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They said he couldn’t do it. They told him to give it up and put his pencils and super-chats away, but in less than 2 hours, Ethan Van Sciver’s latest crowdfunding comic project Cyberfrog 2: Rekt Planet managed to break the $250k mark and just over 2000 supporters. It took little more than 5 minutes for this campaign to raise $63k; in 10 minutes, it reached $83k. It took 11 minutes to beat Cyberfrog: Blood Honey’s 24 hour total. It reached 6 figures in 15 minutes, just as the indie comics world held their breath, and for some their tears.

Within a few short hours, indie comic backers made Ethan’s latest comic book into a chromium cover edition, along with providing the opportunity for Amphibionix #2 to see circulation. Cyberfrog: Numb, a 32-page comic, will also be made available to backers of the campaign. Additionally, his campaign includes an opportunity for backers to purchase Salamandroid: Death’s Sting together with Rekt Planet, along with several other unique items and perks that will make long time fans and new supporters alike tempted to drop a few more bucks to see the next chapter of his Cyberfrog creaton.

After the recent Dead Detective controversy, the viability of ComicsGate related projects had been called into question by both detractors and supporters alike. But somehow that moment managed to unite many more creators in their bid to provide clarity and transparency to their backers. Across Twitter, more and more creators are offering to conduct livestreams to show their work to backers, and to reach out to new customers. This has been a good thing for the movement, and for crowdfunding comics. You HAVE to take your customers seriously.

Yes, I know that Ethan’s first Cyberfrog comic was late, around 14 months late, or at least that’s how long it took for me to receive my book. Bleeding Fool took him to task for that after his first campaign raised well over $500k in it’s entire run, which is certainly an impressive number, but Ethan’s delivery was long delayed. In spite of the lackluster distribution speed, I still believe that first campaign’s total will be matched and possibly even surpassed by his latest campaign. Due in no small part to Ethan giving his backers his personal promise that this campaign will not take as long as the previous one did.

Supporters are still out there, and this latest campaign just goes to show the power of customer service in a struggling comics industry. Whether Ethan can truly deliver on this campaign on time remains to be seen, but what is without question is the quality of the book that will surely arrive if the first fulfilled campaign is any indication. Sure, there are always going to be naysayers out there and a few of them will probably be melting down on Twitter over this latest campaign for the foreseeable future, but what else is new?

Congratulations to Ethan on this incredible campaign, and I’m looking forward to reading this next chapter. We’re rooting for you here! And if Salamandroid dies, we riot!

CYBERFROG 2: REKT PLANET TRAILER

Watch this video on YouTube

Will you be supporting this campaign? What’s holding you back? Let us know in the comments below. Back Rekt Planet here!