To start the New Year off right, it's time to get to work on Volume 3 of "The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit".
Actually, it's been somewhat in progress for a while now, as I've been trying to find a cover artist for the book. I've finally found someone I think will be perfect for the book, but I'm not naming names yet. I will say that it's not one of the original Conan artists, but is still someone who is pretty darn legendary in his own right, and whose style fits perfectly with Brutal Blade.
I guess that means the next step is to line up some pinup artists. As with Volume 2, I'm looking for some people to provide one page drawings of Bruno and crew to help fill out the book. As before, I kind of have to play this on the cheap, so I can only pay $10 per drawing, plus a comp copy of the book. If you are an artist, or know someone who would be interested, please drop me a line and we'll see if we can get you on board.
I'm going to aim to have the book ready to go in March, so keep an eye out for it. Keep an eye out too for a contest related to the book that will have something really nice for the winner, just as soon as I can figure out the details.
In the meantime, if you have any comments or suggestions on how the book can be improved from the previous volumes, please drop me a line or leave a comment. Onward into 2012!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Someday Your Prints Will Come...
Especially if you order the Bruno the Bandit "Wimps" print from DeviantArt.
"Wimps" is my homage to Bruno the Bandit by way of Frank Frazetta, by way of the Sunday funnies. Despite appearances, no comic strips were harmed in the making of this image.
We gave away quite a few of these posters at Hal-Con last weekend, and reaction seemed to be generally positive. While messing around in DeviantArt this afternoon, I thought it might be a good way to learn about their print process to upload this image and make it available in a variety of formats.
So, if you go here, you will be able to order your very own print of "Bruno the Bandit: Wimps" featuring my art and Ian's characters (along with, allegedly, several others) on prints, coasters, mugs, and anything else I could enable with this picture.
And if you do order one...please let me know how it turns out. As always, I'd love to read your opinions.
"Wimps" is my homage to Bruno the Bandit by way of Frank Frazetta, by way of the Sunday funnies. Despite appearances, no comic strips were harmed in the making of this image.
We gave away quite a few of these posters at Hal-Con last weekend, and reaction seemed to be generally positive. While messing around in DeviantArt this afternoon, I thought it might be a good way to learn about their print process to upload this image and make it available in a variety of formats.
So, if you go here, you will be able to order your very own print of "Bruno the Bandit: Wimps" featuring my art and Ian's characters (along with, allegedly, several others) on prints, coasters, mugs, and anything else I could enable with this picture.
And if you do order one...please let me know how it turns out. As always, I'd love to read your opinions.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Halcon 2011
Halcon 2011 is done like dinner! I do believe a good time was had by all. I know I had a great time, doing sketches, hanging out with Ian McDonald at the AIM Comics table, meeting Bruno the Bandit fans, and schmoozing with guys like Sandy Carruthers and Geof Isherwood. We sold some books, gave away a bunch of Journals of Simon Pariah ashcans, and saw some great costumes. Really, it's all I could have wanted from an event like this, and I can't wait until I get a chance to do it again.
I've uploaded a bunch of photos to my Facebook page here, and there's some more great ones available via the Halcon Twitter feed here. Meantime, a few highlights of the event were...
Daughter #1 being interviewed in her homemade Dalek costume. She got a very positive response for this, and is now featured in a ton of photographs. She couldn't move 5 feet without being stopped for a photo.
Daughter #2 being interviewed in her Weeping Angel costume. This one was much simpler to make, but we must have done a good job, because she took second place in the Junior category of the costume contest.
Snagged myself a copy of "Antiquitas Lost", the new book by Robert Louis Smith and illustrator Geof Isherwood (cover artist of Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit vol. 2), and got to meet both creators and have them sign the book. At first glance, the art for this book is easily on par with Wrightson's work on "Frankenstein", and that impression was reinforced by getting the chance to see some of the originals. Amazing stuff, and I'm looking forward to digging into this book.
The first volume of "Superhero Girl", a collection of webcomics self-published by Faith Erin Hicks. My daughter is a bit of a fan of Faith's and picked up this book and had her sketch/sign it. I read it this morning on a whim, and was pleased to find that Faith continues to impress with each new idea she launches. This is an interesting take on superheroes that doesn't revolve around people punching each other in the face. Great reading for kids of all ages.
I had a chance to talk briefly with Debbie Rochon, horror movie actress, and star of the excellent Lovecraftian film "Colour Out of the Dark". She's an interesting person to talk to, and I enjoyed getting a bit of an insider's perspective on horror film making. Debbie runs a regular column over at Fangoria that I'm going to have to start paying more attention to.
