Indianapolis, IN – On May 9 2016, Mike Ficklin launched a Comic Books Kickstarter campaign for SHAM, the story of a man who does the right thing, only to have that turn him into something he never wanted to be: a hero.
“The book is meant to be light-hearted in tone. It’s very tongue-in-cheek. It pokes fun at the way that we, as a society, regard our pop culture and social media icons,” the creator explains, “So many comics today are extremely dark and gritty in tone. I wanted to go against the grain and make something that is fun.”
SHAM isn’t your typical super hero story. The story is about a marketing manager named James Madison who makes a decision to take on a very strange promotion for Expale Foods. Expale asks James to train and dress up as a character called Sham-Man to sell an awful canned-meat product called SHAM. Things don’t go well at first and James begins to not only doubt the marketing initiative but also himself.
However, through a series of circumstances he saves the lives of several people and his actions are caught on camera phones. Pictures, videos, and reactions start circulating the internet through social media. Suddenly, Sham-Man is a social media sensation! Everyone calls him a hero but that’s not what James ever wanted.
The team has currently turned to the Kickstarter community in the hopes of raising $26,065. The funds will go towards paying the artists for their work, paying for printing and shipping costs, and paying for the creation of the stickers, t-shirts, and mini-posters. If stretch goals are reached, it will help the team pay to promote the book at comic conventions and reinvest in creating further books in the series.
In exchange for pledging to the project, backers can gain access to a variety of rewards including a special collected volume of the first two issues of SHAM plus an exclusive back story that you will be able to get through this Kickstarter campaign! The artwork is done by the very talented Emmis Touron who people may recognize from his work from the After Dark anthology published by Midnight Horizon Comics.
“(SHAM) is a fun, funny book,” Touron says, “I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment working on it. It’s that something fresh and familiar all-in-one that I think most comics aim for. We deliver on it.”
Also, on offer through this Kickstarter campaign only, is a hardcover version of the book that will have cover art done by the terrific Eamon O’Donoghue.
For more information, please visit the Kickstarter page here or contact the creator below.
Contact Information:
