The Fun Stuff First
Join Me at Niagara Falls Comic Con
I’ll be at Niagara Falls Comic-Con with copies of Unlimited Udo and Stay Cool available — plus a bonus for any backers of Crazy Latte Thing Called Love.
Not just that, but dear subscribers (LIKE YOU) will also get a freebie from me. Just show me your subscription on your phone and I’ll hand over the goods.
NFCC runs from June 7-9. Find out more here.
“Crazy Latte Thing Called Love” Going Strong
Holy cow! What a start we’ve had! 13 hours in and we hit our funding goal! We rocketed past the first stretch goal too before slowing down through the deadzone for a little while.
I’m writing post on Monday to get ahead of all the things I need to do for the campaign, so I don’t know how the Flash Goal and Pocket Reward have done. Hopefully those drummed up a lot of interest. If you’re reading this now, you know better than I do.
The support this campaign, in comparison to the previous ones by Pesto Comics, has been absolutely astounding. I’ve been trying a whole bunch of new things this time out to drum up interest. Not everything has worked, but a lot has.
Most of all, Mattia Monaco’s art has been a huge talking point by nearly everyone who checks the campaign out. I’ll get into this more later in this post.
I’ll also be doing a post-mortem, here in the Substack, a couple weeks after the end of the campaign to really dive deep into the numbers.
For now, I just want to say thank you to anyone who has backed the campaign already. If you haven’t, don’t delay. Though the comics will be available in some form after the campaign, you won’t get the deals you do during the Kickstarter.
Shipping is included. There’s great bundles. A whole whack of free extras that go to both physical backers and to digital only ones. Plus, keeping these campaigns alive ensures that we can keep creating new and more amazing stories to share.
Speaking of sharing stories…
Call for Entries Continue!
I’ve been reading more than ever - and I was already an avid reader. There are so many good stories out there. It’s incredible the gems I’ve been uncovering from the submission to Big Smoke Pulp. Space in the book is nearly 50% spoken for. So if you’re a glass half-full kind of person, throw your hat in the ring.
Some tips to make sure I’m happy when I read your story:
Fast paced and high tension: get into the story immediately. Set the scene with action over description.
Shorter is better: though some longer works have made it through, the overwhelming majority have been south of 2000 words.
Cliche is okay...sometimes: with shorter word counts, using some cliched tropes helps set to scene so you can get to the action.
With a twist: keep me guessing 'til the end. I want to feel like I know what's coming - then be shocked. It's not a requirement to be an actual twist, but subvert my expectations a bit.
I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve got — and I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been reading!
A Year on Substack
Time flies, doesn’t it? I remember when this newsletter could barely walk - and now it’s soaring!
This newsletter started with just a handful of readers and we’re now well over 600 subscribers. I’m thrilled to have so many friendly folks interested in what’s happening with this venture every couple of weeks.
Now, with that hidden segue…
How Lucky Am I?!
You may have noticed I use “I” and “we” interchangeably. That’s because I don’t do any of this alone. The amazing artists I’ve worked with since 2022 have elevated my stories into something new and amazing every single time.
I’ve had a great experience with all of them, so I’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to each of them individually! If you’re looking for some great artists to work with, consider this my recommendation list.
I’m working with some again already - and I hope to work with others again soon. Feel free to fight me for their services.
Here they are - in the order that I’ve met and worked with them:
Lane Lloyd
Brad(s)
It’s hard to miss Lane’s work if you’re familiar with indie comics at all. Lane is a work-horse with a very distinctive style that you can spot from a mile away. Lane’s work on Brad(s) - which you can still get a drm-free pdf copy of as a subscriber to this newsletter - might be a brief, silly story but Lane managed to make it a lot of fun with the limited space.
Valentin De Las Casas
Unlimited Udo
After working with Lane, I knew there were huge advantages to finding artists with distinct styles. Valentin fit the bill. Unlimited Udo needed someone with a sense of humour. Someone that could make the silly story of a tech-bro making multiples of himself seem grave while staying as ludicrous as it is.
The cross between manga and graffiti makes Unlimited Udo something terribly unique and something I’ll be proud of for a long time.
Rafael Chrestani
Unlimited Udo / Stay Cool / NKW
To contrast Valentin, I found Rafael who has a very traditional style. He drew a cover that brought Hope, the main character of Unlimited Udo, to life in a way that I didn’t think was possible. From there, we worked on the 2nd Pesto Comics project, Stay Cool.
It was a story that needed a little more gravitas. It’s a noir about revenge and spontaneous combustion. Being silly would change the book entirely, as it’s more about paranoia and gaslighting than explosions.
And that’s not all. I’ve been keeping Rafael busy with our next, yet-to-be-announced project NKW. It’s a series that’ll keep Rafael busy for a while. I’ll be sharing more in the coming months, with plans to launch the first issue in the Fall.
Riccardo Faccini
Unlimited Udo / Stay Cool
Riccardo is an artist that’s on my wishlist for a full project. Some of the best work you’ll find on Kickstarter is Riccardo’s. I knew I wanted him for a cover for Unlimited Udo and he did not disappoint.
