I started Temporal Comics in April 2018. My goal was to make fun and entertaining comics for all ages.
The first comic would be Heroes of the Golden Age, a who’s who of heroes from the golden age of comics. I am not an artist, nor a writer, but I know my way around Photoshop, so I would do the layout. But I needed to raise funds to pay others to do the grunt work. I would use the Kickstarter platform to fund the comic.
The first person I found was artist Chris Malgrain. I had looked high and low for an independent artist (as I knew I could not afford a professional) and was lucky to see some of Chris’ work. Chris was still doing independent work, though he had that pro level look to his art. I contacted him and he agreed to do the art for the book and he did it on spec. Now finding a great artist is hard. One willing to work on spec is a whole other level of commitment.
My writer, Jesse Bereta, I found on UpWork. A platform that connects companies with people looking for work. Now I had my team.
The first Kickstarter was successful, as it was funded, but then came the reality. I did not know at the time what costs I would incur, and this first one ended up costing me. The second was only slightly better. By the third issue, I had actually made some money and decided to go on with more issues. Unfortunately, each issue declined after issue 3. The saving grace? Chris donated the art for the next three issues. To date, we have done 6 issues of Heroes of the Golden Age, and soon will collect them into a trade. The future for Heroes, right now, is on pause.
I always wanted to do a sequential comic. Again, doing one meant a lot of cash if I was to have a talented artist. Again, Chris came to the rescue. Chris needed a website and said he would do the art in trade for me building and maintaining his new site. This was what I needed to move forward. Again, using Kickstarter, I ran a campaign for Lash Lightning and was funded in just a few hours. Even though successful, I charted out how it would have been if I had to pay Chris or another artist. Once again, I would have maybe broken even. Chris is moving away from sequential art, so that means there may or may not be another Lash comic. I am far from rich, and this is a niche market.
So where do I go from here?
I am going to put Temporal Comics ON HOLD and move onto my new project–Temporal Creations.
What is Temporal Creations?
I have been lucky to work with many people on their comic projects. Companies like Sleeping Giant, Ominous Press, Thrilling Nostalgia Comics and Power Comics, to name a few. Even though I am not an artist, I do flat colors, lettering and general art touch-ups. A jack of all trades—if you will. Temporal Creations will be my company that others can hire when they need help with campaigns, coloring, lettering and much more. I already have several freelancers I work with that can help me get the jobs done and done fast.
So, Temporal Comics is no more?
No, I will still continue with the Temporal Comics website and Facebook page and update them with art and profiles on my characters as time permits. If in the future the market opens up and I can make comics without losing money, I will absolutely do more–I would LOVE to. – Darrin Wiltshire