A comic book store’s fictional fight for survival is becoming a real one. Creator, writer, and star Cheyenne Ewulu announced at LA Comic Con that The Comic Shop, the independent workplace mockumentary, will return to Kickstarter to fund its second season, building directly on the show’s own storyline.
Season 1, currently streaming on YouTube, ended with the fictional comic book store OhEmGee! Comics facing an existential threat: a local dispensary franchise owner revealed plans to take it over and convert it into a dispensary. Now that same fight is playing out for real through #SaveTheComicShop, a campaign in which the show’s characters rally fans through in-character videos, social media content, and interactive experiences, all while directly encouraging audiences to help fund the actual next season.
The approach builds on genuinely remarkable momentum. Speaking with BLEX Media, Ewulu said she first came up with the idea at the end of 2021, developed it further through 2022, and shot a proof-of-concept short in February 2023 with director Robert Butler and cinematographer Matt Smith. That short went viral after screening at festivals, drawing the kind of in-person reaction, audiences cheering, asking where they could stream it, that convinced Ewulu the project deserved a full season. The Season 1 Kickstarter that followed became the sixth most-funded TV series project in Kickstarter’s history, surpassing its $160,000 goal to raise more than $207,000 from 1,795 backers, a result Ewulu built almost entirely through daily, self-produced content rather than paid promotion, posting scripted videos across TikTok, Instagram, Threads, and other platforms for nearly 30 consecutive days during the campaign.
Ewulu has been candid with BLEX Media about why she chose the independent route in the first place. Without formal representation, she found herself fielding conflicting notes from industry contacts, people telling her what the show needed to be or debating whether it was “worthy,” rather than helping get it made. After watching the proof-of-concept trailer repeatedly go viral, she decided to stop waiting for permission. “I was kind of tired of people telling me what my own idea was,” she told BLEX, crediting filmmakers like Matthew A. Cherry, who publicly supported her Kickstarter campaign, as proof that the independent path could work.
The show itself grew out of Ewulu’s own lifelong relationship with comics and animation, tracing back to her childhood obsession with shows like X-Men: Evolution and an early ambition to become a comic book creator herself. The character of Stephanie, the show’s central figure fighting to keep OhEmGee! Comics open, began as an earlier character named Raven in a romantic comedy short before evolving into the workplace comedy format Ewulu ultimately pursued. The cast includes Zeno Robinson, Shanae Cole, and Grayson Niles, the latter discovered through a Dungeons & Dragons web series Ewulu stumbled across online, alongside Khary Payton. The show’s theme song came together through a similarly organic process, with Ewulu reaching out directly to hip-hop duo Flyana Boss and rapper Kira Please, who wrote original lyrics for the track.
Created by Nigerian-American actress, writer, and producer Ewulu, The Comic Shop follows four friends trying to keep their struggling comic shop afloat “by any ridiculous means necessary,” and has since won Best Episodic at the 2026 American Black Film Festival.
“I’m excited to continue this journey of creating independent art,” Ewulu told BLEX Media. “Our audience has been incredibly patient as we figured out how we wanted to continue telling this story, and now we’re finally on our way.” Season 2 will bring back familiar characters while introducing new ones and expanding the story beyond the walls of OhEmGee! Comics itself.
Fans can follow the Kickstarter pre-launch campaign at SaveTheComicShop.com.