Ethan Van Sciver Campaign Gets Camelot 331 to NASCAR and Cyberfrog on the Car

Comics

You may have seen Camelot331, whose real name is Cody, in your YouTube travels, even if you don’t subscribe to him. He hosts the Camelcast podcast, makes videos about entertainment, pop culture, and GameStop, and has appeared on the Critical Drinker’s channel, among others. Cody is a race car driver who always dreamed of racing in NASCAR, but, as he explains, it costs money. Now, he’s got his chance, and he will be racing on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Talladega. He got there thanks to Ethan Van Sciver, the comic book artist and writer behind All Caps Comics and Cyberfrog (who also worked for DC and Marvel). During a podcast where Cody discussed the difficulties of getting into a NASCAR race, Van Sciver came up with the idea of crowdfunding an advertisement on Cody’s car to cover his entry into the race. You can see the clip from the stream below, courtesy of ClipSama:

The Indiegogo campaign started with a goal of $30,000, which would fund a souped-up edition of the comic Cyberfrog: Heartsick Horror along with the car design and Cody’s entry into NASCAR, with getting your name on the car as a perk depending on the tier. At $80,000, die-cast replicas of Cody’s car would be funded. In less than twenty-four hours, the campaign raised $62,000, and it ultimately accrued $129,430. Van Sciver closed the campaign on Monday. This is the kind of thing you like to see, something made possible through technology, social media, and the communities that form as a result. Individual comic fans did this, voting with their wallet for the kind of entertainment they want to support and the kind of people they want to help. Not only is Cody now able to realize a lifelong dream, but an indie comic book that is part of Comicsgate is advertising at a major sporting event like NASCAR. That’s a good thing for everyone trying to create alternative entertainment, and like I’ve said about Nerdrotic and the Critical Drinker being guests on Piers Morgan Uncensored or Eric July appearing on Fox News, it’s another step in this counterculture breaking through to the mainstream. The art on the car is eye-catching, and I’m sure at least a few NASCAR fans who’ve never heard of Cyberfrog will want to find out what it is. You can see the car in Cody’s video below:

Good luck, Cody!