Kevin's Watch

Hope to have issue #1-3 finished by the end of the year of what is tentatively to be named Slaymaker Rising, set in a unique and original swords/sorcery/fantasy setting, with an almost superhero comic book flair. Pricing is still up in the air right now, but we hope to be able to crank out one every month after, though we will not be doing subscriptions for some time.

This is to be the first of many original series, and with proper financial backing (fingers crossed) we hope to expand to most of the midwest in three years time. This project has been secret to say the least. It began as a novel, slowly morphed to a graphic novel, and has finally emerged, fluttering from its cocoon as a quality comic series...

Sadly, at this time I can tell you nothing about the comic itself, except that it is truly original, with none of your standard fantasy stereotypical races, or D&D frameworks.

This comic WILL contain graphic violence and adult themes, though we haven't yet decided on an age limit for sales (a huge hurdle to overcome, but we refuse to compromise the integrity of our work, so...).

Hope to update this post within the next month or so, and with my artist's permission (he's a real bear, lol) I might be able to show a few teaser pages for my fellow KW buddies. Anyway, first editions will be offered only to certain folks first, and KW members will be one of these first groups, at standard pricing, or at slightly higher cost for autographed first editions. (Yes, the ego is hungry... )

Glad to be able to finally talk about this, hope everyone is as excited as I am!

-B

Congrats!

congrats - look forward to this!

First update!

Pages 1 & 2 have been penciled, 3 should be ready by morning. Average book length has been set at 32 pages (larger than the average comic of 20-25 pages). After pencils comes inks, flats and color, all of which take time, but I have just been informed that book one may be ready within a month, much sooner than I would have thought, making a goal of summer's end feasible for the first three books. Sadly, Nick wants a minimum of four books ready before we start selling them...

So, fall? We hope. Nonetheless I also hope to have the Slaymaker website ready by summer, so the teasers may begin!

-B

and the toys? action figures?

And the Sgt. spake, saying:

and the toys? action figures?

I know, seems like I have the cart before the horse, but from the perspective that we want to sell these both in comic shops and online, a buzz, (even a small one) must be generated, and the web site has to be ready long before the first comic hits the stands. Now say we had the resources of even an underground comic company, and such considerations are secondary, if they would be our concern whatsoever...

More importantly though, I, the writer, need something else to do besides write, as my work tends to be several pages ahead of his at all times... (kinda has to be that way )

Our largest hurdles right now are:

1. Money (even a minimum of 200 copies of issue #1 will be very expensive to make and bind)
2. Time (my artist is also a musician whose band is currently recording thier fourth album)
3. Awareness (the comic itself is fantastic, IMHO, but sadly, no one has ever heard of it )

It has become my mission to overcome the two hurdles I can affect (1&3 obviously).

Thus my mission becomes simple. Come up with a couple grand for production, tell everyone in the world about it once, and hope it gets retained by even 1% of the population, then sit back and watch the Benjamins roll on in.

Just kidding. We have a couple possibilities for financial backing, but we need several issues complete before we can worry about it. Still, awareness of the product is my mission, and I choose to accept it.

-B

how many orders do you need to do well? i will pledge now. and you should be able to get more orders here. but it sounds like you have put a lot of thought into it.

Page six should be done by morning!

To answer you Sgt, I'm not sure. Once we have cost of production and distribution, we'll know how much we have to sell the comic for. We dont intend to see profits for at least the first year, but we hope by then to have a strong following in Iowa and surrounding states. Also, if we are moving the numbers I hope for (minimum 250 copies a month) by next year, we will apply for a small business loan to hire some inkers, and begin the second comic series (currently unnamed). After that, it all comes down to consumer demand.

So for now, its finding someone to make the website (preferably on the cheap), something similar to KW, but with a blog page for updates, and someone in the printing industry willing to gamble...

-B

well i am looking forward to updates. and being able to buy the comic. are you doing signed copies?

