Hey! Let's release another new book! Why not?
Issue 9 of the Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club is now available from TORC Press. Huzzah! I could sit around yammering about it here on the blog till the cows come home, or I could shower you with a bunch of links to the Main Site where you can learn more about it, and save the blog hype for a time when I'm less pressed for time.
First off, we've got a brand new Hype Center specifically dedicated to the Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club at www.torcpress.com/hfsac.html. For Hype specifically related to Issue 9, go to www.torcpress.com/hfsacprev.html, which includes a two page Preview of the book, as well as a write up. We've also added Bios for Los Super Hip Bros to the Cast section at www.torcpress.com/lsb.html. And lastly, if you dig what you see and wanna support the cause, head to our store at www.torcpress.com/store.html. I was a busy little webhead this weekend.
And now it's off to freeze to death at the Sawmill. Huzzah!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
New Monster King and My Books in 2011
"Huh. Giant Spider Web Full of People. Of course."
Right-o. It's Saturday, so it's MONSTER KING time. Pages 19 and 20 are up to bat at www.torcpress.com/mk7.html. This week our heroes encounter a Giant Spider Web, and where there's a Giant Spider Web...
Also, don't forget we've got a new book for sale, "Walt n' Sped Comix" #1 is available in the online store at www.torcpress.com/store.html.
We should also have some more new stuff on Monday.
Hey, while I'm sitting around the house watching "The Penguins of Madagascar" and not working, it's time to take a look at what books we'll be running in 2011, okay?
SDF: Pulp- I decided to start with this one, mostly because I'm done with this one. "SDF: Pulp" was an interesting experiment, but at the end of the day, it was a failed experiment. It just didn't work. The four page story format didn't work. Bad Jack and Cosmico Rex didn't work. The $1.50 price point didn't work. It sold okay, but the profit was crap, and a $1.50 isn't gonna go a long way toward covering the cost of a table at a Convention, y'know? I've decided that Issue 5 is as good a place as any to end the book, because it only leaves the Cactus Joe vs. Vlad story dangling, which, hopefully, I'll wrap up later on in another book.
Gulatta!-- My all ages superhero book always does nicely, and I think it has a little following. I plan on doing two books a year. Issue 3 will hopefully come out in Spring, and Issue 4 will maybe hopefully come out in Fall.
Walt n' Sped Comix-- My other all ages book will come out once a year. Maybe in Summer or Fall. Depends on my schedule.
MONSTER KING!-- Right. Two new pages will continue to come out online every week. I'll compile 12 pages at a time, then reload. Once an entire issue has been compiled (which should happen by the end of the year...) I'll send the book off to the Printers to make a hard copy. Maybe people will buy it. Hopefully. That is kinda the point of the whole putting it online thing, is that people will buy the book after reading it online.
The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club-- My flagship book. The thing which I've been kicking butt on all year. We'll be rocking this book for quite some time. In fact, we've got a killer three issue story arc coming up very soon. I'm not sure how many issues I'll be putting out next year yet. I'm shooting for a minimum of six, but we'll see if I can crank out a few more. Also, early next year I plan on releasing a trade paperback collection of the first six issues.
Mystery Book 1-- So, I have this bad habit of working very, very hard on certain books, and then never actually publishing the damn things. I'm stupid like that. Anyway, if I actually get around to it, I'm going to be doing a book that will collect those lost issues. Not sure how many issues will come out, or how many I'll release next year.
Mystery Book 2-- If you know anything about me, you know I am always working on some crazy new book (see Mystery Book 1). Anyway, I'm working on a book on the side, right now. If it works like I think it will (crosses fingers), it'll be coming out in early 2011. No guarantees though. I will give you a little hint on the book. Think "Cosmic".
Right-o. It's Saturday, so it's MONSTER KING time. Pages 19 and 20 are up to bat at www.torcpress.com/mk7.html. This week our heroes encounter a Giant Spider Web, and where there's a Giant Spider Web...
Also, don't forget we've got a new book for sale, "Walt n' Sped Comix" #1 is available in the online store at www.torcpress.com/store.html.
We should also have some more new stuff on Monday.
Hey, while I'm sitting around the house watching "The Penguins of Madagascar" and not working, it's time to take a look at what books we'll be running in 2011, okay?
