Megakat City Has Fallen, a new comic inspired by the Swat Kats animated TV series created by brothers Christian and Yvon Tremblay, has become the biggest Kickstarter campaign of all time for a single-issue comic book, raising more than $732,000 with the support of more than 6,500 backers, Kickstarter officials confirmed.
The campaign was spearheaded by Kevin Roditeli, former president and cofounder of Massive Publishing, who will cowrite the volume alongside Frank J. Barbiere, known for his work on Marvel’s Avengers and Image Comics’ Ongoing Author Immortal. DC veteran and former Batman editor Joseph Illidge will edit.
"It's always a treat to see a well-loved property not only get a second life on Kickstarter but to break a record at that," Sam Kusek, senior comics outreach lead at Kickstarter, said. The Swat Kats issue surpassed the previous record held by Coffin Comics, which raised $532,722 from 3,418 backers for All New Lady Death: Necrotic Genesis #1.
Run in collaboration with the Tremblay brothers, the campaign, which ran from October 28–November 29, promises to pick up the Swat Kats storyline where it left off when the show was canceled after two seasons in 1994. Beginning with a goal of $40,000, the campaign quickly surpassed its minimum threshold as well as a slate of stretch goals, ultimately raising the $700,000 needed cover the production of a fully animated motion comic to accompany the book.
This marks the inaugural project under Roditeli's new company, Roditeli Productions, which is now seeking worldwide publishing partners for the comic book series. “I am deeply grateful to the Tremblay Bros. for taking the risk and trusting me with this unique release and marketing strategy,” Roditeli said. “This project had to be driven by the fans and with some of the best comic creators in the game to give Swat Kats the comics is deserved.”
