If you were reading comics in the 80s and 90s, you know this feeling: the excitement of independent comics. It was a time of pure, unfiltered creativity, and the characters forged in that era—from Nexus to Badger to The American—are true legends. Well, they’re back! But this isn’t a reprint; it’s all-new stories written by the very creators who brought them to life, collected in the prose anthologies, Legends of Indie Comics: Words Only.
Showcasing the Creators
Joeseph Simon: The creators and characters featured in this project are truly iconic, representing pivotal moments in independent comics from the 1980s and 1990s. Reading a new story featuring any of these creations is an incredible delight for their vast fan bases. These aren’t reprints; these are all-new stories from the greats of comic independence! And here you are, doing the hard work to make it happen!
To give our audience a sense of the talent involved, the first volume featured:
Mike Baron (Badger), Donna Barr (The Desert Peach), Bob Burden (Flaming Carrot), Paul Chadwick (Concrete), Michael T. Gilbert (Mr. Monster), Steven Grant (Whisper), Mike Grell (Jon Sable Freelance), Matt Howarth (Those Annoying Post Bros.), Javier Hernandez (El Muerto), Justin Jordan (Luther Strode), John Ostrander (GrimJack/GrimCat), Doug Rice (Dynamo Joe), Dave Sim (Cerebus), Don Simpson (Megaton Man), Joe and Hilarie Staton (Michael Mauser), Mark Verheiden (The American), and Henry Vogel (Southern Knights)
With Illustrators:
Neil Hansen, Bruce McCorkindale, Felipe Sobreiro, Timothy Truman, Henry Vogel
Plus: Pat Broderick (Cover Artist) and Mike Gold (Introduction/Co-Founder, First Comics)
(Not to worry, readers can purchase volume one as an add-on in the current Kickstarter!)
And now in volume two, the current Kickstarter features a mix of new and returning legends:
Mike Baron (Nexus), Donna Barr (Desert Peach), Bill Black (Femforce), Mark Bodē (Cheech Wizard), Vaughn Bodē (Junkwaffel), Gary Carlson (Megaton), Howard Chaykin (“Shabbos Goy”), Colleen Doran (A Distant Soil), Garth Ennis (Jamie McKenzie), Steven Grant (Twilight Man), Roberta Gregory (Bitchy Bitch), James Artimus Owen (Starchild), David Quinn (Faust), Walter Simonson (Star Slammers), John K. Snyder III (Fashion in Action), Joe and Hilarie Staton (E-Man), Jan Strnad (Dalgoda), Ty Templeton (Stig’s Inferno), Mark Verheiden (The American), Henry Vogel (Aristocratic Xtraterrestrial Time-Traveling Thieves), Mark Wheatley (Frankenstein Mobster) and Bill Willingham (Pantheon).
Project Origin & Curation
1st: What is the origin story of this project, and what has the journey been like from the start to now, with your second volume and Kickstarter?
Robert T. Jeschonek: I came up with the idea for this project about five years ago: “What if I put together an anthology of prose fiction stories about my favorite classic indie comics characters, written by their original creators?” The more I thought about it, the more I loved it. I knew it was something that just might work, if I could get the right creators signed on and get enough support from crowdfunding on Kickstarter. Best of all, it was exactly the kind of book I would have bought in a hot second if someone else had thought of and published it first.
At an event in honor of Steve Ditko in 2023, I talked it over with a few comics pros, and they encouraged me to try it. Michael T. Gilbert, in particular, was supportive and made me think I should quit putting it off. By 2024, the idea had finally built up enough critical mass in my mind that I decided to give it a try. In addition to Michael, I approached some of my favorite indie comics creators about participating. Not everyone had bandwidth or interest, but enough did that I decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign.
That first campaign was a success and made me decide to go for a second volume. This time, I recruited some of the creators from the first volume plus others, each reflecting a different aspect of indie comics. The lineup came together like magic, and the campaign has already met its funding goal and first stretch goal. I have high expectations for the project’s outcome and the excellence of the finished book.
1st: With so many incredible independent comics and creators from that era, how did you approach the difficult task of curating the content for each volume? What was your philosophy for deciding which characters and stories to pursue?