I didn't get as much of a chance as last year to get around and talk with people, but I did have some memorable interactions and enjoyed seeing things from behind the table this year. Be sure to check out the Hal-Con site for more photos and event details, and maybe I'll see you at next year's event!
I've uploaded a bunch of photos to my Facebook page here, and there's some more great ones available via the Halcon Twitter feed here. Meantime, a few highlights of the event were...
I didn't get as much of a chance as last year to get around and talk with people, but I did have some memorable interactions and enjoyed seeing things from behind the table this year. Be sure to check out the Hal-Con site for more photos and event details, and maybe I'll see you at next year's event!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Brutal Blade Vol. 2 Now Available for Kindle! plus Hal-Con Update
At long last, "The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit" Vol. 2 is now available for Kindle. For just $3.99, you can get this great collection of strips and art to read on your Kindle, desktop or any mobile device running the Kindle app (I'm partial to having it on my Android phone myself, but to each their own). Click here to go to the book's Amazon US page, or search "Brutal Blade" on Amazon to find this and all our other editions of Brutal Blade, volumes 1 and 2.
As with the Kindle edition of the first book, I'm offering a special discount to one reader. The first person to purchase the Kindle edition and email me a receipt will receive a refund of 125% of the purchase price - that's $5.00 for you non-mathematicians - via Paypal. The only condition is that in your email you have to give me your opinion of how the book looks on your device. Not owning a Kindle myself, I'd like to know how the formatting appears on other devices. So drop me a line and earn some cash back.
In other news, it's less than two weeks to Hal-Con. Between one thing and another, I'm busy trying to get everything ready. That includes preparing banners, books (see below), posters and other items that will be available at our table.
If you're in the Halifax area, drop by Artist Alley and say hello to Ian and myself. We'll both be showing off our work, and doing sketches, and there will be copies of both volumes of Brutal Blade available for your enjoyment. Also, don't forget that cover artist for volume 2, Geof Isherwood, will be in attendance at his own table, and I'm sure you'll be able to hit him up to sign your copy as well. We're looking forward to meeting any Bruno fans out there, and maybe making a few new ones while we're at it. See you there!
As with the Kindle edition of the first book, I'm offering a special discount to one reader. The first person to purchase the Kindle edition and email me a receipt will receive a refund of 125% of the purchase price - that's $5.00 for you non-mathematicians - via Paypal. The only condition is that in your email you have to give me your opinion of how the book looks on your device. Not owning a Kindle myself, I'd like to know how the formatting appears on other devices. So drop me a line and earn some cash back.
In other news, it's less than two weeks to Hal-Con. Between one thing and another, I'm busy trying to get everything ready. That includes preparing banners, books (see below), posters and other items that will be available at our table.
If you're in the Halifax area, drop by Artist Alley and say hello to Ian and myself. We'll both be showing off our work, and doing sketches, and there will be copies of both volumes of Brutal Blade available for your enjoyment. Also, don't forget that cover artist for volume 2, Geof Isherwood, will be in attendance at his own table, and I'm sure you'll be able to hit him up to sign your copy as well. We're looking forward to meeting any Bruno fans out there, and maybe making a few new ones while we're at it. See you there!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
For anyone who's had trouble with the Amazon link at right, it's now been updated and tested, and should be working OK. Click here or at right to go to the Amazon page for the book. Thanks, Germancho, for pointing this out to me.
(If anyone is still having problems, please leave a comment or email me and I'll do my best to fix it.)
(If anyone is still having problems, please leave a comment or email me and I'll do my best to fix it.)
Monday, October 3, 2011
Digging Deep
Somehow, amongst everything else going on, I managed to miss the one-year anniversary of the AIM Comics website...almost two months ago. On top of that, it's my own birthday today, so bear with me as I bare my soul a little....
It's been an interesting first year at AIM Comics. We've managed to get out two volumes of our flagship title, "The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit", with a second title, "The Journals of Simon Pariah" coming along shortly. There's been some reviews...mostly good, some not so much...and a small amount of attention from bloggers, retailers and comic pros. We've been able to get our books out in a number of formats, through some good storefronts, and done it without breaking the bank along the way.
Financially, I can't say it's been a success. As a matter of fact, you could almost say that readers are staying away in droves. Through ads that run intermittently on Project Wonderful, and through links from other sites, we're getting a fair number of hits, but not a lot of those are translating into sales. Yet.
