As most of you are no doubt aware, our favorite heroes in a half shell once got their start via an independent comic that became wildly popular and took over the comic book world. The initial budget for these releases wasn’t exactly huge, but the creators of the now much beloved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles still took a chance on the idea and the rest is history. Sadly, most independent artists/creators have quite a bit of trouble scrounging up the funds to even be able to produce the comics that they want to share with the world. Thankfully, in today’s modern world it’s a bit easier to get these kinds of projects funded. In the last few years crowd finding has become one of the most popular methods of funding for independent projects. Websites such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter have become very well known for giving people like you and me an opportunity to help interesting and innovative new concepts become reality. Today, we’re going to share one of these independent campaigns with you, as it may just be of some interest.

You see, this campaign isn’t just for some unproven creator who may or may not deliver; this project is in pretty safe hands. Jim Lawson has been working in the industry for over 20 years and he actually has quite the connection to the TMNT. He spent several years as an artist/writer for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book produced by Mirage Studios, which should be more than enough proof of his abilities as a creator. Lawson has also worked on other projects with turtles co-creator Peter Laird, so he’s definitely got some street cred. It’s no surprise that he would take this route to funding a project, as he’s been working for an independent studio for many years and he has a history with one of the most notorious indie comics of all time. That all being said, you might be surprised to find out just how little he’s asking for in order to make this new graphic novel possible. How does $5,000 sound?

Considering the typical expenses included in creating and printing a first run of a comic book or graphic novel, this is literally peanuts. More importantly, Jim has already received 89 backers and a total of over $4,000 for the project (as of February 14th). With only about a week left in his campaign, chances are that this little comic is actually going to become a reality. If you’ve ever been a fan of the original TMNT comic, you owe it to yourself to at least check out this Kickstarter campaign. Jim’s style will be immediately familiar and you might find some of the characters to be strikingly similar as well. So what exactly is Dragonfly? Well, it’s an awesome graphic novel about dinosaurs, because Lawson really likes dinosaurs. Who could blame him? The comic is already written and there is material for another five issues prepared. This initial funding is just to get the project off the ground, covering the costs of printing and shipping. Believe it or not, it really does cost that much.

Some of you may be wondering why I am telling you about this project if it isn’t entirely related to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The only thing I can tell you is that there were once a couple of authors/creators who would have died for the opportunity to have a crowd funding campaign where fans and supporters come together to make their dreams become a reality. They somehow managed to make their little project work and before they knew it, they had created the phenomenon of Turtle Fever. Sites like Kickstarter make it easier than ever for fans like us to help out, so what could it hurt to let you know about an awesome new graphic novel like this that could easily become the next big thing. Jim is offering quite a few incentives for his backers, including a $25 pledge that guarantees you a printed version of the graphic novel in question. If you’re interested, please check out the video below for more information.