I can't thank the universe enough for the opportunities I've gotten this year. I've started working on my project for Top Cow Productions and the process is going incredibly smooth. They're a great company with amazing titles and I feel lucky to be adding to their shared universe of characters.
I'm also working on a project with Sean Daniel, musician and jack-of-all-trades extraordinaire. We started an ebook company called Griffincrest, which we're going to use to put out projects with a unique spin on them. First up on the block will be a short story that I wrote called "Arthur's Bookshelf," and after that we'll be moving more into our desired territory. We're hoping that it does well, but even if it doesn't meet or exceed our presentations I'm happy just to experiment and get it out there.
You have to do art for the sake of doing it and sharing it with other people.
My own creator-owned projects are coming along smoothly, and the first print of
Violent Skies #1 went out to most of the Kickstarter supporters and the general feedback has been positive. The colors were a little dark toward the back, but hopefully we can fix that with subsequent prints. Kendall Goode and Paulina Ganucheau, the very talented duo I'm lucky enough to work with, have poured their hearts into our projects and I'm glad I get to share their work with the world.
I have a few pitch ideas that I'm working on with them, as well as my partner in crime Andy Budnick, who was nice enough to drive to Holland with me yesterday to look for a copy of
Hulk: Gray. We didn't find it, but as Vonnegut would say, "so it goes."
People have been asking me if I'm still going to write reviews. I'm going to have to say initially that I'm done reviewing. I just don't feel like it would be fair for me to critique other people's work in a journalistic (or lack thereof) manner while I'm putting out my own material on a more professional level. The good people at Cosmic Book News are always willing to let me back in with open arms, and I thank Matt and Byron for that until the end of time.
My hopes for the summer are to write the first draft of a novel, finish the first big Griffincrest project, get more comics in the pipeline for publishing, and have erotic adventures across the world. And considering the erotic adventures are the least likely to happen out of all of those plans, I'd say I have a fulfilling season ahead of me.
Of course it's snowing in Michigan right now, so summer might skip us all together.
Either way I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has given me these great opportunities over the last few years, and in no particular order, here they are:
Jessie Garza - Viper Comics - for letting a "no name" submit a story about a shape shifter and letting me edit comics and books at a higher level than I deserved.
C. Edward Sellner - Visionary Comics - for seeing something in a newcomer and putting me in charge of getting the word out for his projects. Also editing my books when I ask for it.
Matt Hawkins - Top Cow Productions - for thinking my submission was creepy enough to let me play in the Top Cow Universe.
Bryan Rountree - Top Cow Productions - for being a delight to talk on the phone with, even after I had my tongue sliced four ways to Sunday.
Matt & Byron - Cosmic Book News - for deciding that this simple West Michigan boy knew what the hell he was talking about when it came to panels, pages, and gutters.
And these are just the people who have helped me in the comics industry. I'm sure another prose installment is on its way.
But thank you to everyone who has believed in me so far. I won't let you down. And I want to say back to you that you should believe in yourself. Do what makes you happy, don't apologize for the things you love, and try to get to bed at a decent hour.
