Been awhile since I updated. I know, I'm bad about it sometimes but it's only cuz I'm busy and not cuz I've fallen out of love with all of you.

So, first, the Dead Future book I mentioned in July did not meet it's funding goals. However! Some of you did contribute and for that, everyone is grateful. The book is now available online, and possibly still at some point down the road in bookstores. As you'll recall, the book not only collects the first two years of the Dead Future zombie-based anthology series, it also contains three brand new, exclusive stories including one I did with talented artist Rowel Roque entitled "Lucid Moments". It's a story I'm pretty pleased with, so please let me know what you think.

Click this here spiffy cover image to buy the book or check out preview pages. (They used a page from my story, last I checked).

Speaking of Grim Crew, I've also got a story in issue two of their hero-based anthology Extraordinary. It's the first Stu solo story, art by Ionic natch, and it's pretty amusing from what I've been told. You can check out Geoff Arbuckle's (of A Comic Book Blog) review of it here. The book is officially out on 9/21, so....definitely look for it. Here's the cover, by Oscar Celestini, to entice you!

In issue three, I'll debut the first of a series of Detective Martin solo stories where we get a glimpse into the world Martin lives in when he's not being pestered by Hound or trying to cover Jack McGriskin's butt. It's a good, old-fashioned mystery solved by determination and solid police work. I'm very proud of how the story turned out.

Lastly, for now anyway, SCIENCE! from Reasonably Priced Comics came out late last month and it contains two stories by myself. The book is a 40-page standalone anthology of five science fiction tales with an ultra-sweet cover by Ionic.

The lead story, "Surefire Means" is a punchy five-pager I wrote awhile back for another publication that ended up being cancelled. It has art by Joel Cotejar and I VERY happy with the way the whole thing turned out. It's virtually perfect...no, really.

Also, I have a 10-pager done with Rowel Roque specifically for SCIENCE! It's got sort of a Twilight Zone feel and it, also, is very sweet.

You can check out Geoff Arbuckle's review if you don't believe me. It's right here on A Comic Book Blog.

You can get the book in print for $2.99 (for 40 pages? Crazy good deal, bro) here or $0.99 cents digital right here.

Oh...and one REAL last thing. Reasonably Priced Comics, with my sci-fi series VOYAGA, is now on Graphic.ly, for 99 cents a book. If you aren't familiar, Graphic.ly is a comic reader app for various mobile devices and it is pretty slick. I just entered the current decade and got a smartphone, and I've downloaded a crapton of comics onto it through Graphic.ly. Seriously, it's awesome. So...check it out.

A few things to mention today.

First up, Reasonably Priced Comics #3 is out July 27th. It contains not just the third part of my sci-fi series Voyaga (with art by Ionic) but a preview of my western series Western Addition with art by Leandro Panganiban, as well as the first official appearance of Kidthulhu, by Martin Brandt and Jason Stephens. Below is the amazing cover by Ionic, and you can check Reasonably Priced Comics's website for more info.

Next, a request for assistance. Grim Crew, publisher of the Dead Future and Extraordinary anthologies series and the upcoming Kidthulhu on-going series, is looking to expand its distribution and audience.

You may remember that I did a story for the Dead Future series awhile ago with extremely talented newcomer artist Rowel Roque. That story, entitled "Lucid Moments" was meant to be a bonus story for the Dead Future trade paperback, collecting the last two years of Dead Future stories.

Grim Crew is looking to have this book done in a single print run for wide distribution (possibly even through Diamond) and, unfortunately, the cost is staggering. That's where you come in. They are running a Kickstarter campaign to try and raise the additional funds they need.

There are a ton of cool gifts in exchange for donating, and you'll be helping to further the comics career of well over a dozen comic creators, in addition to guaranteeing yourself a copy of the massive 246-page book.

The link to the campaign is below, as well as the horrific cover by Paul Petyo.

http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Dead-Future-Continues

Just a quick update: I've just booked an appearance at Super Mega Fest in Framingham, MA this November. It's a huge con that usually draws a number of non-comics media figures like Christopher Lloyd, Marina Sertis (Counselor Troy from STNG) and the stars of Boondocks Saints in additional comics folks. It'll be a good time, so check the appearances page for details or click the link above.