Robert T. Jeschonek: For the first volume, I went after creators whose work I’d loved in the 1980s, plus a few from later years. I was thrilled when Paul Chadwick agreed to join us, contributing a Concrete tale for the book. Likewise, Mike Grell had always been one of my favorite creators, and Jon Sable had been one of my most-loved characters. The same goes for Dave Sim’s Cerebus, John Ostrander’s GrimJack, Michael T. Gilbert’s Mr. Monster, Joe Staton’s Michael Mauser, Mike Baron’s Badger, Donna Barr’s Desert Peach, Don Simpson’s Megaton Man, and Mark Verheiden’s The American.
I went into volume 2 with a different approach, determined to add more diverse voices and reflect different facets of indie comics history. I brought in some underground flavor with the work of Mark Bodē and his late father, Vaughn, on Cheech Wizard and Junkwaffel. Alternate cartoonist Roberta Gregory’s Bitchy Bitch from the acclaimed series Naughty Bits introduced another texture to the mix, as did Colleen Doran’s literate scifi epic A Distant Soil. I went after more satire this time, as well, with Henry Vogel’s X-Thieves, Ty Templeton’s Stig’s Inferno, and Donna Barr’s returning Desert Peach. There’s plenty of science fiction, too, with Walt Simonson’s Star Slammers, Mike Baron’s Nexus, Jan Strnad’s Dalgoda, and James Artimus Owen’s Starchild. And of course, I roped in a bunch of super-heroes, including Joe Staton’s E-Man, Gary Carlson’s Megaton, Bill Willingham’s Pantheon, and David Quinn’s Faust. Then there’s Frankenstein Mobster by Mark Wheatley, which is in a class of its own (and incredibly well-written).
Above all, I went into Volume 2 with one primary requirement: to find creators with top shelf talent who could bring their classic characters back to life with style and relevance.
Working with Legends
1st: You are working with legends in the creative arts field—not just in comics! These creators have crossed over to film, TV, music, and virtually every creative field imaginable. Working with them in this capacity, you must have some fascinating stories. What are some interesting anecdotes you can share?
Robert T. Jeschonek: I don’t have any specific anecdotes per se, due to the nature of producing the books and campaigns remotely. However, I’ve been extremely impressed with the professionalism of all the creators who’ve participated. No matter how successful they are across multiple creative fields, they still volunteer to help the project succeed when called on to do so. They produce high quality work, complete it on deadline, and assist in promoting the project. Though they are at the top of their fields, they still do everything they can to enable these books and their associated fundraising campaigns to succeed.
The Storyteller Behind the Project
1st: You are clearly no slacker in making this happen, and you are no slacker in the creative field yourself. Tell our readers a little about your background.
Robert T. Jeschonek: I’m a USA Today bestselling author whose fiction and comics have been published around the world. In addition to editing the Legends of Indie Comics: Words Only series, I edited the Space: 1975 science fiction anthology featuring the work of Peter David and Mike Baron. I’ve also written comics for DC and AHOY, and I write comics-related features for Back Issue magazine and others. I’ve written official Star Trek and Doctor Who fiction, plus dozens of novels and hundreds of original stories. My slipstream novel, My Favorite Band Does Not Exist, was named one of Booklist’s Top Ten First Novels for Youth. I won an International Book Award, a Scribe Award for Best Original Novel, and the grand prize in Simon and Schuster’s Strange New Worlds contest.
The ‘Why Now?’ and Reader Experience
1st: Beyond the nostalgia, what is it about these classic independent characters and the voices of these creators that you think resonates with today’s audience who might be new to them?
Robert T. Jeschonek: Many of the creators in Volume 2 have remained active since the heady early days of the indie comics revolution. Bill Black, for example, continues to publish titles through AC Comics after more than 40 years. Walter Simonson and Howard Chaykin still publish widely in the field, as does Colleen Doran, acclaimed for her solo work and collaborations with Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, among others. However, I think it’s important to elevate the profiles of all the Legends creators by bringing their voices together in these books. Each of them has an absolutely unique take on comics and life, and new readers can benefit from enjoying and studying them. In many cases, their creations have a joie de vivre that is not always evident in modern comics, a vitality that still remains fresh after all these years.