SDF: Pulp- I decided to start with this one, mostly because I'm done with this one. "SDF: Pulp" was an interesting experiment, but at the end of the day, it was a failed experiment. It just didn't work. The four page story format didn't work. Bad Jack and Cosmico Rex didn't work. The $1.50 price point didn't work. It sold okay, but the profit was crap, and a $1.50 isn't gonna go a long way toward covering the cost of a table at a Convention, y'know? I've decided that Issue 5 is as good a place as any to end the book, because it only leaves the Cactus Joe vs. Vlad story dangling, which, hopefully, I'll wrap up later on in another book.
Gulatta!-- My all ages superhero book always does nicely, and I think it has a little following. I plan on doing two books a year. Issue 3 will hopefully come out in Spring, and Issue 4 will maybe hopefully come out in Fall.
Walt n' Sped Comix-- My other all ages book will come out once a year. Maybe in Summer or Fall. Depends on my schedule.
MONSTER KING!-- Right. Two new pages will continue to come out online every week. I'll compile 12 pages at a time, then reload. Once an entire issue has been compiled (which should happen by the end of the year...) I'll send the book off to the Printers to make a hard copy. Maybe people will buy it. Hopefully. That is kinda the point of the whole putting it online thing, is that people will buy the book after reading it online.
The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club-- My flagship book. The thing which I've been kicking butt on all year. We'll be rocking this book for quite some time. In fact, we've got a killer three issue story arc coming up very soon. I'm not sure how many issues I'll be putting out next year yet. I'm shooting for a minimum of six, but we'll see if I can crank out a few more. Also, early next year I plan on releasing a trade paperback collection of the first six issues.
Mystery Book 1-- So, I have this bad habit of working very, very hard on certain books, and then never actually publishing the damn things. I'm stupid like that. Anyway, if I actually get around to it, I'm going to be doing a book that will collect those lost issues. Not sure how many issues will come out, or how many I'll release next year.
Mystery Book 2-- If you know anything about me, you know I am always working on some crazy new book (see Mystery Book 1). Anyway, I'm working on a book on the side, right now. If it works like I think it will (crosses fingers), it'll be coming out in early 2011. No guarantees though. I will give you a little hint on the book. Think "Cosmic".
Friday, December 3, 2010
New Web Stuff and Walt n' Sped
Right-o. It's not MONSTER KING day, yet (that's tomorrow), but we've added some new stuff to the main site at www.torcpress.com anyway. Pretty much everything has to do with our new book, "Walt n' Sped Comix" #1. Under the link marked "PREVIEWS" we've added a brand new preview center. Admittedly, the only book we have a preview for right now is Walt n' Sped, but that will change over time. Anyway, make sure to check out the two page preview and plot synopsis of the new book, and if you like what you see, throw us a little love over at our online store at www.torcpress.com/store.html.
Spinning Tornado Kick!
Spinning Tornado Kick!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Walt n' Sped Comix Now Available
Walt n' Sped Comix #1 is now available from TORC Press! It's an 8 Page Black and White comic with a Color cover for $1.50 plus a buck S&H. It's available either through our online store at www.torcpress.com/store.html or by sending a check or money order for the proper amount to: TORC Press, c/o Joseph Morris, 330 S 5th St SW, Clay City, IL 62824.
As usual, I'm putting the cart before the horse here. I mean, who's gonna wanna order the book without finding out what it's about, right?
Well, Walt n' Sped Comix is a cute, silly, slapsticky, All Ages book featuring several of my "Funny Animal" characters. There's Walt, a tall, overalls wearing, talking, orange cat who equates fishing with a religious experience, and Sped, a psychotic, perpetually grinning, naked, little dog who likes hot sauce and mass destruction. Joining this offbeat cast is the returning Frimpy, the world's most unluckiest cartoon character, and the newcomer, Penny Platypus, who serves as yet another new member of the ever growing Platypus family. In this installment, our heroes attempt to build a rocket car with ridiculous results. It's fun.
Other than that, I plan on doing one issue of Walt n' Sped a year. It's a fun book, but it's not really where my focus is at right now.
I'll be working on rigging up a Preview Page for the book later this week.
As usual, I'm putting the cart before the horse here. I mean, who's gonna wanna order the book without finding out what it's about, right?
