MegaUpdate: Books are sent, free comics for you, and what the future holds…
4 months ago – Fri, Jan 19, 2024 at 09:53:15 AM

Dear friend, 

Hello and Happy 2024! The last month has been a whirlwind with the holidays, work travails and comic book shipping. I’m finally getting a chance to catch up and tell you what’s what. 

Books Away!

By now I’m hoping you have received your digital and/or print rewards from the By the Time I Get to Dallas 1-4 campaign. I’ve gotten some great notes from some of you, including this awesome photo from Mark Plant, who has pretty much everything I’ve released so far: 

Thank you Mark! 

Of course I’d love to hear from you on what you thought of the latest books. If you have comments or pics with you and your swag please pass them on, I’d love to hear from you. I just might quote you for future propaganda. Send ‘em to me at [email protected]

Odds and Ends

There are a couple things left to do for me to complete fulfillment: 

Postcards. Had a problem with my Backerkit survey failing to collect addresses from digital backers, so I need to reach out those folks in a separate email. Postcards are labor intensive and I’m labor evasive right now, but they will arrive in you mailbox when you least expect it. 

Damaged collector’s boxes. There were two I’m aware of. I will change my shipping method next time to a box within a box. If your box was significantly damaged in shipping please let me know. 

Cameo prints from Book 4 (a Book 3 campaign reward). I design each one, then print pack and ship them. Again, the labor intensive/Colin evasive problem. I plan to hit them when I get some time off in the next couple weeks.

Cameos for Book 5 (a Book 4 campaign reward). Reminder if you pledged for a cameo in the latest campaign, you’ll be in the NEXT book, book 5, in the future. More on that below.

All-Star Bundle

Here you go, your Milestone Rewards: hundreds of pages of free digital comics from some of my favorite indie creators. This is missing a few books cause a couple of my friends are a bit behind, because we all have day jobs ’n stuff. But below is the lion’s share of the promised bundle, and it is a massive haul of big, fantastic, complete books:  

Mayfield 8 #1-4 by Tim Larsen

Four complete books from Tim’s grindhouse biker series Mayfield 8! This series is a blast, I've talked about it before, I'm even a cameo in it. Extra credit if you find me. Guns and bikes and drugs, oh my! Thank you Tim!

https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/timsnotebook/ME_1.pdf

https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/timsnotebook/ME_2.pdf

https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/timsnotebook/ME_3.pdf

https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/timsnotebook/ME_4.pdf

Deadskins #1-2 by Clay Adams

Blazing Saddles meets The Walking Dead. A Harvard-educated dandy and his blind, drunk companion are all that stand between the Old West and an Undead Apocalypse. Maybe wear a tarp for this one, it's like the comic book version of a GWAR show. Thank you Clay!

Wild Nature #1 by David Taylor

It’s year 2080, Miami. Reality television has reached its predictable pinnacle with Wild Nature, a game show where teams of armed combatants stalk each other and fight to the death for fame and fortune. David just completed this massive story and I can’t impress upon you enough that you should read it. Dive into the complete book 1 and then go find the rest, it’s killer. Thank you David! 

Hardboiled Heart preview by David Taylor

David likes to rub it in that he is ten times more productive than me despite doing all the writing and art himself. So here he is showing off a preview of his latest project, a steamy noir thriller. That’s great David, now fuck off, I’m busy with the story I started in 2013. 

I kid. David, you’re my hero!

Snowpaw #1 by Rob Multari

She's got a Scottish accent, she hunts deer with her bare hands, she's a werewolf, what's not to like? A hit spin off from Rob’s Nightwolf series, this one has serious style. Thank you Rob!

By the Time I Get to Dallas 5, 6 and beyond…

So I’d really like to complete this story. And as much as I love hanging with you all on Kickstarter, each KS cycle is months of work, and I can’t create new stuff while I Kickstart. It was all well and good for the first 4 cycles to get this thing rolling, but now it is time to finish this story--we all deserve it! So, after some polling (thank you to those who responded) and searching my soul, I’m going to change up the pattern thusly:

At the end of this month I’ll begin writing, in earnest, Trinity Project 5 and 6, then By the Time I Get to Dallas 5 and 6. (Dallas is drafted to the end but it will need some serious surgery.) Not sure how long the writing will take. Then I’ll make it all my editor’s problem—good luck, Claire Napier! 

As we complete the scripts I’ll farm them to my team and make the pages. I’ll pay my artists as we go, as always.

And we’re not stopping until the story is finished, in the can, -30-, The End, roll credits, that’s wrap, see ya!

Then I’ll Kickstart floppies of 5 and 6; not sure if that will be one campaign or rapid fire back-to-backs. 

Then I’ll pay myself back, hopefully. Gulp. 

Then I’ll bring in a book designer to pull it all into a hardcover, likely in a couple different versions, with additional content, bells, whistles, 3-D glasses, the whole deal. Then I'll Kickstart that. 

Then I'll find a publisher and make it their problem. 

Then I’ll take a nap. 

One concern I have is I’ll be away from my readers and the Kickstarter environment for a long stretch before th next launch. I worry you’ll forget about me and forget your Kickstarter password. So I’d like to come up with some ways to keep you, my dear readers, engaged and in the loop as I work on the completing this thing that I’ve done for 20% of my life (fuckin’-a…) I’ll brainstorm some ideas and poll you guys in a future update. But that’s for later. For now, go read some comics! 

Thank you all for your love, support and encouragement! 

Colin

Last chance to get your rewards!
5 months ago – Fri, Dec 15, 2023 at 02:42:24 PM

Fulfillment Mode, ACTIVATE! 

