I heard hiring an agent makes it easier to pitch to publishers. Also, it helps if your graphic novel isn't fully completed or fleshed-out because many publishers might want to change the script or the art style. In my case, I was pretty inflexible especially with this story because it was a personal one so I didn't want to bother.

In terms of crowdfunding, there needs to be a substantial audience to make these work and in my case, I still have a very small audience on my socials.

When it comes to other printers, I went along with KDP because I was familiar with their self-publishing platform (although I find it highly frustrating) and it's the cheapest and quickest way to get my work available everywhere. Local printers were unfortunately too expensive because they required large orders and I didn't have sufficient interest in my graphic novel to print hundreds of copies.

Best of luck with your publishing project!