Well, Walt n' Sped Comix is a cute, silly, slapsticky, All Ages book featuring several of my "Funny Animal" characters. There's Walt, a tall, overalls wearing, talking, orange cat who equates fishing with a religious experience, and Sped, a psychotic, perpetually grinning, naked, little dog who likes hot sauce and mass destruction. Joining this offbeat cast is the returning Frimpy, the world's most unluckiest cartoon character, and the newcomer, Penny Platypus, who serves as yet another new member of the ever growing Platypus family. In this installment, our heroes attempt to build a rocket car with ridiculous results. It's fun.
Other than that, I plan on doing one issue of Walt n' Sped a year. It's a fun book, but it's not really where my focus is at right now.
I'll be working on rigging up a Preview Page for the book later this week.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Saturday Equals New MONSTER KING!
"Was that Real or a Dream?"
Pages 17 and 18 of Monster King are now available for viewing over at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html. Being the boss and editor and head writer over here at TORC Press, it falls to me to occasionally point out when something of Great Significance happens in the TORCverse. Key Moments. Things You Should Pay Attention to. So allow me to get out my Big Red Neon Arrow and point it directly at Monster King Pages 17 and 18. They may not seem like much now, but these pages set the tone for the TORCverse (most specifically the continuing Ballad of Clown and Penguin) in 2011. Just saying.
Also, if you haven't been there in awhile, and you're tired of the nonsense with Myspace (and who can blame you) and since it'll be a Cold Day in Hell before I get back on Facebook (screw that noise), we are now putting NEWS updates up over on the slightly redesigned (but still Simplistic) Main Site at www.torcpress.com. Also, a Carbon Copy of this blog is published over at http://torcpress.blogspot.com/, so there's that.
Pages 17 and 18 of Monster King are now available for viewing over at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html. Being the boss and editor and head writer over here at TORC Press, it falls to me to occasionally point out when something of Great Significance happens in the TORCverse. Key Moments. Things You Should Pay Attention to. So allow me to get out my Big Red Neon Arrow and point it directly at Monster King Pages 17 and 18. They may not seem like much now, but these pages set the tone for the TORCverse (most specifically the continuing Ballad of Clown and Penguin) in 2011. Just saying.
Also, if you haven't been there in awhile, and you're tired of the nonsense with Myspace (and who can blame you) and since it'll be a Cold Day in Hell before I get back on Facebook (screw that noise), we are now putting NEWS updates up over on the slightly redesigned (but still Simplistic) Main Site at www.torcpress.com. Also, a Carbon Copy of this blog is published over at http://torcpress.blogspot.com/, so there's that.
Monday, November 22, 2010
The 24 Hour Comic
Got up at 5:30am, loaded some Green Teas into a cooler I borrowed from Bro, dropped the dog off at Ma and Pa's place, loaded up on Candy Bars at the gas station, and badda bing badda boom I was off for Comic Quest in Evansville, IN for the 24 Hour Comic Book Challenge.
For those of you that are unaware of the nature of the 24 Hour Comic Challenge, allow me to explain. Created by Scott McCloud of "Understanding Comics" fame, the concept behind the 24 Hour Comic is to create, write, pencil, ink, and letter an entire comic book in 24 Consecutive Hours. For those of you that don't create comics on a regular basis, it takes a lot longer than 24 Hours to make a comic. I'm Superultra Fast, and I need about 144 Nonconsecutive Hours to make a comic. All in all, it's an exercise in Speed, Creativity, Endurance, and Dedication. I had never made a 24 Hour Comic before, but my buddy and frequent partner-in-crime, Clint Bassinger of Cosmic Moustache Comics had made a couple and wanted to do it again in order to clean a few concepts our of his brain. We made arrangements with Comic Quest to host the event, put the word out with other local creators, and we were off to the races.
Unsurprisingly, Clint and I were the only fools foolish enough to undergo this Herculean task. Other members of the Creator's Alliance stopped by over the course of the day, but only Clint and I gutted it out for the 24 straight hours.
Interestingly, both Clint and I decided to cheat a little. Clint walked in with character designs and a full script. I had a Cactus Joe story I wanted to tell, and had a vague concept for it in my head. So neither of us took the clean slate approach.
The Game began at 8:30am on Saturday. Clint started by drawing thumbnails of his entire book. I just barralled into the pencils. My pencil rate was initially somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 Pages per Hour. I vaguely remember taking a lunch break around 1pm with over half my pages penciled. Made the mistake of eating at Long John Silvers. Stomach was utterly disrupted for remainder of the Game. Also, they got my order wrong. Got my pencils done at some point, can't remember when. Started slowing down. Started taking little breaks every two pages. Read the stack of comics I purchased. "Batman: The Return" and "Batman Inc." are AWESOME!!!!
