The Mighty Titan – It's Serious

Published Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:00:42 -0500

Last updated Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:56:05 -0500

Joel Ferris writes;

For independent comicbook creators, crowd-sourcing to fund their pet projects has become something of a way of life. Comicbook writer/artist Joe Martino is no stranger to Kickstarter. Martino – whose credits include Shadowflame and Ripperman (both from Arcana) as well as Main Enterprises, Coscom Entertainment and a number of other indie publishers — chose to underwrite his newest project, The Mighty Titan through Kickstarter.

On his first go-round, last August, he raised over $12,000 in 40 days with 378 backers. It wasn't an easy task for Martino "People seem to think that Kickstarter is a 'set it and forget it' process. It isn't, you need to be pimping it every day 24/7." In fact Martino admits that his first Kickstarter project was so stressful that actually put him in the hospital.

This past May, Martino listed the second issue of The Mighty Titan for funding on Kickstarter. With what he had learned the first time around and good will and fan support he received for the initial issue, the second Kickstarter funding achieved a better response. Within 30 hours the book rocketed to well above the goal amount, allowing Martino to initiate stretch goals, including prints by Jimbo Salgado and Fred Hembeck as well as a free comic with a cover by Bryan Hitch.

Martino explains that his newest creation is a superhero concept with a unique twist – Titan has cancer. "The story essentially takes the experience I personally went through with cancer and wraps them up in a superhero shell."

The Mighty Titan's creator, Joe Martino, survived cancer, not once, but twice but "this isn't autobiographical. I have researched and talked to other cancer survivors to try and get the feeling of what other people have experienced."

Martino initially developed the idea for the series back in 2004 when he was fighting his first bout with kidney cancer. "It was a very tough decision to take some of my personal experiences and put them down on paper in order to entertain people and possibly allow them to have a glimpse into what some of us go through while battling this potentially deadly disease," Martino explained. While Titan's story certainly has some very serious aspects, "This is still a cool, fun superhero book that is full of vile villains, giant robots, and some really great mythological creatures."

The Mighty Titan is slated to be a five-issue series, with the possibility of a second limited series depending upon the success of this initial run.

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