Hello everyone. With Issue Three drawing to a close, I’m thinking again about making some printed issues available. I don’t plan to offer individual issues bound separately (cool as they are) because they’re prohibitively expensive for their cost ($8.59 for Shakedown). What I’m leaning toward instead is to create anthologies of multiple issues. The reason I’m posting this, though, is that I haven’t decided how to split them up yet, and I wanted to ask your advice (especially since you’re the potential audience for these!).
So I’m considering the following selections:
- Issues 1,2,&3 The most obvious possibility, but I’m starting to lean away from it simply because Shakedown wasn’t that great art-wise, and I don’t have time to re-draw the whole thing. Also, since Shakedown is already available in print, I’m not sure it needs to be in such an anthology anyway.
- Issues 2,3,&4 So instead I might just wait until Issue 4 is finished and then make an anthology of those. I think three is the ideal number for this sort of thing. However, Issue 4 is still a partially-unknown factor at this time.
So those are my ideas. I’d love to hear any comments you might have, particularly if you have a preference that could conceivably lead you to make a purchase. And if all you want to say is, “John, I love your comic, but not enough to spend my hard-earned dollars on it,” that’s good feedback too.
John, I love your comic, but not enough to spend my hard-earned dollars on it. Heh. From the first and second issue your art style changes dramatically. It's just my two cents, but I'd drop the first issue. But, then again, if someone picks up your comic it would be nice if it started at the beginning. Maybe there should be a quick overview of issue one? I dunno. I'd say selection 2, with a quick rewrite of issue one. PS. How much money do you get from each copy sold? Just wondering.
I can't remember. I've never actually sold one. $2.00 I think. Lulu is a real ripoff, but there's no way I could afford to print hundreds of copies, especially considering that they're unlikely to sell. One thing that I should have mentioned is that if Yucateca ever goes to print, I'll go back and modify the art so that it's consistent with the new halftone-shaded style. That grayscale stuff was a huge mistake.
Hi John, I would prefer to purchase your episodes as single comics. And certainly DO NOT rewrite the first episode! Have you ever read Tintin in the Land of the Soviets? The artwork of Herge's first TinTin book were pretty ordinary compared to what he produced later, but that is what makes it such a collectible. Asterix is another good example. In "Asterix The Gaul' the characters look different to how they end up looking. I say leave Issue 1 as it is – the original thing! To redraw it would be sacrilege! Why not provide the episodes as individual comics and then also as compilations. I prefer individual, however compilations will suit those who cannot afford to purchase them individually. Looking forward to episode four. Regards, Paul.
Yes, I've read Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, and it's definitely very enjoyable in a backwards sort of way. Keep in mind, however, that the many of the Tintin books have been redrawn multiple times–If I recall correctly, "The Shooting Star" is the first book in the series which looks the same as it did in its original run. Of course, this is all irrelevant since I don't have time to re-draw the first issue anyway. Thanks for your input on the prints, too. I should still consider putting out the individual editions. Since I'm using print-on-demand there isn't really any extra cost (except labor).