Are NSFW Kickstarters a Cheat Code to Success?
We've all heard it before, are spicy comics really a cheat code to Kickstarter? We take a deep dive!
Hello Lifeline Comics readers!
This week, we’re tackling a SUPER hot topic in the Kickstarter comics community: Are Not-Safe-For-Work Comics a Cheat Code to Success?
We’ll also reveal our San Diego Comic Con itinerary, share our experience as Guests at ReedPop’s Florida Supercon, discuss our opinions on new release Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, and more!
Let’s dive in!
Check out our NSFW & SFW Campaigns!
Phil: Before we get into our main topic, a quick reminder that Lifeline Comics has two Kickstarter campaigns live right now - one NSFW book and one SFW!
The Beast & Snow #1-2 - Vampire/Werewolf Romance [NSFW]
“BEAUTY BECOMES THE BEAST! A Werewolf Belle is trapped in her castle with a Vampire Snow White? Can the two monsters put aside their differences and survive the day…and maybe even fall in love along the way?”
Slice of Life: A Coming Out Story [SFW]
ENDING IN TWO DAYS!
“The CLOSETED CHEERLEADER finally learns to accept her sexuality and her romantic feelings for the anime character who came to life in this Pride and Coming Out-themed special issue!”
Is “Not-Safe-For-Work” A Cheat Code?
Phil: We see folks post on social media almost weekly referring to Not-Safe-For-Work comics as a cheat code to Kickstarter success - often derisively.
It’s not hard to figure out why NSFW comics have this perception. Some of (but certainly not all of) the most successful crowdfunding campaigns are for 18+ comics that feature sex, nudity, and intense violence.
But is this perception correct? Do all NSFW comics immediately outperform SFW comics? (Spoiler: They don’t). And why, exactly, does NSFW find such success in crowdfunding?
Let’s discuss!
An Underserved Market
Phil: Let’s start with the Million Dollar Question - WHY do NSFW comics perform so well? ASIDE FOR the obvious “sex sells”, readers enjoy mature content, and you can tell a substantive story that features sex arguments.
We would argue that the real reason NSFW performs particularly well in the crowdfunding space is because it’s not someone readers have easy access to via other comic distribution platforms.
The direct market, while certainly not devoid of NSFW, doesn’t have a surplus offering in the way of R-Rated content. And webcomic platforms like Webtoon and Tapas have pretty strict guidelines about featuring of sex and nudity - so strict, in fact, that our ADVERTIZING of our NSFW comics sometimes get our posts rejected!
A lot of consumers want to read sexy comics that have an actual story and developed characters. And when other comic platforms don’t fill the need, Kickstarter becomes an easy platform for those consumers to flock to for the content they’re craving.
Supercharger vs. Cheat Code
Kat: Did creating the EverAfterVerse - our 18+ Fairytale Shared Universe - become a cheat code for our Kickstarter success? Cheat code isn’t the correct word. I would say it supercharged our brand.
As Phil mentioned, NSFW comics are in a high demand on Kickstarter because it’s something other comic markets (the direct market and Webtoon) lack. Kickstarter has plenty of creators and publishers that are producing HIGH QUALITY NSFW titles with good stories that elevate spicy content, and that’s why backers are supporting these projects in flocks.
Phil: Any economist will tell you, an underserved market will flock to where the goods they’re lacking are available. So crowdfunding, with its indie atmosphere and lack of red tape regarding sex and nudity, becomes a centralized hub where NSFW comic lovers can flock.
Know What’s HOT
Kat: Slapping NSFW on our projects isn’t the extent of the work you need to do to find success. In preparation for the EverAfterVerse, we studied the Kickstarter market to create titles that we felt backers were starving for. Namely, public domain properties that people recognize (Wizard of Oz, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland etc.) with a spicy queer twist.
A cheat code means an automatic win. But there are plenty of NSFW titles that do not fund on Kickstarter, or that do worse than a creator’s SFW titles. Without an existing brand to lift up that NSFW title, it’s hard for a random new mature comic to blow up. YOU NEED AND GROW TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!