I've packed about 100 Gemini comics mailers and built all 50 collector's boxes. This weekend I get to hand color some miniprints, which should be fun. I'll finalize orders and charge cards on Monday morning and send digitial rewards immediately after. Provided I remember how all the shipping reports work I can start mailing comics Tuesday or Wednesday and hopefully get the bulk of packages out by the end of next week. So 87% of you have goodies coming soon...

If you're in the final 13% who haven't completed your Backerkit survey, please do it here! Even if you got only digital rewards I need your survey to get your best email, and if you're an Early Bird I need your mailing address to send your a postcard. Plus, I hate not being at 100%.

https://by-the-time-i-get-to-dallas-1-4-er-doc-apocalypse-conti.backerkit.com/

If you have trouble clicking through to your survey let me know, I've had to mail them individually to a couple people who couldn't find their link any other way. 

Have a great weekend! 

Colin

Fill out your surveys to get your goodies...
5 months ago – Sun, Dec 10, 2023 at 09:07:13 PM

I'd like to thank the 82% of you who have completed your Backerkit Reward Survey! I'll be finalizing orders next Monday 12/17 and charging cards so I can proceed with fulfillment. 

If you are in the 18% who haven't done your survey, please do so! I can't send you your stuff without the survey complete. 

Not sure what I'm talking about? You should have emails from Backerkit (often in your Updates folder, possibly in Promotions or Spam) with a title like this: 

"Response Needed -- Get your reward for By the Time I Get to Dallas 1-4..."

If you can't find the email you can click through this link to have it sent again: 

https://by-the-time-i-get-to-dallas-1-4-er-doc-apocalypse-conti.backerkit.com/

If you have any questions let me know. Time to pack up those boxes...

Colin

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. — Mark Twain
6 months ago – Sun, Nov 26, 2023 at 05:50:28 AM

Wow, October and November went by fast. While it has been a chaotic and difficult last few months for me and family, I have good news to report on all fronts. It took a lot of work, but we have my parents living much closer to me now and with the support they need. After a complex move out/move in process, I’ve finally gotten to decelerate over the last week, and by decelerate I mean sign, bag and board 400 comic books! That’s right, we have books!

The Trinity Project Vol 4 came in from the printer last week, so all the major components of this campaign are in house and looking great. Our friends at Comic Impressions did a great job with the printing, I think these are my best looking books yet. Yesterday I watched four soccer games in a row while building the Backerkit survey and loading all the books in bags. I did this on a breakfast of apple pie, ice cream and Guinness. It was a good day.

An aside on sealing comic book bags

One problem, I still have to tape the bags closed. Sure I could just slap a piece of tape on the flap like most people do, or even go a little fancier with a sticker. But then you would have to pick at the tape, the tape and bag can tear, and the tape can stick to the book as you pull it out of the bag. It’s a problem and it vexes me. So you’ll notice I double over one end of the tape to make a pull tab. Pinching over a tape loop for every book, over 400 times, is just one small example of the things I didn’t know I was in for when I started this project. My fingers were forty when I started writing, now they are fifty, and they ache just thinking about it. But we didn’t make it this far to start cutting corners, so pull that tab and think of me.

Backerkit Survey coming at ya

This week you should receive a Backerkit survey email from me to finalize your pledge, gather your address, etc. When you see an email from Backerkit, please open and respond--I can't fulfill your rewards without your response. Even for digital tiers, I need your survey. And if you are were an Early Bird backer (backers 1-154) and want your exclusive Early Bird Postcard #4, you definitely need to fill out the survey so I have your mailing address. 

One cool new thing, you can change your pledge level easily within Backerkit, as well as add on limited edition books, stickers and other swag from the add on menu. Backerkit can help you with questions right from the survey if you need (hit the help button), and feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

Thank you for your support and patience. I’m itching to complete this fulfillment cycle, get you your goodies, and then dive headlong into finishing this story!

Thanks again,

Colin

Comics vs real life
8 months ago – Wed, Oct 04, 2023 at 05:37:03 PM

Where do things stand with fulfilling this campaign? I’ve had some inquiries.

The quick answer:

•  By The Time I Get To Dallas #4 is being printed this week.
•  Trinity Project #4 is being lettered this week, should be press ready in a couple weeks.
• I have to complete and send the Backerkit survey.
• Then I'll compile the various digital rewards. 
• I think I can send the digital rewards prior to the survey going out, but I forget, Backerkit is complicated.

The longer answer:

I’m doing the best I can with a lot on my plate. I don’t like to give excuses or delve into personal issues, I want this to be happy space where we just make comic books for fun. But you’ve all shown faith in me by supporting this project, and you deserve to know when you’ll get your rewards and why there is a delay. Since the summer there has been a big increase in the work required of my sister Dana, my wife Ethel, and me to take care of my parents, who live 90 min away. The free day per week I could sort of count on for doing all the lifestuff including comic work has not been available much the last couple months. I don’t know when it will be again. So I move the comic along with free minutes here and there. The things that take a bigger chunk of time, like the Backerkit survey, are harder to get done. Postcards, packing, shipping, etc. will be a slower process than usual. All I can do is the best I can, but I will get it done. I appreciate your patience and understanding.

In the meantime, you can see what I look like when interviewed for TV on two hours of sleep with this clip from the New England news show Chronicle. Not sure how they found me but it was pretty cool.

https://pitdocpress.com/interviewed-for-tv-on-two-hours-of-sleep/

 Thank you once again for your support, 

Colin