David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, is a filmmaker famous for making brilliant artistic choices in movies like MOON and SOURCE CODE.
Unfortunately, his choice of a writing collaborator seemed to be a bit of a misstep!
Back in May of 2020, a graphic novel called, "Madi: Once Upon A Time In The Future" hit Kickstarter, billed as, "A sci-fi graphic novel by Duncan Jones, Alex de Campi & some of the best artists in comics."
It racked up 6,860 backers who pledged $366,610, and got some big time mainstream coverage.
Everything seemed to be going along great ... until it was time to deliver the product.
Customers noticed that the book was available on Amazon and bookstores back in November 2020, yet as of January 2021, they still haven't received their book - despite paying a hefty price for a special advance copy.
These queries apparently didn't sit well with De Campi, who publicly lambasted the nearly 7,000 backers as 'deadbeats' and 'whiners' for asking where their product was.
More info: kickstarter.com
Anyone who didn't understand the shipping system is a 'deadbeat', apparently ...
And asking about your book makes you a 'whiner'.
She wraps up the backer update with a numbered list of things the paying customers should be doing, including to, 'do better'. Which is apparently the responsibility of the CUSTOMER. Apparently Alex has never heard the old saying, 'The customer is always right'! Then the comments started rolling in ...
De Campi is notorious for her Twitter rants, flame wars, and divisive language - and she definitely divided the comment section of her own Kickstarter campaign! She had some supporters who joined her in making fun of anyone who asked where their book was, and some who said they were patient and willing to wait ... but not everyone was impressed with her tone and harsh words!
And having a book appear in Amazon before the pre-orders were sent out was also a cause for concern for some.
Being humble is always good advice.
Signing off 'a deadbeat whiner' was a nice touch!
"A Kickstarter project is not a charity". Words to live by.
The word 'snarky' comes up a lot.
And it looks like some people are flat out asking for refunds in the face of Alex's scornful update. Yikes. I am a huge fan of Duncan Jones, but he might have to do some serious damage control after this campaign is done!
