Staring down the empty page... again.
Well, the past week has certainly been weird. I've taken a week or more off before, but when I did, I was always plotting out Suburban Tribe in my head, jotting notes for future arcs and stand-along gags, etc. It's not easy to write new content for new characters when Tiffany is yelling the plot outlines for the next 5 stories in your ear.
I really appreciate all of the comments that everyone has left and the emails that they've sent. I know that a lot of you feel as if I've pulled the rug out from under you, but please understand that this decision is, for lack of a better term, an economic one. The fact that none of the major webcomic news hubs has registered my announcement one week later -- after I've published 860 strips over nearly 5 years -- kind of sums up the situation.
I haven't lost any love for these characters and I have a lot more that I want to say with them, but I've hit a low saturation point and so I need to explore other concepts.
We recorded a podcast this past Monday night, but there were a few technical and content issues that I thought I could fix in post, but alas, I can't. We'll re-record it in a couple of weeks, as soon as Bill and Jeremy get back from vacation.
In the meantime, here's what I am working on, and what you can expect to see on this site in the near future:
Empyreal Fall
This is my character-centric medieval fantasy comic that has been a couple of years in the making. An excerpt is being scripted for inclusion in an anthology that I'm working on with a few other local creators, but I'm also developing a treatment for an ongoing series of graphic novels. Preview pages and concept sketches will be posted here.
Suburban Tribe
A new story in print-comic format is being developed for inclusion into the anthology mentioned above. You'll be able to preview it here as well. Look for stand-alone strips from time to time, too.
The Permutation of Stupidity
This is still going on. I'm going to try and post one next week.
And One More Question:
All of the ST strips for 2007 were created ready for print. Originally, I was going to publish the entire year into a trade paperback. However, since I only have 2/3 of a year, I wanted to ask if you guys would sooner buy a trade/comic with all of 2007's comics, or a super-sized trade with all of 2006 AND 2007's comics? Let me know.
15 Comments:
is it out of line to suggest that maybe you should hook up with Blank Label?
I've really enjoyed your stuff. Hope to do so again in the future.
Love the sound of the mediaeval comic- I really liked the ST trip into DnD land.
Here's wishing you a quick lottery win or something equivalent.
Supersize me dude, I'll buy one. And I'm gonna miss regular ST, but you gotta do what you gotta do, best o luck to ye.
I'd vote for the 2006/7 sized one...
I'd prefer the combined, but I'll buy either.
I vote for a combined 2006/2007 book as well.
I vote for supersize!
And I'll miss the regular comic, but I totally get the economic reality. I hope more folks check out your work in all its new permutations. It really deserves the attention. :)
Combined definitely.
didn't you already make the dick cheney shooting some guy joke already? a year and a half ago? when the thing actually happened and references to an old man being shot in the face were sorta amusing? (are jokes about the Bush administration even thought of as funny and original anymore?)
at the risk of offending you, which i hope doesn't happen, i have to say Permutation of Stupidity isn't your best work, and this strip is a good example of why--trite political jokes and saying "haha! american culture's lame!" just...ergh, it's not that funny when it's put like that. you did a much better job of it with ST.
i felt a bit let down when you said you'd be "retiring," but maybe it's a good idea, at least for a while. i now realize that your strips have been feeling forced since the end of the Christmas arc. i hope all you need is some time to think up new material for ST and whatnot. just please don't waste your time on Permutation of Stupidity. it's inferior to ST. By a LOT. maybe you should listen to tiffany yelling those next five story arcs?
Well, I disagree.
I tend to cope with the Bush Administration's follies and the fact that America is being turned into a giant strip mall with comics like these. If you don't find them funny, well, hey -- maybe they aren't. But if you don't think they have anything to say, you won't get me to see eye-to-eye with you on that.
Announcement about ST's return forthcoming. Thanks for reading it for the last 9 months even if you didn't like it, I guess?
You misunderstand. I do like ST, and that should be clear from my comment. The way you make jokes about your political beliefs (though I think that's a bad idea for comics writers in general, cf http://joshreads.com/?p=932 ) in ST is much wittier than in Permutation of Stupidity, I think because you have a bunch of established character-driven humor to go along with. But POS lacks that, making it talking points from Daily Kos with pictures. My issue isn't that they don't have something to say, it's just that I don't visit Daily Kos because it's funny. It might help you cope, but I wouldn't pay for it. I thought I should let you know why, seeing as you hope to make money this way.
But the problem is that the POS strip is a commentary on Aquaman first and foremost. The point/joke of the last panel is not that Dick Cheney shot a man in the face two years ago, it's that Aerofish made him do it, and maybe that's why we didn't know about it until 24-36 hours after it happened (which is a fact, not a belief.)
I appreciate that you like ST better, I personally prefer serial storytelling as well. But it's not a problem if you don't find POS funny because there's always another ST/POS/Comic X idea coming down the pike. Maybe you'll like them, maybe you won't, but I'll never get to the next level if I don't try new things.
Wow! I think I've just figured out where the twentysomethings who idolize Ronald Reagan and can't relate to non-gaming, American workplace, Real World references are.
See, you've picked the wrong topics for the last 800+ strips, John! People want crap, and you just aren't delivering it!
P.S. Good luck on your next project(s). You'll always have readers.
Nice strip you put up. Part of me really hopes you continue this....
~Talquin
I vote for Super Size. I need to go through my web comic collections and make sure I'm up-to-date with what you do have published. One thing that may help is to get your stuff up on Amazon. Clint Hollingsworth has his first Wandering Ones issue up there as well as Howard Taylor and his Schlock Mercenary.
Even though I purchase my web comics books direct from the authors, Amazon does provide some great exposure. Another thing that seems to help is convention exposure. Yeah, they're a pain.
Wish I remembered where I first found out about Suburban Tribe. Has been a few years. Someone out there twigged me to it. Damn glad they did.
Looking forward to new projects as well as ST stuff in the future. I guess you've created some real characters, when they refuse to fade away. Cool!
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