Let's Play Comics Ping Pong!
First look at the new book and a special bonus!
Let’s talk hot stove comics project management and then reward you with an exclusive sneak preview: five pages of finished art, and a bigger bonus if we can hit 100 project followers on Kickstarter!
The hardest thing about being a comic book writer is that you can write all you like, but it means nothing until an artist actually draws for you. The wonderful flipside, however, is you can have half a dozen talented artists—from Colorado to Brazil to the Philippines—all working on your ideas while you watch soccer and make dumb bubble maps on Canva:
Switching from soccer to ping pong, the trick to keeping a comics project moving is to always be hitting balls back at the other team members, trying never to let a task get stuck on your side of the net. If you keep serving back to the artists, the book will get made; if you drop a bunch of balls, and then spend a month looking under the couch for them, well, don’t be surprised if your friends start asking “hey, are you still making that comic book?”
Yes, yes I am!
Right now I’m in the thick of managing the production of four comic books at once: By the Time I Get to Dallas 5 and 6, and Trinity Project 5 and 6. That means a constant back and forth on four scripts; 120 pages of sequential pencils, inks, colors, and letters; and at least eight covers, all being produced by a core team of eight people across four continents.
Here‘s where we stand on February 7:
By The Time I Get To Dallas #5
Script done and edited
Pencils and inks done (36 pages)
Colors 3/4 done (27 pages)
Letters 1/2 done (18 pages)
Cover #1: Pencils and inks done
Trinity Project #5
Script done and edited
Pencils and inks done (24 pages)
Colors 3/4 done (18 pages)
By The Time I Get To Dallas #6
Script done and edited
Pencils - starting soon (38 pages)
Trinity Project #6
Script done and edited
Pencils - starting soon (28 pages)
So, how’s it looking? Pretty goddamn awesome! If it’s okay with you, I’m going to reveal the first five pages of By the Time I Get to Dallas #5 art, featuring pencils by Ben Worrell, inks by Chis Arieswendha, and colors by Thaissa Dias. Ben returns from the last book, while Chis and Thaissa are new to the project and bring a brilliant precision and energy to the story. I’ll share each step for each page so you can see how it all comes together.
Following immediately after the end of By the Time I Get to Dallas #4, there are no real spoilers here, but if you want no reveals at all, just skip the rest of this blog and wait until September 1, that’s cool. This preview advances the story a few hours and builds the tension as Rudy, Anna and Rex try to help their terribly wounded friend Goose while on the run from the Founding Fathers militia. It brings them to a tiny hospital in the hills of West Virginia…
Are we making a comic or what? I couldn’t be more excited for how this book is turning outl
But wait there’s more…
All my loyal Substack subscribers got to see this reveal because you guys rock. But there’s a SPECIAL BONUS! If we can hit 100 Project Followers on Kickstarter, those follower will get the first 7 completed pages featuring the work of our longtime letterist Jaymes Reed, and words by me I suppose. Again, minimal spoilers.
Right now we’re at 61 project followers, with 1,600+ folks getting this email. Give me just two more clicks and when we hit 100 I’ll send you the complete lettered pages 1-7. Just follow the link and then hit the “Notify Me” button. and I’ll follow up with an email through Kickstarter with a first reveal of the first scene fully lettered pages—pages 6-7 are a brand new reveal! And if you’re already a project follower—thank you for being so on top of things—you’ll get that preview too.
Next time, we’ll all help build one breathtaking image to rule Kickstarter!
Thank you as always for your support!
Colin
The excitement is growing!