STARDUST
10 months ago – Wed, Jun 21, 2023 at 01:42:19 PM

Hey everyone! Hope all of your Spectrals made it safe and sound. I wanted to let you know about a new anthology that I’m extremely excited and proud to be a part of. STARDUST the Super-Wizard was created by one Fletcher Hanks in the 1930s. He was one of the weirdest cartoonists to ever walk the earth. You know how much I like weird. STARDUST has entered the public domain so Van Jensen put together a line-up of superstar creators including Mike Allred, Jeffery Alan Love, Robert Wilson IV, Zander Cannon, Francesco Francavilla and about a bazillion more. I’ll be doing a story with my friend, Doc Wyatt. I highly suggest you take a second to back this overwhelmingly awesome book now. https://zoop.gg/c/stardust?utm_campaign=0b5ad1e79f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_06_21_milestone&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Zoop&utm_term=0_-391ad55199-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]

Shipping Progresses! Have you backed THOUGHTSCAPE?
about 1 year ago – Thu, Jan 19, 2023 at 11:22:17 AM

Shipping progresses!

Hi folks -- 

We're starting to see some SPECTRAL books arrive to US-based backers. We LOVE seeing the photos of you receiving your books, so keep 'em coming and feel free to tag us in social posts! 

Just as an update, here's our status for folks with answered surveys: 

• Domestic backers with a book (or "book and pin" or "creator pack") have been shipped. 
• Domestic backers with a large commission or art page (11x17) have been shipped.
• Domestic backers with smaller (9x12) commissions OR retailer packs will go into the mail on Monday (1/23).
• International shipping is on deck. We just have to figure out a few extra hurdles for those. 
• Puppet pledges (hand puppets and muppet puppets) are also on deck. We're currently coordinating with Andy on shipping. 

We'll continue to update as we get everything sorted.

Little Bugs

Most fulfillment has gone smoothly (once we figured out all the various systems, as noted in our last post). However, we have hit a few little snags here and there. 

For example, there are a couple of people who have TRIED to add credit card info to their Backerkit survey to find it stalling out. We are aware of this, and are working with Backerkit to sort through that. If you've been affected by this, please reach out to us. 

Back this: THOUGHTSCAPE

Our pal, and SPECTRAL support, Matt Mair Lowery is currently running a campaign for his own anthology book, THOUGHTSCAPE. This is a twisty sci-fi anthology series, perfect for fans of Black Mirror, Outer Limits, and the like. And it pairs really nicely with SPECTRAL. 

So much so, we've even teamed with Matt to create a pledge tier which includes SPECTRAL. Obviously, you all already have your pledged copies (or they're on their way), but Matt has set up a great campaign and there are lots of cool tiers that are worth your time.  We encourage you to check it out and reserve your copies of THOUGHTSCAPE! 

Shipping has begun!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Jan 13, 2023 at 03:11:33 PM

BIG UPDATE TIME!

Shipping Spectral...

Hey folks! Exciting update! I braved the California storms this week to travel down to LA and meet Chris so that we could begin shipping SPECTRAL. It was my first chance to see our baby in print, and I've gotta say: it looks FANTASTIC. We are both utterly pleased with the quality of the printing. 

 The fulfillment process started once I got to LA, and to be honest it was even more turbulent than my bumpy flight. I won't bore you with the details, but it was all about getting multiple systems to speak to each other, replacing an old printer, and finding new labels after realizing the ones we had bought weren't going to work.  

 However, once we got it all sorted we really got cranking. We started with domestic shipping, and  as I left town, Chris dropped off the first wave of books to the post office. If you live in the US and had a physical copy of any of our books and/or a pin, I believe you made it into the first wave. There are commissions and art pages going out as well, but I'm not sure if they made it into the first batch. But they're coming. 

Next up is both INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING and the PUPPETS, which are each a a little more complex for us. The puppets largely because the books are in LA, while our esteemed puppet maker is in Minnesota, so we're figuring out the logistics for that. 

Collector's Paradise and the Book Launch!

While I was in LA, Chris made arrangements with Collector's Paradise for us to do appear in two of their stores, North Hollywood and Pasadena. We got to hand a FEW of the local, LA-based backers their books, which is always more fun than mailing. If you came out to see us, THANK YOU -- it was wonderful to see you!

 The Other 27 Club

Twenty-seven. Some say it's a cursed number, the age of death for some famous musicians, from Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin to Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse. 

For us it also happens to be the number of remaining backers who never responded to their surveys! 

We'll continue to reach out to you, but if you're seeing this update, and you realize you never received or never answered a survey from Chris (via Backerkit), then please let us know! We want to get you your books! 

Video Killed the Comic Book Star

Recently Chris started a YouTube channel to talk about art, process and his love of the comics medium, so while I was visiting him, I guested on an episode and we did a DEEP DIVE into SPECTRAL. A lot of behind-the-scenes material about what went into its construction. 

