Lessons I Learned About Kickstarter Comics in 2025: The Paranoia Over AI is Overblown
First-glance analysis of recent Kickstarter Comics launches, all summarized in one place!
The mission of The Comic$ Crowd is to curate the crowdfunding campaigns in the Kickstarter Comics category in order to identify and spotlight those projects most likely to yield actual comics and to yield the most high quality comics in terms of story, design, and cover/interior artwork.
My Current Comic Project
Launching on Kickstarter January 13:
Darkwoven is a new hard science fiction comic book series that is equal parts dark cyberpunk and epic fantasy with direct parallels to real horrors in our modern world. Story & script by me. Art by Oscar Pinto. Color by Vito Potenza.
In a world where the dark web is a place of quantum banishment for enemies to the corrupt and the powerful, a couple and their unborn daughter are hunted down and captured for their very memories.
By the Numbers
Total # Live Comics Projects on Kickstarter: 122
Total # Comics Launches for These Dates: 12
View from the Gutter
As expected the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, the Kickstarter Comics category is a wasteland, with project volume down to 122 campaigns, and barely any of those are worth your time, attention, or support. But do check out the one I found to share with you below.
With nothing of note really happening in the category right now, I’ll post this week about what I learned about the Kickstarter Comics category in the year of our overlords, 2025.
And I’ll start with the hot button topic of AI-generated content in comics. Allow me to bullet-point the facts about this issue for you right up-front, at least as it pertains to comics funded on Kickstarter:
In calendar year 2025, only two Kickstarter Comics projects (out of thousands) acknowledged using generative AI tools to produce ALL art for their comics.
In calendar year 2025, zero Kickstarter Comics projects acknowledged using AI tools to write or script comics.
Generative AI usage in the production of cover art is fairly uncommon but growing, particularly in the realm of NSFW comics and porn cover mills.
*Of course, Kickstarter’s AI reporting requirement is 100% based on the honor system, so keep that caveat in mind.
The two projects that purported to use AI for all interior & cover art were The French Baron and The Devil's Coil, but only one of those actually produced comics. The Devil’s Coil yielded 3 comics in 2025, all of which were fulfilled and fulfilled on time. Creator Randall Rozzell crafted a gorgeous comic and a finished series. He delivered on all levels.
The French Baron was scheduled for fulfillment in February (issue 1) and May (issue 2) of 2025, but, as of today, there has been no fulfillment whatsoever. This campaign raised nearly $16,000, and not one backer has received one reward as 2025 draws to a close. The creator makes repeated broken promises of fulfillment and blames “rendering of the images” and “compelling them digitally” for the delays in production of AI-generated art for this pair o 70-page comics. These are bullshit excuses from someone who either: a) has no clue how to craft a comic book; b) has no clue how to use generative AI; c) has no clue how to use Photoshop; d) is a straight-up swindler; or e) all of the above.
Y’know how I know those are bullshit excuses? Because I spent nearly 3 weeks between November and December crafting a complete, 20-page comic using Midjourney and Photoshop as the primary visual tools. I wanted to see if it could be done and if I could do it. The answer to both considerations was, “Yes.” It’s an amazing looking book that I have no plans to share at this point, but I did it, which means I now speak to this issue from the standpoints of knowledge, experience and accomplishment, rather than internet rhetoric, random speculation, or crowdsourced outrage.
As such, I can tell you that there is no “rendering” or “compelling” involved in building a comic with generative AI tools. Every panel must be created and designed and adjusted as a distinct, solitary element of the story. There’s no feeding a script into a scanner and just waiting for the AI machine to puke out a finished comic. As with any serious storytelling endeavor, there’s a shit-ton of planning, creative nuance, inspiration, epiphanies, and work involved, regardless your opinion of the tools implemented.
My point is that the creator behind The French Baron has no leg to stand on with his excuses. Producing panels takes time and care and much trial-and-error, but doesn’t take a year for 140 pages. I worked up 1-2 pages over 3-5 hours per day on top of all my other traditional comics-making, self-publishing responsibilities, not to mention parenting and my photography side hustle that actually generates income.
In the final analysis, only one comic (across 3 issues) was funded on Kickstarter in 2025 using fully AI-generated art. Just. One. The much-prophesied AI takeover of Kickstarter Comics didn’t happen. In fact, fully AI-generated comics have almost no presence on the platform at all. None of that is likely to change much in 2026…except maybe in the realm of titty covers. Ain’t nobody stemming that rolling tide of cleavage. Crisis averted.
Comics I Like
To visit the Kickstarter page for any of the projects below, simply click on its title.
League of Champions: The Curse of the Hellfire Crown by Dennis Mallonee
The complete original twelve-part League of Champions adventure collected at last into a single volume
Collected for the first time in a single volume, the very first League of Champions adventure, featuring a fabulous cover by the legendary George Perez, plus the creative talents of writer Dennis Mallonee and artists Chris Marrinan, Dell Barras, Danny Buldinadi, Paul Power, Carol Lay, Scott Clark, John Tighe, Sal Trapani, Jim Hall, Craig Stormon, and John Flaherty.
Goal: $750
End Date: January 15, 2026
Estimated Delivery: April, 2026
No. Pages: 200
Lowest Digital Tier Price: $9
Lowest Print Tier Price: $29
Another great post with a timely main topic. Thanks for the curated update on AI! Looking forward to checking out your next book.
The focus on story, design, and artwork really comes through here. DARKWOVEN feels like a strong fit for that standard, curious what element ultimately pushed it into the spotlight for this launch?