- By -
- Entertainment
Print 
Hoboken, NJ - Michael Watson, writer and creator of the new ITHAQA comic, is taking ITHAQA on tour to the city that shares its name, Ithaca, NY, as well as to neighboring cities, from March 20th through March 28th. ITHAQA is a comedy-turned-Lovecraftian horror story that will appeal to readers who enjoyed HBO's "True Detective", but thought it would be copacetic if it had been set at the advent of the roaring 20s. In ITHAQA, filmmaker and conman, Mookie Smitts, stumbles upon the horrible Eldritch Truth of the cosmos, as a moving picture he is struggling to produce in the 1920's accidentally uncovers a plot to destroy the Spacetime Continuum.
In Ithaca, Watson's tour takes the comic to Buffalo Street Books on Friday, March 20th: Ithacon (the 45ᵗʰ year of this comic book convention!) on Saturday and Sunday March 21st and 22ⁿᵈ at Ithaca College; to Comics For Collectors on Wednesday, March 25ᵗʰ; and a comic book creation workshop for kids with the Wharton Studio Museum and The History Center taking place at the Tompkins Center for History & Culture the morning of Saturday, March 28th. More tour stops – possibly Elmira and Syracuse -- will be announced as they are confirmed.
Watson will kick-off the tour by signing copies of ITHAQA at Buffalo Street Books and doing a reading/FAQ on Friday, March 20, 2020 at 5pm. The first issue of ITHAQA, now available at Buffalo Street Books, has been flying off the shelves! Wharton Studio Museum is co-sponsoring this event.
Watson is also bringing ITHAQA Issues 2 and 3 to Kickstarter, after a wildly successful campaign in 2019 that was fully funded in under 24 hours.
Watson conceived ITHAQA while studying film at Ithaca College in 2013. After having a nightmare that involved a witch in the woods of Ithaca buried in black strings, Michael awoke with the desire to write a story involving said ominous black strings. After spending years workshopping the idea as both a short story and a screenplay, Watson eventually realized that his vision could only be realized if it was told through the comic book medium. He set out to bring together a team of fellow horror fans and was incredibly lucky to find kindred spirits in Theresa Chiechi, an illustrator from the School of Visual Arts, NYC; Lucas Gattoni, a passionate letterer living in Argentina; and Lisa Villamil, an actress, playwright and fellow alumnus of Ithaca College as his editor.
A successful Kickstarter in 2019 allowed the team to print ITHAQA's first issue and expand their audience, and they hope to catch lightning in a bottle a second time as they set out to fund a physical print run of Issues 2 and 3. People who pledge to fund the comic will not only receive physical copies, but will also be able to receive bonus rewards that range from art prints, to even being drawn into future issues.
"The Kickstarter and Steemit communities have been incredibly supportive of this comic for years, but I'm so excited that it's finally time to bring Ithaqa out into the physical world as we tour upstate New York," says Watson. "The comic has sold out multiple times at Little City Books and Buffalo Street Books, so clearly it's resonating with readers. I can't wait to get out there and meet our fans face to face!"
If successfully funded on Kickstarter, Ithaqa, Issues 2 and 3, will be 72 pages long and continue the 12 issue story arc that kicked off last year.
In order to give potential backers a taste of what they're backing, Watson provides free digital copies of the comic to those who subscribe on the website for information.
"If I was in a comic shop, I wouldn't buy a book without picking it up and flipping through the pages," says Watson. "I needed to give potential backers a way to preview the story and decide if Ithaqa is for them."
v16i7