Pesto Comics - Audio Edition

Round 3: From Parts Unknown

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-17:18

Round 3: From Parts Unknown

Back Before You Could Miss It

Adriano Ariganello

Apr 01, 2025

Transcript

I’m silly and sent this post a day too early. I’m the April Fool, it seems.
From Parts Unknown #3 is live tomorrow April 2 at 9:00am EDT.

Welcome Back (00:00)
Main Story
- Short Turnaround (02:10)
- Speeding to the Finish (03:10)
- Within Reach (03:57)
- I Backed Issue 2, When Can I Read It? (04:55)
- So When Will #4 Come Out? (05:26)
- Still Shipping Worldwide (05:59)
- What's Available This Campaign (07:10)
- Light at the End of the Tunnel (09:43)
Updates and More
- Coming Up on the Substack (11:11)
- Upcoming Appearances (11:47)
- Pesto Comics Release Calendar (12:34)
- Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast (13:04)
- Super Secret Epilogue (14:11)

Welcome Back

If it feels like I've been talking about From Parts Unknown non-stop for months now, it’s because it’s true. I’ll warn you that there’s no signs of letting up as we're ready to launch From Parts Unknown #3 today — and From Parts Unknown #4 will launch soon after in May.

Back 'From Parts Unknown 3'

There's a bit of a risk in launching each issue so soon after the previous one as I suspect some people are sitting it out and waiting to pick up the complete story rather than do so piecemeal. At least for physical copies of the book. I’ve tried to mitigate that by including shipping costs and having the comic prices stay consistently as low as possible - to the point that I’m not fully recouping the production costs on the comic alone.

The biggest problem is a lot of this is a mystery. Very few people actually give feedback as to how they feel about it one way or the other, and I appreciate those that do. Since I have your attention now, mind voting in this poll to let me know where you lean?

*just this newsletter

At Fan Expo last year, I went to a panel where one of the creators mentioned that he doesn’t even bother with serialized issues. Instead, he just commissions the 100-120 pages up front, as he is a writer like myself, and releases the full volume at once. I’m taking some risk in getting each comic done ahead of releasing them, but doing the entire thing before getting anything out there feels aggressive.

That said, if that’s what backers are more interested in, I’ll keep it in mind for future projects. I’ve been transparent that this comic was going to come out fast and I’ve held to that. I’m hoping it’s for a good reason.

With that, let’s talk about what you can expect in From Parts Unknown #3 launching today!

Main Story

Short Turn Around

It's been just 19 days since the end of the campaign for From Parts Unknown #2. The prelaunch page for From Parts Unknown #3 was up the moment that #2 funded.

This is something of an anomaly in crowdfunded comics, as I'm trying my best to replicate the feeling of getting your favourite monthly comics at your local comic shop - except on Kickstarter instead. Though I’m not quite getting them out monthly, it's coming out as close as humanly possible to that cadence. This is awfully fast for any crowdfunded project.

This is required me to be super prepared ahead of time. (I talked about how I do all that in last weekend’s paid post.) I have to know exactly how everything is coming together well before it ever does.

In fact, I'm working on the Kickstarter page for From Parts Unknown #4 right now so it’ll be ready to follow in prelaunch while #3 wraps up.

That isn't to say that I haven't called an audible here or there. The fact that this is now the penultimate issue is a huge shift in itself!

Speeding to the Finish

For the sake of budgeting and taxes, I still separate From Parts Unknown #4 and #5 in my documentation, but as far as you as a reader will experience it, the 4th issue is the final, double-sized issue.

Structurally speaking, in terms of narrative, this feels a lot more natural as #3 really ramps up and kicks off the climax of the series. Issue 1 was very much a slow build to the reveal of the lane. Issue 2 continues setting those pins up.

Issue 3 is where we finally start knocking them over.

If you've been looking for wild wrestling and vampire violence, this is the issue you’ve been waiting for. From Parts Unknown goes full-octane from here on out, so it's a good time to catch up if you haven’t backed it yet.

Within Reach

I've kept the goal extra low this time, which is actually about 1/3 of what I set for From Parts Unknown #2 and half of the goal for #1.

It's not as though this issue was any less expensive to put together, but I wanted to experiment with the Kickstarter algorithm using this goal. I found hovering around 80% funded with #2 just ensured that it wasn't showing up on the home page of Kickstarter or in the project update emails from other creators where Naked Kaiju Woman was always front and center - even though they were both deemed “Projects We Love” early on.

Part of that was likely the genre, as Naked Kaiju Woman was very much in the NSFW space, but I'd like to test if the funding goals and percentage over funded has any influence on it.

Since the goal is low, I’m hoping to fund in record time. I already have plans for stretch goals planned to get closer to what's actually required to recoup the costs of production on this entry.

Now, you may be asking…

I Backed Issue 2. When Can I Read It?

The surveys for Issue 2 have been sent out.

Once those are locked, you'll receive your digital copy via Backerkit. The physical copy will come soon after as they’re already with the printer.

