Kickstarter Progress....

Hey folks! Man has it been a crazy weekend. I've seen my KICKSTARTER  for the STARSLAM erotica comic not only get funding, but go over THREE TIMES the amount asked for! And its only five days in!!! We broke $1,000 today and I nearly lost my mind. I'm beyond grateful.

I'm punching in the numbers now and it seems that we're in the green when it comes to printing costs. Where I will get nailed is shipping, as I neglected to charge our overseas friends more to ship there. But I am hoping some of the bigger ticket items will soak up some of that cost. No big deal to me. I'm just happy the book is selling and people all over the world want it! I ain't gonna bitch at all about it. I hope it keeps rolling because then I plan to use some funds to print my new prints, get a new backdrop printed for con season and then maybe (possibly, hopefully, willingly) I can pre-pay for some of my convention tables for 2015. We'll see!

To pledge/pre-order your copy (digital or physical) of STARSLAM or to find out more about it, click HERE

STARSLAM is happy with the Kickstarter news!!

This week I got a TON of stuff to get done. I have to get these Star Wars cards done and out the door. Then pull reference for my Marvel card set. I also have to finish pencilling, inking, coloring and lettering the five page bonus for STARSLAM plus a pinup that I offered as stretch goals. I also have to resize the PDFs and make two versions: for the digital copy and for the printing through Greko in Michigan. Also gotta do some minor shopping for some things. And also this week I took on a book cover commission, so I gotta squeeze all this stuff in. Not much time to talk any more here.

Just know that I'm happy. I'm alive and this Kickstarter thing taking off like it has really cements further the idea that when I quit my day job last week to go freelance again, that I made the right choice. Thanks for supporting me and the work I do. Let's keep it rolling!!

cheers, T

UPDATES on ALL THINGS

Wow! Lotta hits on the last blog about the PLEASANT LIFE COLLECTION so I thought I would hit ya with a bit more updates.

I got all the pages scanned and placed. I scanned and pulled all my stuff for the EXTRAS part of the book. All I have to do now is drop all the files in the templates and PDF the pages. Maybe two days work on that. But the bulk of the work now is the stuff on the NEW story I am doing for the book. I started on pages this week. Here's a peek:

Its a nice flashback story that takes place during the series. It feels weird to draw these guys again. I counted up that the last sequential page I did for Pleasant Life was in around 2008. So this marks a nice six year break from doing anything with them. But it felt like putting on an old shoe. And quite comfortable. I'm really jazzed about this whole thing. I cannot wait until its all done!

In other news I did a promo card for the upcoming PINUPS/PITBULLS set. Here's a look at it:

I kinda like these two. A space girl and her faithful companion. Maybe the makings of another comic one day? I got some ideas.... In which case, this would be their first appearance. So you better get the cards! I'll pass on ordering info when I get it.

Also I did AP cards for the Cult-Stuff cards I had left. These are the final ones I will have and so they are all gone. Thanks to all who supported me and got the cards! Here's a look at them:

Lastly some GREAT NEWS! I got my proof in the mail for my long awaited artbook:

It looks immaculate! So they are being printed as I speak. I should have them in hand within a couple weeks. So I will be mailing orders out when I get them. Did you order yours yet? If not, click HERE to order and to get a sneak peek at some of the pages.

Exciting stuff all around, eh? ;)

Peace and Love, T

PLEASANT LIFE COLLECTION is coming!!!

Holy crap have I had a productive month of February so far! After the major derailments that happened in my life in January, it feels good to emerge from that and take that as fuel for actual work to get done! Books are at the printer, I've made convention plans for this year and everything seems to be falling right into place!

Currently: Anna Pocalypse (reprint of first trade with new cover) and Captains Log: ARTBOOK 1994-2014 are at the printer. I should get a proof for the Artbook this week and an invoice for Anna very soon. But this week I have been working on this baby:

Its a book that collects all four of the previously released (and loooong out of print) PLEASANT LIFE comics. Its a comic I started back in 2002 and ended in 2007. This collection puts all 4 tradebooks and tons of supplementary material and NEW material all in one big volume. It should be manga sized and look great on the shelf!

