• Gosh Is Dead #4! This issue is a higher number than the last issue!!
With any luck, both of these super amazing things will be existing sometime this month. Hooray!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Coming Soon:
• New website! Bells! Whistles! LIFE-CHANGING NACHOS!!!
• Gosh Is Dead #4! This issue is a higher number than the last issue!!
With any luck, both of these super amazing things will be existing sometime this month. Hooray!
• Gosh Is Dead #4! This issue is a higher number than the last issue!!
With any luck, both of these super amazing things will be existing sometime this month. Hooray!
Monday, September 3, 2012
More Earth 2 Love!
The fine folks over at the Earth 2 Podcast cover Gosh Is Dead issues 2 and 3 on their latest episode! Thanks, guys!
On the subject of book sizes-- Gosh is Dead #3 is the same trim size as #1 and the original white version of #2. The blue #2 printed slightly larger, and I have no bloody idea why. It was probably a ghost.
But but BUTT!! We liked how #2 came out somewhat oversized, so we kept it that way. Future issues will also occasionally vary in trim size. I wanna play with all kinds of formats and dimensions and all that kinda razzmatazz. It'll be fun, plus it'll drive Jonathan mad. :D
On the subject of book sizes-- Gosh is Dead #3 is the same trim size as #1 and the original white version of #2. The blue #2 printed slightly larger, and I have no bloody idea why. It was probably a ghost.
But but BUTT!! We liked how #2 came out somewhat oversized, so we kept it that way. Future issues will also occasionally vary in trim size. I wanna play with all kinds of formats and dimensions and all that kinda razzmatazz. It'll be fun, plus it'll drive Jonathan mad. :D
Friday, August 17, 2012
Read Gosh Is Dead #3!
Cover by Nick Rodgers
Pages 1-4 Written & Inked by Adam Pruett
Breakdowns by David Seltzer
Pages 1-4 Written & Inked by Adam Pruett
Breakdowns by David Seltzer
Page 5
Art by David Seltzer
Written by Adam Pruett
Page 6
by Adam Pruett
Page 7
by Spencer Caragol
Pages 8-9
Art by David Seltzer
Written by Adam Pruett
Pages 10-11
by Adam Pruett
Page 12
by Nick Rodgers
Page 13
Written by Ryan Melvin
Art by Adam Pruett
Page 14
by Nick Rodgers
Page 15
by Adam Pruett
Page 16
by Ryan Melvin
Page 17
by Adam Pruett
Page 18
Written by Sarah Pruett
Art by Adam Pruett
Page 19
by Kenny Madrid
Page 20
by Aaron Sullivan
by Spencer Caragol
Pages 8-9
Art by David Seltzer
Written by Adam Pruett
Pages 10-11
by Adam Pruett
Page 12
by Nick Rodgers
Page 13
Written by Ryan Melvin
Art by Adam Pruett
Page 14
by Nick Rodgers
Page 15
by Adam Pruett
Page 16
by Ryan Melvin
Page 17
by Adam Pruett
Page 18
Written by Sarah Pruett
Art by Adam Pruett
Page 19
by Kenny Madrid
Page 20
by Aaron Sullivan
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Gosh is Dead #3 Will Rock Your Casbaaaaahh
So -- Gosh is Dead #3 is here, and it's BADASS. First, there's that sweet yellow & red cover by Nick Rodgers printed on 65lb cardstock -- then there's a full 20 pages of interiors! Featuring comix and art by Nick Rodgers, David Seltzer, Aaron Sullivan, Kenny Madrid, Ryan Melvin, Spencer Caragol, Sarah Pruett, and me. And some of it is even actually readable, I swear!
I'm pretty proud of how this came out (which is why I took so many blamed pictures).
But wait, there's more! We also printed up a few with straight B&W covers, just for shits (no giggles). These are a couple percentage points less cool than the red & yellow, but they make up for it with the black ink being glossy. The B&W covers are 110lb cardstock.
BUT I LIKE OTHER COLORS TOO SOMETIMES!!
