The Dept. of "oopsie":
The Hiccup with the CAN12 Kickstarter has resolved. The NEW Hiccup, is that if, like me, you are doing the "pay over time" option, you're not gonna have access to the Pledge Manager until Kickstarter has gotten every last cent of your pledge. Which is gonna make the fulfillment process a longer nightmare for Dave and Rolly... Anyway, if you're paid up, you've, presumably, gotten access and can pay the taxes you owe (that's a new thing...thanks for "keeping us on our toes" Kickstarter...), and then...there aren't surveys anymore (I guess, I'm going by the second-hand information I've been given.), so if there is specific requests (signatures or whatever) you need, message Birdsong through Kickstarter and he'll try and pass the info along to Dave and Rolly. Aren't NEW headaches "fun"? Yeah, I don't think so either. But, AGAIN, any Kickstarter related issues, MESSAGE BIRDSONG THROUGH KICKSTARTER. Commenting here on AMOC ain't gonna get you the help you need...
The Dept. of "the overstuffed file from 'Up Nort'..."
Anyway, Dave can't fax me, but he can make Rolly send files thru the Interwebs, and I've been lax in posting that, so here we go:
From Eddie to Dave:
Okay, IF I'm reading this correctly, "Diamond" (or whoever owns them now) has Aardvark-Vanaheim inventory in their warehouses, but it is NOT like the inventory everybody else has at "Diamond" (O.W.O.T.N.). AV's stuff was paid for, and "Diamond" (O.W.O.T.N.) can liquidate that at their leisure. Unlike, say Living The Line who are getting screwed:
(The Dept. of "Are you @#*!ING kidding me!":)
Legal trouble. Lost inventory. But great books keep coming.So "yay" for AV, and
Hello everyone—
It’s been a wild few weeks at Living the Line HQ here in Saint Paul.
If you follow comics industry news, you may already know that our former distributor, Diamond Comics, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in January. Then, on May 16th, they were sold! End of problem, right?
Not only have we not been paid for any book sales since that sale closed… We've been refused access to our consignment inventory—books that legally belong to us and were merely stored in Diamond's warehouse.
Worse yet, they’ve now petitioned the bankruptcy court to sell that consignment inventory—including our books—without our consent.
This means we haven't been paid for books already sold, and we’re at risk of losing the rest of our inventory in their possession. For a small publisher, that’s an existential blow.
But we’re not taking this lying down.
Living the Line, alongside several other trusted publishers, has retained legal counsel and formally objected to this maneuver. We’re fighting for our rights in bankruptcy court. But legal battles, even righteous ones, are expensive, and we could use your help.
How You Can Help Right Now
1. Preorder My Gorilla Family (Iijima Ichiro)
Our September release is live! My Gorilla Family, sure to be one of the wildest books of 2025, will see wide release the first week of September.
Order direct from us (ships from St. Paul): https://livingtheline.company.site/products
Order through your local comic shop via Lunar Distribution: https://www.lunardistribution.com/home/search?term=My+Gorilla+Family
(We’re temporarily listed under our friends at Uncivilized Books — be sure to request it!)
2. Watch for Our New Book-Trade Distributor (Announcement Soon)
We’re onboarding with a new distributor for the wider book market. First out of the gate: reprints of UFO Mushroom Invasion (2024 American Manga Award Nominee, Best New Edition of Classic Manga) and MANSECT (2025 Nominee for the same category!). Sign up for announcements here: https://www.livingthelinebooks.com/mailing-list
3. Grab a Backlist Title Direct
Most of our inventory is frozen in the Diamond warehouse, but we have limited quantities of many titles on hand in Saint Paul ready to ship in 1–2 business days while supplies last. Browse what’s physically in stock here, including our much-beloved science fiction titles by Brandon Graham, Xurxo G. Penalta, Matt Battaglia, and Miel Vandepitte, and the stunning psychological fiction of Erik Kriek: https://livingtheline.company.site/products
4. Spread the Word
Know someone who digs beautiful, strange, unclassifiable graphic novels & manga? Please forward this email, share a link, or talk to your local shop. Every order and every share helps.
A Few of the Books We’re Fighting For
MANSECT — Koga Shinichi
Order MANSECT direct: https://livingtheline.company.site/products
FACE MEAT — Bonten TarÅ
Order FACE MEAT direct: https://livingtheline.company.site/products
Thank you for reading, for caring about independent publishing, and for helping us fight the good (and occasionally slimy, mushroom-ridden) fight. We literally couldn’t do this without you.
With appreciation,
Sean Michael Robinson
Publisher, Living the Line
St. Paul, Minnesota
https://www.livingthelinebooks.com/
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| for our pals at Living The Line, and all the other publishers "Diamond" (O.W.O.T.N.) is fuckin' over... |
Anyway, Eddie had some personal stuff he told Dave:
The Dept. of "Hey! That's NEAT!":
AMOC Special Friend Jesse Lee Herndon sent Dave:
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| Thumbs up from "Granpaw"! |
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| Click for bigger. |
The Dept. of "isn't that nice?":
From Easton, PA, Dave received from Michael R.:
The Dept. of "Wait...really?"?:
You're not gonna believe this one:
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| Click for bigger. |
The Dept. of "GAW-DAMMMMNN!":
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| What the hell is that? |
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| Seriously, what the hell is this? Click for bigger. |
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| Well, that explains what it is, but not why it is... Click for bigger. |
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| Rule of thumb around here: if it's original Dave art, click for bigger... |
Alright everybody, all together now:
GAW-DAMMMMMNN!!!
