IMPOSSIBLE JONES!

VERY QUICK…
4 months ago – Mon, Aug 19, 2024 at 06:36:33 AM

Today, you'll receive an email about how I am about to LOCK YOUR ADDRESS. This gives you 48 hours to double-check and, if needed, update your address.

Once addresses are locked, I will charge your card for any additional swag you might have grabbed via Backerkit, plus any outstanding postage.

I believe you will NOT receive this email if you're a Digital-Only Backer (unless you did decide to get something physical, like one of those sweet IMP T-SHIRTS)— but I could be wrong about that and/or there could be some screw-ups. If that's you and that happens, please ignore the email to LOCK YOUR ADDRESS.

Once addresses are locked, I will charge cards— most likely on Monday, August 26th. Once cards are charged, I will send out the Digital Rewards. (They should go out automatically.)

I was planning to do these things a bit earlier, but COVID got me and my wife, and really screwed up everything for a couple weeks. Not super sick, but it was super-annoying. (Good News: we did NOT infect our daughter, and her soccer team won their bracket in the Coastal Cup Soccer Tournament!)

I'm expecting to hear from the printer this week with an estimated DELIVERY DATE for the printed books. Once I know, you'll know.

Thanks again for supporting IMPOSSIBLE JONES! The book simply wouldn't exist without people like you, and I'd be a Wall-mart greeter because outside of comics I have NO MARKETABLE SKILLS!

KK

IMPOSSIBLE Things are Happening Every Day…
4 months ago – Fri, Aug 09, 2024 at 07:32:41 AM

Not a Dream! Not a Hoax! Not an Imaginary Story!

(Except all comics are imaginary stories, of course. But the point is…)

The IMPOSSIBLE JONES Volume 2 ULTRA-COOL COLLECTOR'S EDITION is IN THE HOUSE!

Well— in MY house, at least. Yesterday I received my sample copy of the book. The other 1000+ books are still somewhere in China. Hopefully a port city. Already on a boat, if we're lucky. I've been told they'll be in my hands in 3 to 4 weeks.

IN THE MEANTIME…

This book looks FANTASTIC! Take a look for yourself…

I have to say, the fine folks at PRINTLORE did an EXCELLENT job! The only problems I have with this book are all of my own doing (design choices I'd do a little differently in the future, mostly), but the printing is FLAWLESS. I will certainly be using PRINTLORE for future hardcover books.

So… What's Next?

I'd say it's about time to send out PDFs of this bad girl! 

Few steps involved here. First, later today you'll get an email telling you I'm about to LOCK ORDERS. This gives you 48 hours to add anything to your order you've been lying awake at night thinking about— an extra copy of the book, a sweet IMP T-Shirt, whatever.

You can also update your address/make sure it's correct. Double-check to be sure.

It will also give me a few days to recover, because I came down with COVID a few days ago. Sad but true. BLEH!

NEXT MONDAY I will LOCK ADDRESSES (and hopefully be feeling better).

Once I lock addresses, PDFs should go out automatically. So look for the links starting MONDAY. If there are any glitches, I should be well enough by then to fix things.

Then the next time you hear from me, I should be mailing out the books!

Stand By For News— !
5 months ago – Fri, Aug 02, 2024 at 11:12:53 AM

I WAS WAITING TO POST THIS UPDATE…

…until I'd heard from the printer, but since a few Backers asked, here's where things stand:

The IMP Vol. 2 ULTRA-COOL COLLECTORS EDITION was supposed to be all printed and bound and trimmed and everything by the end of July. Two days ago as I write this. I reached out yesterday to the print rep to confirm this happened, and have not heard back yet.

Assuming the book was finished on schedule, we're looking at about 3, maybe 4 weeks for that slow boat from China to make it's way here, and the books to be delivered to my door. I am ready to start fulfillment the instant they arrive.