We were having so much fun playing with our new office equipment, we printed up a bunch of extra color variants! The covers are all still cardstock, and there are only one or two copies each of these: Black on yellow, turquoise on white, yellowy-orangey on white, blue on white, red on white, black on green, green on white, black on pink (ooh!), and dark blue on white. I know, it's insanity.
LASTLY...
• Gosh Is Dead #3: $2.00 shipped. Please specify if you'd like one of the variant covers listed above.
• Gosh Is Dead #2: $1.50 shipped. There are still a few copies available, so jump on it if you got the itch.
• Gosh Is Dead #1: $1.50 shipped. We have plenty of copies of the new printing, so fetch me my cider jug and let's dance a jig!!!
All orders: Send Paypal to adam@bigredh.net and remember to include your address information.
Next week, I'll be posting the complete issue #3 online to read for free. Yes, that's right -- you don't have to buy it to read it. But the print version is so frickin' rad, it's worth the measly two bones.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Gosh Is Dead #3
Yellow cardstock cover printed with red ink.
20 interior B&W pages.
$2.00 shipped.
Send Paypal to adam@bigredh.net and make sure to include your address information.
Or, read it online.
I'll be posting the issue in its entirety here soon. You can buy a print copy or read it online for free. Or both. You know, whatever floats your boat. Whatever rubs your button.
20 interior B&W pages.
$2.00 shipped.
Send Paypal to adam@bigredh.net and make sure to include your address information.
Or, read it online.
I'll be posting the issue in its entirety here soon. You can buy a print copy or read it online for free. Or both. You know, whatever floats your boat. Whatever rubs your button.
Cover by Nick Rodgers
Monday, July 23, 2012
Earth 2 Ahoy!
The Earth 2 Podcast had some nice words to say about Gosh Is Dead #2 on their latest episode. Thanks, guys!
These dudes also gave issue #1 a more thorough review back in the day. Much appreciated, folks!
These dudes also gave issue #1 a more thorough review back in the day. Much appreciated, folks!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Dear (Smaller) Publishers: Something You Could Do Better
First... you know I love you, right? I love small press publishers. I love the independents. I'm that guy shouting from the rooftops about creator rights; I'm that guy who only buys Marvel & DC titles if I can find them used so my money isn't lining the pockets of exploitative mega-corpbopolies. But even putting that aside, it's the content of independents which tends to appeal to me over mainstream comics, too. When a creator's vision is unencumbered by censorship or board-room editorial influence-- when we're talking raw, real, undiluted street-level art-- those are the comics for me.
So, it should go without saying that I think very highly of anyone who decides to enter into the ring of independent/mom-and-pop/creator-friendly publishing. You folks are fighting the good fight, and you're more important to this art form than I'm capable of articulating.
BUT... there is room for improvement. And one thing the small press world does NOT do well: sending out comp copies to the creators.
Seriously. The very first people who should see a printed book are those who worked on it. NOT the retailers -- NOT the customers-- but the creators themselves.
Look, I know it's difficult being an independent publisher. It's a lot of work, and much of the time your budget is in the red. You lose money putting out comics. I've self-published, too, so it's not that I don't understand or appreciate your situation. I sympathize. I know you can't afford to print endless copies of any particular issue, and I know that you don't have millions of copies to spare from the short runs you do print. But the authors of the titles you publish (and by that I mean the entire creative team) should be guaranteed to be getting at least some free copies of their work. And they should be getting those copies no later than a week before it's available for sale at retailers.
Let's do a random sampling of 30 projects I've lettered in the past couple years which have seen print. There are many, but 30 is a good sample amount. I'm just browsing through a list of past projects here and picking various titles arbitrarily. Okay? Okay... done. Ready? Out of these 30, there are 21 which I have never seen. Of the remaining nine for which I did receive comps -- three of those were sent to me incredibly late. That's 80% of my comps I'm seeing late or never.