The reason the EverAfterVerse was able to succeed was because we built a queer audience long before we launched The Beast & Snow.
Bi Visibility: A Bisexual Anthology helped elevate our queer WEBTOON, Slice of Life, and Slice of Life elevated the EverAfterVerse. We had our ear to the ground to understand what type of stories queer people wanted to read because it was the very stories we were craving. And we had a track record for delivering a diverse slate of queer comics.
And because of the success of our NSFW comic line, we even had our most successful all-ages comic book anthology (Remember? The thing that people said was dead?) with Transphoria. And it made JUST AS MUCH as The Beast and Snow!
Rising Tides
Phil: The expression “A rising tide lifts all ships” really does ring true here. We’ve talked to countless readers who enjoyed our NSFW content so much that they decided to check out (and become fans of) our Safe-for-Work comics as well!
As Kat mentioned, Transphoria has been our second most funded campaign to date. And through referral links alone (which understate true referrals), we know that thousands of dollars of support for this all ages anthology came from fans of our EverAfterVerse books.
Slice of Life - five issues in - is also at the tail end of its most successful campaign yet. This is in no small part because of all of the new readers we’ve picked up on our NSFW comics.
And it’s not just queer comics that have seen a rise. Non-queer titles, such as our most recent The Last Case of Deven & Taylor #1, have seen much of their support come directly from readers of our NSFW titles.
Readers, like creators, are not a monolith. Kat and I never want to get into the habit of telling just one kind of story. Just like how readers don’t only want one type of story (SFW, NSFW, queer, straight, fantasy, slice of life, etc). And when you have a track record for telling stories that your readers enjoy, they’re more likely to check out your other titles - even the ones that are less similar to those they’ve enjoyed up to that point.
Conclusion
Phil: Few creators would dispute that NSFW is a powerful tool. It’s the “hot thing” on Kickstarter right now because it delivers content that readers don’t have ready access to via other platforms.
But slapping NSFW on a book does not mean guaranteed success. You don’t need to look far on Kickstarter to find plenty of NSFW that fail to meet their funding goals. Those just aren’t the ones you see all over social media and the Kickstarter front page.
Like everything in creating, finding success is a marathon and not a sprint. Each new release builds your audience and finds new fans. And with the right NSFW title that appeals to your existing audience, you have the opportunity to supercharge your numbers. And in the long-term, make your SFW titles bigger successes as well!
San Diego Comic Con Schedule
Kat: The best time of the year is right around the corner! And this is the first year that Phil will be joining me. We have some wonderful plans to celebrate the occasion:
Thursday
12-1pm - Prism Comics Signing for When I Was Young
Booth 2144
4:30-5:30pm Kickstarter Panel
Room: 29CD
Friday
11am-12pm - Mariko Tamaki Spotlight
I’m moderating the panel!
Room 25ABC
2-3pm - White Ash Booth Signing
Booth 2202
What have we been up to?
Let’s talk about some of the stuff that’s kept us busy since our last post!
Guests at Florida Super Con
Phil: Last weekend, we had the pleasure of returning to ReedPop’s Florida Supercon in Miami for the second year in a row - but this time as guests!
The organizers of this show have been making a concerted effort to listen to their attendees about what they want to see more of - and it turns out that one of the most popular answers they’ve gotten has been MORE WEBCOMIC CREATORS!
And that effort really showed! We have SO MANY Slice of Life readers come up to our table to talk about the series (and get a small or big spoiler, if they wanted)! We also had the pleasure of speaking on a Webtoon Roundtable Panel that was so much fun.
It was great talking with both fellow Webtoon Canvas and Webtoon Originals creators about their webcomic process! The full recording of the panel is on Phil’s Instagram (apologies for the orientation).
As always, we got to see some awesome cosplay…
…and walk out with a great haul!
We also took the opportunity visiting Florida to catch up with some friends! We got to have lunch with our friend and fellow creator, Kevin Joseph (Tart) - and finally got to meet in person after knowing each other for 5 years!
