I’m not one of the world’s great planners. In theory I think it’s a wonderful idea. And I’m proud of all of you who can live that way.
I’m more of a jump out of the plane and start packing the parachute type.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t have some ideas on what we should shoot for over the next year. So without further adieu, here is how I think the year should shake out for us with Tart.
We’re coming up to the finale of the Make 100 Tart 14 Variant Kickstarter campaign that is closing this Friday, February 2nd.
While I’d love to top 100 backers for the campaign (we’re currently at 90), whether we do or don’t, this campaign has has been a resounding success. We knew - and built the campaign with it in mind - that not every backer would want a limited edition variant cover of a comic they already owned.
This campaign was first and foremost for future backers. We needed books in nice shape for our catch up bundles, and then for our collectors who like to have one of every cover we print. We have raised enough to print those books.
We do want to find new readers in these last three days, however. So if you know anyone who might want to try out a pretty darn good (I’m biased, but I also think I’m right) fantasy comic dealing with supernatural adventure and time travel shenanigans, please let them know about us.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tartcomic/make-100-tart-14-variant-covers
The $5 High Five tier comes with a pdf of the first three issues, the $20 digital bundle tier comes with over 400 pages of in-universe story, and the $30 tier comes with that digital bundle AND the first 7 chapters of our story mailed to them.
When this campaign is closed, I’ll order the books, and then it will be a race to see whether the hardcovers we started printing across the world in December arrive first, or if the Tart 14 variants do.
Either way, fulfilling those two campaigns will be the next major comic job for me in 2024. While I wait for them to arrive (and while I prepare and mail them when they do), Ludo is working on the final art for Tart 16. Here’s a spoiler-free page from that issue (I believe the colors are unfinished here, but am not completely certain).
This script follows Tart on her first visit home after joining the Toxic Fruit. As you probably know, that means her first visit since her human death. I think I can spoil the fact that the waitress in the present and in the memory is Tart’s mother.
We tell two stories in this issue. One is obviously Tart’s visit, but the other is the last night she was alive. As such, we live in Tart’s memories for many moments in this issue. Ludo chose to draw those memories in a manga style to differentiate between now and then.
I love having a partner that is jazzed to creatively present our story in ways I would have never come up with myself.
I’m also currently finishing up an incredibly unique crossover story with Mike Shea, writer and co-creator of Miskatonic High, and an artist who goes by the name Benalki.
Mike and I wanted to let our cocreators (Ludo for Tart and Ryan Mendoza for Miskatonic High) concentrate on our core stories as Mike and I found an adventure that characters from both of our books could interact in. Benalki was a joy to work with on this crazy project.
It’s so unique we’re not even telling people how the story will be told until we are ready to launch, but here is a cropped (to avoid something you’ll learn about later) image of the cover starring Tart Acid, Sarah from Miskatonic High, as well as a little fella they just might meet on that adventure.
So we have Tart 16, and the crossover with Miskatonic High coming this year. But which first?
The answer is we don’t know yet. I’ll be building the Tart 16 Kickstarter campaign, and working with Mike to build the Miskatonic High Meets Tart Acid and the Toxic Fruit crossover campaign during the weeks I’m waiting for Tart 14 and/or the Vol 3 hardcover shipments to arrive.
Once I’ve fulfilled both, I’ll check in with Ludo. If he has completed the art forTart 16, that campaign will launch first. I’m rooting for this as I really want you to read this next chapter! If Ludo still needs time on the issue, we’ll launch the crossover to give him a window to complete his work.
While those are going being launched and fulfilled, I will be looking at Tart’s outline and crafting the next few issues of Tart so art can be completed no matter what I’m up to.
It will be very interesting if we get to the end of 2024 and are ready to create the Tart Vol 4 Hardcover (the issues collected for that arc are Tart 13 - 16). If we’re ready, we’ll do so. If we need a breather, we’ll take that breather. I’m trying to learn to work rhythmically, not in sporadic sprints that leave me winded.
So that’s what I foresee for this year. It’s going to be a fun one!
Kevin
PS - I had fantastic health news come in for a dear family member (health tests are one of the few tests where the term Negative is first prize at the county fair)). We also had our three month check in for my older dog Harpo. His tumor is stable, and has shown now signs of spreading or impacting organs around it. There’s no cure, but it is growing substantially slower than was expected. Each day he’s in comfort is a gift at this point. And it looks like we have at least a few months worth of gifts to enjoy based upon today’s visit.