1st: The books are primarily prose, which is a departure for many comic readers. What is the unique power of the prose format that you feel best serves these new stories?
Robert T. Jeschonek: Through prose, creators can provide more details in terms of setting and action than in graphic storytelling. Prose also opens up the internal narrative in ways that exceed more visual forms, enabling readers to dive deeper into the minds of characters. The interplay of memory, thought, incident, and characterization can be more intricately developed in prose than in graphic sequential storytelling. I can’t deny the visceral power of graphic literature, but prose has a unique power and impact all its own that cannot truly be replicated in visual-reliant works with far fewer words per page.
Creator Feedback & The Prose Format
1st: For some of these creators, this will be the first time they have contributed as a prose writer, while for others, it’s old hat. How has the feedback been from the creators? Are there any comments you would care to share about their time on the project?
Robert T. Jeschonek: The creators on Legends Volume 2 are so uniformly professional and multitalented that they took to the prose form without issue. They all had experience writing prose and were able to effectively translate their classic characters and ideas into captivating stories beyond the idioms of graphic storytelling. Some did tell me they appreciated the chance to work with their characters again in the prose format and said it had helped them open up new avenues for future prose and comics work.
The Bodē Stories
1st: I want to give extra applause for the hard work you put into this. What is the story behind including the Vaughn and Mark Bodē stories?
Robert T. Jeschonek: Seeking to expand the scope of Volume 2, I reached out to several underground comix creators. Among them, Mark Bodē expressed interest in joining the project. He’s a busy guy, hard at work on a multitude of design projects around the world, but he was eager to develop a story and accompanying illustrations focused on his father, Vaughn’s, famous creation, Cheech Wizard. He also offered us two of Vaughn’s unpublished flash fiction tales and two pieces of artwork to go with them. Being a huge fan of Vaughn’s exquisite and iconic work, I leaped at the chance to include them.
Lessons Learned & The Future
1st: What lessons and surprises have you experienced during your journey with Volume 1 and Volume 2?
Robert T. Jeschonek: I’ve been surprised at how the project has grown and gotten more expansive from one volume to the next. Once I laid the foundation and set the standard, creators were even more eager to work with me. Overall, it has been an extraordinary learning experience, especially when it comes to different approaches to storytelling within the structures and idioms of prose and genre. Mostly, the best policy has been to step back and let these experienced and uber-talented creators work their magic without undue intervention.
1st: Do you view this project as a continuing anthology series? Are there already plans or a wish list for characters and creators you hope to feature in a potential Volume 3?
Robert T. Jeschonek: I am definitely planning a Volume 3 for 2026 or 2027, and I do have a wish list of characters and creators for that book. Beyond that, sales and interest will dictate whether I proceed with additional volumes in the series…though it’s true, I’d like to produce new volumes that follow the growth of indie comics through the birth of Image Comics and beyond, into the modern age.
Final Words for the Fans
Joeseph Simon: If anyone has enjoyed any of these creators or characters in the past, they are sure to enjoy reading these new stories. If they’ve ever wanted to dip their toes into indie comics history, this is a great starting place. What would you like to say to potential backers about the Kickstarter?
Robert T. Jeschonek: Developing and publishing a fiction anthology like Legends is an expensive proposition. The only way I can generate this book and truly make it the best it can be is with the support of backers. Though we’ve met our funding goal, that goal did not represent all the backing we need to do everything we want to make the book awesome. Thanks to reaching the first stretch goal, we will have a Garth Ennis story in the book. In order to include black-and-white illustrations with all the stories (except Howard Chaykin’s, which doesn’t lend itself to such accompaniment), we need to hit the next two goals. Beyond that, we are planning to include a full-blown crossover story in which the X-Thieves jaunt across parallel realities, encountering many of the characters in the book. The only way we can afford to add that tale is if we reach the fourth stretch goal at $12,000. If you want to see all these elements included in the book, it’s imperative that you support the project and encourage others to do so, as well. That’s what crowdfunding is all about: working together to make a creative project as awesome as it can possibly be for all the world to enjoy.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/planetbob/legends-of-indie-comics-words-only-volume-2
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