February Newsletter

The sound you hear in the background? Oh, that's just me mildly panicking that it somehow seems to already be February when I'm prettyyyy sure December was just last week.

Anyway, hello! Hope you're all well! Welcome to new patrons ereo and Naja!!! 

We've got two more pages of Chapter 1 to get through, though I'll likely post both of 'em at the same time. I've just started pencils on Chapter 2 which I'm really excited about because I finally get to draw THE BOYS IN THE BAND (Stef!! Tomás!! My beloved sons!!)

However most of my attention these past few weeks has been dedicated to finishing off the script. I've had, roughly, the first 1/3 to maybe 1/2 of the book scripted and thumbnailed for some time now, but I was putting off doing the second half.

I spent the majority of January being sick and fatigued from some sort of virus (that 4 rapid home tests claim wasn't covid but I treated it like it was, anyway). Despite that, I've apparently written 238 new comic pages since January 25th, hahaha.

(Mind you, I'd say about ~30 of those pages got tossed in the trash/re-written, so the total number of actual pages that will wind up in the comic are less than that.)

Look at those days where I came close to writing 50 pages in one day. Can you imagine if I could do ANY of the art at even a fraction of that pace?!

In contrast, here's my graph of art pages done (split out by thumbnails, pencils, inks, flats, colors, and letters, respectively).

I'm lucky to even draw a full page of pencils in a single day. 🐢

(For those curious, these graphs are from pacemaker.press which is a simple progress tracking tool designed for writers of all kind, but I'm making it work for comics.)

Anyway, the script is going really, really, REALLY well. I'm gonna toot my own horn a little bit, because after 2-ish years of careful planning with my editor, Mark, getting to actually write the damn thing and seeing all the puzzle pieces I started scattering about as early as page 1 finally fall into place is extremely gratifying, and I can't wait for you all to go on the journey of the story with me!!

In final news, if any of you will be attending ECCC, I'll be there Friday (maaaybe Thursday and/or Saturday, too), wandering around and saying hi to pals. I'll also have -- drumroll, please -- Keeping Time ashcans/zines to give away! It features the new colored versions of the first 11 pages, which Latte and Espresso tier folks all have already had the chance to read. :)

I invested in an Epson EcoTank printer to make them (courtesy of YOU all!! I couldn't afford it otherwise!), and I've printed them on cheap paper. I'm hoping to drum up some interest and get folks to join keepingtimecomic.com for its eventual April launch!

Yep, you've heard that right! I'm committing to an April launch! (Now you understand my panic sounds!!)

Alright, that's enough yapping from me. I cannot thank you all enough for choosing to support me and my work. I could not be doing this without you. Thank you.

Yours truly,
Kody