Officially announcing: 'A Great and Terrible', and it's coming to Kickstarter this Fall!
Liz has a bit of a sordid past, laments her life, her problems, and refuses her responsibilities— until a poor decision sends her on a whirlwind adventure of redemption...
My name is Chris.
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I’m an illustrator, author, and one of the co-founders of Band of Bards (an independent publishing house based in Buffalo, NY). As much as this space is about what I’ll be doing, I’m also aiming to help other creators, and spread some positivity with my platform (not to mention dispel and demystify a little bit of how the publishing industry works from my own point of view).
Contents
Reset, Refocus, and Advocating for myself.
It’s time to officially announce: ‘A Great and Terrible’!
The future of Band of Bards and our publishing model.
Reset, Refocus.
For over 30 days I’ve been toiling away at rebuilding BandofBards.com — a labor. We were on Wordpress since conception, but with everything that is in the pipeline we needed something faster, and a bit more versatile… and something a little more forgiving than Wordpress. Finally I can say that our web-site is awesome on mobile. <3
What’s in the pipeline? Wow, I’m glad you’ve asked! It’s no secret that the industry is in complete flux right now. The news that Diamond is bankrupt (Sold to AENT, then not… and then resold to Universal), a not so flattering interview with the head of Lunar Distribution, someone who should care, but who doesn’t care if indie pubs go under, and the unknown effect that tariffs will likely have on the industry as a whole (so far printed items are safe… so far). It’s especially difficult for a small pub like ours—whose game isn’t about cashing in on others.
We’ve been charged with a daunting task, that seems to have gotten more difficult as ways to promote and grow have been stifled.
ANNOUNCING, ‘A GREAT AND TERRIBLE’ #1!
Liz has a bit of a sordid past, laments her life, her problems, and refuses her responsibilities— until a poor decision sends her on a whirlwind adventure of redemption into a storybook land she’d only ever dreamt about.
What is ‘A Great and Terrible’ - A Brief History
Turmoil in your life can uproot anything, even the best laid plans. I self-published a webcomic that was moderately popular that abruptly ended back in 2016. That’s when my life irreparably was turned upside-down. I hadn’t really written anything since, that was until November of 2019 when it was suggested that I participate in that iteration of NANOWRIMO. I grabbed my trusty tablet and penned out the first 180 pages of a script for what I was calling ‘Project: Broken Brick”.
A story that’s played out in my head—in one form or another—since high-school (way back in the 1990’s). It’s obviously changed significantly, but there was always a constant inspirational piece that stayed with it the whole time, Frank L. Baum’s ‘The Wonderful Wizard of OZ’.
After piecing my life back together I found some comfort in knowing that I was creating again. The pandemic started shortly after, and that’s when Band of Bards was born. I’m not going to rehash it all… it’s been a ride. AG&T was shelved because I had an opportunity to help others and poured my focus into making this little publisher a thing. I’ve poured four years worth of my time and money into other people’s projects and back in December of 2024, while things were in a lull (or as I’ve mentioned before probable turmoil). With the help of my bud C.J. Hudson I found a team of people who could help me bring this idea to life.
I’m pretty proud of this work, and I’m excited to see it, and feel it breathe. I can’t wait to share it with everyone, but until then let me introduce you to the creative team responsible for helping me bring the first issue— ‘All Souls Day’, into existence.. and a special sneak peak at page #1.
Creative Team
Illustrated by: Diego Colon
Colored and Lettered by: Francisco Balbuena Bautista
Edited by: Tim Morrison
Additional Editing by: Devin Arscott
Created and Written by: Chris Benamati
We have some additional creators attached to the project, but we’ll reveal that all in due time. :)
Page 1 Sneak peak!
The plan right now is to bring the first issue to Kickstarter this fall! I hope you’ll consider jumping down the rabbit hole with me.
The Future of Band of Bards and our publishing model.
We started Band of Bards in 2021 to help creators like Ben Humeniuk, CJ Hudson, Travis Gibb, and so many others break down all of these gates that were slowing or outright stopping them from participating in the comics industry. Albeit we were inexperienced and naive.. who knew that gates were the one thing this industry loved building more than making original content.
Sometimes I feel like its been a never-ending uphill climb, or maybe I’m too fat and too told to make it up one more rung of the ladder. I’m not aiming for the top, just the 6th or 7th rung… and I’d like to take everyone we can along for the ride.
That was the gist of the idea anyway.
Fast forward to 2025. The industry is kind of in pieces, and we’ve been quite literally put through the ringer. You can’t be successful 100% of the time, and it definitely was our opportunity to flounder a little.
“I don’t know if it’s paid off yet [the work], but we really are trying to get things moving again.”
We had just put in 6 months of hard work with Cooperation Buffalo converting Band of Bards into a real functioning and truly democratic co-op. I’d like to gleefully exclaim that we are the first true co-op publisher of our kind… and while it was met with little fanfare (I’m not sure people really understood what this meant for our tiny industry, or they didn’t care) the four of us are still chugging along, figuring out what this all really means as we go.
The truth is that publishing independently without gobs and gobs of money from vested interests (or selling your soul to the Devil) is incredibly difficult and we had to hit pause, and we had to be patient. I don’t know if it’s paid off yet, but we really are trying to get things moving again.
I was told that maybe in order to do what you love, if what you love isn’t sustaining itself for you… you should find something you can do (that maybe you don’t want to do), and do it to support the thing you really care about.
That’s never really been my M.O., and I’ve struggled mightily with this these past months. Why do I have to do something I hate, in order to do something I love? I already work a day job. Then I pour my nights and dead hours into indie publishing.
I’m not trying to say anything profound, but why can’t I do what I love, and survive while doing it? Why can’t I keep helping people, and also pay my bills? Why do I have to choose to do something I dislike, in order to breakdown barriers and help raise the tide?
I think we’ve solved that, and I think we can start moving forward again.
Very interested in the comic!
Very excited to see how A Great And Terrible turned out!