We also took the opportunity to see my friend, Rocco, and get in some great meals, some strong drinks, and a little bit of gambling at the Hard Rock!
My fiancé, Julius, got a whole aisle to himself on the flight home.
And Molly took over my carryon and told us we’re not allowed to leave again (little does she know I’m going to San Diego in two days 😈)
Here’s hoping the stars (and our calendars) align and we’ll get to return to Florida Supercon next year!
Foo Fighters
Kat: My brother and I have been lifelong Foo Fighters fans, and have always wanted to go see one of their concerts. 5+ years ago we had tickets for their last big North American tour - life happened, and we couldn’t make it. It was one of our biggest regrets!! So when we saw them returning to New York we, at lightning speed, grabbed our tickets.
If you’re also a Foo Fighters fan, you may know how this possibly went…but luckily, we did not go to the Wednesday rain out show. This was the second night, and Dave made sure to play 3 hours of rock and roll.
The show ended with fireworks as Everlong echoed the stadium!
Legally Blonde: The Musical
Kat: Kat Fact #104: Legally Blonde is my favorite musical! I saw it during its short run on Broadway a billion years ago, and to this day I still play the album on repeat.
So when my brother found out that they were putting a show on, he bought the tickets for the John W. Engeman Theater performance. And it was just as great as I remembered!
I stand by that it’s one of the best movie to stage adaptations out there with songs that are just as catchy as the plot. I even found appreciation for some of the songs I tend to skip during my relisten of the album.
There are a few aspects of the original show that are a bit outdated that I do wish the show could have taken liberties to modernize. I’d be curious to see what a 2024 lens would have to say about queerness and feminism, but it was also interesting to watch a show out of time and see how culture has changed since 2007. Win/win.
Media
And let’s discuss some non-comics media!
Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! - Episodes 1-2
Kat: Kite Man was a breakout character in Harley Quinn. Poison Ivy’s ex-babbling boyfriend, who is the definition of a “golden retriever”. He was a great foil for our leads. But does being a good comedic doormat mean he deserved to be the lead of his own show?
If you’re a fan of Harley Quinn, Kite Man: Hell Yeah has a similar tone to the show’s recent seasons - learning a few tips from Harley’s freshman season hiccups. It balances violence, comedy, and character work in a familiar fashion. And as a hardcore comic book fan, I love that both shows reference deep cuts, making these references larger elements to the overall narrative.
Is this spin-off any different than Harley? Honestly…not really. It just focuses on the B-plot instead of Harley’s A-plot. And I actually enjoyed the time it takes to expand on these characters. We get more of a backstory for Kite Man and his father’s relationship, and a solid foundation for Kite Man’s romance with Golden Glider. I can see their dynamic being a linchpin, just like Harley and Ivy are for the parent show.
I love Harley Quinn! So I had a fun time just getting to live in the world more. Did we need this show? …no. But am I glad it exists…HELL YEAH!
Phil: Kite-Man is a character I like in Harley Quinn, but not one I was clamoring to see more of in his own spin-off. In fact, I can think of at least four or five other characters who I would rather see a spin-off series about (one of whom, Bane, at least has a prominent role in Kite-Man: Hell Yeah!).
Suffice to say, I went into the premiere of this series without much in the way of expectations. And while I thought the first two episodes of the series were solid enough, nothing particularly grabbed me and made me a fan of the show.
Let me start by saying that while I love the Harley Quinn animated series, I’m not the biggest fan of the humor in the series. Some jokes definitely land and get a good laugh out of me. But I watch the series because I like the characters (mainly Harley herself) and their relationships. Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! shares the same sense of humor as its predecessor series, but without as strong of a lead to latch onto. So while I may chuckle at some of the jokes, I find it less engaging to watch than Harley Quinn since so much of the show revolves around the humor that isn’t to my taste.
