“Just a very good soldier… and one hell of a butler.”
OK! So, I officially launched the Artifice Graphic Novel Print Drive Kickstarter Project last Friday at 10:00 P.M. hoping for $7,000 to cover most of the printing costs. It been almost exactly one week and thanks to your super-generous support the backing is now over $16,000! WOO HOO! Thank you all so much!
So, this means not only will Artifice get printed, but that I can start to afford to do other things I always wanted to do, such commission Winona to create a special Artifice Happy Ending pin-up with Deacon and Jeff kissing in front of a beautiful sunset… and the smoking remains of the Noneco Corporate Campus. It’s something I will send out to ALL backers as a high-res desktop wallpaper they can use (and for those backing at a higher level, I’ll be able to send them a really nice 13″ x 19″ print of it!) And if things keep going like this, I might even be able to commission some additional short comics in the world of Artifice, including maybe even another scene of flashback romance between Jeff and Deacon on Da Vinci Four. It’s very exciting.
Now I’ve gotten a few questions about how Kickstarter works in the comments, so let me address those here. Yes, if you live outside the U.S. you can absolutely pre-order a copy of Artifice to be sent to you (you’ll just need to put in a little bit more to cover the extra shipping.) Yep, you should still pledge now even if you don’t know where you will live in October when the books ship (because I’ll ask everyone for their shipping address in an email survey right before I ship.) And yes! 🙂 even $5 helps me out a lot (and will make sure you get any extras I create, like the “Happy Ending” wallpaper and PDFs of any additional short Artifice comics I commission). And if you don’t have a credit card, yes the pre-paid ones work just fine (just be sure it’s charged up with at least $3 more than you pledge so the “automatic hold” credit card companies use doesn’t mess things up.)
And as I mentioned might happen last time, all the $30 pledge level books (which will be signed by BOTH me and Winona) are now “sold out”. But not to worry—there are still plenty of books signed by both of us at slightly higher pledge levels (and at those levels you get other extras like cool Artifice bookmarks and art posters and such.) And if don’t need both our signatures, you can get a book sent to you with just my signature at the $25 level. 🙂 So, if you think you might want to have one of these books when they are printed, please
Pre-order a printed copy of Artifice through my Kickstarter project
In other news, I launched my new webcomic on Wednesday! Woo hoo! It’s a multi-chapter superhero yaoi comic called The Young Protectors: “Engaging The Enemy” with art by DC/Marvel penciler Adam DeKraker and 2011 Harvey Award Nominee colorist Veronica Gandini. I still need to make adjustments to the About/FAQ and other pages on this site to take into account the new comic (right now they only mention Artifice) but there are three pages of The Young Protectors already up and Page 4 will be posted this Monday. If you haven’t yet, please
Check out The Young Protectors
and let me know what you think! 😀
In still more news, we have some truly delectable new Fan Art by BayouKun! It’s a sexy, shirtless Deacon and you simply must go see it because it’s awesome.
Finally, even with all the focus on the Kickstarter campaign, I’m excited (and amazed) to say that we are now at $199 towards the next bonus page! Y’all are UNSTOPPABLE! 😀
Special thanks, a warm welcome and a grateful bow go out to new supporters Robin K., John S. & amanda l. for their generous donations over the last few days!
Big hugs go out to long-time friends of Artifice Larry B. (who has just made their second super-generous donation of $25!) and Larisa V. (who has just made their eleventh super-generous $25 donation—and their fourth (!!) such donation in two weeks! You are a rock star, Larisa!)
And finally, very grateful, android-strength hugs go out to longtime Artifice superfriend Safiya M. who, with their amazingly generous $50 donation, makes their third amazingly generous donation to this comic!
Thank you all so, so much—for the Kickstarter backing, the bonus page donations and also for the very kind words you’ve written both on the pages of this comic and the pages of The Young Protectors! Between managing and promoting a Kickstarter campaign, prepping three pages a week, responding to comments and emails, taking interviews (!) and working with artists on future pages, I’ll admit—my brain is feeling a bit like mush. (God help me when I’m working 10 hour days on the day-job next week!) But through it all, your generosity and kindness makes it totally worth it.
You are awesome and wonderful and I am so very grateful to all of you. 😀
DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! Edit 3/18 12:25 PM: Good news! At 5:41 AM this morning, we hit the bonus page donation target! That means that in addition to the regular Saturday update, there will be a bonus update this Wednesday, 3/21—Page 86! Thank you all so much! Hope to see you there! 😀
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