Now, I realize that letterers are low on the totem pole, but many of my fellow funnybook peers -- artists, writers, creators of every stripe -- are experiencing this exact same thing. They just don't receive comps when they work on smaller press books.
And... that's pretty lame.
How many of us in the indie world have, at some point, produced comics for no paycheck? I'm betting the answer is "everyone". And you know what? The ones laboring for free should be the first ones getting free copies of their work.
And there's more to it than simply wanting to see the final work in print. On one particular series for which I did layout design, I saw no comps for two years. If I had received copies of the first issue straight from the printers, that would have given me information I could have used to improve page production on subsequent issues. My files were fine, and the comics came out well enough, but there are things I would have done differently if I'd had access to an example of the finished product.
This applies to artists and colorists as well (actually, far more so). Being able to study the differences between the art onscreen and the final printed product helps us make more informed decisions about how we should best prepare our pages in the future. So, it's not an exaggeration to say that if you're not sending copies to your creators, you may be stunting the quality of the book.
Even worse: if there's a real, actual problem with the book, we can't address the issue or take steps to fix it if we're not seeing it. If there is, say, a massive printing error -- one which compromises the integrity of the product -- then we need to know before the book hits shelves! That's why it's so important to not only send comps, but to send them early. Have them delivered straight from the printer if possible. Sometimes, if a problem is particularly egregious, a book needs to be pulled before going on sale (DC's embarrassing All-Star Batman incident springs to mind) -- and sending out your comps early is a preventive measure against that very sort of situation.
So, again, my plea to all publishers -- but especially to the independents: Send us our comps! Send them early! The very first people who should see a printed book are those who worked on it. This isn't making a mountain out of a molehill; this is something that actually matters to us, the people who produce for you. And you know, this is an issue that's really easy to fix.
Thanks for your time. Hope we're still buds.
-Adam
So, it should go without saying that I think very highly of anyone who decides to enter into the ring of independent/mom-and-pop/creator-friendly publishing. You folks are fighting the good fight, and you're more important to this art form than I'm capable of articulating.
BUT... there is room for improvement. And one thing the small press world does NOT do well: sending out comp copies to the creators.
Seriously. The very first people who should see a printed book are those who worked on it. NOT the retailers -- NOT the customers-- but the creators themselves.
Look, I know it's difficult being an independent publisher. It's a lot of work, and much of the time your budget is in the red. You lose money putting out comics. I've self-published, too, so it's not that I don't understand or appreciate your situation. I sympathize. I know you can't afford to print endless copies of any particular issue, and I know that you don't have millions of copies to spare from the short runs you do print. But the authors of the titles you publish (and by that I mean the entire creative team) should be guaranteed to be getting at least some free copies of their work. And they should be getting those copies no later than a week before it's available for sale at retailers.
Let's do a random sampling of 30 projects I've lettered in the past couple years which have seen print. There are many, but 30 is a good sample amount. I'm just browsing through a list of past projects here and picking various titles arbitrarily. Okay? Okay... done. Ready? Out of these 30, there are 21 which I have never seen. Of the remaining nine for which I did receive comps -- three of those were sent to me incredibly late. That's 80% of my comps I'm seeing late or never.
Now, I realize that letterers are low on the totem pole, but many of my fellow funnybook peers -- artists, writers, creators of every stripe -- are experiencing this exact same thing. They just don't receive comps when they work on smaller press books.
And... that's pretty lame.
How many of us in the indie world have, at some point, produced comics for no paycheck? I'm betting the answer is "everyone". And you know what? The ones laboring for free should be the first ones getting free copies of their work.
And there's more to it than simply wanting to see the final work in print. On one particular series for which I did layout design, I saw no comps for two years. If I had received copies of the first issue straight from the printers, that would have given me information I could have used to improve page production on subsequent issues. My files were fine, and the comics came out well enough, but there are things I would have done differently if I'd had access to an example of the finished product.
This applies to artists and colorists as well (actually, far more so). Being able to study the differences between the art onscreen and the final printed product helps us make more informed decisions about how we should best prepare our pages in the future. So, it's not an exaggeration to say that if you're not sending copies to your creators, you may be stunting the quality of the book.
