Minions, buy my sh*t! + update

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EDIT MARCH 17th (Happy Saint Paddy's! )

Issue #03 of VS Comics, with the third and final part of my contribution Swan Song, is out! in pdf form > vscomics.bigcartel.com/product…
Sorry, I can't post a new page of that part without spoiling something. Lots of reveals and twists and gotta warn you, it's pretty bittersweet.
OK? So any of you who were hanging back, or tablet-less.... pdf format yo, pretty compatible with whatever device you are surfing dA on methinks, and no cut-off series leaving you hanging - you get 18 pages by me and a complete neat little story, plus oodles of different comic goodness to go with, for less than 10 bucks / 6quid in toto. Contributions to the cause mucho beaucoup appreciated. and THANKS to the people who have already bought the first issues and spread the word.

ALSO. Unrelated personal matter. If any of my watchers goes to UT Austin, could you PM me plz?

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... I mean, um. In more polite and less evil plotting madman terms.

Dudes and mostly dudettes, this is the part where I need you – all of you. Gondor calls for aid. ...And other assorted geeky rallying calls.

I made a thing. In fact I made 4 things – 3 six-page installations of a short story in comic format, Swan Song, written by Paul Alexander. I posted a coupla pages on here for looksees. It's cleverly paced, quiet sci-fi, about robots serving on a geriatric ward, with the focus mainly one one dysfunctional duo… basically, in this case, think of a British Pierce Hawthorne and the granddaughter 'bot of Wall-E and EVE.
 


[ Incidentally, I found out about this movie partway through… youtu.be/q4y8YAMPFhk ]

Anyway. I've spent a couple of months working on this project (egads, actually pen and nib inking…) (ARCHITECTURE and MEDICAL EQUIPMENT aaaargh), and my boyfriend joined in to do the colours. It's a neat little one-shot we're rather proud of, and it's published by VS Comics, who are a newsie digital publishing team with some pretty cool ideas about creator ownership of works, and giving the readers mucho bang for their buck. They're getting some pretty good write-ups in the UK geek magazines and blogs, 4.5/5 stars and all.
Checkit here > vs-comics.blogspot.co.uk/p/abo…

It's also a gamble I made. It was not a paid gig, but, as mentioned above, royalties and sales profits go back 90% to the creative teams. And this is the part where I look at the, frankly, insane amount of followers I got outta doing GND, and I really, really hope I can point some of you guys in the direction of the VS Comics website and "purchase" option. Unlike my graphic novel Yessika Voyance, this one is, A. in English, B. available worldwide in digital format, and C. not a massive expense – 2 quid an issue, for a pdf or kindle/ipad/reader format. (That's 2 UK pounds, a shade over 3 dollars says current conversion rates.) About ten bucks if you buy all three issues for the complete story (Issue #3 out 1st of March, all going smooth).
You guys know I can't legally profit off fanwork and sell you the bound copies of GND I keep getting requests for. The fancomic is freely downloadable from dA, dangit. Maybe if I ever get my rear out to a fun con Statesside or in London, who knows, but in the meantime… if you ever wanted to pay me money to show your appreciation for GND, and I thank anyone who ever expressed that opinion – or any other nice things said about my fanwork, then, to quote a foul-mouthed but to-the-point O-Ren Isshii, now's the f*cking time.

Now, you are in no way responsible for my errors in judgement. But I kind of fobbed off other, serious, commercial work for the time it took me to wrap up Swan Song. Nothing I can't catch up on, at least so I am certainly hoping. But in a freelance "time is money is time" equation of where creative efforts go, doing this little project was bet that it would pay off later rather than immediately; I want exposure in English-language comics, and I am totally experimenting with you guys on dA. Because, and this is not blackmail, but something you need to understand. I flove doing GNDs, and my reasons for keeping it up for, eh, nigh on 5 years, are several-fold. There is personal fansquee – that much is fairly obvious. I ship and I like spreading the love. There is the notion of it all being good practice, in drawing and storytelling in comic format, and a fair-sized body of work to show for it. And there is, at the end of the day, the aforementioned gamble on the exposure and potential personal gain from the audience it has created for me. I'm sorry if that sounds manipulative and a cold calculation. But… Reason #1, fansquee, is a personal little indulgence that I may or may not grow out of, and while "time spent doing something you love is not time wasted" is a beautiful sentiment, it don't pay the rent; reason #2, apart besides from the "learning to wrap things up satisfactorily", can arguably be said to have run out. On those alone, I can difficultly continue justifying creative energies and weekly hours spent on GND when I have just signed on for a new, 2-album deal that could be my big break and really requires all my focus and drawing mojo.
(Pour les francophones, j'entends: projet BD jeunesse signé chez Delcourt whoohoo!)

So this is kinda me testing the waters to see how well reason #3 holds up. Are you guys reading GND an investment of my work and time that is quantifiably profitable in this ruthlessly material world.
I really do apologize for sounding so heartless and un-fanfuzzy. And like I said, this is not blackmail. I am not holding GND's continuation hostage to a certain volume of certified VS Comics sales (besides, I don't get the figures til 6 months in…). (You can consider it forewarning of me maybe coming to the conclusion this year that I can't keep up weekly updates and posting schedule may become less regular, but I'll certainly let you guys know if and when that happens). I don't want anyone who doesn't have a Paypal or the inclination to buy an unknown UK comic for whatever reason, to feel any guilty sense of obligation, or for any of you to feel soured by this sudden uncouth interruption of RL monetary issues in your favourite escapist fanfix or whathaveyou. You are quite free to forget about the baby this verbiose announcement and just carry on with cheering on the glitter or asking for more E/C. Y'all are super appreciated, fave-and-runs and silent watchers and re-bloggers and squee-ers and long insightful comment posters alike (OK, maybe the latter get a little extra fondness from me ). No one signed nothing and the comic is indeed officially produced for shits and giggles alone. You really don't have to respond to this Journal with excuses or apologies.
But anyone who does want to help out and pay it forward and make some gesture of appreciation  - please and thank you.

And especial thanks to those couple of people who have already done so. Oh, and while I'm on the public displays of gratitude topic, thanks also to for buying me my Premium membership here on dA - again.

Oh and for those of you who were keeping track, and the OCD crowd, the 4th thing mentioned earlier is another digital comic short story – this one's an 8-pager by James Moran (scriptwriter on 'Severance' and several Doctor Who spin-off comics) with adorable little 5-year old zombies gnawing on their sitter's entrails. It's part of the Dead Roots anthology, another fun UK project with lots of different art styles and story tones, all based around a zombie apocalypse. I'm in coming-soon volume 2. There's talk of a published paper anthology at some point, but again, digital purchase only for now – www.deadroots.co.uk/?page_id=3…

Voilà. I figured catching you all on a *BAMF*-y high was as good a time as any. Yes, there should be some shippy goodness coming your way by V-day, also.

And answers all your wishes for a hi-rez desktop version of That One Glittery Panel here! >

Oh, and Kayla, we really have to stop talking like this.

Cheers all!

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Blackadder: Baldrick, I have a very, very, very cunning plan.
Baldrick: Is it as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has moved on and is now working for the U.N. at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning?
Blackadder: Yes it is.
Baldrick: Hmm... that's cunning.