Production Update: In the thick of it
over 3 years ago – Wed, May 24, 2023 at 10:37:10 AM

 Wow, we wrapped the Kickstarter two months ago and it sure went quick. Here’s what I’ve been up to and where things stand.

By The Time I Get To Dallas #4: I need to make final lettering edits, which I avoid because it is the last time I can make any changes to the text, and that makes me nervous. We had a brief scare when we thought Jaymes, our letterer, had lost all his lettering to a hard drive crash, but a computer dude recovered it. I’m pulling together the back matter, inside covers, etc. The front inside cover is always a collage/Photoshopped tie-in to the Trinity Project, because that’s the hard way. I think I’ve got the concept for this one, next I need to pull together the elements, physical and digital, and stick them together. Yes, a black page with some credits would be easier, but why waste a perfectly good page?

Trinity Project #4: I’m writing pages and getting back art from Greg Woronchak, trying to keep ahead of him. The story exists in skeletal form in my mind, unlike Dallas which is more or less scripted to the end. It is hard to switch gears from busy work and logistics to writing, it requires carving out quiet time, we know how easy that is. But I’ve written 15 pages of what will be around a 20 page book so I’m getting there. I love this page I just got from Greg today:

Wicked Con: Meanwhile, I got to table my first ever comic book convention, at Wicked Con here in Boston at the Hynes Convention Center. I’ll do a longer wrap up through my blog, but the bottom line is it was a lot of work, a lot of standing, a fair amount of boredom (doing a show solo is tough), but super cool getting to introduce new people to the story. Here is my first ever convention sale:

This young sportsman bought the first book, read it in the lobby and came back to buy up pretty much everything I’ve printed. So that felt good. We covered the cost of the table and more, unloaded a box of books, made some new fans, grew the mailing list, I learned the ropes a bit, and got some ideas to hone the pitch for next time. It won't be an every weekend thing for me but I'd like to do one or two shows a year.  

And here’s our set up, which looked pretty damn good. My daughter Virginia took over the booth for a while on day 2 and did a great job selling, freeing me up to schmooze a bit. I got to met up with my cousin's husband, frequent Dallas backer and droidmaker extraordinaire Elly!

Cameo Prints from Book 3 finally went out. These take bit of time but are fun to pull together:

And I've got postcards to sign and collector's box prints to color. My hope was to do these at night this month while watching the Bruins make their Stanely Cup run. Alas, I need a new plan. 

Hey that reminds me, if you’re one of those folks who followed the campaign but missed it, you can still order the key goodies at the preorder store:
Https://Pitdocpress.Com/Preorderdallas4

In non-comic book news, I don't know where to start--Virginia is graduating high school, we are soon going to Italy for a long awaited vacation, many thing going on. I did climb onto the 5th floor roof of our building to do some pigeon proofing, to prevent them from pooping on our first floor grill. Later my friend Todd told me about "l'appel du vide,"  "the call of the void". It is a useful term. I did not succumb to it, because I have pigeons to vanquish. 

So, the comic moves forward. I’m not sure where I am in relation to any timeline, and the only person I can yell at to work faster is myself, which I do on a regular basis. In the meantime, I suggest you grab a book by someone else like David Taylor.  I’ve told you about David and his work many times. His latest Kickstarter is running right now for his cracking story Wild Nature (edited by Dallas editor Claire Napier). With this campaign you can get the complete epic about blood sports in a dystopian near-future Miami. I know a bunch of my readers are into this story, and if you haven’t checked it out now is the time!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dftaylor/wild-nature-1-3-the-complete-graphic-novel-series

Thank you as always for your support. Have a great spring! 

Colin

That's a wrap!
over 3 years ago – Sun, Mar 26, 2023 at 02:58:39 PM

Oops, we did it again! 

We did it—this weird walk to Dallas continues thanks to you!

Thanks to all of you, this series keeps going with Book 4 funded! I’ve had a busy weekend since the campaign wrapped so decided to give us all a couple days off before this Campaign Wrap.

