Aberrant Press

A few weeks ago, we attended the Las Vegas Comic Expo, where we debuted a new product that we think is fun and makes for a good buy.

Awhile back, friend and future collaborator, Daniel Blodgett, had put out a little six page mini-comic called Jasper and Star (get his most recent work digitally here). We were discussing ideas for an upcoming event (Vegas Valley Comic Festival), and we wanted to put something in the swag bags that they are going to give out to the first 300 registered attendees. Since his little book could be printed without denting our wallets too badly, we decided to try and get it done for the show. This lead me to another idea: mini-sketchbooks that would be cheap for the buyer with a space on the back for us to draw something for the buyer! Seven pages of sketches and an original drawing? That’s a pretty solid value for a buck.

Gramm, Daniel and I printed up one for each of us, and they went over great in their first outing (will the success repeat at the festival?). They were popular enough that we’re going to do more sketchbooks and are now entertaining the idea of printing short stories in this format as well. Since this may become a permanent fixture, we have decided that these products should be available to anyone (especially those who can’t get to an appearance). So to get the ball rolling, you can now go to our shop and pick up the first mini-sketchbooks from either Gramm Matthew or myself. Gramm’s does not have a space for a sketch on the back, as he knew he wouldn’t have a ton of time behind the table, but any of mine that are ordered will have a drawing on the back, and Gramm’s will have a little sketch done on chipboard (or the like) tipped in. Let us know what you’d like at the time of your purchase (I think you can put it in the “shipping instructions” field), or leave it blank to get something random. Once Daniel’s is available online somewhere, I’ll link to it.

Below are the covers. Either click on them or go to our store to pick one up!

I took several days off from my day job to get a darkroom set up so that we could start printing t-shirts. On the very first day, I blew out my back and have spent the last few days laid up. I now have two days left of five, and I still don’t know if my back is up to the labor of basically building a whole room. So with that, I think it’s time to dig up an old image that accurately illustrates how I’m feeling.

Hey everyone! We have a few things that are moving right now, so I’m going to hit you with a bunch of fast updates right now.

First, it looks like we’ve added two colorists to our ranks officially and they are getting Brandon’s style down! My biggest concern in the hunt for colorists has been making sure that the book has a consistent look and these guys are adapting like pros! Brandon will be the team leader, setting the color themes for each scene and then delegating color duties to the others. Daniel continues to blast through the flats (you saw how those look last update). I really appreciate his help (pro bono!), so why not check out what he’s up to at Gett Comics?

Since I finished writing the book a long time ago and editing doesn’t take that much time creatively, I’ve moved on to inking a book I’ve had sitting on the shelf for a while. It’s a simple tale of a hitman haunted (literally) by the ghosts of the people he’s killed. It’s around 60 pages and once I have it finished, I’m going to send everyone who pledged to Super a digital copy!

This last weekend, we attended the Las Vegas Comic Expo at the Riviera Hotel & Casino. It was the first run of this event and hopefully they made enough money to justify coming back next year. There were a lot of folks who pledged in attendance, and they were all very gracious. I offered them all either a free print or one of our new mini sketchbooks as a thank you for their continued patience and I thought it’d be cool to extend that same offer to all of you. So if you are interested in obtaining a free mini sketchbook, let me know. I will find a convenient way to deliver all local ones and will mail any that are too far to deliver in person!

In fact, anyone local who would like to claim one can see us next at the Vegas Valley Comic Festival on November 3rd! Here’s their website: Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival If you look on the walls, you’ll see a number of banners we did for the show!

Finally, friend and pledge, Maxwell Alexander Drake is running his own Kickstarter campaign at the moment. Drake is a fantasy author with two novels in his Genesis of Oblivion Saga series out (third should be coming along shortly). He has teamed up with super-talented Jason Engle to produce a futuristic yarn. Check it out and throw them a couple bucks.

With that, I’ll leave you with the rendered color work for the pages by Brandon Lin. Next update will be the lettered pages as well as any new news!