If I was a less patient man, I'd probably call it done at this point, or at least be considering it. After all, why bother if it's not turning over the revenue? Well, I suppose to understand that, you'd need to understand something about the nature of AIM Comics.
First, you should know that when I say "we" at AIM Comics, I really mean me. I'm the publisher, the editor, the marketing department, the accounting department and public relations manager all in one, and that on top of being an artist and writer as well. It's my baby, which means if it flies, I take the lion's share of the credit, and if it sinks, I take the blame. That means that it's actually kind of creepy when I talk about myself in the third person plural as I tend to do.
Secondly, understand that I think of AIM Comics as being something more than a vanity press, and something less than a real business. Which means that, to be perfectly honest, if the books don't sell well, it's no skin off my nose. Sure, I invest some of my own hard-earned cash into this venture, but (as proven by the fact that our "site" is hosted on Blogger) I keep things as cheap as possible, and my investment is really no more than any person would put into any other hobby.
I started AIM Comics because I knew of good comic work...specifically my own and Ian McDonald's...that was not being handled as well as I thought it deserved. Ian's strip "Bruno the Bandit" had been recently discontinued and was lying fallow, while my own work had been given up for dead at Comic Genesis years before. I knew I had plenty of ideas for books that I wanted to see published, but also knew that there were not "marketable" in the traditional sense, and frankly didn't want to spend my time trying to convince other publishers to take my books on their terms. Plus, I'd done a few years as a freelancer, all the while chafing at the bit to be creating my own work, instead of meeting the, at times, impractical demands of my clients.
AIM Comics is my way of trying to bring this work to market, to see if I can help it earn the appreciation I think it deserves. It's also my way of giving myself some credentials as a real publisher, instead of another want-to-be; a dream I've carried since childhood. I'd rather be a has-been than a never-was.
I would like AIM Comics to succeed financially. Nothing could make me happier than to make this gig my bread and butter for the next few decades. As Ian has pointed out to me several times in the past, a bad day spent drawing is better than a good day doing anything else. Plus, I'd like to be able to pay shockingly large wads of lucre to the creative people I work with here; they deserve it, and I'd like to be the one to deliver.
Yet, I'm in no rush for it to do so. More important to me at this stage is that I have a creative outlet. I can publish my work, or work that I like, in my own way and in my own time. I get to learn about the business of comics from the inside and I get to correspond on a professional level with people whose work I've always admired, like Roy Thomas, Ernie Chan and Geof Isherwood. I get to communicate with those people who have discovered our books and become fans, and I get the good feeling of knowing that I've helped to create something people enjoy.
There's any number of things working against me so far in this venture. Lack of funds for advertising, lack of knowledge about marketing and lack of time to work on the books as much as I'd like being chief among them.
However, there's several things working for me as well. Patience is the big one. I've spent a lot of time dreaming about doing something like this, and relatively little time actually doing it. Rather than go back to not doing it, I can wait for results. A decent day job is another thing. While most people complain about theirs, I appreciate mine for giving me a decent living wage that allows me to even consider taking on a project like this. Then there's talent; not just my own, but that of the people I work with. Ian McDonald is foremost among that roster at present, but the pool is slowly widening. I couldn't do this if I didn't think the work deserves to be published.
What I hope for AIM Comics in the future, aside from achieving some measure of financial success, is to be able to present more and different books, and to help those books find an audience. I've got lots of ideas of my own that I want to get down on paper (or pixels, as the case may be), but I'd also like to do for others what I've done for "Bruno the Bandit", as I know from reading experience that there's lots of great comics out there that don't find the audience they deserve. Of course, in order to do that, I have to prove that I can cut the mustard. I have to be able to show that I can make the books sell, and that's where you come in, isn't it? How varied a selection I am ultimately able to offer, and the schedule on which I offer it, depends on how these books sell, in any format. So if you've read this far...thanks, but now how about jumping on a link in the sidebar to your right and grabbing a copy of one of our books...even the free ones...just to support this thing we do, and helping me live the dream a little?
Or, if you've already got our titles, how about helping to spread the word? A review, a blog post, word of mouth, a tweet, whatever you've got, we're glad to have it. It's only with your help that this thing can really take off.
AIM Comics, year one. Really, it's just getting started.
It's been an interesting first year at AIM Comics. We've managed to get out two volumes of our flagship title, "The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit", with a second title, "The Journals of Simon Pariah" coming along shortly. There's been some reviews...mostly good, some not so much...and a small amount of attention from bloggers, retailers and comic pros. We've been able to get our books out in a number of formats, through some good storefronts, and done it without breaking the bank along the way.
