Time passes by too quickly. Way too quickly. Which is why I need a plan. I’m eager to complete CATAPULTED and get it into the hands of readers and I can’t wait to return to exhibiting at comic cons. I also have many ideas for stories I want to tell. I maintain a document where I add all my ideas for stories of different genres. And it’s growing…
The best advice I received from someone in artist’s alley at a comic con many years ago, was to book a table for the next comic con and work towards that date. I wish I remembered his name because it was great advice and gave me something to work towards. And that’s what I need now, a goal to work towards. This way I can plan my time and get creative work completed promptly.
So what’s the plan?
Currently, I am finishing up some work for BlueFox comics. I had met, the founder of this indie publisher, Simon Birks, before the first issue of CATAPULTED existed. I remember showing him ideas in my sketchbook (when I still sketched with a real pencil).
He later had a Kickstarter for a sci-fi story he wrote called Gone. I’m a sucker for sci-fi and the idea had me pulled in. Here’s an intro to Gone:
Gone tells the story of a spaceship where all of the crew have disappeared. Waking up after many years of hibernation, the AssistA robot must piece together the mystery of the missing people. But all is not as it seems, and AssistA is not as alone as it thinks it is…
Welcome to Gone.
I even backed the tier where I could get myself drawn by the artist (with my family cat) which was then featured at the back of the book. It was very cool to see.
Fast forward to some years after I self-published CATAPULTED, I saw an advert on an indie comic book forum (does anyone use forums anymore?) where Simon was looking for an artist to continue the next volume of Gone. I was feeling a little creatively stale and artistically rusty so I thought this would be a great way to get into the pattern of producing page art again.
I completed the sequential art for Gone issue 4, which was then successfully brought to life on Kickstarter.
Simon has gone (no pun intended) from strength to strength, completing many Kickstarters and eventually getting a deal with Image Comics for an ongoing sci-fi series, called Antarctica.
So back to the plan.
As mentioned earlier, I’m currently working on more pages for Simon/Bluefox comics. I’m illustrating issue 5 of Gone. I aim to finish this issue by the end of April 2024. From then on I’ll focus on CATAPULTED with the ambitious aim of having it printed for MCM October Comic Con 2024. That means I’ll need to get it printed and delivered to me about a month before, which means having the crowd funder completed a month before that. In turn, I’ll need to have the book finished by the end of the crowd funder. Working backwards this gives the following timeline:
It’s something to aim for right? If I don’t make it, I should be in a good spot to launch it early in 2025 either at MCM or another comic con. I’ve been going back and forth on when I can complete CATAPULTED but the main thing to do is to get busy creating.
Although I enjoy doing everything on the book from writing, pencilling/inking, lettering, and colouring (yes the book will be in colour), it’s a lot of work. In addition to creating the book, I need to think about marketing activities to drum up interest and anticipation. I’ve been terrible at sending out newsletter emails and feel bad when people continue to sign up for the newsletter through the website. I haven’t sent anything for years… I also want to write more blog posts on the site just exploring the medium of comics and sharing some of the many tools I’ve found useful as a sole creator. The whole thing is tough, but incredibly rewarding if I can get it right.
What can you expect from CATAPULTED, especially if you backed and read the first issue?
The aim will be to have the whole story completed and wrapped up in a single graphic novel/trade paperback. Issue one will be completely redrawn/rewritten as I now have a clear idea of what I want the story to be, including the themes that will be explored and which characters the story will focus on. I also feel my art has progressed from that first issue, and I want to give readers the best art that I can produce.
So stay tuned. I’ll share my journey and everything I work on creatively on this site. There’ll be more activity and blog posts. If you’ve backed me from the beginning and you’re still here reading this post, thank you for sticking with me this far!
