Tuesday, February 5, 2013

MEGAPOLOGY

I have not been doing my job as well as you deserve and for that I am truly sorry. I had told you all that we would be dialing back Megabrain a bit due to so many changes in all of the lives of our staff members, but I think in hindsight what I’ve been doing has verged on neglect.
I’m not going to apologize for what I’ve been doing with my time away from Megabrain, but I am apologizing for not fitting Megabrain and your needs in to the mix of my life more efficiently and effectively and that is changing today.
The day to day operations of Megabrain for the most part has become a one man operation while much of the staff is on maternity and academic leave, and this one man is coming to you in hopes that I haven’t completely lost your faith in what it is we’re trying to do here.
I’ve received a few emails asking some basic questions that I’m sure many of you would like to know the answers too and I am going to address and answer these issues right now, such as:

• Dude! Kickstarter rewards. Where are they and when am I getting them?
• What is the big surprise you keep yammering about?
• Why is everything taking so long?
• Am I getting anything from you for my troubles, numbnuts?
• What can I expect from you and Megabrain in the future?

So let’s get started.

Where are your Kickstarter rewards, you ask?


When we ran our last Kickstarter campaign we honestly couldn’t have predicted or projected that issue two of American Dark Age would take this long to produce. With so many unforeseen speed bumps, events and hiccups - this past year has been a virtual publishing gauntlet. Issue two is still being inked, but instead of having everyone wait on just the book, this week I will start to send out the other rewards little by little and when the book is complete, it will follow to your home.

Wanna know what the surprise is that I’ve been hinting at for two months now?


While Jacqueline and I didn’t exhibit at NY Comic Con this past year, I did go down for one day in order to support my friends in Artists Alley. While chatting with my friend Erica at her table about some of my publishing woes, the gentlemen to her left overheard a bit and asked if I needed an inker for our series. I told him a bit about the story and gave him a copy of the issue two preview. He dug the art and was intrigued by the story. Long story short,...uh, shorter - that gentlemen turned out to be none other than the two-tone master himself, Bob Wiacek and he is currently fitting American Dark Age in to his very busy schedule in order to help us get back on track.
That’s right! Bob Wiacek is inking your copy of American Dark Age issue two, as we speak. It takes all my force of will not to absolutely geek out on the man whenever I speak to him. That all leads in to the next question...

Why is everything taking so long?


As I said, Bob is on board with us, but the truth of the matter is, we can’t compete with his previous deadlines for the Big Two, so he is eking our project in whenever he gets a moment or two. Unfortunately that means I can’t give you a definitive date on issue two’s release, which leads me in to my peace offering.

It’s a logical thing to ask. Are you getting anything for all your patience and trouble?

Yes! Although Bob is in the midst of inking, I’ve decided that I’m taking the issue two preview even further. I’m going to have a limited run of issue two sketch variants printed up. That means, a full sized comic book, fully lettered and edited, but all the artwork inside will be Jacqueline’s pencils with no inks. Everyone who is supposed to receive an issue two copy from Kickstarter and anyone who has pre-ordered a copy from our website will be receiving one of these limited edition issues, signed by yours truly. I know it doesn’t take back all the time you’ve spent waiting or restore some of the faith you may have lost in me as a comic book writer and publisher, but I just hope it’s something that you at least enjoy.

Making comics is hard and there are times, when I feel overwhelmed by our tiny little operation, but I realized (with some words of wisdom from a dear friend of mine) that even though it can get difficult and even frustrating at times, there is nothing that I would rather be doing with my efforts than creating books for you to enjoy. I love every bit of it, from conception, to execution, and all the way to the rockstar moments of going on tour to a con and being able to meet all our fans and introducing newer readers to what we’re doing.
Making comics is hard. Especially when it needs to take a backseat to family and day jobs, but I am not quitting and I promise I will be doing my best to regain your faith and support for Megabrain, American Dark Age and everything that we do here.

What can you expect from us in the future?


You can expect that we’ll continue making comic books that have strong stories, characters and amazing artwork. You can expect us to continue working hard to entertain you and hopefully you’ll keep a spot open for us in your long box.

Thanks for your time and patience, Megabrainiacs!

Your friendly neighborhood comic book writer,

Jean Michel