Am I making this post 3 weeks into Pride Month? Yes. Am I going to shout out about this new bundle on itch.io anyway? Also Yes.
This is the Power of Pride, a new bundle on itch.io featuring over 280 creative teams (including myself!) and over 300 different projects! There are comics, games, and more, all themed around LGBTQ+ pride.
There are two levels of support available. One is the full-priced bundle at $60. The other is Pay What You Can at $10. Same bundle. Two price points (we’re trying to work with folks with limited income and irregular paydays).
I love being a part of bundles of games and comics over on itch.io, and I’m happy to be part of this. Hope you give these comics and games a shot!
For the next week and a half, I am preparing for KickStarter fulfillment AND Genghis Con Cleveland.
KICKSTARTER FULFILLMENT
Backer surveys didn’t go out on Monday because I took some time off (and started a new job yesterday).
Instead, they are sending out before the end of today. So keep an eye on your inboxes.
In other updates:
the files for the book have been sent off to the printer. I’m waiting on the proof to come back.
I will tally up the orders by the end of today to determine how many zines, mini-prints etc need printed.
the webcomic site for The Legend of Jamie Roberts is going dormant for a couple of weeks. Regular updates will resume Dec 3 – when we start posting the Basho and Norsa short comic we unlocked!
Full disclosure: I will open up for commissions for the holiday season. But KickStarter backers get top priority/billing since you claimed the spots first.
I should have new updates for you within the next week. Stay tuned! (And if you need more comics in your inbox, sign up for my email newsletter if you’re not on there already.)
GENGHIS CON CLEVELAND
November 30, find me at Genghis Con Cleveland!
Just like last year, this year’s event is at the Pivot Center for the Arts. The show runs from 11 am to 5 pm, featuring tons of indie comics (not just my own). Plus there are a handful of panels happening!
This year I want to be sure I bring extra copies of my books, because last year I sold out of some titles before the end of the day. It’s a good problem to have! But I want to be sure I have plenty for the new readers to get their hands on.
Full disclosure: The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 3 will NOT be ready in time for Genghis Con Cleveland. Sorry, Cleveland peeps. But if you’re interested in getting a copy, let me know.
New Punk Signal – two college boys, Mike and Steve, have big dreams to support their friends and their indie music…until the pandemic hits and shuts everything down. Now they have to figure out how to support the people they love when the world is changing its frequency.
Fwishi’shi – Fuloos is a bird-man who lives alone in a home by the sea. By day, he runs a radio show in the small town of Seabank. One day, he meets a fan of his work and her boyfriend – and everything changes.
These two stories are about community, assistance, and platonic love that saves the day. And with your help, I’d love to get these stories into the hands of more readers with the power of KickStarter!
So New Punk Signal is a comic spin-off-slash-sequel to Validation and ROXIE, following resident himbos Mike and Steve. And Fwishi’shi is – for the first time in my book catalog – a written novella. It’s not a comic (gasp)! It’s also set in the same universe as two comic projects I’ve done called Johnson & Sir and Thoughtful Dinosaur.
I like to think that you don’t need to read the other books to understand what’s going on in New Punk Signal and Fwishi’shi. But if you would like to delve more into those worlds, these extra stories are available as add-ons in the campaign! If you’re inclined, there’s also The Radio Tower Tier, where you can get all of these stories in one bundle.
THE HOW
The good news is – a lot of expenses for Fwishi’shi are covered by a grant from the Toledo Arts Commission! Thank you to the commission for covering the cost of the ISBNs, printing 20(ish) copies of the book, and printing bookmarks.
However, New Punk Signal needs a little support to get to print. Also, if Fwishi’shi gets a lot more than 20 orders, I need a little help to cover printing. There’s also the added wrinkle of distributing these books once they’re printed.
For these reasons, I’ve opted to run a KickStarter – not only to help New Punk Signal get printed, but to get BOTH books in the hands of readers with KickStarter’s reach.
