A Part, Apart - Digital Download

Hello friends,

This is a post to let you know that I have dropped all physical copies of the A Part, Apart minicomic into the mail for print subscribers, so all members of that tier can be on the lookout for an enveloped from me. This is also the post where I share the digital PDF of the comic, which you can find attached to this post, or download directly here

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hkh8o6z167m1bhs72nk8s/A-PART-APART.pdf?rlkey=l0uuy7f2lgeymst5viglljzvl&st=6300w1fl&dl=0

A little bit of background on this minicomic. I am currently in the final stages of completing a new middle-grade graphic novel entitled The Hidden Dominion of Geordie James. It is scheduled to hit store shelves in May of 2026 through the fine folks at Union Square Kids (a publisher that used to be Barnes & Noble's own imprint, but was more recently acquired by Hachette). This is a book about an anxious sixth-grader named Geordie who is obsessed with a popular video game called "Dominion" that he plays constantly on his tablet. The game is very much inspired by Roblox, Minecraft and a touch of Fortnite. Two things happen to Geordie to kick off the narrative, he gets forced into a group project at school to help him and four other struggling students pass their science class, and he sees a story on the news about a pig that escapes from a nearby slaughterhouse and is believed to have made it into the woods on the edge of town. It's a (hopefully) fun and engaging story for kids, that does touch upon a few Big Questions, having to do with the environment and humanity's treatment of animals. I'm very proud of the book, and think more than anything I've made previously, it brings together well my books for kids along with the kinds of things I try to write about in some of my cartoon essays and diary comics.

Along those lines, this month's minicomic collects the two pieces that most directly inspired my new book, along with some commentary and other extras. There is a diary comic that I originally wrote in 2015, which I redrew and rewrote for this mini, and one of my best cartoon essays, Longstreet Farm, which is very much about humanity's place within the animal kingdom. A Part, Apart developed into an excellent companion piece to my new book, something that I will be able to share with teachers, librarians, and kids, when I eventually get out into the world to talk about the The Hidden Dominion...

However, that wasn't my initial plan for this mini, I had originally intended to publish a new cartoon essay created as a backup feature in the new graphic novel, which I was kind of envisioning as "Longstreet Farm for Middle-Graders". Taking younger readers along on the journey in that cartoon essay, establishing that we homo-sapiens are not separate and apart from (and in "dominion" of) the animal kingdom, we are a part of it.

I ran into some issues with this concept, the main one being that I had a really hard time making it work. It happens! I spent much more time than I had anticipated, writing and rewriting the backup essay, trying to get in interesting information that I think my younger readership would enjoy, without it spinning off too much, getting too esoteric and perhaps ambitious. I have a hard time admitting that, because I believe strongly that there's nothing you can't write about for younger readers if you approach it right, but with this one I just wasn't hitting the mark.

I did, eventually, figure out how to make the backup essay work. Throughout the main storyline of the book, numerous characters mention that domestic pigs, when they escape captivity, can actually rapidly evolve into feral versions of themselves in a very short amount of time. I learned this a couple years ago, when my wife was traveling through Arkansas for work, and a colleague told her about it. She initially rejected the idea as made-up (as did I), but it turns out that it's true!* Since I have a few characters stating that this happens, it worked out nicely to make this the hook for the essay. Unfortunately though, this made the essay work less well as a standalone.

So, I decided not to include that piece in the minicomic, opting instead to self-publish something that I think is a strong reading experience whether or not the person holding it has read The Hidden Dominion of Geordie James (which is almost everybody at this point). However, if you are curious to read the essay I did write, the (almost) final version of it can also be downloaded here https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fs6remfrlr32oneku2ztk/FERAL-PIGS.pdf?rlkey=h0uhpyrjshuyuhjcs00rw8gje&st=2x4of69n&dl=0

You'll see what I mean, how it doesn't work very well as a standalone, but I thought it'd be nice to share with you all nonetheless.

This has gone on much, much longer than intended, I was thinking about sharing my plans for the June minicomic here, but I'll make a proper post early next week instead. However if you've kept reading this far, the answer is a Stranger Things comic.

Thanks as always for reading along!
Mike

*I am almost certain it's true. I've done reading and research, and think I understand it, but have also reached out to a neurobiologist friendly acquaintance who has agreed to give it a read for scientific accuracy. I'm currently waiting to hear his feedback.