Absolutely. We will be signing (writer and artist) about a quarter of the copies for each issue, which will hopefully sell out first thing.

Good news! KW members will have first dibs on autographed orders! Yay!
Heck, they might even be worth something someday!

Oh, page six is pencilled, and the next "chapter" (i.e. switching to different viewpoint!!!) has begun! First book is still (tentatively) 32 pages... and four major characters (as well as a few minor) will be introduced.

A juicy little secret: only one is human.

Remember; no dwarves, halflings, gnomes etc...



-B

great! i will be getting my autographed set.

Baradakas, I'm interested as well. It sounds like it'll be a great book. Let us know when you start offically taking orders.

Mortice Root wrote:Baradakas, I'm interested as well. It sounds like it'll be a great book. Let us know when you start offically taking orders.

Same here. Not sure if I'll be able to order them from my part of the globe, but I'll keep my eye on the project...

First things first. I have been soundly rebuked by my artist for informing you all that there will be no elves in these comics. From a purely static perspective this is untrue. There is a race in these comics that look like elves (somewhat), live in the forest like elves (basically), but go by a different name.

Personally, when I think of elves, I think of the stereotypical elf: good with a sword and bow, but is too namby-pamby about taking life and likely to burst into tears at the slightest snafu. Wimps.

The race to be introduced lives closer to the samurai code (if any comparison was viable), and while they are very close to plant life have little or nothing to do with animals.

The symbiosis with plant-matter is such that continued use of their power slowly mutates them into plant-like life forms...

Enough about those guys for now.

The good news is that we have found someone willing to build our website for us!!!! There are many details to be hashed out at this point, so thats all I can say on that subject. We are also now looking into printing/binding options...

Cov, I assure you that we will do what is necessary to get subscriptions for our European and Australian pals. I feel confident that Darth and Lore will want copies, if possible. (or whatever Darth calls himself these days...) It may take a little time, but if I have to we will come out with a second printing exclusively for distribution there.

Also, a minor setback: currently Nick will not budge from having six complete comics before ordering becomes available. This means a minimum of six months (possibly longer) before Slaymaker Rising #1 goes on sale. The good news is that by then I will be allowed to show teaser pages, offer a partial character cast (just characters from issue #1), and probably have a BB not unlike this one for discussion up on the web site.

I'm off to finish writing the second half of issue 1!

-B

I will attest that everything I've seen or heard about it looks very promising and I have no doubts that it's going to be a success. Way to go -B

Nick blasted through 10 pages of pencils today! #1 is now half penciled, and the website could be up in a month or so! Chapter 2 was an affirmation of Nicholas' talents, and though it's a pretty dark chapter, I'm sure everyone will enjoy it. (Fingers crossed)

Saw a test site today, it looks great, and with some fine tuning and the graphics coming soon, you'll all get the first sneak peek at Slaymaker Rising!

-B

Sorry for the double post, but I am getting excited and things are moving!

I think we have settled on the basic template for the website, though Nick will be busy this next week or so, getting graphics for it. Second character perspective chapter is pencilled, and we are three or four pages into our third character chapter, which leaves a short re-visit to our first character perspective, and a small glance at the end of a couple of our villains, and book one will be fully pencilled!!! Hooray!

And our research results point to a minimum of $700 to print up 250 copies of issue #1. Not sure how we will be overcoming this massive hurdle, but when I know, we will let you know.

Saving pennies...

-B

have a benefit here on the watch. if 150 watch members give 5 dollars? or 70 give ten dollars?

I couldn't do that, asking people for help like that. Too humble I guess. Our goals are to handle every aspect of production, anyway. Just staggered by the cost is all. At this rate, any chance of expansion requires a minimum price of $3.99 per comic, just handling shipping rates and making a few dozen more comics each issue. Any significant printing discounts would require orders of 2,000 copies or more.

Still, we have a few months to save, with zero heating costs for spring. Hopefully all will work out.

-B

turen in those aluminium cans.