So in short – the asking goal is low because some expenses are already covered thanks to the Toledo Arts Commission (yay)! But KickStarter will help get these books out to the masses.
THE WHEN
Because of grant deadlines and printer timelines, this campaign will run UNTIL Aug 31. Once the funding period ends, I can place orders to the printers right away. The goal is to get everything printed and in the hands of backers by September 30.
THE WHY
New Punk Signal and Frishi’shi are both projects I made during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Both were created to process my feelings and what I had seen work – and not work – during this time. I’ve also come to realize that as time goes on, the more my stories focused on the importance of community and helping friends along the way. And, as a result, both of these stories are my love letter to the importance of platonic love.
We live in a culture that romanticizes individualism, and only allows exception for romantic love. I wanted to challenge both by creating New Punk Signal and Fwishi’shi, stories that focus on the importance of interpersonal connections outside of romance.
So if you can, check out the campaign and choose the reward tier that works best for you! We also have add-ons such as spin-off comics, prints, and even art books!
Broke? Share this campaign far and wide! Shares help more than you know.
This is DRAG-onball Week, a week of Dragonball characters drawn in drag, or otherwise looking ✨fierce✨.
It’s Day 3, and today, we say, “ALL HAIL PRINCESS TRUNKS.”
Let me be clear: this is not my joke. This is directly from Team Four Star and their Broly Abridged special. They coined it, they get the credit. They even made a T-shirt for it.
BUT…Trunks deserves to be confident as Drag Royalty.
I would go further about the process, but you can actually watch the process! It’s on this archived livestream from May. Skip ahead to 2:49:18 if you just want to watch Princess Trunks.
Now, I drew this a few months ago with the intent of putting it in an art zine. But then I went, “This would look better as a mini-print.”
So that’s what we’re doing with our beloved drag(onball) princess here.
This 4-inch by 6-inch miniprint is coming with me, along with the Fabulous Frieza (and more). On Saturday, July 27, I’m taking these with me to Art Loop Mini Mart in Toledo, OH. They’ll also be available in my Ko-fi shop the same day.
(If you’re a member on Ko-fi, you’re getting these stickers as part of your rewards.)
Stick around for tomorrow’s showing – Vogue Star Jeice!
This is DRAG-onball Week, a week of Dragonball characters drawn in drag, or otherwise looking ✨fierce✨.
It’s Day 1, and I’m here with Frieza and his fabulous coat!
Before we go any further on this finished work, I want to share a bit about the process. Like, why Dragonball characters in drag?
The idea actually came to me when my friends and I went to see Six on Broadway. Afterwards, we had dinner at Brewhouse Downtown (in Toledo), and then we had drinks at Hamburger Mary’s. Lucky for us, Hamburger Mary’s had a drag show happening that night!
Well, along the bar they had novelty drink cups, including one that was a platform heel in hose you could drink a margarita out of. My roommate Alex took one look at that and went, “Omigod, What if Krillin wore those?”
It sparked the idea that would eventually lead to this DRAG-onball series. But who to draw first? Not Krillin, actually!
Frieza was the first one I drew in this series, going back to January. At the time, I just thought of doing Frieza and maybe a handful of characters for a zine project. Over the next few days, you’ll see the others I drew for this potential zine – Jeice, Android 18, and Princess Trunks.
The zine was not meant to be, though. At the time, I was in the middle of restructuring my Ko-fi membership rewards. This meant changing my zine offerings – switching from digital-only to a hybrid offering, with some digital zines and some physical.
That said, Fabulous Frieza waited patiently for me…until I got a new printer. One that can print stickers.
And babes, we are in business. Because that’s what we’re doing with Frieza and his fabulous coat.
As for the sticker? It’s coming to Ko-fi later this week!
My Ko-fi Members are getting these as part of their rewards this month. And on Saturday, July 27, I’m taking them with me to Art Loop Mini Mart in Toledo, OH.
Stay tuned, because tomorrow, it’s Android 18’s turn in the drag spotlight!