This campaign, my fifth, was a little different from prior: it was shorter, and due to work schedule and life in general I did much less social media, no press reach out, and instead relied on the magic of Kickstarter itself, cross promotion, my email list and the interest of prior backers to drive the campaign. The results were good—adjusting for the shorter schedule, we ended up with backer and dollar amounts right in line with campaign 3. I'm learning to focus on what energizes me--making the books--and not trying to win Kickstarter every time. The comic project doesn’t quite pay for itself at these numbers, but it almost does, and that’s good enough for me to keep going. Most gratifying is that I’m hearing more and more people I don’t know tell me how into the story they are. So I’m going to keep telling it!

I did get on to one cool podcast right before we closed, the PVDcast with John Orlando, where we talked comics and also Boston Bruin hockey. For a good 45 minute chat on these things check it out:

PVD Podcast Episode 373 March 24, 2023

Next up, I’ll be cranking up the production of Dallas #4 and the writing of Trinity Project #4, I have some ground to make up there.

Also, I’ll be tabling a convention for the first time ever, the Wicked Con in Boston on April 22-24. If you’ll be there let me know! Starting to wrap my head around the tabling game, it’s all new territory. Part of that territory:  a 4x8 retractabe banner! You're finding out about it at the same time Ethel is... 

I owe a few people cameo prints from Book 3, I will get on that directly. Cameo prints from Book 4 will follow with the delivery of Book 4.

The Allstar Digital Bundle will go out in the next few weeks, some of that content is still being completed, ie it is brand spanking new!

There will be a reward survey coming at you from Backerkit but not for while I’ll send that when I’m closer to completion.

Once again I am humbled by your support. On behalf of the whole creative team, let me thank you once again for pushing us to make the books and tell this story. We’ll keep working our butts off to deliver you the best damn comic books we know how to make. 

Thank you again!

Colin Devonshire

"Excuse me, do you make comic books?"
over 3 years ago – Thu, Mar 23, 2023 at 09:00:39 AM

More Milestones, more great comics for everyone!

We're down to the final 36 hours of this campaign, but that doesn't mean I'm done giving you cool stuff. Big news, just this minute I got Tim Larsen's permission to add multiple books from his grindhouse biker series Mayfield 8! This series is a blast, I've talked about it before, I'm even a cameo in it. If we get a good burst of activity before we close we should unlock these killer books in addition to these two great ones we 've earned this week:

Deadskins #1+2 

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. This is the true story of Custer's Last Stand... whatever they taught you in school is bullsh!t. Creator Clay Adams gives us the complete first two books of this decidedly different adventure, 64 blood splattered pages! Clay is always pushing the envelope with hysterically funny, weird, messy comics that are always fun and fearless. I’m excited to share his work with my readers!

Jember #1

Ethopia's answer to Miles Morales Spider-Man! Would you believe this is Ethiopia’s very first superhero comic? Created by my friend Beserat Debebe, this book kicks off a classic coming-of-age superhero tale but in the vibrant setting of Addis Ababa, Ethopia. Amanuel Tilahun is a bright young man struggling to find a job in the city after finishing school. As rejection after rejection leads him to contemplate leaving the city altogether, he comes across something that gives him special abilities… Check out this high flying story and art that has a whole continent talking! Beserat is one of my comic making heroes. With his all African team of terrific artists he’s blazing a trail with three thrilling series grounded in real African cultures, history and folk tale. He has been garnering world wide press and I’m proud to share his book with you! 22 pages. 

Fun fact, Beserat and I walked past each other on a beach in Puerto Rico in 2021. He recognized my distinctive hair and asked, "Excuse me, do you make comic books?" I bet that's the only time I'll ever get that question, but it was pretty awesome. We and our families got to meet in person for the first time after several years of internet admiration (My son Ezra loves Beserat's books!) The Wolverine look pays off again! 

Thanks again for supporting this weird thing. Tomorrow we wrap!

Colin

Stuff you need to know before we close in two days!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 22, 2023 at 11:46:54 AM

We Rock!

We rock so hard I don't even know where these three weeks went! This campaign is winding down so let's take care of some important items.

1) THANK YOU! I am once again astounded that folks from all over the world continue to support this story. After this installment I only have TWO left to do! I can do this two more times, right? Right?? RIGHT!

2) Check your pledges. Double check you got the right reward level. Take a look at the Add On menu as well, it might have stuff you're looking for and some other surprises. Especially that Collector’s Box, a great place to store all these books--a coffee table comics box, really. They have sold well but I still have some left. 