Now this video MAY contain some mild spoilers as we flip through the book, so I'll leave it to you to decide if you want to read the book before diving in. But you should all subscribe to Chris' new channel, and follow along as he does reviews, process talk, and the like. And I'm sure I pop up now and again. 

Here's the SPECTRAL episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-tMAZdy8r0

 OK, that's it for now! More soon!

Dave (and Chris)

Spectral has ARRIVED!!!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Dec 29, 2022 at 06:07:48 PM

Hey Everyone!!! 

I just drove to the warehouse to pick up 25 boxes (weighing what felt like 2 tons each) of Spectral: A Showcase of Fear, fresh off the boat. I posted a link to the unboxing video below. I'm waiting on mailer boxes and then we should be all set. David is flying here to Los Angeles on January 9th to sign the books that some of you asked for. If you didn't get a signed copy I will try to send those out the week before hand, schedule permitting. I still have one or two commissions to wrap up and but don't foresee any issues there. So I estimate we will be all done with fulfillment by January 13th at the latest!!!

Since David will be here, we decided to do some signings for the book on January 11th at Collectors Paradise in both North Hollywood from 12-2 and Pasadena from 6-8. If you chose LOCAL PICK-UP for Los Angeles, that would be a great time to get yours. I wanted to address the fact that doing this signing means that some people who didn't back the Kickstarter may get the book before some that did get it in the mail. But since this was really the only time that both David and I could be at the same place to release this thing together we decided to go forward with it. I for one don't mind when creators do this, but I've heard of some people that do and if you happen to be amongst the latter, I apologize in advance. But if you are in Los Angeles, I hope to see you there.

I can't wait to get these out to you and find out what you think. Please,  please reach out to us and let us know what you think. Even if it's to tell us you couldn't stand it so it's now being used to heat your home. We rarely got feedback on any of our past projects and would love to hear your thoughts. We could all use a little warmth this time of year.

All the best,

Chris (and David)

Unboxing Video-   https://youtu.be/3k7VZHgYU78

Oh, before I go, I like to point people toward other crazy comics being created and funded with the help of weirdos like you. Keenan Marshall Keller is the co-creator along with my good friend Tom Neely of the Humans. He has about 20 hrs left in his campaign for his new book, SCUMBAG for Hire VOL 2. Keenan is also the curator of the Permanent Damage comic show that happens twice a year here in Los Angeles and is, in my opinion, the best indy comics show on the west coast if not the country. Show him some support and back this absurd, surreal pencil rendered marvel.

Books are arriving in Los Angeles very soon!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Dec 20, 2022 at 07:40:39 PM

Hi folks -- 

Good news! We've heard from our printer that the books have arrived in the Port of LA, but that we're still waiting for the books to be unloaded and sent to the printer's LA warehouse.

We don't know exactly how long this will take, as the ports are very busy during the holiday season, but our printer has promised to update us ASAP when they know more. 

From our end of things: I (David) plan to be in Los Angeles in the second week in January. We're betting that this is enough time to get the books sorted and pick them up. At that point, Chris and I will  coordinated everything we can, including signing the books we both need to sign and prepping all the shipping. 

Responses

Chris just recently stumbled across a trove of DMs that happened during and after the campaign that did NOT appear to us on our primary dashboard. We are terribly sorry we didn't see these, but Chris has tried to reply to all of the messages that were still relevant or needed replies. 

That said, if you've asked us something and we haven't responded, please reach out again. We're doing our best to monitor everything and make sure we're doing our due diligence. 

Digital Rewards

Everyone should have their digital rewards by now. I haven't seen a lot of emails wondering about them, so I'm assuming if you wanted to read our book digitally, you've got it in your (virtual) hands! But again, let us know if you did not. 

Surveys

There are still a handful of you who have not completed the Backerkit surveys, and thus have not yet been charged for shipping. We'll try to reach out to folks individually, but our priority once the books arrive will be the ship to those who have added all their shipping info and paid the shipping fees (which -- as a reminder -- were charged as part of the Backerkit post-campaign survey process, separate from the Kickstarter campaign). 

The Future

Chris and I still have a couple of comics pitches out there, but we're always looking for more ways to collaborate. We stumbled across another anthology accepting submissions, and I asked Chris what he wanted to draw. He said he wanted something alien and technology-based, but with organic structures, nothing too rigid. He also sent me a couple manga stories by Tsutomu Nihei that had inspired him lately. 

I tossed all that around and it suddenly evoked a sci-fi/horror love story about a distant planet of bizarre monsters and the husband-and-wife team exploring it... 

We'll see if it finds a home. We usually figure something out. In the meantime, I'll just leave you with these two images that Chris came back with after I pitched him my story:

More soon!

David (and Chris)