There's everything, I think...
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TwoMorrows has a new book on Marshall Rogers. Does it include the Name of the Game is Diamondback? Do they talk to Deni? I dunno. You might if you buy a copy...
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Acquaintance to the blog Travis sent in:
My Kickstarter was unsuccessful. Thank you for adding it to the blog in the last several days.
I appreciate it.
I decided to just put the comic for sale on Lulu.
https://www.lulu.com/shop/fanny-kelly-and-hal-kolbeck/my-captivity/paperback/product-459wr8z.html?page=1&pageSize=4
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And Tim Gagne sent in:
If you can link this on AMOC Matt Allsion could use the help. https://crowdfundr.com/a2Yvxb?ref=ab_3UXdKBiCFCH3UXdKBiCFCH Bargain @ $10.
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I'm selling bootleg Cerebus trading cards featuring my art, coloring by Hobbs, and unused art of MY characters by Dave. $10 a set for 11 cards plus TWO HANDDRAWN cards (by me). Email momentofcerebus@gmail.com and I'll explain how to pay.
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The Help Out Bill Messner-Loebs Go Fund Me, or buy Rodney Schroeter's book with proceeds going to Bill. OR(!) you could buy Bill's book with the Dave backcover. I have discovered links:
Wanderland (Paperback but slightly more expensive...I dunno why...)
The site offers UK shipping, so PRESUMEABLY it's printed and shipped there(?).
And Journey Complete:
The site offers UK shipping, so PRESUMEABLY it's printed and shipped there(?).
And Journey Complete:
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Our very own Jen DiGiacomo is part of a film production titled The Day Elvis Died. She'll never ask anybody here, but they're crowdfunding to finish the post production on the movie. (It's set in 1977, will a certain obscure Canadian cartoon aardvark make a cameo? (No. Elvis died in August. Cerebus wasn't published until December. Any appearance in the flick would be an anachronism that would ruin the movie for everybody. EVERYBODY!).) Here's the first trailer. And if you're going to Edinburgh Fringe, Jen's doing her One Woman show Woman in the Arena, pretty much all month. If you go, "swordfish". And send pics...
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Up to 35% off July 19-20 and 24-27.*
*Sale dates are not final and therefore subject to change.
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You can get all 16 volumes of Cerebus, many of them Remastered for $99CANADIAN at CerebusDownloads.com (More if you want the Remastered Cerebus Guide to Self-Publishing...)
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Heritage has (coming soon):
- Page 16 of issue #44
- other stuff
Thanks to Steve for sending the links.
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Oliver' Simonsen's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..., "Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video".
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Got a message from Studio Comix Press:
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| Click for bigger... |
If you wanna support "local" Canadian publishers...
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April C. wanted a Cerebus Jam #1, and I only wanna do this ONCE, the AMOC Prize Box (comic box edition):
Following Cerebus #4Spawn 10 (90s original)(2)Swords of Cerebus in Hell? Hardcovers 8(2), 10glamourpuss #1 (fashion cover), 6, 22, 23(2)Zootanapuss #4 (#475/590)Cerebus Companion #2Swords of Cerebus #2(2nd print) #3 (2nd print)High Society 12th printFree CerebusCerebus World Tour Book 1995Cerebus Guys Party PackCerebus bi-weekly #1, 2(2),3,5,8,9,11,12(2),13,17,18(2),19(2),20,21,25,26Cerebus High Society: 1-11,14,15(2),16-19,21(2),22(2),23(2),24,25(2)Cerebus Church & State:1,2(2),3Cerebus: #0(gold signed by Dave and Ger),16(2),18,20,23,24(2),36-39,52,54-57,59,65(2),68,93(2),95,97,(2),115-117,165,167-169,172(2),173(2),180,184,193(2)194,195(2),196(2),197(2),198,200-203,215,235,236,238,239,245,254,255(2),256-263,264(2),265(2),266-272,273(2),274,275,276(2),277-282,284-286,288,291,294,298,#1(waverly reprint gold),
Obviously I'm not listing the Cerebus Jam April wants, and there's a bunch of Waverly Spawn #10 books in the OTHER AMOC Prize Box (along with postcards and stickers and whatnots. NO. I'm not going thru that one right now. I'm supposed to be in the Please Hold Editing Suite working on the many many videos and Audio. But, currently I'm downloading the CBZ files from the High Society Audio Visual Edition so I can get the jpgs so I have the covers to issues 26-29 for Dave's answer to Steve Peters question. (It's NOT procrastination if you can find a good excuse Margaret...).)
ANYWAY, I'm MORE than willing to trade any of this for Neat Stuff, but since mailing things is my Kryptonite, you're more likely to get me to do something by offering to trade any of this for money. The more you pay, the faster I get to the post office...
If you NEED/WANT anything from the Waverly Press/Aardvark-Vanaheim offerings, I guess you can ask and I'll go dig through the effin' box...
Email momentofcerebus@gmail.com if you're interested...
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Next Time: I might be getting a little sumthing sumthing...
5 comments:
Well, the Kickstarter snafu is definitely yet another instance of Dunlop's Law: Any software, Web site, or other digital gadgetry "upgrade" makes things *at least* slightly worse than they already were. More often, significantly worse.
I've yet to find an exception.
As with almost everything, there's a German word for it: Verschlimmbesserung. An improvement that makes things worse.
And I bet there's a Yiddish word for it that is both shorter and more fun to say.
Alas, too many people lose their minds as they age. I mean, look at Dave.
-- Damian
Wow! That stay-flat is amazing! /Daniel E
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