3) If you have any questions about reward levels, shipping or anything else please let me know though this email or by [email protected]

4) The All-Star Digital Bundle will be sent out sometime after the campaign as a single file with a collection of links, it will not be a single PDF containing everything.

5) There will be a reward survey sent through Backerkit sometime this summer, that will be a final chance to add on stuff and lock your order. I’ll let you know before that happens.

6) International shipping will be added on after the final reward survey via Backerkit.

7) Early Bird postcards will go out after I have your addresses through the Backerkit reward survey. To send them sooner I’d need to bother everyone now for addresses and again at shipping time. It’s complicated.

8) There are still a couple cameo spots left for Dallas #5! If you want to be in that book, here’s your chance.

9) Cameo prints from book 3 still need to get made by me and sent. Notice how I use the passive voice. I apologize, it keeps getting pushed down my to do list.

10) Cameo prints for Book 4 will go out sometime after the books go out.

11) One more time: Thank you!

Colin

Milestone #3: Howling at the moon!
over 3 years ago – Sun, Mar 19, 2023 at 08:31:22 AM

FINAL WEEK and MORE GOODIES

Yeah, I can't count to three. A prior update announced the wrong Milestone. THIS is Milestone 3. 

We've reached my next TWO backer number milestones on this  rapidly concluding campaign, and I've got to tell you about this coolness before we wrap on Friday 3/24. This is my shortest campaign yet, three weeks, and I gotta say I like it. Kickstarter is exciting but I can't wait to get back to the making the book part of making the book. 

For your next free complete comic book in the Allstar Digital Bundle, let's take a trip back in time to the 19th-century Scottish Highlands, to a world where strapping lasses howl at the moon, to the world of

Snow Paw #1

This book blew up Kickstarter and now creator Rob Multari is letting my backers have the complete book for free, because he is cool. This series is a spin off from the Night Wolf series--astute backers may remember you got Night Wolf 1-2 in the All Star Digital bundle on our last campaign. Now you can continue the story with this book featuring a fan favorite character, Snow Paw. She's got a Scottish accent, she hunts deer with her bare hands, she's a werewolf, what's not to like? 

If and when you dig it, be sure to check out the rest of his rapidly growing comic universe. Rob is a big inspiration for me, every time I'm pulling together a campaign I check out what Rob's been doing and try to make it work for me. I usually can't, he's got way more energy than me! We met up at the Boston con last summer--check out the banners, the shirts, the CGC slabs, the swag! He's the master! 

lonewolfcomics.com

Thanks again for all your support. I'll be posting daily or so for the final week, there's so much more to talk about and I'm running out of time! Tomorrow I'll tell you about even MORE amazing free stuff! 

Colin

Here’s another cool project running now:

ZUFAN #1-2: African history x Sci-fi Comic Series 

There is so much to say about this series, I'd like to devote more time to it in another update, but it's running now and I want to make sure you check it out STAT because it is awesome. The latest smash hit by my friend Beserat Debebe is his most stunning yet.

The Scramble for Africa marked +20 year period of exploiting, dividing & conquering of Africa. Only one African nation successfully defended & preserved their independence during the entire period - Ethiopia. ZUFAN is the story of that nation! ZUFAN recounts this incredible moment of African history through sci-fi! Instead of the Scramble for Africa, it's a Scramble for Earth! Aliens from distant planets meet and decide who gets what region of Earth.  As the world falls to their conquest one by one, only one nation remains: the African Alliance. I just reread Zufan #1 and, man, the story, the art, it is all outstanding. Please back this book, you'll thank me! 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/etancomics/zufan2

Boston Metaphysical Society: Mystery at Pikes Peak #1-2

What's Boston Metaphycial Society? An ex-Pinkerton detective, a spirit photographer,  and a genius scientist who battle supernatural forces in late 1800’s  Boston. They live in an alternate steampunk history where ghosts and  demons are a  normal part of life. Families known as the Great Houses  control the  economy of the Great States of America while the middle  class and lower classes sole purpose are to serve the Great Houses. Madeleine Holly-Rosing's series has been a consistent Kickstarter and direct-market success for years, and now there's a new mini series you can jump on here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mhollyrosing/boston-metaphysical-society-mystery-at-pikes-peak-1-2