There are elements of the Kite-Man premiere that I enjoy. Malice is fun and engaging right from her introduction. Bane continues to be a delight. And while I’m still waiting for Golden Glider herself to come into her own more, her relationship with Kite-Man is cute.
The premiere two episodes of Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! were solid enough to keep me watching, but didn’t do anything to blow my mind. Time will tell if the series will come into its own - after all, Harley Quinn really found its footing in towards the end of its first season and throughout its second season.
Veronica Mars - Season 2 (2005-2006)
![TV Binge: Veronica Mars [Season 2] | Tranquil Dreams](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F660d72a0-879a-463a-acad-1073722bfabe_521x358.jpeg "TV Binge: Veronica Mars [Season 2] | Tranquil Dreams")
Phil: I talked about the first season of Veronica Mars in a previous newsletter and described the mystery at the center of that season - the murder of Lilly Kane - as the “perfect example of long-form storytelling for a mystery”. I also said that I had heard mixed reviews of later seasons of the show and that I was prepared for a decline in quality as I continued my binging of Veronica Mars.
But I was pleasantly surprised to find that, while not quite reaching the highs of Season 1, the second season of Veronica Mars was still a pretty great season of television.
Let me start off with the negatives this time around. The mystery of the bus crash is solid, but not quite as strong as the mystery of the first season. The Lilly Kane murder was such a perfectly-crafted mystery that expertly introduced new information and twists whenever you were in danger of getting bored with the status quo - a trait that the second season’s bus crash mystery also shares. But one key difference between the two seasons’ core mysteries is that the Lilly Kane murder never got convoluted.
It’s hard to tell a 22-episode long singular story - especially a mystery. It requires a lot of moving parts, characters, red herrings, and submysteries/reveals to keep the long-form viewing experience interesting. And while many of these elements do work in Veronica Mars Season 2, there are just too many plotlines and suspects, from gang wars to class conflict to identity theft to murder trials to dirty casino bosses to small town incorporation to stalking to religious fanatics - and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So much plot and so many characters are crammed into Season 2 that it at times feels unfocused.
Also on the negative side, a few of the non-Veronica Mars characters in the season have pretty inconsistent arcs. Tessa Thompson’s Jackie and Charisma Carpenter’s Kendall basically become completely different characters halfway through the season. Wallace and Logan alternate from supreme assholes to the women in their lives to lovable sidekicks/love interests seemingly at the drop of a hat. Keith feels he can “never trust Veronica again” but then kind of gets over it offscreen. Individually, most of these cases don’t hurt the viewing experience much. But taken altogether, it makes some of the character work this season feel questionable.
But on the positive side, the series maintains much of what made the first season enjoyable. Despite being convoluted, the bus crash mystery is engaging. Veronica continues to be a stellar lead. The conclusion of the mystery is exciting (if not as possible to predict ahead of time as the first season’s mystery). The show wasn’t afraid to shave off the weakest link of its cast (Duncan). And there are a lot of great case-of-the-week episodes.
While not perfect, Veronica Mars Season 2 is a good example of how to follow up a great stand-alone Season 1. A lot of new elements and characters are introduced to keep things fresh. The events of Season 1 remain relevant and continue to inform the persisting characters. And the overall mystery build to a satisfying and exciting conclusion. Onward to Season 3!
Comics
Let's discuss some comics we've enjoyed recently!
As always, we'll spotlight a Direct Market Indie Book, a DC or Marvel book, a Kickstarter book, and a Webcomic!
Indie Comic: Chef’s Kiss
Phil: Chef’s Kiss is a comic I’ve been circling for about a year now. I’ve often seen creator Jarrett Melendez at conventions we’ve tabled at and his book has caught my eye more than once. I finally got the chance to stop at his table and buy Chef’s Kiss at Florida Supercon and got exactly what I was hoping for!
Chef’s Kiss is a wholesome, fluffy, and adorable queer workplace romance. But it’s also an incredibly relatable exploration of the familiar feeling of not knowing your path in life and the constant need to redefine who you are and what you want - most prominently with regard to profession, but also relating to romantic and friendly relationships. It’s a story about realizing that life’s path isn’t always linear and that we discover new things about who we are and what we want at the most unexpected of times.