You should receive #2 at your doorstep before the end of the campaign for #3. Here's hoping the final page of Issue 2 convinces you to finish the story with #3 and beyond. (The last page of #3, in particular, is a doozy.)

So, When Will #4 Come Out?

The short turnaround between #2 and #3 will be identical for #3 and #4. 23 days of campaign, followed by a 19 day break to fulfill #3. Then we’ll launch #4.

I'm not encouraging you to sit it out and wait, though it may feel like it. If you're interested in bundles or variant covers, this is the best time to grab them as I plan my print runs based on these orders — and my goodness, the variant covers are some of my favourites yet. More about that below.

Still Shipping Worldwide

I'm shipping these from Canada.

That used to be somewhat of an advantage as printing costs, given we supply most of North America’s paper, and shipping, using services like Stallion Express, actually made it a little bit cheaper to ship to the United States - where an overwhelming majority of my backers are located.

To my US friends, if you follow the news at all, it's been concerning and confusing with all the potential changes that happen or don’t happen each month.

As of right now, there's been no change to Section 321, which is an exemption for items under $800 USD crossing the border. This means you can order without concerns of seeing tariffs. For now.

All that can change, of course. To make it a little bit easier, I always bake in the shipping costs with your order. The price you see is the price you pay - but I can’t control what happens when they’ve left my possession.

For customs, I set the price the “retail” price markedly lower than the “Kickstarter” price, as they’re different markets, so that could help mitigate extra charges as well. (My European backers can tell you all about it.)

That said, if you're very concerned, I have some affordable DRM-free digital bundles that'll be available as well. That’s not all…

What's Available This Campaign

I’m having fun creating enamel pins. We still have a handful from the From Parts Unknown #2 campaign available, and I’m considering creating another one for this campaign as a secret reward or stretch reward depending on the interest in this campaign over all. Designs are ready to go, so it all depends on how far we go in terms of funding.

As always, we have three covers available, but this time we’ve gone full vampire.

First we have the moody cover by interior artist Daniel Caval that has brought a ton of extra attention as our primary teaser image. JP’s colours add to the cold, terrifying feeling like nothing else.

I've also returned to an old friend, Riccardo Faccini, for an incredible variant cover. He was responsible for the variant for Unlimited Udo and colours on covers for Stay Cool. If you’re thinking it looks somewhat familiar, it’s because it's based off of a DC vs.Vampires cover that’s one of my favourite, and I think Riccardo elevated it to a whole new level with Bruno and Pietro surrounded. We’re calling this the Versus variant.

I’ve also been able to work with someone I’ve been wanting to work with for a long, long time: Nate Walkington. He provided an aggressive, bulky cover with Big Jim looming in the blood-soaked background. Though we’ve had some amazing covers and art so far, this is the first time I’ve really felt the size of Bruno and Pietro. They’re super intimidating! This one will called the Blood-soaked variant.

This is the best time to pick up all the variants, rather than sitting out the campaign or trade-waiting, as I set my print orders based on how popular they are during their own campaigns. If you wait too long, you may miss out entirely.

That said, I still have enough to continue with the bundles on this campaign. This includes the From Parts Unknown cover catch-up tier where you can get every single cover that has been printed thus far.

If you're completely new to Pesto Comics, we have you covered as not only are our backlist comics like Crazy Latte Thing Called Love, Stay Cool, Unlimited Udo and Naked Kaiju Woman available as add-ons, but they're also available at a steep discount in bundles.

That includes the Pesto Starter Pack that has every issue #1 and all issues of From Parts Unknown, so you’ll have every story we’ve produced so far.

If you're a fan of variant covers, we have The Pesto Comics Bundle which includes every available copy of our comics - while supplies last. That includes one huge box that I’ll send your way — and digital comics that come with those too.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

This has been a fun series and I'm glad that I've finally been able to lean into the theme of it without spoiling too much.

There's still some really huge surprises in the pages within, especially the final page of issue 3 that leading into the finale. (Like I said, it’s a doozy.) Daniel absolutely killed it on that page and I wish I could share it without spoiling it.

You're just going to have to pick up the issue to see for yourself.

All that said, I appreciate everyone who checks out the campaign, as always. If wrestling comics aren't for you, I'll have all kinds of different genres and types of stories in the near future, so I appreciate you sticking around.

I’d still love your help if you’re open to it, though. Share the campaign out far and wide or share this post. My hope is it gets in front of folks that are interested in wrestling vampire comics.

As always, I'll be keeping you updated at the beginning of each newsletter with how well we're doing and where we are in terms of milestones.

If you're ever looking for much more in depth information with this whole business, you can still get the 60-day early access free trial for paid subscriptions. Last Saturday was the first entry where I shared a lot about how I plan and specific methods for doing so. Being organized is the only way that I can get these comics out to you so quickly, and I share how I do that — behind the paywall.

Become an EARLY ACCESS subscriber

Whether you're paid subscriber, a backer of From Parts Unknown or you’re just here to hang out with me every week, I really do appreciate you.

I'm having a lot of fun with all of this and I hope that you are too! That's what this is all about.

Until next time…