It’s a weird week for any number of reasons, but for the purposes of this column, it’s a weird week because we only have nine items to cover in this edition of Comics Disassembled. It was a pretty quiet one from an interesting news standpoint, so instead of our usual ten, let’s look at nine things I liked or didn’t like from the week of comics, led by a campaign we’ve been waiting for.

1. Juni Ba, Kickstarting My Heart

I was terribly excited when Goats Flying Press announced its upcoming slate of releases a little while back, and for good reason: It promised some very good comics for those who follow what they’re doing. One of those was the easiest sell of the lot. That was The Fables of Erlking Wood from cartoonist Juni Ba and letterer Aditya Bidikar. That creative team alone was enough to inspire me to pick up the comic in whatever form it came in, but when it officially rolled out as a Kickstarter, I realized this was Ba being very much in his bag. Here’s what it’s about.

“(It explores) the intertwined lives and fates of the denizens of Erlking Wood, the many peoples, critters, and demigods that call it home, and the shadowy figure of the Erlking himself, an ancient entity who haunts the woods and is known to strike bargains with any brave enough to dare approach him, offering them their hearts’ desire…but at a great cost.”

Sounds fantastic, mixing genres as Ba does with a storybook feel and Bidikar’s elite lettering as well. Even better, it’s already complete. Even better than that, it looks like an elite production, as Goats Flying Press is all about. Maybe even better than that, as Kickstarter project prices surge, this one’s a pretty reasonable $40 for the hardcover book, or $35 if you were lucky enough to be an early bird backer (and you could even get a three-minute sketch with it!). There’s a ton of great rewards, and when you pair that all around the true prize — you know, the comic itself — it might not surprise you to learn that this has been so successful it’s already hit all of its stretch goals. With 29 days to go! That’s magnificent! But let’s keep pushing that number up, because this book, this team, and this publisher deserve it.

2. George Takei, Beaming Up

Speaking of comics that are likely to do well, a known project from Top Shelf/IDW was unveiled in full this week. It’s George Takei’s follow-up to his memoir graphic novel They Called Us Enemy — a comic that has gotten no less important these days! — with another one called It Rhymes With Takei. It “shares the full story of his life in the closet, his decision to come out as gay at the age of 68, and the way that moment transformed everything,” making it another deeply personal and of the moment story that could have a real impact. Wisely, the team from They Called Us Enemy returns here, as this graphic novel finds Harmony Becker, Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger re-teaming, but with the legendary José Villarrubia coloring the book this time.

It sounds like a lovely production and an important book, and it’s set to arrive next June. If you’re looking for a comic with a high probability of selling well and earning a lot of acclaim, this is a good bet. It should be a gem, and it’s quite nice to see Takei continuing his journey with comics and this creative team, as that combination has proven to be a fruitful one.