Problem I had for the longest time was that when I built the first tradebook of PLIFE back in 2004, I saved the files as PDFS on a couple old ZIP discs. ZIP discs are hard to come by in today's age. Its like trying to make a FLAC Mp3 off of an Edison Cylinder! I tracked down two different external ZIP drives and bought cords and software for them. Both didn't work in any computer I have access to, and no one I know has a ZIP drive. Its just too out of date.

So I was left with only one option. I couldn't scan the original art pages because many of them are sold off over the years to friends/fans and some are just lost. But I did have one copy of the first tradebook in my archives. (Luckily I am a packrat and save one of everything!!) So I ended up having to scan those pages and touch them up as best I could. They will look a little fuzzy, but in all honesty, I can live with it. This is art I did back in 1999-2002 when I was working on the book. I didn't have it in me to scan the old black and white comics and REDO the tones, touch ups and retype every word balloon. The temptation to change things and go all "George Lucas" on it would be too great. Not to mention it would be giving me quadruple the work to do. So I decided that this is good enough to work with what I want to do for it. Its not like this is an IDW Artists' edition or something. If I ever get uber famous, maybe I'll do that. But at this point I just want to get the book completed and out so people can have it and read it. Besides, it don't look all that bad!

On the left is a page I scanned and knocked up the contrast on. On the right is a PDF from book two which I did have on a disc. Check it out:

So see? Its gonna be okay. Hey, at least you'll have the comics and you can read and enjoy em.

This book will have all four trades, tons of supplementary material including rare stories, aborted webcomic concept pages, pics of the real people/places that inspired the story, sketches, a script from the old series, the "pilot" comic AMAZING BUD that I did in high school circa 1995, new artist retrospective/commentary on BUD and other things, various sketches and production stuff/products made featuring the characters and an ALL NEW (EXCLUSIVE TO THIS COLLECTION) bonus story! Yes, I am drawing the gang again for a little quick story to add to the book. So you can see what my art looked like in 1999 all the way to now! It will be fun to draw the old gang again. Looking forward to it.

This collection will be a great thing for me personally and I want people to have it and enjoy it. I'm working hard to make it the best I possibly can and something I can be proud of. Ever hear the phrase that you "can't go back in time?" Bullshit! I'm proving it by doing this, baby!

I hope to have this whole thing assembled and ready by May. I will do a pre-order on it for those who want one. All total it will be around 460-480 pages, all for $20. WOW!

Wish me luck!

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In other news, the Kickstarter for MAYHEM #3 is doing great! We're over halfway funded and its only day four of the launch! Thanks to all who have supported so far. To look at the project and to donate, click HERE

STARSLAM is still rolling! Working on new pages this week. I'm in the home stretch of getting the first tradebook done, and I want it done before year end! YAY!

The Porn Store book and short story collection are being worked on as well, so don't worry. These things take time. But I haven't forgot about it. Just making the books I have DONE a priority for a minute to get them back into the online stores and for me to have at the cons this year.

Speaking of Cons, I'll be at the CHERRY CAPTIAL CON in Traverse City, MI on May 23-25th. I think I will be doing something for Free Comic Book Day but not sure where yet. Keep tuned in here for updates. And I will likely do some sort of con in the fall. This summer the wife is concentrating on playing music in a band again, so I want her to do that. So no June-July shows for me most likely. But around August/Sept I will be looking to get out and about to a show!

Thanks for reading!

T

MASSIVE UPDATE! GREAT NEWS!!!

Oh boy! Here is a massive update! BIG stuff is happening (finally) and we're getting shit together over here. The store will once again be stocked with books and other things and I couldn't be happier! First of all, ANNA POCALYPSE is getting reprinted with a new cover (see above) and it was sent to the printer this morning. Turnaround time is about a month, so I should have those by end of March at the latest. Its the exact same interior content, but with a new front cover and new back cover ad page. So if you missed out on getting it the first time around, now is your chance! You can order it now from the ONLINE STORE but be aware it won't be in your hands until sometime early April due to the printing schedule. Very excited to get that back into people's hands. 