Financially, I can't say it's been a success. As a matter of fact, you could almost say that readers are staying away in droves. Through ads that run intermittently on Project Wonderful, and through links from other sites, we're getting a fair number of hits, but not a lot of those are translating into sales. Yet.
If I was a less patient man, I'd probably call it done at this point, or at least be considering it. After all, why bother if it's not turning over the revenue? Well, I suppose to understand that, you'd need to understand something about the nature of AIM Comics.
First, you should know that when I say "we" at AIM Comics, I really mean me. I'm the publisher, the editor, the marketing department, the accounting department and public relations manager all in one, and that on top of being an artist and writer as well. It's my baby, which means if it flies, I take the lion's share of the credit, and if it sinks, I take the blame. That means that it's actually kind of creepy when I talk about myself in the third person plural as I tend to do.
Secondly, understand that I think of AIM Comics as being something more than a vanity press, and something less than a real business. Which means that, to be perfectly honest, if the books don't sell well, it's no skin off my nose. Sure, I invest some of my own hard-earned cash into this venture, but (as proven by the fact that our "site" is hosted on Blogger) I keep things as cheap as possible, and my investment is really no more than any person would put into any other hobby.
I started AIM Comics because I knew of good comic work...specifically my own and Ian McDonald's...that was not being handled as well as I thought it deserved. Ian's strip "Bruno the Bandit" had been recently discontinued and was lying fallow, while my own work had been given up for dead at Comic Genesis years before. I knew I had plenty of ideas for books that I wanted to see published, but also knew that there were not "marketable" in the traditional sense, and frankly didn't want to spend my time trying to convince other publishers to take my books on their terms. Plus, I'd done a few years as a freelancer, all the while chafing at the bit to be creating my own work, instead of meeting the, at times, impractical demands of my clients.
AIM Comics is my way of trying to bring this work to market, to see if I can help it earn the appreciation I think it deserves. It's also my way of giving myself some credentials as a real publisher, instead of another want-to-be; a dream I've carried since childhood. I'd rather be a has-been than a never-was.
I would like AIM Comics to succeed financially. Nothing could make me happier than to make this gig my bread and butter for the next few decades. As Ian has pointed out to me several times in the past, a bad day spent drawing is better than a good day doing anything else. Plus, I'd like to be able to pay shockingly large wads of lucre to the creative people I work with here; they deserve it, and I'd like to be the one to deliver.
Yet, I'm in no rush for it to do so. More important to me at this stage is that I have a creative outlet. I can publish my work, or work that I like, in my own way and in my own time. I get to learn about the business of comics from the inside and I get to correspond on a professional level with people whose work I've always admired, like Roy Thomas, Ernie Chan and Geof Isherwood. I get to communicate with those people who have discovered our books and become fans, and I get the good feeling of knowing that I've helped to create something people enjoy.
There's any number of things working against me so far in this venture. Lack of funds for advertising, lack of knowledge about marketing and lack of time to work on the books as much as I'd like being chief among them.
However, there's several things working for me as well. Patience is the big one. I've spent a lot of time dreaming about doing something like this, and relatively little time actually doing it. Rather than go back to not doing it, I can wait for results. A decent day job is another thing. While most people complain about theirs, I appreciate mine for giving me a decent living wage that allows me to even consider taking on a project like this. Then there's talent; not just my own, but that of the people I work with. Ian McDonald is foremost among that roster at present, but the pool is slowly widening. I couldn't do this if I didn't think the work deserves to be published.
What I hope for AIM Comics in the future, aside from achieving some measure of financial success, is to be able to present more and different books, and to help those books find an audience. I've got lots of ideas of my own that I want to get down on paper (or pixels, as the case may be), but I'd also like to do for others what I've done for "Bruno the Bandit", as I know from reading experience that there's lots of great comics out there that don't find the audience they deserve. Of course, in order to do that, I have to prove that I can cut the mustard. I have to be able to show that I can make the books sell, and that's where you come in, isn't it? How varied a selection I am ultimately able to offer, and the schedule on which I offer it, depends on how these books sell, in any format. So if you've read this far...thanks, but now how about jumping on a link in the sidebar to your right and grabbing a copy of one of our books...even the free ones...just to support this thing we do, and helping me live the dream a little?
Or, if you've already got our titles, how about helping to spread the word? A review, a blog post, word of mouth, a tweet, whatever you've got, we're glad to have it. It's only with your help that this thing can really take off.
AIM Comics, year one. Really, it's just getting started.
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