womanthology

In the summer of 2011, Renae de Liz helmed the founding of the Womanthology initiative. You may recognize Renae de Liz from her work with IDW, where her breathtaking art has appeared in a number of IDW titles, including the graphic novel adaptation of Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn. The Womanthology itself was conceptualized as a graphic novel collection, featuring work, interviews, and how-to articles from many of the comic industry’s preeminent female contributors, such as Gail Simone, Barbara Kesel, Annie Nocenti, Fiona Staples, and more. When they organized a Kickstarter campaign to fund their first volume (revolving around the theme “Heroic”), they had over 140 women from novices to adepts lined up to provide material.

The Kickstarter ran from July 7th to August 7th, 2011, and was a resounding success. The Womanthology project set out to earn $25,000 to fund the Heroic volume of their anthology. These funds would allow for the production of Kickstarter rewards, any postage costs, and a small print run of Womanthology: Heroic as a full-color and heavy volume. The Kickstarter brought in over four times that amount, with nearly $110,000 earned in the month allowed by the campaign.

De Liz and company knew how to run an excellent Kickstarter campaign: they offered exciting rewards, and demonstrated delight and gratitude with frequent updates to the project. Kickstarter rewards ran from the expected “your name in the Thank You section of the book/website” and a copy of the book to a limited edition sketchbook to random hand-drawn signed pages, having your child’s art inked by a professional, and getting yourself a cameo in Womanthology: Heroic. These ladies knew what they were doing with the Kickstarter rewards. There were a few bumps in the fulfillment stage, but it looks like most of these were taken care of by the end of 2012.

Thanks to the success of the Kickstarter, they were able to print a larger run of Womanthology: Heroic and earmark the proceeds from regular distribution for charity. As of November 2012, the Womanthology project had raised $34,000 for charity with at least a third of that contributed to the education of girls in Pakistan in the wake of Malala Yousafzai’s shooting. Renae de Liz has invited all the Kickstarter campaign backers to help select what other charities the remaining funds may go to.

IDW has demonstrated a serious commitment to the project, announcing in March that Womanthology would become an ongoing series. The first five-comic run is titled Womanthology: Space and is currently in publication, with the fifth issue coming out this February. The entire run will be collected for publication as a graphic novel in June. The next thematic title for Womanthology has not yet been announced, but it’s promising to see the Womanthology initiative continuing on. There is so much more that can be accomplished by providing both support and an outlet to ladies of all ages aspiring to work in the comics industry. If there’s one thing the industry needs to continue thriving, it’s fresh blood and fresh perspectives from the ladies. Let’s hope Womanthology keeps up the good work.

Interested parties can follow the Womanthology initiative and their publications at their blog.