Inking began. Clint's still pencilling. Ordered a pizza from Papa Johns. Bigger mistake. Stomach's too upset from lunch to enjoy greazy pizza. Ugh. Making great time on Inks. About two pages an hour, which is fast even for me. Clint's not sure if he's gonna make it in time. I tell him he needs to cut corners and not spend so much time adding greytones and heavy blacks with his ink wash. Call Bro at Midnight for Moral Support and to find out how the UFC PPV went. Good to hear Bro, but the UFC card was apparently a disappointment, with Lyoto Machida losing to Rampage in a crummy split decision. Resumed inking. Getting slower, losing focus. Clint's playing odd Mix CDs on his little CD player. Doing okay.
Then. At 4am. I. Hit. The. Wall.
THUD!
With pages 19 through 24 left to Ink, I ran completely out of gas. I thought it over and decided discretion was the better part of valor, and laid down on the floor and went to sleep for two hours. Woke up in the middle of the dream feeling crummy but lucid and resumed the Game at 6am with two and a half hours on the clock. Drank my last Green Tea and ate a big bag of M&Ms. Clint was almost caught up to me by now, having inking his comic up to page 19 as well. Worked diligently for the remaining two hours and finished Page 24 (the only truly embarrassingly bad page) at 8:20am on Sunday. GAME OVER. Our Hero Wins! Ten minutes later, Clint wrapped up his last page as well. There were bands and parades and celebrations and dancing girls and monkeys and elephants and dancing girls. No wait. There was none of that. Just two dudes waiting to be let out of an empty comic shop. We waited till 9am, and when no one came to let us out, we locked up and left through the back. I was gonna get a hotel, but my emergency nap gave me enough juice for the 2 hour drive home. So home I went.
My 24 Hour Comic is Called "Dicks for Hire", and is the humorously surreal adventures of Cactus Joe, Pengy Penguin, and another classic TORCverse character starting a Detective Agency. It will be available sometime in 2011.
For those of you that are unaware of the nature of the 24 Hour Comic Challenge, allow me to explain. Created by Scott McCloud of "Understanding Comics" fame, the concept behind the 24 Hour Comic is to create, write, pencil, ink, and letter an entire comic book in 24 Consecutive Hours. For those of you that don't create comics on a regular basis, it takes a lot longer than 24 Hours to make a comic. I'm Superultra Fast, and I need about 144 Nonconsecutive Hours to make a comic. All in all, it's an exercise in Speed, Creativity, Endurance, and Dedication. I had never made a 24 Hour Comic before, but my buddy and frequent partner-in-crime, Clint Bassinger of Cosmic Moustache Comics had made a couple and wanted to do it again in order to clean a few concepts our of his brain. We made arrangements with Comic Quest to host the event, put the word out with other local creators, and we were off to the races.
Unsurprisingly, Clint and I were the only fools foolish enough to undergo this Herculean task. Other members of the Creator's Alliance stopped by over the course of the day, but only Clint and I gutted it out for the 24 straight hours.
Interestingly, both Clint and I decided to cheat a little. Clint walked in with character designs and a full script. I had a Cactus Joe story I wanted to tell, and had a vague concept for it in my head. So neither of us took the clean slate approach.
The Game began at 8:30am on Saturday. Clint started by drawing thumbnails of his entire book. I just barralled into the pencils. My pencil rate was initially somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 Pages per Hour. I vaguely remember taking a lunch break around 1pm with over half my pages penciled. Made the mistake of eating at Long John Silvers. Stomach was utterly disrupted for remainder of the Game. Also, they got my order wrong. Got my pencils done at some point, can't remember when. Started slowing down. Started taking little breaks every two pages. Read the stack of comics I purchased. "Batman: The Return" and "Batman Inc." are AWESOME!!!!