And don't forget, Jack Hammer: Political Science #3 is out this Wednesday. You can go to Reasonably Priced Comics' website for details or hit me up.

Morning, party people.

A quick update; Jack Hammer: Political Science #3 is out June 29th. It's late, due to some production issues, but it's almost here and it's awesome.

Jack finally confronts the puppeteer and we learn a little more about what, exactly, is going on in Jack's world.

Check out the incredible cover Ionic did featuring Night.

It'll be available the usual places and I'll remind everyone, of course.

If you're new to Jack Hammer, there's still time to pick up the first two issues and see what you missed. Head on over here or you can find copies at Earth Prime Comics in Burlington, Vermont and select other comic retailers.

As I said I would the other day, I just wanted to let everyone know where you can get Extraordinary #1.

It went up DriveThruComics today and you can find it here for only $0.99 http://tinyurl.com/Extraordinary001

Also, while I'm here, I'll have copies of Slam Bang (vol.3) #6 in a few days. So hit me up if you're interested.

Quick update today:

John Lees, a member of the Comix Tribe reviewed the first issue of JACK HAMMER over on his website. Check it out, if you're interested here.

Thanks for the kind words, John! Glad you liked the book.

Second, Extraordinary #1 came out this past Wednesday. Extraordinary is a new superhero-related anthology from Grim Crew Comics, publishers of DEAD FUTURE (the next issue of which I also have a story in), KIDTHULHU and GRIM FURRY TALES. The lead feature in Extraordinary #1 is a Hound story I did last year, Hound being a character in the JACK HAMMER continuity who'll appear alongside Jack in a future issue of that series.

I'll let you folks know where/how you can get a copy when I get mine, or you can reach out to Grim Crew through their website.

Quick update, folks.

A book I did a story for back around the new year came out recently: Slam Bang #46, or volume 3, #6 if you prefer.

It's a story I did with Silvina Rinaldi, whom you may recognize from the books Stitchwork (a Small Press 2010 first place runner up) or Clockwork Angel (part of DC Comics' Zuda contest), and it's like nothing else I've ever written. Very pleased with the way it came out.

If you aren't familiar with Slam Bang, it's a long-running "anything goes" genre-wise anthology Fan-Atic Press has been putting out since 1984. It's currently being published as a 200+ page annual original trade paperback. This issue's theme is "robots" and features indy comic notables such as Matt Feazell (whose Cynical Man comics I've been a fan of since the 80s) and Dan Burke as well as 25 other awesome comic creators.

If you're interested in purchasing it, you can click the cover below or I'll have a few copies at conventions this summer/fall. I'll also try to get some into local comic shops in the Burlington, VT area.

What it is?

Haven't updated in a bit, so here's what's new.

Two weeks ago, I was a guest at Boston Comic Con and, as expected, it was great. I got to meet a lot of cool people, a couple not so cool people (but that's expected anywhere you go, of course) and made a lot of new fans. At least based on sales, and for that I thank everyone who decided to support independent comics. I nearly sold out of Jack Hammer #1 copies, and sold a good two thirds of the copies of #2 I had, so my sincerest thanks go out once again to everyone who bought comics.

I also got a chance to pick up some great back issues (including the entire run of the Renegade Press issues of "Ms. Tree", whoo hoo!), but the real  treasure I added was an original sketch of Jack McGriskin by one of my favorite writer/artists of all time...Howard Chaykin! My scanner is borked, but the photo below came out pretty well.

Mr. Chaykin was extremely friendly and it was a pleasure chatting with him while he worked. I am thrilled to have a new piece of art to add to my "Wall of Jack", art all drawn by my favorite artists.

