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There are many cities which could be considered a "home" for comics, and Toronto is right up there as one of the biggest creative communities in the medium today. With a number of the most famous writers and artists in comics today hailing from Canada, and a rising number of conventions and events taking place across Toronto itself, there's a real sense of activity coming from the city these days. And with Toronto itself also having a fascinating history of its own, why not explore that a little? With Toronto Comics, editor Steven Andrews has been able to bring a sense of that spirited community to comics, and currently has a Kickstarter running to help fund the latest in the series of anthologies themed around Toronto --- and featuring comics creators from the city --- to life. To find out more about the project, ComicsAlliance spoke to Andrews about his work on the series, and what readers can expect should the latest volume be funded.

In Tabula Idem, editors Hye M. and Iris Jay have taken the conceit of tarot and used it as a conduit to tell stories about queer characters from queer creators. The project is running on Kickstarter now and looking for a funding target of $44,000, and every story features a card from the tarot deck, with the stories in some cases serving as a sort of "origin" for how the card gained its meaning and relevance, and found a place in the deck. It's a fabulous-looking project from a team that only began work on the anthology at last year's Emerald City Comic-Con. One year later, and with the project heading to print, ComicsAlliance spoke to both editors about their vision for Tabula Idem, and what readers can expect from the completed collection.

In 2010 Professor John Jennings and Dr. Damian Duffy joined forces with Magnetic Press for an art book called Black Comix: American Independent Comics Art & Culture. Featuring work from a number of prominent African-American creators, the book proved a great success on Kickstarter, with a fully funded print run. Seven years later, the duo have re-teamed for Black Comix Returns, adding David Dissanayake as co-editor, and featuring artists including Sanford Greene, Afua Richardson, and Ben Passmore, plus many, many others. As before, the book has proved immediately popular; the Kickstarter has hit its target and is rapidly racing through its stretch goals. ComicsAlliance spoke to Duffy about the project and how it came together.

The Golden Age of comics is best remembered for the creation of the iconic superheroes such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. But for every lasting success story, there were other characters who were created and then seemingly forgotten. Whatever happened to those heroes? A new anthology spearheaded by Einar Másson and Matt Harding looks to answer that question. Not Forgotten is a collection of stories that revives some of the other heroes of the Golden Age, in the hopes of returning these relics to new relevance. With an impressive line-up of creators, the anthology is currently running on Kickstarter, seeking a funding target of $25,000. ComicsAlliance spoke to Másson and Harding about how the project came together.

For the last few years, artist Nika, aka Deandra Tan, has been working on a long-form romance comic called Love Debut! Inspired by shoujo manga, the series follows aspiring musician Nick as he rises through the pop world, which brings him into the orbit of Sara, a former singer who is far more wary of the music world. Their romance is the center of the story, but from there Nika spirals out and creates a whole world for them to live in. With the webcomic recently wrapping up after a three year run, Nika has taken to Kickstarter to fund a print edition of the comic. To find out more about how she created Sara and Nick's world, Back Pages spoke to her about the origin of the series, how things have developed over the years, and what people can expect from her Kickstarter.

Sisters Kelly Matthews and Nichole Matthews, known online by their collective pen name Kickingshoes, have created a series of erotic stories over the past two years for the subscription-based webcomic publisher Slipshine. Their webcomics focus on, as they put it, "monsters... and the people who love them" --- and they've certainly found an audience of people who love them! The pair have now set up a Kickstarter campaign to bring the stories to print under the title Creature Feature. They've already met their target of $7,000, and are now setting their sights on a series of stretch goals. Back Pages caught up with the artists to learn how they first came up with Creature Feature, how the webcomics format has aided them with their stories, and what readers can expect from the print edition.

For his newest Kickstarter, Cash & Carrie creator Shawn Pryor has assembled quite the team. F.O.R.C.E. brings him together with writer B. Alex Thompson and artist Jay Reed for a new sports comic set in the world of American Football, and follows the flagging career of veteran player Terrance Wright, a starting quarterback looking to lead his team out for one last big game. But the world of football is a political one, and if he's to achieve his dreams then he's going to have to overcome a whole mess of problems both on and off the field. The Kickstarter is running now, seeking a funding target of $4,000 to print the first issue; any additional funds will go towards further issues. Sports remains a relatively uncommon subject for Western comics, so Back Pages spoke to the whole team about how this came together, and what readers could expect from the series.

We're always up for something new here at ComicsAlliance. When comics writer Matt Miner got in touch to let us know that he was collaborating with a group of interdimensional aliens who were also members of a rock band called GWAR... it wasn't the strangest thing we'd ever heard. But it was intriguing. And with the recent announcement of GWAR: Orgasmageddon, a new comics story from Miner, GWAR, and artist Jonathan Brandon Sawyer, we had to find out exactly what was going on. With the comic now running on Kickstarter and edging towards a funding target of $39,000, we sat down with Miner and Sawyer to get their insight on how this bizarre, violent, musically disturbing collaboration came about. Fear everything!

A new project on Kickstarter sees a Pagan Goddess thrown out of time and thrust into a modern day Britain, where her hopes and ideals have fallen apart in the face of a society that has grown careless, xenophobic, and sheltered. Brigantia, by the creative team of Chris Mole and Melissa Trender, is a deliberately political look at modern day Britain through an unexpected filter, the real-world Pagan Goddess Brigantia. The series is running a Kickstarter campaign that just recently hit its £6,000 goal. ComicsAlliance spoke to Mole and Trender to find out about their backgrounds and why Brigantia is a passion project for them both. It's Godhoods at Dawn, with the soul of a nation on the line...

This has been a tremendously exciting year for cartoonist Blue Delliquanti, whose webcomic O Human Star has gone from strength to strength. It's the story of brilliant inventor and roboticist Alastair Sterling, whose untimely death meant he never got to see how his innovations in the field changed the world... until the moment he woke up in a robotic body, and stepped out into a world populated by robots who are advancing and progressing in ways expected and thoroughly unexpected. Following a success Kickstarter to bring a first volume of the webcomic to print, Delliquanti has now returned to crowdfunding in order to deliver the second collected volume of the ongoing story. As the Kickstarter whirrs towards the target goal, Back Pages spoke to her about the series, how it has changed and surprised her over the years, and what to expect should her newest campaign prove a success.