Artist Asks "When Do You Throw in the Towel and Quit?"
The end is near for the community, campaigns, and the year. Let's talk about it.
This week I asked a friend the following, “at what point do you throw in the towel and quit comics?” Today’s post will be discussing this question and my thoughts on it, as well as announcing a SECRET PROJECT! But before we start, this is the FINAL week to check out THE CTHULHU MURDERS on Kickstarter, a one-shot crime noir graphic novel!
SECRET PROJECT REVEALED!
THE CTHULHU MURDERS was supposed to be my final project of the year, but I had one last story that I wanted to launch this year. What’s it called?
BULLET ASSASSIN LIVING IN A FANTASY WORLD, and it will launch November 8th. What happens when an assassin from the real world dies, and sent to a fantasy world where the common folk are oppressed by the three Overlords of the land? Well obviously she has to be the hero! Lucky for Asumi, she still has her assault rifle and ONE magazine.
I have some funny stories that I can’t wait to tell y’all about how this comic came to be, and how the character design played out. And believe me when I say, this was NOT my original design for the character, by my partner in crime basically had me at gun point to use THIS design. I hope you check out our Kickstarter on 11/8. I’ll make sure to tell y’all about it here :)
YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS ANIME!
This is my FAVORITE anime of all time. Lycoris Recoil is a PG-13 about Takina Inoue, a member of a government-sponsored all-female task force known as "Lycoris," is a part of an undercover group that eliminates criminals and terrorists in Tokyo while posing as high school students.
After a reckless operation that leads to her dismissal for disobeying orders, she's assigned to work with elite agent Chisato Nishikigi in a cafe called "LycoReco." Together, they aim to regain their positions within the agency while facing threats from terrorists led by Majima, challenging the peace maintained by the Lycoris.
10/10 on this for me. Seriously. Watch it!
WHEN DO YOU GET OUT OF THE COMICS GAME?
The saying goes, “getting into comics is hard, STAYING in comics is even harder.” This is something that is said about creators who make it into the mainstream, like DC and Marvel. This can be said about the independent scene as well.
Comics is crazy, and I’m sure like EVERY fandom and community, there are both positive and negatives of being in it. The negatives are the constant battles with creators, the drama, the antics, the back stabbing, and the negative attitudes that these people carry. You would think being in a community that’s all about telling stories that aren’t real would be fun, but NOPE. Drama drama drama.
And that’s not even bringing up the actual comic book making process and making money off of them. All of it is STRESSFUL.
I asked a friend this question the other day:
“How much longer do you think you’re going to be making comics? When do you throw in the towel?”
This is a question that I’ve been thinking about for several months. How much longer do I want to stay doing this? How much longer do I want to stay in this toxic community of backstabbing creators?
I feel like Dr. Manhattan when he says:
And then it dawned on me. I don’t want to stop making comics. I love comics. I love storytelling. I love creating characters and putting them through hell, only for them to become triumphant and win. I love getting reviews from readers who enjoy my stories. I love collaborating with artists and becoming friends with them. I love that my artist partners get to put their kids in a better pre-school in their area because of the work they do for Draw and Talk Comics, and the bonus we give them if the book sales are awesome.
If I love all of these aspects of comics, what are the aspects that I hate that are making me emotionally down on a constant basis.
The community.
The answer is: the community. The community of creators…my “peers.” It’s the constant drama, the opinions and disagreements, and the battles over what is and is not.
The solution: Leave the community.
When I say community, I’m not talking about the reader community, I’m talking about the creator community.
I’ve known this is the solution for so long, and yet…it’s scary to leave a place that I’ve been so familiar with for the last 10 years. It’s like living in a physical location and moving to a whole new country. I’m comfortable in the creator community, and know how to survive it’s toxicity and mind games.
But it goes back to that statement, “getting into comics is hard, staying in comics is even harder.”
I’m in comics. I’ve made comics. I’ve had my best year in comics (all thanks to you guys). I want to stay in comics. I want to STAY making comics. The only thing that’s hard currently in the “staying in comics” aspect is dealing with the creator community.
It’s draining.
So I think my goal for the rest of 2023 is to start packing up my things and begin my move OUT of the creator community. It’s going to be an adjustment and weird. Luckily I have a strong group of creator friends who I’m basically ride or die at this point.
Time to start packing :)
PROGRESS ON PROJECTS
MY SEXY WITCH ACADEMIA #1 - 100% fulfilled :)
SUPER PLUMBER SISTERS #1 - Should be completed this week and sent to the printer, along with digital sent to backers
MY SEXY WITCH ACADEMIA #2 - line art completed
SUPER PLUMBER SISTERS #2 - sketches sent to artist
THE GIRL WITH THE MEGA FISTS VOL. 4 - art resumes this month (very excited)
THE CTHULHU MURDERS - final day on Kickstarter is November 3rd
BULLET ASSASSIN LIVING IN A FANTASY WORLD: launches November 8th
Right now I’m scared people are going to think of me as the “guy who has too many projects out and not fulfilled” rather than the publisher who is putting out several books on various timelines.
I PROMISE that these books are being made and are getting fulfilled. If you ever have a problem, please let me know.
You rock.
Tyler :)
Ride or Die!
Hey all moves are tough, even REALLY smart ones. Here’s a tip, get a dumpster and clean out, most of the baggage is not worth breaking your back for so just leave it! 😎👍
“Having your artists get their kids in a better preschool in their area because of the work they’re doing for Draw N Talk..”
HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I’VE HEARD!
I found this blog through the substack algorithm and insta subbed seeing Lycoris Recoil. Agreed, it's a 10/10 🤝 Looking forward to reading the rest of your work