And one more for today – below is picture of all the buttons I’ll have available at the Expo in April.
I didn’t have the original art handy for the two on the right, so that’s an old picture. The buttons are all the same 1″ round size.
As I mentioned, bend6000 was the winner of the contest for the original art. Here’s some pictures of what he’s getting. In particular, I finally got to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I got some transparency overlays and had the text printed on it. Then I taped the overlay onto the art. So it’s kind of like an animation cel, where you have the art on the bottom with the overlay on top. So you can look at the strip with or without the text.
Here’s the finished product. Click on the image to see it full size.
Here’s the rest of what Ben gets:
What I’m thinking about doing is having a raffle to help support the comic. I’d put together a package like this – only with more stuff, probably including the new Asimov book, maybe even Out of Orbit. Then you buy a raffle ticket for a couple bucks and the winner gets the whole package.
I just sent the files to the I, ASIMOV floppy comic book to the printer. The comic should be available in a couple weeks. For those of you who missed out on Out of Orbit, or wanted a cheaper book this one could be for you.
The comic is 24 pages and features strips focusing on Asimov. It also includes the full “Saga of Bob” story – the first story arc in Marooned. In addition, there are three bonus strips. Two gags written by Steve Ogden and the “click click” one pager I did awhile ago (subsequently taken down.)
I’ll probably do an artist edition of this one where you can get it signed with a headshot of Asimov or John for an extra $2. Cost for the book will be $3 + shipping.
The books will be available for purchase at SPACE this April as well. Also, Steve’s book Breaking Lane has also been sent off, and we will be offering that shortly as well. You won’t want to miss out on that one, it’s absolutely gorgeous.
Happy Friday everyone. With our little trip into the past the pace of the story has definitely changed a bit. So I’m gonna throw in a bonus strip for you next week, since I got some extra time last night. Next week’s schedule will be Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, so make sure you stop by on Wednesday. The council is about to be over, and it’s not likely to go the Doctor’s way, now is it?
I may try and do another bonus strip the week after too. It just depends on if I can find some extra time.
I’m already thinking about Marooned book #2 (yet untitled) so I don’t have the mad rush to completion I had last year. I think people enjoyed the artist gallery, but to me it doesn’t make sense to do that again. My idea this year is to get some other artists to do one page comics instead. They will most likely be featuring the Marooned characters, although a couple may be just sci-fi related. So basically you’ll get more bonus comics you can’t get online.
Second, I’m going to try and include another short story by me. The script is already written. I’ve done some preliminary designs, but nothing I am happy with yet. This one is going to be a stretch for me, so hopefully I can get it done.
There will be another bonus Marooned short story as well. This time it will be a different artist (Steve is way too busy now with Moon Town!) I’m not quite ready to reveal who just yet, but soon.
Depending on how many artists want to jump on this project, there could be as much as 20 bonus pages of comics.
If the strip continues on as planned, I’ll be somewhere around strip #230 when it’s time to assemble the book. So it’s also likely this book will have about 30 more strips than the last collection. Starting at #101 and going to somewhere around #230. Plus, as you know I don’t do single sized strips anymore, they are all double sized. So this book is definitely going to be bigger.
Lastly, bend6000 won the new reader contest. I’m putting together a nice package for him this week with some art, a Rag the Viking minicomic and more.
Speaking of which, I just ordered some transparencies that I can print on. I may print out some text to some strips and tape them on as overlays to offer as original art pieces. I think that’s more appealing to you guys than artwork without the text. We’ll see how it works. I’ll post pictures when I do the first test.
That’s all for now. See you Monday when Inglenar makes his decree!
Playing with different ways to make Ugo’s light work. I’m not happy with it. At some point I will figure out how it looks best and then rework all the strips.
While attempting to send a message to Earth, John fell ill. Ugo brought him to the Volotrum (also called The Dark Ones), his only remaining chance to be healed. The Listener, an apprentice of the Dark Ones – a human woman named Lian Fisher who crashed on Mars years ago – agreed to heal John. In doing so, she fell into some kind of coma – but returned in the nick of time with miraculous powers to help defeat the lizard-like Krosa. In the battle, Ugo’s wounds have revealed him as some kind of robot or machine, making Captain John more confused than ever! Ugo is now explaining what happened to Mars – and how he came to be.
Marooned is a longform comic with multiple interweaving stories. The current storyline starts right here, when Captain John becomes ill. Still further back, you can begin reading where Captain John begins to realize he may have been duped into piloting a failed mission. That is the point at which the story of Marooned begins to grow. But for the full experience, you could read from the beginning. Be sure to check out the about page, which explains the story and the main characters.
