As weird as it may seem for a novel written in 1990 to be breaking records three decades later, Good Omens managed it in 2023, thanks to a wildly successful Kickstarter. Following Amazon’s TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s book – starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen – Good Omens has more fans than ever, as shown by the huge success of the book’s latest adaptation, which was crowd-funded via Kickstarter.
Running from August 1 to August 31, the campaign was organized by the Terry Pratchett Estate to support a new graphic novel adaptation from Colleen Doran (who has collaborated with Gaiman on projects including The Sandman and Snow, Glass, Apples.) Originally asking just $31,843 (£25,000 in Gaiman and Pratchett’s native UK), the campaign ended with $3,027,398.32, contributed by 36,867 backers.
Things looked good from the beginning when the campaign met its original goal in just fifteen minutes, and only improved from there, with the campaign reporting that its metrics indicated 10,000 backers had joined Kickstarter for the first time, just to support the project. In a recent update, shared via Kickstarter, the campaign noted that it had set new records for:
The highest funded first day for a comic on Kickstarter (funded in 15 minutes, too), the most backers for a comic project ever, and – of course – the most funded graphic novel on Kickstarter… in its entire history.
Good Omens Is the Most Funded Comic Kickstarter of All Time
Fans Showed Up in Huge Numbers for Colleen Doran’s Adaptation
Having made almost 100 times its goal, the Good Omens Kickstarter was a huge success, with stretch goals and extras including special editions, art prints, pins, a map of the fictional town of Tadfield and even a cameo appearance in the story. Based on the original novel, it’s a mind-blowing project that fans who have loved the books since the ’90s can barely believe. A once-cult favorite is now available to enjoy in yet another form, along with a treasure trove of merch for fans to show their love. However, Good Omens wasn’t the only big win for comic crowd-funding this year…
Major Pop Culture Franchises Flocked to Kickstarter in 2023
Power Rangers, TMNT & The Expanse All Scored Major Kickstarter Successes
The year kicked off with a major success for sci-fi franchise The Expanse. Despite a year off-air, the Deluxe Pre-Order Campaign for The Expanse: Dragon Tooth started out aiming for $25,000, but had earned $342,214 by the end of the first day and ended with $1,405,859 from 12,196 backers, becoming publisher BOOM! Studio’s biggest Kickstarter launch yet (the publisher’s Labyrinth adaptation campaign was also a success, fully funded in just fifteen minutes.) Lorenzo Etherington’s instructional How to Think When You Draw Vol. 6 earned $864,358, while Coffin Comics Lady Death Cybernetic Desecration #1 and BAD IDEA’s Megalith both surpassed their original goals by huge margins.
Power Rangers also put in a major showing on Kickstarter. The franchise celebrated its 30th anniversary with a campaign for POWER RANGERS: A 30th Anniversary Comic Book Celebration, while also launching a campaign for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return – a new series written by original Pink Ranger actress Amy Jo Johnson, which imagines a new history for the original team where the members never parted ways. Finally, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles resurrected the 1985 tabletop game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness. A seemingly obscure project, the Kickstarter blew past its original goal and raised $1,277,496, allowing the Redux Edition to also function as a tribute to the franchise, with a murderers’ row of creators sharing art and anecdotes.
However, while many exciting comic projects were funded by fans in 2023, Good Omens remains the most notable, as a project with no guarantee of success set records – most likely because of the unique fusion of the Amazon adaptation’s fanbase and Gaiman’s past accomplishments in the realm of comics.
Sources: The Terry Pratchett Estate, Palladium Books, Lorenzo Etherington, Coffin Comics, BAD IDEA, BOOM! Studios (1, 2)