Even worse: if there's a real, actual problem with the book, we can't address the issue or take steps to fix it if we're not seeing it. If there is, say, a massive printing error -- one which compromises the integrity of the product -- then we need to know before the book hits shelves! That's why it's so important to not only send comps, but to send them early. Have them delivered straight from the printer if possible. Sometimes, if a problem is particularly egregious, a book needs to be pulled before going on sale (DC's embarrassing All-Star Batman incident springs to mind) -- and sending out your comps early is a preventive measure against that very sort of situation.
So, again, my plea to all publishers -- but especially to the independents: Send us our comps! Send them early! The very first people who should see a printed book are those who worked on it. This isn't making a mountain out of a molehill; this is something that actually matters to us, the people who produce for you. And you know, this is an issue that's really easy to fix.
Thanks for your time. Hope we're still buds.
-Adam
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
The Passage
Hey! More comics from Gosh Is Dead #2! Here are a few pages from a new strip -- the first continuing story in Gosh Is Dead. It's B&W in print, but here in this highly amazing special web exclusive, we're running it in gloooorious color!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Happy Explosions Day!
Hey, it's the 4th of July and we're busy making comics. Will wonders never cease?! Here's a preview thingamabob from Gosh Is Dead #3!
Heeeey, good-lookin'...
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Talking Trash on the Interwebs-- With Comics!
So-- since I've kinda-sorta decided to not use social media as a soapbox (for the most part), my life has improved. I'm trying to avoid adding to the noise of comic book controversies on the internet, and this has resulted in some tangible benefits: I have more free time--and I'm in a better mood--when I'm not getting caught up in the bullshit of internet arguments, which are so often more vitriolic than they are productive.
The thing is--I still feel like things need to be said about certain issues. I think open dialogues need to take place, and people need to have their intuitions pushed around. But again, I don't really feel like Twitter and Facebook are the best places to have those conversations and make those statements. So... my solution for the time being: say it with comics.
Here is a strip about one branch of one particular topic from Gosh Is Dead #2. Words by me, art by Dave Seltzer.
The thing is--I still feel like things need to be said about certain issues. I think open dialogues need to take place, and people need to have their intuitions pushed around. But again, I don't really feel like Twitter and Facebook are the best places to have those conversations and make those statements. So... my solution for the time being: say it with comics.
Here is a strip about one branch of one particular topic from Gosh Is Dead #2. Words by me, art by Dave Seltzer.
(I will note that this kind of thing actually still only accounts for a small percentage of the material in Gosh Is Dead. The rest of the comic is still primarily composed of silly cartoons, Star Trek references, poop jokes, and other such highbrow intellectual content. You know, just in case you were worried.)
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Gosh Is Dead #2 Now For Sale!
Whoopeeee! We're slashing prices like crazy down here at Crazy Rick's Gosh Is Dead Emporium, 'cause we're ca-raaayy... well, you get the idea. Discounted from its original price of one million dollars, Gosh Is Dead #2 is now available for...
Plus 50 cents shipping. To order, please PayPal $1.50 to adam@bigredh.net, and be sure to include your address information (as it's not always listed on the Paypal receipt). We will have a new, much-easier-to-use online storefront soon.
Gosh is Dead #2 is 16 pages plus covers. It features all-new strips, pictures of ugly people, and other assorted brikabrak from myself, Nick Rodgers, Kenny Madrid, and David Seltzer. In the past I've posted preview art from #2-- NONE of that material was used; this really is actually new (but that stuff will probably surface in a future issue anyway). We also have some larger, shinier, ongoing projects cooking, but the plan is to get back into doing the mini-comics on a more regular schedule regardless of that other stuff. So there.
$1.00! Cheap!
We also printed some new copies of #1 (red cover) -- available again for $1 each.
