Talking Space Sadness & Kickstarter With Lee Milewski Creator Of ‘With The Earth Above Us’

Every so often, we either come across or are sent an independent project that we feel – being starving artists ourselves – deserves a little recognition. Recently, comic artist and writer Lee Milewski tipped us off about an independent comic beautifully titled With The Earth Above Us.

With The Earth Above Us is somewhere between Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey mixed with an oppressive air of isolation and rendered in grey scales.

Lee is currently seeking funding over at Kickstarter to help him complete this 70-page B/W graphic novel. It is really a beautiful tale of isolation and paranoia wrapped in the cold metal hull of an interstellar spacecraft. That said, check this book out, give Lee some support and head over to the official Kickstarter.

To help flesh out this comic a little more, we got together with Lee via the magic of email to talk about With The Earth Above Us and the perils and perks of self publishing.

Why did you choose Kickstarter over Indiegogo?

IndieGogo has many limits towards it’s overall presentation, though I’d say the primary reason is due to popularity. Kickstarter has so many projects going on at once, which means that you have tons of people who come to the site and check out your project as well. I also enjoy the “all-or-nothing” concept that Kickstarter goes by, which makes it a much more intense and exciting thing to be apart of.

Why did you choose to self publish?

Self publishing allows me to keep my identity, I guess. I love that my book can look, feel, and go exactly where I want it to; And the fact that my ideas are the only ones which affect the end result is great!

What are some of the difficulties you have encountered?

The main thing that I’ve found to be the most difficult for my own personal growth, which probably comes off as a little odd, is getting my name out into the wide world of independent comics. In fact, before this campaign, I hadn’t really shown my stuff around. It really was a challenge to get out of my comfort zone.

What do you think are the benefits of self publishing?

The benefits largely consist in being able to direct your project whichever way you choose, which is great. Unfortunately, you do lack advertising (unless you shell out your own money), but you can make that up by joining in on the many conversations that consist to help spread the word on independent comics. There are many forums to use, along with Facebook/Twitter/etc., which allows for a person like myself to reach a wide audience.

Talking Space Sadness & Kickstarter With Lee Milewski Creator Of ‘With The Earth Above Us’

Every so often, we either come across or are sent an independent project that we feel – being starving artists ourselves – deserves a little recognition. Recently, comic artist and writer Lee Milewski tipped us off about an independent comic beautifully titled With The Earth Above Us.

With The Earth Above Us is somewhere between Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey mixed with an oppressive air of isolation and rendered in grey scales.

Lee is currently seeking funding over at Kickstarter to help him complete this 70-page B/W graphic novel. It is really a beautiful tale of isolation and paranoia wrapped in the cold metal hull of an interstellar spacecraft. That said, check this book out, give Lee some support and head over to the official Kickstarter.

To help flesh out this comic a little more, we got together with Lee via the magic of email to talk about With The Earth Above Us and the perils and perks of self publishing.

Why did you choose Kickstarter over Indiegogo?

IndieGogo has many limits towards it’s overall presentation, though I’d say the primary reason is due to popularity. Kickstarter has so many projects going on at once, which means that you have tons of people who come to the site and check out your project as well. I also enjoy the “all-or-nothing” concept that Kickstarter goes by, which makes it a much more intense and exciting thing to be apart of.

Why did you choose to self publish?

Self publishing allows me to keep my identity, I guess. I love that my book can look, feel, and go exactly where I want it to; And the fact that my ideas are the only ones which affect the end result is great!

What are some of the difficulties you have encountered?

The main thing that I’ve found to be the most difficult for my own personal growth, which probably comes off as a little odd, is getting my name out into the wide world of independent comics. In fact, before this campaign, I hadn’t really shown my stuff around. It really was a challenge to get out of my comfort zone.

What do you think are the benefits of self publishing?

The benefits largely consist in being able to direct your project whichever way you choose, which is great. Unfortunately, you do lack advertising (unless you shell out your own money), but you can make that up by joining in on the many conversations that consist to help spread the word on independent comics. There are many forums to use, along with Facebook/Twitter/etc., which allows for a person like myself to reach a wide audience.