Inking began. Clint's still pencilling. Ordered a pizza from Papa Johns. Bigger mistake. Stomach's too upset from lunch to enjoy greazy pizza. Ugh. Making great time on Inks. About two pages an hour, which is fast even for me. Clint's not sure if he's gonna make it in time. I tell him he needs to cut corners and not spend so much time adding greytones and heavy blacks with his ink wash. Call Bro at Midnight for Moral Support and to find out how the UFC PPV went. Good to hear Bro, but the UFC card was apparently a disappointment, with Lyoto Machida losing to Rampage in a crummy split decision. Resumed inking. Getting slower, losing focus. Clint's playing odd Mix CDs on his little CD player. Doing okay.
Then. At 4am. I. Hit. The. Wall.
THUD!
With pages 19 through 24 left to Ink, I ran completely out of gas. I thought it over and decided discretion was the better part of valor, and laid down on the floor and went to sleep for two hours. Woke up in the middle of the dream feeling crummy but lucid and resumed the Game at 6am with two and a half hours on the clock. Drank my last Green Tea and ate a big bag of M&Ms. Clint was almost caught up to me by now, having inking his comic up to page 19 as well. Worked diligently for the remaining two hours and finished Page 24 (the only truly embarrassingly bad page) at 8:20am on Sunday. GAME OVER. Our Hero Wins! Ten minutes later, Clint wrapped up his last page as well. There were bands and parades and celebrations and dancing girls and monkeys and elephants and dancing girls. No wait. There was none of that. Just two dudes waiting to be let out of an empty comic shop. We waited till 9am, and when no one came to let us out, we locked up and left through the back. I was gonna get a hotel, but my emergency nap gave me enough juice for the 2 hour drive home. So home I went.
My 24 Hour Comic is Called "Dicks for Hire", and is the humorously surreal adventures of Cactus Joe, Pengy Penguin, and another classic TORCverse character starting a Detective Agency. It will be available sometime in 2011.
Friday, November 19, 2010
New MONSTER KING and other Junk
"What the Hell? Another Underground Cavern? REALLY?!"
What a rotten week this has been. Just a continuous beatdown of almost epic proportions. I've even got a great/terrible story from this week, but I haven't had a free second to blog about it, cause I've been running around on nonstop full tilt boogie mode. Go here. Do this. Go there. Do that. It's like being trapped in the lame version of "Grand Theft Auto 25: Boredomland". Anyway, in the midst of this chaos, I still managed to post two new pages of my online comic, MONSTER KING, which are now available for your viewing leisure at www.torcpress.com/mk3.html or you can start with the new index at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html. Admittedly, this is a slow week, as the Clown reacts to (literally) falling for this year's running gag, and Pengy discovers some Cave Paintings. Yep.
Speaking of running around like a chicken with its head cut off, tomorrow I am off to my "local" comic shop, Comic Quest in Evansville, IN, to participate in the store's ad hoc 24 Hour Comic Day. I will be attempting a 24 Hour Comic Book, but I will be cheating a little bit and using pre-existing characters and a pre-concieved plot. So there's that.
Oh yeah, also, don't forget that SDF: Pulp 5 is now available over in the online store at www.torcpress.com/store.html. It's got Cactus Joe fighting a cool monster and a Cosmico Rex strip. Check it out.
Also, like most people, I am not a fan of the "New" Myspace. Bleh.
What a rotten week this has been. Just a continuous beatdown of almost epic proportions. I've even got a great/terrible story from this week, but I haven't had a free second to blog about it, cause I've been running around on nonstop full tilt boogie mode. Go here. Do this. Go there. Do that. It's like being trapped in the lame version of "Grand Theft Auto 25: Boredomland". Anyway, in the midst of this chaos, I still managed to post two new pages of my online comic, MONSTER KING, which are now available for your viewing leisure at www.torcpress.com/mk3.html or you can start with the new index at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html. Admittedly, this is a slow week, as the Clown reacts to (literally) falling for this year's running gag, and Pengy discovers some Cave Paintings. Yep.
Speaking of running around like a chicken with its head cut off, tomorrow I am off to my "local" comic shop, Comic Quest in Evansville, IN, to participate in the store's ad hoc 24 Hour Comic Day. I will be attempting a 24 Hour Comic Book, but I will be cheating a little bit and using pre-existing characters and a pre-concieved plot. So there's that.
Oh yeah, also, don't forget that SDF: Pulp 5 is now available over in the online store at www.torcpress.com/store.html. It's got Cactus Joe fighting a cool monster and a Cosmico Rex strip. Check it out.
Also, like most people, I am not a fan of the "New" Myspace. Bleh.
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