4komatose

So this obviously isn’t a finished comic, but I really felt that I needed to post something so people can see what’s going on so far. This isn’t necessarily the final layout, and not necessarily all of the artwork, but this is how things are going so far. I will try to finish everything as soon as possible.

As far as why things are so behind schedule…I’ve had meetings that have taken up most of my last few weekends, plus my instructors all decided that they needed to make up for time lost due to snow days…and they all decided it at the same time. It’s one thing to have assignments in every class–it’s another thing entirely to have four assignments in every class.

I’m pretty much caught up now, and plugging away steadily at the comic. It’s not a simple issue, as you can see. That first panel has as much artwork going on in it as the entire last issue…but at least it should look good when it’s done.

More coming soon.

Just to let everyone know: this week’s issue will be late, but deliberately so. #38 only made it online in full color form on Saturday, and I didn’t want to take it down after only two days. Look for the next issue on Thursday Friday Saturday.

It’s officially finals time at PSU, as indicated by the involuntary twitching of my right eyelid. Said twitching will continue throughout finals’ week and the week following, subsiding just in time for the start of the next term.

So what’s been going on with this site? In addition to the regular routine of drawing the comic (a process that can consume as much of my week as a full-time job) and the rigors of some intensive courses I’ve been taking this term, I’ve also been seeking employment, finding it, and going through its attendant week of orientation.

Which brings me to an interesting point: throughout this process, I realized just how much work I was taking on myself. Between classes, work and the comic I’ve effectively taken on three separate jobs. Add to that the simple fact that everyone needs some recreational time in their lives in order to maintain a modicum of sanity, and it’s just too much. I realized that I couldn’t keep up all three at the levels I was. Something had to give.

My solution? I am now the first (and only) student enrolling in the Webcomic Illustration course at PSU. This is a 4-credit independent study course with a very simple premise: I have to publish a weekly comic on 4Komatose.com. Since the comic is basically an application of things my graphic design instructors are trying to teach me, they agreed that my work on this site should count towards my degree. From my point of view, registering 4Komatose as a class means that I have one less class I have to enroll in next term and that I have a professional illustrator and designer who will be helping me improve the art and design of the comic while holding me to a strict release schedule.

In the meantime, I apologize to everyone for the erratic releases of the last few weeks and hope you stick with us long enough to see what happens this next term.

I just wanted to take a moment and let you know that the version of Issue #39 that has been up since March 10th is not the final version of this issue. There is actually a word balloon that was accidentally left out of panel 5. Our new character, Koishi, actually says something to Ariake that will likely take you by surprise. Especially considering Ariake’s luck with women. I only mention it because it may come back to haunt him later.

Look for version 2 of Issue #39 to be released sometime this week. We are in the middle of finals week at PSU, so it will depend on when Michael gets the opportunity to update the issue.