Also: Big news on the ARTBOOK. Its FINALLY at the printer as well! The long story goes: My pre-orders were quite low, not enough to cover the costs. My original printer (comixpress) went out of business. So the new printer (KA-Blam) refused to print it because I had a lot of characters in it that other companies own (like my sketch cards of Marvel/Dc characters) and so they got cold feet about printing it. Understandable. So I retooled it and put even more "Girlie" art in the book. So now I'd need a printer that was comfortable with not only printing the iconic character material I didn't own, but also some nudity. Thankfully I found Grecko printing and they were cool with it. However, they had a minimum order that was well beyond what I initially wanted and I needed to raise some money. Thank the lords for tax returns! So I submitted my files this week and I am waiting on a proof to be mailed to me. Once approved, it goes to press.  I am expecting a late March arrival for this book as well. This one is the big tuna. The one I am most proud of. I can't wait for people to see it!

I teased this a while back but I am doing a 20th Anniversary Tshirt for the store and con appearances. I'll likely do a run of XL and 3XL shirts. If you are interested in one, EMAIL ME HERE to let me know and I can make sure I get your size in the print run. Not sure how these are going to do. I have done shirts in the past but I screen printed those myself in college. Very few of those exist anymore. I mean, less than 20. But anyway, I am doing this shirt and possibly a more "metal" themed shirt coming up later in the year. We'll see. But I am talking with printers this week about doing this shirt. Cost should be around $20-25 once completed. 

And now, this baby. The one that means the most to me. For those that know thier history, there were a total of 4 GNs of Pleasant Life done in the entire series run. About 480 pages or more. The first three books have been out of print for years and the 4th one recently sold out as well. I never wanted to reprint the older stuff because its so... you know... OLD! The artwork is me about 12 years ago and I certainly have changed and evolved. But I still feel like it would be cool to have every story collected and see the evolution of art and storytelling in one big volume. Its always been on my plate to do this big pocketbook size collection of it. The problem I had (and still do) is that 140 of the files are stuck on an old ZIP disc from college and I have no way of getting them. I did aquire an old ZIP drive recently, but I need a compatible cable that takes 25 progs down to a USB. I just ordered one through Amazon. So once it arrives I'll need to find a driver to make the software work. IF all that aligns, I can grab the files I need to start making this a reality. I have to build the entire book from scratch, clean up old things and try not to discourage myself while looking at that old artwork! But I want to do it because the book means a lot to me. Its my history. It has deeply personal stuff in it and it launched this whole thing I have been doing. The book deserves to be seen. I owe it that much to make sure people can get it and read it.

So I will collect it and get it out there to everyone. I am also combing the archives to make sure there is a ton of supplementary material for the book. I got tons of stuff still sitting around from handwritten scripts, sketches, commissions, reciepts, pictures and more. I gotta do right by this book and the characters in it. I want this to be the crown in my step as I move forward. Hell, I am even toying with the idea of drawing a quick new exclusive story in the book! Would be great to revisit the old gang again, if only for a small thing. I had toyed with the idea of a new PLEASANT LIFE book and I have ideas to do so one day. Ideas too good to not do. But I want this old stuff collected first. And by Summer, thats what I hope to do.

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Lastly, TALES OF SEQUENTIAL MAYHEM #3 is being completed and we're launching a kickstarter for it hopefully this week. I recorded a fun video for it and its live on my youtube channel already if you want to see it early. But this book is going to be a happening. I'm proud of the guys and their hard work in doing it. Its a knockout!

Once all these things are off my plate, I am free to move on to what is next! Oh yes!

So yeah, big news all around. Shit is happening. Pots are being taken off my creative stove and finally served. Feels great. Tastes Yummy! Just don't get too full of me. There's dessert coming!

Cheers, T