I didn’t expect to work with him again so soon on Stay Cool. Both Rafael and the next artist I’ll mention only do inks. I needed a colourist and put a call out on Facebook to look for them. I must have reviewed over 100 colourists, but just couldn’t find the right fit.
Then Riccardo gave me a nudge saying he’d happily work as a colourist. The palettes he chose for two of the covers for Stay Cool were not what I was expecting, but in the best way. He proved I must work with him again soon.
Brian Azcurra
Stay Cool
Brian was an artist I had on my shortlist. I loved the way he drew women. They looked strong in just the right way that fit the character of Ellie in Stay Cool. It was serendipitous that as I was scanning the Facebook groups, I saw Brian had put a call out that he was looking for commissions. It was an easy hire.
Mattia Monaco
Stay Cool / Crazy Latte Thing Called Love
Mattia was honestly a dream come true. I’ve been telling the story on every podcast or to anyone who asks, but I’ll mention it again.
I was reading Chicken Devils from Aftershock and absolutely loved the new artist on it. I didn’t know who it was, but I loved just how dynamic yet detailed it all was.
Then I saw those very same pages on a Reddit post with that same artist looking for work.
I had a spot for an extra variant cover on Stay Cool and had to jump at the chance to work with Mattia. I loved the result so much that I wrote a script with him in mind.
That’s how we came to Crazy Latte Thing Called Love.
Mattia’s ability to make the mundane to the insane so incredibly full of life and interesting is something you need to see for yourself. His art is absolutely mind-blowingly good and elevated this story well beyond what I had imagined.
There’s still 9 days to check out the Kickstarter so you can see what I mean.
Roberto Viacava
Crazy Latte Thing Called Love
Roberto is the first local I’ve worked with. We met virtually in the ComixLaunch program, but when I found out we lived a mere hour away from one another (with no traffic) - it felt like it was meant to be that we’d work together.
Roberto has so much going on and I’ve already mentioned him a couple times in recent posts. You need to see what he’s doing with his Voyager series.
He’ll probably be in the next post too as we’re tabling across the aisle from one another in his home town for Niagara Falls Comic Con.
Will Robson
Crazy Latte Thing Called Love
I try to swing really big with the 3rd covers. Riccardo, Mattia and now Will.
There’s a method to how I choose these covers too:
The 1st is the main artist.
The 2nd is for me.
The 3rd is the one that has an audience already that I can draw from.
(In Crazy Latte Thing Called Love, there were two for me as Mattia gave me too many good options. You should see what I didn’t go through with - it was still great!)
I reached out to Will based on a tweet:
I knew Will excelled at homage covers - and I knew just the one for him. Not only did he make an amazing cover - but he was the first one to support the campaign! I didn’t even finish adding the add-ons yet.
I’m talking seconds.
That aside, Will comes with a resume that I could only dream of. He’s an expert at his craft and I was thrilled to get to work with him - and get his support!
Debora Lancianese
Crazy Latte Thing Called Love / NKW
This one was so hard to keep under my hat.
I love Debora’s work. I didn’t even know I did right away, having read and loving Jonathan Hedrick’s Hyper/Aware not knowing that she was the artist!
I got her to do a cover for the Rafael project way ahead of schedule. I didn’t want to chase her down last minute…but I did anyway.
While she was busy with a move back in Italy, I was pestering her for a cover for Crazy Latte Thing Called Love. I had an idea I knew she could nail (and she did). I knew it would be a great pocket reward, but man, was it hard to keep a secret.
And just wait until you see what she did for NKW.
Needless to say, Debora is also on my list of “want to work with again”.
Daniel Caval
FPU
Lastly, the latest artist I’m working with. Daniel was another artist on my wishlist that I would reach out to…one day. Then I saw Daniel post that he’s looking for long-term projects.
And I just happened to have something I’ve been kicking around for 5-6 years now.
With his art in mind, I was finally able to get it all together and ready. Daniel is trucking through pages that I may end up reversing the release of FPU and NKW to get this book out first. We’ll probably bounce Kickstarter campaigns between these two projects, but my goodness does Daniel have a work ethic.
And the pages he’s been sending are a lot of fun.
What a Roster!
This is just the beginning. My wishlist of artists I’d like to work with grows constantly. There’s one artist, much like some I’ve listed here, that is available and I absolutely dream about working with. I’ve already messaged him warning him I’m coming at him with something soon. Fingers crossed the stars align.
I thank you, dear reader, for supporting our campaigns so I can continue to get these amazing artists working. I want to check off every name in my checklist multiple times. How could I work with Mattia just once? Or Riccardo? Or Roberto? Or Debora? Or Valentin? Or Brian? Or Will? Or Lane?
Not to mention all the ones I haven’t got to work with yet.
I have stories to keep all of them very busy. Here’s hoping we can keep breaking records so I can afford to keep them all making me look good!
Before We Go…
Speaking of artists making me look good: A reminder to check out Crazy Latte Thing Called Love - live now on Kickstarter - if you haven’t already.
What’s Next?
June 15
A Home Away from Home
The weekend at Niagara Falls Comic-Con
(Plus: announcing the next project by Pesto Comics)
July 1
Post-Mortem: Crazy Latte Thing Called Love
An in-depth look at the third Pesto Comics campaign.
Find Pesto Comics In-Person!
How Lucky Am I?