A few weeks ago, writer Greg Pak and musician (and Internet superstar) Jonathan Coulton launched Code Monkey Save World on Kickstarter, a graphic novel based on Coulton's songs, written by Pak with art by Takeshi Miyazawa (Runaways). Setting out with an initial goal of $39,000, the creators blew past that within the day, and currently stand at just under $223,000.
Due to their enormous success, they've been looking for ways to continue giving back to their supporters in the form of new stretch goals. The latest, announced this morning, is an all-new kids' book based on Coulton's "The Princess Who Saved Herself" should they be able to reach the $250,000 mark.
I caught up with Pak and Coulton to talk about their success, how the project came together, and what the future holds for Code Monkey Save World, which will also release digitally through Monkeybrain Comics.
Check out Code Monkey Save World on Kickstarter!
IGN Comics: First and foremost, congrats on the immense success of this Kickstarter! Can you talk a little bit about how you hooked up with Jonathan Coulton to develop this book in the first place?
Greg Pak: Jonathan and I went to college together, so I've known about and admired his musical genius for longer than I care to admit right now. We hadn't actually talked for years, but I'd followed his career and bought all his music and listened to his songs dozens of times. And then we started bumping into each other around New York City last year and started hanging out again. And one day I found myself thinking about his songs and how many monsters and super-villains they feature. And the idea of a comic book popped into my head. I joked about it on Twitter, he tweeted back "DO IT," and we did!
IGN: What’s the working relationship between you guys?
Pak: We talk so much every darn day so much I had to upgrade cellphone plan. (BTW: WORTH IT.)
We're working hand-in-hand on every aspect of this project, constantly talking about the characters and their backgrounds and motivations and getting excited about new ideas and nuances. It's been a total blast.
Pak: This is the big one, friends! If we hit the new stretch goal, we'll make a children's book based on Jonathan's beloved song "The Princess Who Saved Herself." The song tells the story of a tough, tomboy princess who encounters scary dragons and witches... and ends up recruiting them for her rock band. Tak and Jessica [Kholinne, colorist] have already done some amazing art. It's gonna be insane.
If we hit the stretch goal, we'll provide a free digital download of this new book as a bonus to everyone who has backed Code Monkey Save World at the $15 level and above. If we go far enough over the stretch goal, we'll think about the possibility of printing actual physical copies of the Princess book as well.
Jonathan Coulton: I'm very fond of this song, because I have a daughter who is more awesome than the molded plastic princess industry thinks she is. It's one of the few times I've written a song that doesn't have a dark twisted monster of a personality at the center of it, so I consider it 100% kid appropriate. Makes perfect sense to make it a book. In fact, it probably should have been a book FIRST.
IGN: Did you expect this kind of response? It’s bananas.
Pak: Code Monkey like bananas.
But yes, it's totally nuts. We thought this book was a pretty good idea and were cautiously optimistic about our chances of reaching our goal and maybe going a little over. But for it to go this high? We're hugely grateful. The great thing is that as more people come on board as backers, we're able to find cool ways to improve the whole package for everyone.
We started as a 60 page book with 48 story pages -- now it's a 96 page book with 80 story pages. We've added mini-posters to all mailed rewards at the $35 backer level and above. And just last week we hit the stretch goal that's going to allow Jonathan to record an all-new acoustic album of the songs that inspired the book -- and everyone at the $15 level and above will get the digital download of that album for free.
Coulton: Yes, none of this makes any sense. We are amazed and grateful and feeling no small amount of pressure to live up to the gift we've been given -- a large willing audience who has indicated through their support that they think this thing is going to be amazing. We agree, and are working hard to make it as amazing as possible.
IGN: This is your first Kickstarter campaign, but your Kickstarter profile notes you’ve backed 27 other campaigns. I’m sure your experience has been positive, considering the response, but what are your thoughts on crowd-funding for comics now that you’re the manager of a successful campaign as opposed to how you viewed it as just a backer?
Pak: I'm pretty much in love with Kickstarter and the whole crowdfunding revolution. It provides an engine not just for fundraising but for distributing independent projects like this, direct to the consumer. Anything that gets independent work into the hands of people who want to buy it is doing it right in my book. I also tip my head to folks like Renae De Liz, Gail Simone, Jamal Igle, and yourself who led the way with Kickstarters for comics projects and made this crazy dream entirely real.
IGN: Do you think you’ll be using Kickstarter again in the future?
Pak: It's certainly possible. Maybe even probable. I'm working on a number of different creator-owned projects right now, and I'm exploring a number of different ways to get them out into the world. For some, I want to try the traditional indie publisher route. For others, who knows? It's just nice to know there are options. As Jonathan is fond of saying, it's nice living here in the future.
IGN: How did Monkeybrain get involved in the project?
Pak: I reached out to them last year just to say hi and to talk about the possibility of working together. It's a fantastic company -- formed by creators to help other creators take advantage of digital distribution possibilities. They've also got great taste -- basically overnight they established themselves as a phenomenal place for great indie comics on Comixology. I'm also a long-time Comixology fan. They've built a fantastic platform and I love reading digital comics on their iPad app.
So when it came time to think about how we'd release the digital versions of the Code Monkey Save World chapters, distributing through Monkeybrain and Comixology just made total sense. Both the Monkeybrain and Comixology folks have been tremendously supportive and we love 'em.
IGN: What are your plans for print distribution?
Pak: We're planning to ship the books at the end of the year. For one month after we ship, we won't sell any additional books ourselves. So the Kickstarter is absolutely your best way to get your hands on a physical copy of the book in the quickest possible way. The other way is to buy it from one of the retailers who are jumping on board as Code Monkey Save World backers at the "Retailer Package" level.
After that month of exclusivity, we'll have the option of selling books directly to folks who want them. And we just might! We're also totally open to the possibility of cutting a deal with a traditional publisher. We're exploring all options -- and are happy to talk with any publishers who might be reading this!
IGN: Anything you’d like to add?
Pak: Just thank you, thank you, and thank you to everyone who's come on board. The rising tide really does float all boats in this case.
Also, check out the new rewards we've added. Challenge coins, y'all! I'm just saying.
Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito, or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN. After Man of Steel comes out, his life will lose all sense of direction and purpose.
