It is a common gripe for longtime comic, fantasy and science fiction fans to constantly run the risk of being named any variety of “ists” or “obics” just because they are weary of seeing their favorite characters get reimagined to the point of being unrecognizable.
People of every side of the political and social spectrum all have the same answer:
“If you don’t like it, create your own comics.”
Well, guess what? A talented, smart and incredibly business-savvy writer, podcaster and musician named Eric July has done just that with the founding of his Rippaverse. The positive response from new readers these past couple of weeks has been over-the-top and well-deserved.
When any company, no matter their politics, gets too big, they get an attitude of being the only game in town. This has been the case with big comic titles like Marvel and DC deciding personal politics matter more than story. As a result, they are turning off a ton of long-time readers.
Now, I still enjoy some of the offerings from both these labels, but I want an alternative to the constant woke pounding. Enter Rippaverse Comics.
First and foremost, the goal of Rippaverse is to tell fantastic stories, which truth be told should be the goal of every publisher. However, July also wanted to create a company for the readers…all readers, giving them a place to just escape the real world for a while.
This goal is clear with their code of ethics that includes: “Respect the Customer,” keeping “Canon and Continuity” in tact, and creating a “Comprehensive Timeline” readers can follow. I can’t tell you have much I appreciate that one, having purchased several bank account-draining multi-issue/multi-verse crossover stories in the past from other companies.
As it turns out, many, many readers agree with these ethics, and as of my writing this, more than 31,411 people have responded to the crowdfunded campaign for the forthcoming comic Isom.
What is Isom about? Well, July would be the best person to describe it:
Yes, when companies like Marvel and DC have that have been around for almost 90 years, have millions of fans, movies and characters to work with, 31,000+ responses may not seem that big. Let me put in perspective just how big this is.
The Isom campaign was was launched on July 11, with a $100,000 goal. Even despite the site glitches that always befall these kickstarter type fundraisers, Isom breached its campaign goal in less than a half hour of being launched. As of my last checking the site, it has raised $2,812,219.64 that is more than 2,800%…yes, thousand…of its goal. And, there are still 65 days left in the campaign.
From the looks of things right now, they want Isom, and I am excited to read more about him and the other Rippaverse characters to come.
If you want to be part of the Rippaverse or learn more about July’s commentary and work, he is all over social media from Twitter to Instagram to Discord, but the best places to start are his own websites, Rippaverse, or EricDJuly.com.