That's Mr. Hyde To You

 

     OK, hive mind, important post and I'd deeply appreciate some solid feedback.

     This is a mockup of some sample panels I recently got from a graphic artist out of Texas, Angelina Roberts (Roberts Angelina on Facebook). It's for a graphic novel project that I've been kicking around in my head for several years. This is actually the second set of panels I've gotten and, while I'm also impressed with the first set, I don't have her permission, yet, to put those up.

     It's going to be a superhero graphic novel series that'll be a modern-day retelling of the Mr. Hyde character created by Robert Louis Stevenson. Here's how the story starts out:

 

     "I’m Jake Edwards. That’s not my real name but one I’ve given myself to help hide my true identity, for the usual series of superhero tropes. If you were worth your weight in pencil shavings, and did the due diligence of those who don’t piss away their journalism degrees pecking away on an old laptop in a shitty little office in Hell’s Kitchen, you’d know that my real surname is Jekyll.

     Yeah, those Jekylls, the Jekylls of London.

     And that’s where Robert Louis Stevenson, consumptive wheeze and all, unsteadily totters into this account.

     I don’t intend on putting this on my blog, for obvious reasons. Hell, I can’t even tell you why I’m even writing this. My alter ego may be invulnerable to all harm, but that’s not to say I can’t be put down for that endless dirt nap after catching a bullet in the noggin while in human form. But let’s get back to Robert Louis Stevenson.

     For nearly a century and a half we’ve been led to believe that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a work of fiction but I can state, with rock-solid authority, that it isn’t. It’s not a strictly true account, either, but it is based on historical events.

   First of all, there was no Gabriel John Utterson, the book’s narrator. Or, rather, Utterson was Stevenson (there was a maid, although her name wasn’t exactly Mary Reilly). You see, by design, there’s no record of Stevenson attending medical school because of the things he’d seen. In fact, my great great grandfather, the original Dr. Jekyll, through Mr. Hyde, said he’d kill him if he ever made his factual account known.

     You see, Stevenson and my great great grandfather went to medical school together at Oxford..."

      Since the Hyde gene (the potion altered the original Jekyll's genetic structure, explaining how he was able to make the transformation sans potion) skips every other generation, this sets up three different timelines for future exploration. There was great great grandad, grandpa during WW II and, finally, our hero, Jake Edwards.

      Here's what's going on behind the scenes: The artist who did the mockups, Angelina, charges $150 per finished page. She really wants to do this project and not just for the potential payday. She's seen the first 2000 words of the story and thinks it's a winner. Being a graphic artist, she goes to all the comic cons and tries to sell her work. On my end, I could begin an exhaustive search of whatever few literary agents out there who rep graphic novels.

      Question: if I set up a GoFundMe, how likely would you be to contribute? I'm thinking a 50 page inaugural issue would be about standard and, at her rates, that would run to $7500. I'd set up incentives, obviously, and a tiered system of rewards for whatever contributors I'd attract.

      So, is a GoFundMe feasible?