Crowd Funding Watch: The Beautiful and Adorably Sad ‘Jaybird’ [Video + Extended Preview]

Getting original material into the hands of readers without a publisher was difficult before ye grand ol' Internet came along, and perhaps no one understood that often insurmountable obstacle more than creators looking to break into markets beyond their own country's borders. Thanks to platforms like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, the ability to gain funding and awareness has never been more promising.

After a couple weeks off, we're back with a look at crowd funding project worth your consideration and hard-earned money, breaking down What It Is, How Much It'll Cost, What You'll Get, When You'll Get It, and Why You Should Care.

This week: Jaybird by brothers Lauri and Jaako Ahonen from Helsinki, Finland.

What It Is: A mostly wordless story of a scared, little bird who lives with only his bed-ridden mother in an old, dusty house. He has never been outside. One day soon, however, he may be forced to confront the outside world...

How Much It'll Cost: $11,000 for a 1,500 print run of 6"x9" hardcover, 128-page, full-color books. It's a fair price, especially if the paper and ink quality are superb.

What You'll Get: $5 for a PDF of the book, which is OK. But looking at the art, this project is a must-have in print. $50 will get you a physical edition -- technically it's $40, but you have to chip-in $10 for shipping. It's a little pricey, I admit. There are higher-priced tiers for a poster and having your likeness drawn in the book, but the campaign is straightforward without the often annoying (yet, seemingly successful) rewards of t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. that are usually just ways to get a little more of a profit margin out of people.

When You'll Get It: As early as March of this year. Although, it's best to set your hopes a little further down the road, especially with international shipping.

Why You Should Care: It's the brothers' first comic book, which is impressive considering the sample pages below. What better way to welcome them to the American comics community than by helping back their debut? Plus, according to an update on the IndieGoGo page, because of the flexible funding option the creators have enough to do at least a small print run for backers, even if they can't reach their final goal.

Check out an extended-preview of the book, and then head on over to the IndieGoGo page to donate today: