(from Kickstarter Update #125, 12 November 2012)
...In the meantime, having to make a living, I have signed with IDW to do four work-made-for-hire covers a month. Unlike everything having to do with CEREBUS, THAT's going smoothly. I e-mail the covers from PostNet, I get reaction back, voucher the covers and get paid. So, I'm working on THE STRANGE DEATH OF ALEX RAYMOND (when I'm not RE-RE-recording audio for George) and making some progress. That's pretty much what I see my future as being since the earliest that George could finish HIGH SOCIETY AUDIO DIGITAL and HIGH SOCIETY DIGITAL is next April. If the schedule stays the way it is now, you can make that closer to June. So, what I picture is trying to get by with the $17K left out of the $30K and whatever I can make doing covers with IDW. If I'm not "covering my nut" I'll do more covers (they've got 19 -- count 'em 19 -- possibles for me) and cut into the three weeks out of the month that I have to work on STRANGE DEATH...
...Rick Norwood of COMICS REVUE (one of my favourite publications, reprinting classic comic strips that he sends me for free. Thank you, Rick!) wrote recently suggesting three possibilities for my career as it stands: 1) Collect glamourpuss and the ALEX RAYMOND material as "Princess, Die!" 2) get 1,000 CEREBUS fans to send me $5 a month so I can keep working and not worry about overhead and 3) do a cover of Cerebus with Mandrake for COMICS REVUE for $100. I'll be trying option #2 "as soon as/if" viable instructions from George arrive on how to create Paypal buttons. I'm just going to have a "Dave Sim Fund $5" button. I'll let you know every month how much money comes in. But, after all of my bad CEREBUS experiences over the last decade? Two decades? I'm thinking work-made-for-hire covers, THE STRANGE DEATH OF ALEX RAYMOND and ZERO CONTACT with computers (except when I have to come back to coffee shop hell to let you know what's happening with YOUR money) is my best bet...
...Rick Norwood of COMICS REVUE (one of my favourite publications, reprinting classic comic strips that he sends me for free. Thank you, Rick!) wrote recently suggesting three possibilities for my career as it stands: 1) Collect glamourpuss and the ALEX RAYMOND material as "Princess, Die!" 2) get 1,000 CEREBUS fans to send me $5 a month so I can keep working and not worry about overhead and 3) do a cover of Cerebus with Mandrake for COMICS REVUE for $100. I'll be trying option #2 "as soon as/if" viable instructions from George arrive on how to create Paypal buttons. I'm just going to have a "Dave Sim Fund $5" button. I'll let you know every month how much money comes in. But, after all of my bad CEREBUS experiences over the last decade? Two decades? I'm thinking work-made-for-hire covers, THE STRANGE DEATH OF ALEX RAYMOND and ZERO CONTACT with computers (except when I have to come back to coffee shop hell to let you know what's happening with YOUR money) is my best bet...
...Okay, back to STRANGE DEATH OF ALEX RAYMOND. I've just finished a new "bridge" between the Alex Raymond RIP KIRBY introductory material and the Stan Drake HEART OF JULIET JONES introductory material covering BIG BEN BOLT and TWIN EARTHS (the second and third photorealism strips). Some good stuff in TWIN EARTHS (the "twin earth" planet is 92% women!) for the later "Metaphysical" sections. So, TECHNICALLY I'm on page 61 when it comes to doing my roadmap. Actual drawing, I'm still a ways away from. But ZERO CONTACT with computers. That counts for a lot with me...