Creator. Writer. Artist. And now Dan Mendoza is adding publisher to his many list of credentials thanks to his latest project SAD GIRL PSYCHO BABY.
Launched on Kickstarter 12 days ago, the title from Dan’s all-new publishing label, Still Ill Princess, has been a massive success. With a goal of $8,000, the campaign took off and was fully funded on the first day! Wha-wha-what?! Yeah, it was on fire on launch day. But even more remarakable is how the Kickstarter is now over 450% funded! That’s with over two weeks left!!!
You may be familiar with his creation Zombie Tramp or his work on Dollface, both from Action Lab: Danger Zone, but with this venture Dan is exploring new grounds with the solo project as he takes his first steps towards creator independence. SAD GIRL PSYCHO BABY is a bold new post-apocalyptic adventure full of mayhem, sex, violence, friendship, and loyalty. Who better than Mendoza to create a comic book jam-packed with all that goodness?
So check out what the creator has to say about his new project and what you can expect from him and Still Ill Princess publishing.
PopCultHQ Kickstarter Spotlight:
Dan Mendoza of SAD GIRL PSYCHO BABY
PopCultHQ: Only a week and a half into your Kickstarter for Sad Girl Psycho Baby and you’re nearly 475% funded?! That’s insane! Did you expect the overwhelming response like you’re getting for it?
Dan Mendoza: No, not at all. I did think that it could make it to 25K, but it would take the entire 30 days for that to happen. When it was fully funded in the 1st hour, I knew it was gonna be big. My fans are amazing.
PopCultHQ: What creators are working on Sad Girl Psycho Baby with you? I know it’s you writing and doing illustrations, but are you also tackling coloring and lettering duties?
Dan Mendoza: I’ll do what it takes to make this book happen. I’m not the best or fastest colorist, so early on I posted on DeviantArt’s job forum that I was looking for colorists and tested a handful of artists. The first 6 preview pages on the KS are colored by me though. I think I might color more since it’s the first book so I can establish a color palette of Psycho Baby’s environment. As for Lettering, I will try to tackle that as well, but might have backup on that. Lettering isn’t just a bunch of balloons and random letters, it’s an art form and I’m a rookie at it.
PopCultHQ: This is the first title under your own publishing label, Still Ill Princess. How did the label come to be and what can fans expect to be released under your imprint?
Dan Mendoza: Still Ill Princess will be everything my fans expect out of a Dan Mendoza book. Sexy, pretty, cute girls, and over-the-top violence with dark-humored action stories. It will be a no-holds barred company that represents everything that makes up a grindhouse genre.
PopCultHQ: From your Kickstarter video, you mention your upbringing in a Latino neighborhood of Los Angeles and a desire to infuse that culture into the comic book. How much of the culture you grew up with survives the apocalypse and is shown in your new series?
Dan Mendoza: Even though it’s a Post Apocalyptic environment that Psycho Baby lives in, the slang, wardrobe, and definitely the cars will be present. But with that Mad Max, Fist of the North Star twist. That Spanglish dialect will be present in almost every character in the books. It’s the language of the future.
PopCultHQ: Oh and the Sad Girl low rider is dope!PopCultHQ: Have you considered bringing on other Latino creators to contribute to future issues?
Dan Mendoza: This is mostly just a solo project, a title that I can call 100% mine again. But yes, the two colorists I’ve hired on to help are Latino.
PopCultHQ: One of the characters featured on your Kickstarter is Sugar Pop. What can you tell us about this unicorn-horned, leather-strapped, hooved character?
Dan Mendoza: Everyone’s totally loving Sugar pop. I want to keep a lot of her backstory a secret for now, but her storyline is just as important as Psycho Baby’s. She’s not going to be another drab sidekick character. Sugar Pop (although super cute and bubbly) has a lot of depth. She’s not a mutation like a lot of people in the future. Sugar Pop descended from unicorns.
PopCultHQ: With the success of this campaign, what are the plans for future issues? Will each one run on Kickstarter as well? How often are you hoping to release issues of Sad Girl Psycho Baby?
Dan Mendoza: I’ll try to get the books done as fast as possible. Still being a writer and cover artist at Action Lab, it’s almost impossible to knock out a book in a month. I plan for every issue of Psycho Baby to be about 32 pages, a bit longer than standard to make the books worth the wait. There will be more Kickstarters I’m sure, but with the success of this one, I plan to invest in my company and produce awesome merchandising. This whole business end of comic books will be a big learning curve for me but I’m determined to do it.
Special thanks to Dan Mendoza for the interview opportunity.
Check out the Kickstarter video for the SAD GIRL PSYCHO BABY campaign
and then go and join the nearly 300 people who have backed Dan’s new title!
Follow Dan Mendoza Online!
