Whenever I get the chance to attend a comic book convention, I'm always on the lookout for talent and things that are new to the comic book industry. New publishers, creators, companies, you name it, I love seeing new stuff. When I went to Wizard World: Portland, I ran into a group of guys from Hound Comics, a young comic book publisher that had a lot of different products and some interesting characters to boot. I spoke with CEO and ex professional wrestler Brimstone for a bit and took home some items from their booth.

Hound Comics is the sort of place a lot of independent publishers should take note of as they embody the spirit of the entrepreneur like none I've seen recently. Not only do they have a line of comics based off of his wrestling persona, but also a other creator owned comic books, a food line, apparel, and a slate of other products. I got the chance to interview Hound Comics and got some insight into the mind behind the publishing company and was excited to peek behind the veil and see how things tick at Hound Comics. Check out the interview with Brimstone, CEO of Hound Entertainment Group.

Image Copyright Hound Comics

It would seem a lot of creators are turning to Image Comics to get their visions out into the hands of comic book fans. I have seen a bevy of high profile creator owned series coming out of Image and it is really great to see. Joe's Comics has restarted and their first comic book out is Ten Grand, written by Straczynski himself and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. The duo really hit the mark for me and I thoroughly enjoyed what looks to be the first in a good slate of comic books coming out of this new Image imprint. Another comic I got a chance to sink my teeth into was Chin Music by Steve Niles and Tony Harris. It was very interesting to see two comic books combining the whole occult/crime thing and the two took very divergent paths. I enjoyed them both and look forward to the comic books Image will be putting out.

Image Copyright Image Comics

Did you know that the website Kickstarter.com is the second largest graphic novel publisher in the U.S. according to Publishers Weekly? It beats out DC in terms of revenue off of these graphic novels and is only just behind Marvel. The term "publisher" is a bit loose here in that the company isn't directly responsible for the final product, but the proof that so many comics are created now through Kickstarter is astounding and awesome!

I've been able to talk to a couple of creators about the Kickstarting process in The Only Living Boy and Rumpus on the Run and the whole concept is exhilarating to think about the avenues that are open for creators to make comic books nowadays. Apparently the process isn't that new as according to Kickstarter, even the likes of Beethoven used a form of crowdsourcing to fund his works. Check out if Kickstarter is right for you and how you can take advantage of this great new concept.

Kickstarter is such an interesting new avenue for creators. With the right idea, pitch, and networking you can fund just about anything. Order Of The Stick funded a republishing drive and raised over 1.5 million dollars. Penny Arcade raised funds to remove advertising from their website and received over 500 thousand dollars. Now most campaigns are much smaller and won't bring in this kind of money, but for a small press comic book, not a lot can be needed. I got a chance to sit with a creator that has been on the Kickstarting ride with his latest endeavor Rumpus On The Run and right now his project is funded for the softcover version of the book, but Jess Smart Smiley also has dreams to bring his book to hardcover status. There is just a few days to go so be sure to head over this his Kickstarter Campaign first, then over the interview I did with Smiley about the process, his latest work, and kicsktarting comics.

Image Copyright Jess Smart Smiley