If you’re a fan of queer storytelling, workplace romances, and/or twenty-something stories about self-discovery, then you’re sure to get a lot out of Chef’s Kiss!
DC Comic: Zatanna Bring Down The House
Kat: I really love that DC is expanding their Black Label line past elseworld Superman and Batman stories. I was stoked to see both Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodriguez on a Zatanna series, and the premiere issue DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
The creative team does a beautiful job at making Bring Down the House feel like its own world, all while picking nuggets from Zatanna’s past to expand upon. The first issue creates an intriguing mystery while tying into some interesting character work. It’s super fascinating to watch Zatanna step away from the world of magic, all while keeping her career as an illusionist.
Zatanna Bring Down The House is by far one of my favorite comics I read this year, and I legit can’t wait to get my hands on the rest of the series.
WEBTOON: Try Guys
Kat: When I’m not making comics, I like spending my me-time watching food Youtubers. So, it was to my delight to see my two worlds collide when WEBTOON launched a Try Guys webcomic.
This is very much a comic made for the fans! References to staples like Without A Recipe and more serious topics as it subtly touches upon Zach’s chronic illness. As a fan, I had a fun time with the zany tone that the comic medium allowed the team to go into. The art is super out there, which adds a whole new layer of funny. But if you’re looking to become a Try Guys fan through this comic, I do think there are too many deep cuts to make this truly new reader friendly.
Kickstarter: Winds of Numa Sera: The Board Game
“An engine-building strategy board game, where you grow your kingdom, customize your heroes, and race to define your legacy.”
Phil: This is our first time talking about a Board Game in this section, but it’s a board game based on a Kickstarter comic we’ve enjoyed, so we think it counts!
Winds of Numa Sera is a medieval fantast epic that has seen huge success on Kickstarter and beyond. We once had the pleasure of collaborating with the team behind the comic on a giveaway of their graphic novel. And it’s so, so easy to get sucked into the rich and intricate world of the series. If you had asked me what comic I think would make for an enjoyable board game experience, Numa Sera would be among the first comics I would list.
The board game campaign does exactly what a game based on a book/comic should do. It draws upon the rich world and characters of the property it’s based on, and also expands it. It’s a must-buy for fans who are hungry for more content from the comic, but also an accessible entry-point for folks who haven’t read the comic yet but love a good fantasy game.
Looking at the Kickstarter campaign, it’s so easy to see all of the love and effort that went into building a unique and rewarding gaming experience.
Check out Winds of Numa Sera: The Board Game here!
In Closing
Thanks for reading! We hope you enjoyed our thoughts on NSFW comics on Kickstarter!
Be sure to check out our own NSFW comic - The Beast & Snow #1-2 - before the campaign ends in a week. And if you also love SFW comics, also take a look at Slice of Life: A Coming Out Story, ending in just two days!
And if you’re going to be at San Diego Comic-Con, feel free to shoot us a DM to see if we can find the time to meet up! Or check us out at one of our panels or signings.
Subscribe to our Substack Newsletter above to get immediate updates on our future projects!
Current Kickstarters:
Slice of Life: A Coming Out Story (Ends 7/25 - in two days!)
Beast & Snow #1-2 - Mature Vampire/Werewolf Romance (Ends 8/08)
Next Cons/Events:
San Diego Comic Con [SELECT SIGNINGS/PANELS] (07/25-07/28)
Jersey City Pride (08/24)
I asked this question a long time ago, probably in a way that got under people's skin. Or maybe that's because it was Reddit. Thanks for the insights.
That's a great breakdown of NSFW on Kickstarter.
To add to that: books that are just trying to cash in on NSFW alone, without a purpose or story behind it, get found out real quick and the quality shines through in the end. The creators finding success in the space usually have a track-record of being able to tell a story.
Looking forward to the Kickstarter panel at SDCC!