Almost the end of the month, and the schedule finally slipped out from under me. No worries, I’ll have it realigned before I take a break.
Yeah, I’m officially running out of steam, but that’s okay; the plan was to take a break from the comics during March, so after I get the last two done for the month, I’ll be doing just that. I don’t know if I’ll upload them on the correct days (tomorrow’s one may only be up by Saturday), but the story will wrap up before February ends. Honestly though, at the rate I’m going, I might extend my break through April as well; it’s a long time to step away from the comics, but it would give my intended social media campaign a bit longer to gain momentum. Plus, there’s a different piece I might work on alongside it at the same time…
At the end of April, Comic Con Cape Town is finally happening, properly this time; I’m naturally going to be there all four days. In the past, I’ve often attended as part of the Artist Alley, but like the last Comic Con Africa, I’ll instead be behind my fiance’s table in The Block, selling dice at The Dragon Wagon.
(By the way, if you’re local and want some cool RPG dice, check out thedragonwagon.co.za, order now, beat the rush!)
I’m obviously happy to be a part of her business, though I do miss having my own table. Not that I ever really turned much of a profit from the last few Artist Alley’s I attended; I’ve never been on the kind of level where I stand out compared to other artists, and buying full comics over art prints is often not in most people’s budgets, not to mention the printing costs. That said, I will be bringing a bit of my artwork along; I had a bunch of postcard prints that I sold through The Dragon Wagon at the last convention that a lot of people seemed to like (by virtue of the fact that they sold out!), and part of my March project is getting more of those done. In addition, there is a little something else I want to work on, for a bit of networking and advertising: my own promotional ashcan zine.
Ashcan comics are great little nuggets that get handed out, often for free, at conventions; they’re usually no more than a few pages with a little bit of artwork, promotional material for artists about their current projects. I’d like to get one of my own done, something that I can pass on to the other tables and anyone who happens to walk by, advertising this website and getting my readership up. In tandem with the social media campaign, it might be helpful in getting a bigger spotlight on Fifth Ace Comics, and allowing me to implement new things. On the other hand, I’m going to need time to get the zine ready, and that may include April as part of it; if need be, I can always upload the zine pages on the website, since they will be canon with the rest of the Showcase. I’m thinking of it as an origins issue, something that introduces the characters of Apex City, and a brief narrative describing their abilities and where they come from; nothing that can’t be figured out from context, but neat and encapsulated in print form.
Still, got to finish up February’s stuff first; if I need the longer break, I need the longer break, and the only person busting my butt over it is me.
Ciao for now.