Gosh is Dead #2 is 16 pages plus covers. It features all-new strips, pictures of ugly people, and other assorted brikabrak from myself, Nick Rodgers, Kenny Madrid, and David Seltzer. In the past I've posted preview art from #2-- NONE of that material was used; this really is actually new (but that stuff will probably surface in a future issue anyway). We also have some larger, shinier, ongoing projects cooking, but the plan is to get back into doing the mini-comics on a more regular schedule regardless of that other stuff. So there.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Gosh Is Dead #2
Aaand we're back. After a long hiatus (I have kids and a real job, shut up), the mini-comic GOSH IS DEAD makes its triumphant return and conquers the universe. The first batch was printed up for a special event tonight, but more are on the way.
Anyway, excuses aside, we are going to try to churn these out more regularly. We hope you'll join us. JOIN US...
Gosh is Dead #2 is 16 pages (plus covers) and it will be available for sale on this site later this month.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Look, A Boat
Removing the "buy stuff" section for now. It will be replaced soon with a new store thingy. Actually, a new HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL full/complete website is being built (by people better than I) and the hope is to integrate this here blog into that somehow. Anyway, it'll have a more proper storefront and whatnot eventually (with more than one item for sale!!! It can't miss!).
Also, here's a terribly drawn picture from several years ago of a Christmas Tree Man flipping you off and firing his gun.
Also, here's a terribly drawn picture from several years ago of a Christmas Tree Man flipping you off and firing his gun.
You know that thing that looks like a monocle? Yeah, that's just supposed to be a big eye. See? Crap.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Hey, we're back!
So-- this blog was formerly used to promote my mini-comic GOSH IS DEAD, but due to my family and work situations in the last year, I've been woefully behind and have not completed any new issues. As a result, this place has become mostly dead.
Meanwhile, in the interests of better promoting my other comics and lettering work -- and better connecting with folks in general -- I've been slightly more active on message boards and sites like Twitter and Facebook. I still do a terribly inadequate job of promoting and marketing myself, but anything more than "nothing" is more than I did in the past. Baby steps, folks.
The problem is -- those places aren't always the best platform to air one's (HIGHLY IMPORTANT!!!) grievances. Facebook and message boards may be TOO open-ended to make really strong statements, as we often see (or fail to see) a debate's most important points get lost in the muck and mire that is internet minutiae one-upsmanship. Meanwhile, Twitter's 140-character limit forces one to edit severely -- which is great, and has actually made me a more articulate writer, but if I can't make a point in one tweet, I usually don't try to make it. Better to do it here if I need to run on a bit.
Anyway, that's my long-winded way of saying I'll be occasionally posting little rantings around these parts. Also, more GOSH IS DEAD comics are on their way as soon as possible (I did get a little ways into #2 already), so we're not completely departing from the blog's original intent. And hopefully the comics -- or my inane ramblings -- will occasionally be worth reading.
So, you know -- take that home to the bank, or whatever.
Meanwhile, in the interests of better promoting my other comics and lettering work -- and better connecting with folks in general -- I've been slightly more active on message boards and sites like Twitter and Facebook. I still do a terribly inadequate job of promoting and marketing myself, but anything more than "nothing" is more than I did in the past. Baby steps, folks.
The problem is -- those places aren't always the best platform to air one's (HIGHLY IMPORTANT!!!) grievances. Facebook and message boards may be TOO open-ended to make really strong statements, as we often see (or fail to see) a debate's most important points get lost in the muck and mire that is internet minutiae one-upsmanship. Meanwhile, Twitter's 140-character limit forces one to edit severely -- which is great, and has actually made me a more articulate writer, but if I can't make a point in one tweet, I usually don't try to make it. Better to do it here if I need to run on a bit.
Anyway, that's my long-winded way of saying I'll be occasionally posting little rantings around these parts. Also, more GOSH IS DEAD comics are on their way as soon as possible (I did get a little ways into #2 already), so we're not completely departing from the blog's original intent. And hopefully the comics -- or my inane ramblings -- will occasionally be worth reading.
So, you know -- take that home to the bank, or whatever.
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