Full
disclosure for journalistic integrity: I am a backer of this Kickstarter, and
consider Rachel Dukes a personal friend.
Guy Thomas: Let’s get right into it. Could you
tell me about your Kickstarter campaign?
Rachel Dukes: The Kickstarter campaign is
fairly straight-forward. I want to raise $8,500 to fund a run of plush Frankie
dolls and the printing cost for Frankie
Comics #4. The Frankie dolls will be 6" tall and handmade. (The plan
is to debut those at Comic Con next month.) Frankie
Comics #4 will be 20 pages of brand new Frankie comics. Black and white
(half-toned) interior with a black and white cover on colour stock, just like
the previous three issues.
I'm offering several different
rewards aside from the doll and issue 4. There's an exclusive 1.5" button,
a sticker, past issues of the comic, a t-shirt, and original art all in the
standard reward tiers. If we make it past the initial goal there's also stretch
goal including new button packs, stickers, patches, and a tote bag.
Thomas: I understand this is your return to Frankie Comics after a long hiatus to
draw your upcoming graphic novel, Let Me
Walk You Home. When can fans expect to see regular updates online again?
Will the content in the new mini be exclusive to that?
Dukes: I'm planning to have regular updates
again starting mid/late July after Comic Con International. Right now, I'm
focusing on getting through the Kickstarter campaign and getting everything
finalized for Comic Con in a few weeks. After that, I'll be able to dedicate
myself to drawing and updating comics full-time again.
While Frankie Comics #4 is full of short jokes like Frankie Comics #1-3, it will also include a short story about how/when we first met Frankie. If I can't find a way to easily publish that story on the website, it may end up being exclusive to the mini-comic.
While Frankie Comics #4 is full of short jokes like Frankie Comics #1-3, it will also include a short story about how/when we first met Frankie. If I can't find a way to easily publish that story on the website, it may end up being exclusive to the mini-comic.
Thomas: The doll is super cute. Can you talk
a bit about the process of getting it made?
Dukes: With the guidance of toy creator Claire
Sanders, I first started contacting manufacturers for price quotes
way back in January. I quickly chose Gann Memorials to use for
production. The founder, Chris, was informative, friendly, and enthusiastic
about producing the dolls.
When I first contacted Gann I was
hoping they could do a build "like a Beanie Baby" but with Frankie's
face on it. I sent them a rough sketch of Beanie Baby cat bodies that I drew
with Frankie faces. After two different prototypes (leading in to the end of February)
I realized they were more comfortable building dolls with a static pose/build
so I altered the design to reflect that (and sent them a sketched turn-around
of Frankie sitting).
Over the next few months we went
through 9 more prototypes: fussing over her stance and the shape of her face.
Finally, in May, she was "just right" and ready to go into
production. (Here's hoping that the whole batch turns out as cute as the
prototype!)
Thomas: You’ve been doing Frankie Comics for
a few years now, what else have you done?
Dukes: I do a lot of freelance work and
work for anthologies. I drew a comic in the recent Steven Universe: Greg Universe
Special #1 by Boom Studios (written by Liz Prince) another in
the upcoming Beyond anthology (written by Gabby Reed), and
another in Jonathan Baylis' So Buttons: Man of, Like, A Dozen Faces (written
by Jonathan Baylis). I have an illustration in Rachel
Ann Millar's upcoming Mermaid Book and am currently drawing a
comic for the upcoming Oath anthology (written by Megan Rose
Gedris). I have a handful of personal projects that I'm currently planning to
work on in 2016 but nothing worth mentioning by name yet. Right now I'm
primarily a cartoonist for hire when I'm not working on Frankie Comics
or Let Me Walk You Home.
Thomas: Is there anything you would like to
add?
Dukes: Only that I'd like to give a big
thanks to everyone at Gann for putting in so much effort on the dolls and to
everyone who has backed (or does back) the Kickstarter. I'm so excited about
the dolls and can't wait to see the final batch and send them out to Frankie
fans everywhere.
Thomas: What’s your favorite sea creature?
Dukes: It's so hard to choose! Gut
reaction? Top three: sea anemones, sea cucumbers, and sea horses. Runners up
include: sea otters, starfish, and manta rays.
You can find Rachel’s Frankie Kickstarter here. You
can also find her on the web at mixtapecomics.com, Tumblr, and Facebook.