IN THE MEANTIME…

David and I are well into the next improbable IMP adventure! IMPOSSIBLE TO LOVE is 42 pages long, fully written, I just finished inking up through Page 9, David is currently penciling Pages 10-12, and Ryan is starting on the colors.

Fingers crossed, this may be our best IMP story yet! I was very happy with how the script came together, and David has been doing his best work ever. In fact, Imp2Luv has my very favorite single IMP panel yet:

I mean, there's a reason she's called IMPOSSIBLE JONES!

This story also gives us the chance to revisit some of the people and places we established during the IMPOSSIBLE TEAM-UP world-building tales. Like the curmudgeonly CLOWNCAR, the irredeemable RIVER RATS, and everyone's favorite bad (as in: not very good at it) bad guy ZEE-BRO.

If the IMP TEAM-UP story was our "Coming of Galactus" epic, then Imp2Luv is our "This Man, This Monster" follow-up— much smaller, much more character-driven. Of course, "This Man, This Monster" is only the BEST SINGLE ISSUE OF ANY COMIC EVER MADE, EVER! So, no pressure there…

Assuming I fulfill IMP ULTRA-COOL in late August/early September, it looks like Imp2Luv would launch around mid-September.

ULTRA-COOL DIGITAL REWARDS

I was waiting to send out the IMP ULTRA-COOL digital rewards until I was closer to sending out the physical rewards, but now I'm thinking I might send them out next week, maybe the week after. I'm just waiting to hear the book is actually printed and… one other, really cool, kinda secret thing. Once I hear about that, I'll send out another update and RELEASE THE (DIGITAL) HOUNDS!

ELSEWHERE ON KICKSTARTER…

TREKKER: REBEL HEART!

You probably know that RON RANDALL and I are long-time friends. And that Ron is a master storyteller. And that TREKKER is his passion project. And you've probably already supported his new TREKKER: REBEL HEART graphic novel, continuing the adventures of 23rd Century Bounty Hunter MERCY ST CLAIR. 

And if you haven't, it's probably because you don't know those things.

But now you do!

So go to TrekkerKickstarter.com, check it out for yourself, and then come back here and thank me.

What're friends for, right?

"July Jones" Update
6 months ago – Tue, Jul 02, 2024 at 09:17:23 AM

But First, A Quick Message From Our printer…

These are pages printed from a desktop printer— untrimmed and far from the quality they'll be in the book— assembled to show how the Arthur Adams Fold-Out will be placed and work in the book.

I originally thought the Fold-Out would be glued in at the end— that's how they did it in the ART OF ARTHUR ADAMS book!— but our printer opted to have it actually sewn into the book as part of an interior spread. (Meaning we don't lose half an inch of possible image area in the gutter where the glue would be applied.) Pay attention and you'll see the Fold-Out is actually on the same paper as the very first page shown here! Fascinating! (To me, at least.)

And, Yes, the Book is AT THE PRINTER!

Although there were some delays getting in the queue.

From the start, I had asked for specifications for the Fold-Out from the printer, but never received any. So I proceeded assuming our Fold-Out would be produced and placed same as in the ART OF ARTHUR ADAMS book— knowing full well I'd probably have to re-do it later on. Then I was told the Fold-Out would be sewn into the book, was finally given the correct specs, and had to re-do it. Like a prophesy fulfilled!

ADDED WRINKLE: since the Fold-Out was now part of the actual page count of the book, it added 2 interior pages— but books need to have page counts divisible by 4, which meant I had to add or subtract 2 pages! And I certainly couldn't get rid of anything!

This was a blessing in disguise since I'd already been thinking it would have been nice to recap IMP's origin. I put together a spread explaining what had happened Previously, In IMPOSSIBLE JONES… but that really needed to go in the book before the main story, meaning I had to renumber every page and make a new file for the printer of the entire book!

This all happening just when I was scheduled to go to Metropolis, Illinois for their SUPERMAN CELEBRATION, followed by a week-long visit from my sister. I couldn't respond to things as quickly as I normally would, delaying the book by a couple weeks.

