What To Expect: January 2022

2021 has been quite the rollercoaster; we're still in a pandemic, and because of that, I still can't go to Japan yet. Karolyne left after working on MB for 2-3 years, but I was able to get Ataribetch back, and it finally gave me time to refresh the entire page, and the end result paid off! Not only did I get back to the peak I had, a few years ago, I completely surpassed it, and I had two months where both comics were entirely paid off by the generosity of you folks! 

Once again, I really appreciate your support, because, for a good while, I was on the verge of having to choose which comic to continue with, but as long as things stay the same, I won't have to even think about that for quite some time, so thank you once again!

On a personal level, this year was already better than 2020, if only because I was finally able to go outside again; I finally got to see movies in a theater again, Round1 reopened all their California locations, and Psychonauts 2 finally came out and was well worth the 6-year wait! Oh, and we got to see more of Deltarune, of course. ;)

Looking ahead, there are a few things I would like to do in the new year, including (but not limited to):

- Spread the word about both comics, especially ACES! 

Now that MB Chapter 5 is finished, and we're getting semi-close to Chapter 2 of ACES being done, I want to update things on Webtoon/Tapas; Only thing stopping me is the fact I'm waiting for my new PC to be finished, which will hopefully be done on New Year's Day). People are still faving Moonlit Brew stuff on DeviantArt, but I'd like them to know I have another comic that's in the same universe as MB that they should check out, as well! I don't know if I need to maybe make ads for various websites, or post in other forums, or something else that comes to my mind, but more readers would also mean...

- Bring in more new/returning patrons!

Needless to say, bringing back NSFW content (and having them be exclusive for $10 backers) gave this page a much-needed shot in the arm! As mentioned before, because of this, I'm close to having both comics be completely paid off, every month, without having to chip in anything out-of-pocket. Of course, no matter what happens, the fact of the matter is the pay is still going to be fluid, since I still have patrons joining/exiting, every month (And having those generous one-time donations in October and November helped a lot!). My hope for 2022 is that I can get more patrons to join/come back so any monthly pay changes won't be super dramatic nor detrimental to what I can produce for you guys.

It would be super cool to eventually reach a profit for these comics, if it pans out!

And last, but not least...

-  Try and get the attention of publishers and/or networks!

Of course, this will probably take more than a year to do, but I've mentioned on Discord and DA that I'd love to turn ACES/MB into an animated series, or, at the very least, get them published professionally in some form or fashion. Ideally, if I get to publish these comics, the artist(s) would be able to work on the comic(s) full-time for these consumer versions, and all the pages would be the same consistent art style. With ACES, that would be a lot easier, since the art style is easier to replicate, and we're not too far into the story, just yet.

As for making a cartoon series, I know that making a pitch would be doable because I've seen Daron Nefcy pitch Star Vs The Forces of Evil by showing Disney execs a comic, so in my mind, if she can do that, why can't I, as well? I remember mentioning I wanted to do this, back in 2020, but then COVID became a thing. Again, I can't go in expecting that I can do this in a year, but I do hope that by growing readership for MB and ACES, reaching that ultimate goal of making an animated series will be attainable.

Hopefully, in the new year, I'll have more communication with my artists, since the holiday season messed some things up, but Ataribetch promised me the 2 MG pages for the month would be finished tomorrow. So, pending things go smoothly, You will see the Cover and Page 1 of Moonlit Brew Chapter 6, and Moonlit Grind Pages 8 and 9. 

The good news, with ACES, is that the next few pages of that comic and ACESEXY have already been sketched out, and, since Eli is finished with their children's book project (give or take some fixes), updates will hopefully be more consistent! I'd like for ACES pages 33 + 34, and ACESEXY pages 10 + 11 to be done, this month!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season (in addition to the new PC I mentioned, I also got a new monitor with a higher refresh rate/HDR, so hopefully I can better pinpoint colors when I'm reviewing pages. ;P), and that 2022 will be a great year for all of us! Just make sure someone tells Corona-Chan to stop mutating so I can finally leave North America, for the first time. XD