This past weekend, I was a guest at Granite Con in Manchester, NH. I wasn't sure what to expect of the con, as I'd been told it was pretty small (and the one "big name" guest cancelled a couple days before the show) but it turned out to be pretty fun. I met several folks I've only known online previously and made quite a number of new acquaintances. I also completely sold out of Jack Hammer #1 and sold a ton of copies of Reasonably Priced Comics #1 and #2. A bunch of people have already contacted me regarding Voyaga and I am very gratified that people are enjoying it. Voyaga started out as an experiment that I wasn't even sure I'd take beyond the first story, and it is truly a joy when someone tells me that they can't wait to read the next installment. So, again, my heart-felt thanks!

Speaking of Voyaga, next month is the release of Reasonably Priced Comics #3 which has (count 'em) TWO stories by yours truly. The first is part three of book one of Voyaga and if you read the last issue, I've got some surprises in store for you with this one. RPC#3 also has the first installment of WESTERN ADDITION, a new series I've been working on with artist Leandro Paganiban. As you can probably guess from the title, it's a western. You know, cuz I love me the classics and nothing is more classic than a good western.

Also this summer, Reasonably Priced Comics is doing a new over-sized one-shot of science fiction stories called "SCIENCE! Tales From the Edge of Human Knowledge" in which I'll have two stories. One is a short sci-fi story I originally wrote for another publisher who cancelled the book it was to appear in, but the second is a brand new story I did with Rowel Roque, an artist you may not have heard of but who is VERY talented and I feel very lucky to have stumbled across. Rowel also did the art for the story I have in the upcoming DEAD FUTURE graphic novel (out August 17th!) and it came out beautifully!

Long before that, though, at the end of this month (on the 25th) the first issue of EXTRAORDINARY from Grim Crew Comics is out. It's been delayed a bunch of times, but it's almost here finally. As you may recall, it has the first Hound story I wrote last year. Hound, of course, is another character in the world of JACK HAMMER, though he's got a little bit of a different perspective than Jack. Incidentally, the second issue is out this summer and it'll have a solo Stu story I'm working on with Ionic. I warn you, though, there are fart jokes.

Lastly, a story I did around the new year for Fan-Atic Press will be out in their new issue of Slam Bang (#46, or vol.III #5 if you prefer) in a couple weeks. It's a very different style of story than anything else I've done and I think you'll enjoy it. I'll let you know exactly how you can get a copy shortly or you can check out http://fanaticpress.com/.

That's it for now, but check back soon!

Hey guys, just a reminder that I'll be at Boston Comic Con this weekend the 30th of April and 1st of May at the Hynes Center. I'll be at table AA 304.

I'll have copies of both the first two issues of Jack Hammer and the first two issues of Reasonably Priced Comics, as well as my winning smile. So, come on down, I'd really love to meet you!

If you need directions or want to read the massive guest list, you can find 'em both at www.bostoncomiccon.com.

I'd like to address my fellow indy comic creators for a few moments, and please understand I mean this in all seriousness and with the best of intentions. 

As members of the small press and independent comics community, most of us dream of someday making this our full time job. In addition to perfecting your chosen craft, be it writing or art, part of your job while you're learning the ropes is to learn all you can about the comics market.

A huge part of learning the market is learning what sells at what price point. I know your work is near and dear to you, but $7 for a 20 page black & white comic (or any similar example) is absolutely ridiculous.

I hear many folks complain that they worked so hard to put something together and then their books don't sell. Sometimes they just aren't good, but frequently it's because you have no idea what your work is worth and you're simply asking far, far too much from your potential readers. People are willing to take a chance on something that seems like a good value, or at least like a reasonable risk, and you have to make it as attractive as possible for them. And that doesn't just mean a flashy cover, it means a price tag that is affordable.

So please, for your own sake and for those, including myself, who WANT to take a chance on you, don't go nuts. Look at similar books (in terms of quality and page count) and see what they sell for, then price your own appropriately.

I say this both as a creator and as a reader. I really do want to read as many indy comics as I can, but you gotta make it possible. I used to buy up every interesting looking independent book I could, but increasingly I've had to pass things up because they simply were too expensive to be worth the buying.

So please, help me support you. I really want to, and I know others do, too.

Thanks for letting me say my piece and I hope to be reading your book soon.