Recipes for the Dead 3 Kickstarter is an Ingredient for Good Comics

Writer Vera Greentea has started another Kickstarter, this time for the third issue of Recipes for the Dead, a cooking-flavored comic she hopes to fund via crowd-sourcing.

Working for the second consecutive issue with artist Allison Strom, Grentea's goal is to reach $7500 for the project. She describes it as follows:

Recipes for the Dead is a Victorianpunk-manga-ish comic series that follows the mad adventures of an ambitious baker who just wants to lift her pastry shop out of bankruptcy. Making one reckless decision after another, she attracts the attentions of a sinister neighbor, accidentally concocts a recipe that captivates demonic beings, and finds herself suspiciously much too charming to the boy who never paid attention before.

I've had the pleasure of reading issue one of this series, and I think it's a perfect fit for those who like OEL Manga. Ms. Greentea's writing style definitely shows the influence of Japanese comics in terms of plotting, characters, and situations, yet like the best at those who do OEL work, her stories do not come off as slavish copies of things done better in Japan.

Veronica is quite the character!

Veronica is an immediately likable character. She has a goal she wants to reach, but getting there is the problem. Her dialogue, as well of that of the other characters, is fluid and natural. Combined with the artwork of Strom, it makes for a great comic.

As with her most recent Kickstarter, Greentea uses a wide variety of pledge levels, including a $1 "sampler" of sorts where you can pick up the first issue in a PDF, giving you a chance to see if you want to increase your pledge to include the new issue. I'm not sure how many actually do this, but I think it's a great idea. Levels increase depending on the reward, going up to $5 for a PDF of the first three issues (which includes the new one), $10 for a physical copy of issue 3 (plus the PDFs) and right up to $120 for a physical copy of all three issues and a limited-edition poster.

Character designs from Strom.

The only problem with the rewards is that if you just backed a recent project of Ms. Greentea's the rewards are very similar at the PDF levels, such as the $1 for issue one pledge or $5 for all three. That may be an issue for those who opt to back more projects at smaller pre-order sizes or who prefer electing for electronic-only rewards.

As of this writing, the project is doing well and on pace to fund, but it's always great to get in on a cool comic with solid writing and art. Anyone who likes stories with a supernatural bent--and especially those who like comics that blend Western and Eastern genre ideas--definitely should look this campaign up and consider contributing. I think you'll like what's in store for you.

You can find the Recipes for the Dead 3 Kickstarter here.