’s discouraged, drifting reporter finds himself dragged out of a public park and into court on overblown vagrancy charges. [black and white image still from the film with caption Is it a crime to read a book in a public park without a shave?] At sentencing, he’s rescued and hired by the town’s lone surviving independent news publisher: a little old lady with a civic mind, a caring heart, and the fortitude and character of an Old West pioneer. [black and white image still from the frame with the captionVinnie McLeod, played by Grace George, meets Tom Richards, played by James Cagney.] Together, this unlikely pair risk assassins’ bullets and worse to fight censorship, expose graft, satirize corruption – only to face the town’s resigned indifference, while gaining very little support.
May 23, 2025 at 3:26 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... SEE a glimpse of @magshang.bsky.social creative process and dive deeper by watching this behind the scenes convo between Maggie and @johnell.bsky.social: youtu.be/o2NqDqGCgCg?...

Get your hands on Maggie's comic art in our anthology: kck.st/4jEJkdv

#illustration #process #art
May 23, 2025 at 3:04 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... READ what anthologist @juliamaisen.bsky.social shared about designing dialogue and sfx.

Only 65 hours left in our #kickstarter campaign! kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #kidlitart #anthology #booksky #writingcommunity #creativeprocess #illustration #comics #art #sfx #wordballoons
May 23, 2025 at 2:54 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... MEET anthologist @juliamaisen.bsky.social!

We're thrilled our anthology includes her comic LAKE ENCOUNTER where a swim turns into an unexpected encounter.

Kickstarter: kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #kidlitart #makecomics #illustration #kickstarter #crowdfund #💙📚 #writing #art
May 23, 2025 at 2:49 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
May 23, 2025 at 2:38 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... READ anthologist @alzamon.bsky.social take-over article to see the creative process for his comic BISCUIT BIRDIES.

Only 65 hours left in our #Kickstarter!
kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #kidlitart #makecomics #anthology #kickstarter #💙📚 #illustration #process

(continued...)
May 23, 2025 at 2:37 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... Before it's too late!

There's still time to upgrade your reward tier and nab a Pro-Consult, Create a Critter, or donate a book to kids through Rising Star Outreach and Autism Empowerment.

kck.st/4jEJkdv

#comics #comicsky #kickstarter #💙📚 #writing #illustration #art #autism
May 22, 2025 at 6:24 PM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... ONLY 3 days left to support our #kickstarter!

THANK YOU so much to the 193 backers so far. We are blown away by your support 🙏

#KidsComicsStudioAnthology
#kidscomics #kidlit #kidlitart #makecomics #anthology #crowdfund #booksky #💙📚 #writing #selfpublish #illustrator #author
May 22, 2025 at 4:36 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... MEET anthologist Jeslyn Sebold and READ the comic she made for her take-over day.

Only 3 days left in our #Kickstarter! Make sure you get your copy to read Jeslyn's comic A GIFT FOR HOUSE MOUSE!
kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #kidlit #kidlitart #makecomics #anthology #💙📚 #writing
May 22, 2025 at 4:29 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... MEET @jefflarkinart.bsky.social and READ about how he came up with the idea behind his anthology comic RECEPTION where a family hikes to a small town for help, and they eventually learn that the people they met were not what they seemed.

Get your copy: kck.st/4jEJkdv

#comics
May 22, 2025 at 4:23 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
May 22, 2025 at 4:13 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... MEET @jadepagecraft.bsky.social and get a behind the scenes look at how she collaborated with author Rowena Zahnrei to create their anthology comic GHOSTS OF THE SEA. (Don't miss the last 2 images!)

Get your anthology copy before it's too late! kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kickstarter
May 22, 2025 at 4:12 AM
kcsanthology.bsky.social
#KidsComicsLetsGo ... MEET Ingrid Jorgensen and read about how she created her anthology comic HOMEWORK BITES.

There are only 3 days left in our #kickstarter! There are still some special reward tiers available so get them while you can!

kck.st/4jEJkdv

#kidscomics #comics #anthology #booksky #art
May 22, 2025 at 4:00 AM