I do not have a confirmed delivery date on IMPOSSIBLE JONES Vol 2 yet, but I am guestimating it will arrive on my doorstep sometime in the second half of August. Possibly early September. Otherwise…

I'm Ready To Send Out Books Soon As They Arrive!

Thanks to the always-fantastic Phil and Lori at Colorhaus, I already have all the stickers and assorted swag that's going out with this ULTRA-COOL edition…

OK— almost ready to send out! Those bookplates still need to be signed by David and myself, and I ordered some classy envelopes to go with the SECRET VALENTINE. But both of those will be in-hand before the book is.

You've already seen the CAPTAIN LIGHTNING and POLECAT ENAMEL PINS, right? To tell you the truth, I forgot myself in all the excitement. So what the Hell, here they are again…

Meanwhile, David is working on the SKETCHES, while I'm hammering away at the script for our next IMP Outing— a self-contained romance/noir we're calling IMPOSSIBLE TO LOVE. Which is also a prologue to the long promised and much-anticipated ALIAS SMITH AND JONES story arc!

Elsewhere on Kickstarter…

IMMORTAL COIL

I'm not a fan of Eldritch Gods— Cthulhu kinda bores me— but what I am a fan of is excellent comics made with personal passion— and Gerald Vonstoddard's IMMORTAL COIL is ALL that! Beautifully drawn, the story is about Viking Gods fighting Eldritch Gods. Which I'm sure will be incredibly cool in Gerald's hands!

Check it out HERE— and check it out SOON. The KS ends WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 6:53 AM PDT!

IMPOSSIBLE— But True! It's JUNE!
7 months ago – Sat, Jun 01, 2024 at 07:09:52 AM

Lots and lots of GOOD NEWS! For instance:

It took a little while, but ARTHUR ADAMS finished his fold-out— and it's pretty damn magnificent. Of course. And then RYAN CODY'S colors made it even cooler! Can you imagine unfolding this from the book and seeing it in all it's double-page pageantry? Well, soon you won't have to imagine it because…

IMP TEAM-UP is at the Printer!

I sent it in last Wednesday. After proof-reading it about a zillion times (so there are probably only a couple hundred typos I missed), fixing small coloring errors (there were 2 pages in the IMP-ANGEL chapter where Polecat's outfit had been mis-colored… and it got printed that way! Fixed for the ULTRA-COOL Edition), and fine-tuning layouts and designs. In fact, the final cover looks like this:

(With strategically placed spot-gloss, of course.)

My thinking for this last-minute design change is that we still have the strong, striking, graphic image of IMP that will catch people's attention from across the room, and then they'll come closer and see all the other cool characters. At which point not getting it would be, well… IMPOSSIBLE!

I'm still waiting to hear from Sam at PrintLore that the files are correct (which I believe they are). Once we all know that they'll work, we're looking at 8 to 9 weeks for the printed books to be at my doorstep. So: end of July, probably more like early August because delays always happen.

Right now I'm expecting AUGUST FULFILLMENT.

Everything else is already in the works.

• T-SHIRTS: Re-ordered (since we sold out the first batch). In fact, just yesterday I was told they'd been printed and are waiting to be shipped out!
• TEMPORARY TATTS: Ordered! Will be in my hands June 11th.
• CHIBI STICKERS, SECRET VALENTINE CARD, 1ST 48 HOURS STICKER, IMP-TEAM-UP BOOKPLATE: All now in the capable hands of Colorhaus, my local printer of choice.
• ENAMEL PINS: Done and Delivered! Did I show you a picture of them last time? Can't remember. So here they are (maybe) again:

Ain't they adorable?

So Now… ?

Now I start writing the next IMP book. By the time I send out your ULTRA-COOL COLLECTORS EDITION, David and I should have a lot of it done. Maybe not all of it— but close. Tell you this much:

It's a love story. An IMPOSSIBLE love story!