Robot. Black Belt. Champion. the comic!

issue number one - kickstarter

Read the first 3 pages!

A 2nd grade loner sets to prove himself to his classmates by defeating the school’s new exchange student – a giant robot.

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Hi! I’m Joe Cabello! Thanks for checking out Robot. Black Belt. Champion!
Robot. Black Belt. Champion. is a 24-page all-ages comic — the first issue in a 6 part series full of action and laughs that ultimately explores the concepts of alienation, isolation, and bullying for young people.
Inspired by my own childhood feeling, as well as 10+ years working with elementary school students, Robot. Black Belt. Champion is an action-comedy that both kids and adults will find plenty of laughs in. Heavily inspired by anime and manga, think of it like Dragon Ball Z meets Wet Hot American Summer.

Ace Alvarado, 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do... and total pariah at Human Middle School

Ace Alvarado, 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do… and total pariah at Human Middle School

Ace Alvarado is a Tae Kwon Doe black belt in 2nd grade at Human Middle School. Despite his accomplishments, he gets no respect from his classmates, but when an evil new exchange student shows up, he’s finally given the chance to show he’s the real deal – too bad the new exchange student is a giant robot, Gozo. 
Unfortunately, they are both about to learn that they aren’t the strongest. Not even close.

It was written with kids in mind, but the humor translates to all ages. It’s good for a laugh with your kid, your younger cousin, or all by yourself. 

Ace Alvarado, a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do... too bad nobody at his school cares. It doesn't help that he's never washed his gi.

Ace Alvarado, a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do… too bad nobody at his school cares. It doesn’t help that he’s never washed his gi.

Gozo, an eight foot tall robot whose insides are 90% weapon. He craves to be known as The Nightmare of Human Middle School

Gozo, an eight foot tall robot whose insides are 90% weapon. He craves to be known as The Nightmare of Human Middle School

Clemi, a fellow 2nd grade and loner. No one talks to her, and she doesn't talk to anyone else. Even Ace considers her a weirdo loser.

Clemi, a fellow 2nd grade and loner. No one talks to her, and she doesn’t talk to anyone else. Even Ace considers her a weirdo loser.

I’ve always known I wanted to tell this story, but fear and lack of resources stopped me. Finally, in the middle of 2018, I decided to take the plunge. I found a great artist named Kent Esmalla, opened a credit card, and just jumped right into it, hoping for the best. A couple months later, I had the first issue put together.
Then came the question of “what now?”
Many options came to mind, like pitching the story to publishers, but ultimately, my goal is just to tell this story and get it in front of readers who will appreciate it. Kickstarter felt like the best way to do that. If I can use this Kickstarter to essentially pay for the cost of the first issue, then I can put that money into issue #2 and so on. 

I am Joe Cabello, writer, comedian, and ninja (I’ll explain).
I was the head writer for a teen sitcom called Five @ 305 on Primo TV for two seasons. I’ve already written for mobile games and popular Youtube channels like ItsAlexClark.
Oh, yeah. And the ninja thing. For the past ten years I’ve worked for an afterschool enrichment company that teaches martial arts to pre-K to 3rd-grade students. My job basically entails me taking pre-schoolers on ninja adventures. Working with kids has developed a deep love for teaching kids positive lessons and most importantly making them laugh.

$2,200 isn’t a huge budget, but here’s how it breaks down:
    • $1250: The cost of paying Kent for the fantastic images used in the comic.
    • $370: Kickstarter fees, taxes and incidentals.
    • $280: rewards, shipping materials, buffer money
  • $300: printing costs