Matthew Dow Smith turns community support into an awesome, free comic – SMASH PAGES
After asking fans for help, the comics creator is sharing ‘The After School Villain Society’ for free on Bluesky.
When Matthew Dow Smith found himself facing the possibility of going unpaid at the end of August, he came up with an unusual way to ask for help: he offered to make a comic for everyone.
In a post on Bluesky, the creator of October Girl and Amelia Shadows explained that a delay in an expected payment could leave him struggling to cover his bills. His solution? Offer to make a comic. If supporters could help him raise $2,000, he would create a kids comic, releasing five pages a week on Bluesky. And if he reached $3,000, he would also make a free digital collection available for readers to download.
The comic he proposed was The After School Villain Society, a project Smith said had received the most requests from his followers.
“Think of it as a one-time Patreon pledge where you can support a creator and help a comic book happen that everyone can read,” he wrote.
Within days, Smith had raised more than $3,000, and he’s now moved forward with the project. It’s an interesting twist on crowdfunding; rather than creating a comic exclusively for backers, Smith is using their support to make a new story freely accessible to anyone who wants to read it.
You can follow The After School Villain Society as it unfolds on Bluesky.
