Over the last year I’ve had a hope for Tart after issue 16 is printed and released.
The hope was to have a series of other creators do short stories in the universe that expand on the concept of The Toxic Fruit. These would not be apocryphal stories. They would be canon and live in the guidelines Ludo and I worked out as we created our story. It would be a bit like a short story anthology with four to eight page stories giving us the final moments of multiple Toxic Fruit agents that predated Tart.
I stole the idea from my buddy Rob Multari of Night Wolf/Snow Paw fame, when he allowed me to write a four page story for his first collection. He came to me with the basic setting and idea. Rob oversaw my process as I helped him tell the story of why two of his characters hate each other when they are introduced in Night Wolf.
Even though I wrote it, Rob gave me the characters, and the premise of what needed to happen in my four pages. It was fun for me to do, and I hope it was helpful to him to see his story approached by another creator (he didn’t let me do everything I wanted, but even that pushback seemed like it might be helpful as it at least made him think about the story from a different vantage point).
With the art on Tart 16 complete except for a few tiny details, Ludo and I took a very sober look at where we are with the series, where we want to be, and most importantly, how we can close the gap between them.
As transparent as I like to be, this isn’t one of those conversations that I feel comfortable sharing in any specific detail. But the end result of it is that we both really want to finish the series, but neither of us is content with the schedule we are currently on. That said, Ludo can not illustrate four to five issues a year.
We came to the conclusion that in order for us to finish Tart’s story, I need to sit down and write the next complete arc of the series. With that in our pocket, Ludo can choose the issue of that arc he wants to illustrate and we will search for other artists to complete the other issues of the arc.
This should allow us to get four to five issues out in 2025, as opposed to the one or two we’ve been able to deliver lately. We both bear responsibility for our lack of speed when it comes to releasing our story. I have mentioned before, but in case you didn’t know, I suffered a near-complete creative block at the beginning of the pandemic. Right when Ludo was available to draw a ton. This is a creative window I lament missing and will be angry with myself over until we finish this thing.
So that’s what we’re going to do. Create a team to do the next arc of the story. That really excites me because we have have somewhere between 12 and 16 issues left in Tart’s story. I love Tart, but I don’t want to be writing her adventures into my 60’s. And Ludo loves Tart, but he doesn’t want to be chained to a desk 20 hours a day 7 days a week to deliver it.
This is a good plan. I love this plan. However, it is a plan that destroys my idea to get teams together for the Tales of the Lost Toxics. The money in the account that could have gone to teams of creators to create the short stories in that collection, needs to be held for artists bringing us Tart 17-20 or 21 (I haven’t written that arc yet, so I’m not certain it will be four issues, but that is my current expectation).
Here I am, however, sitting with the ideas for those short stories I was going to prompt the teams with. And there were defined reasons those stories would help our readers more fully understand the entire story of Tart and the Toxic Fruit.
So I’m going to write them as a series of mildly-connected short prose stories. And I’m going to deliver them at least twice a month here on Substack using the subscription model.
These will be the first (well, really second) drafts, and will likely be edited heavily later. Which means that if you don’t want to read them early, you do not have to bump your free subscription up to paid. You will have the chance to read them later as a collection (before we release Tart 17).
I’m saying this because I don’t want anyone to feel they HAVE TO monetarily support this project to eventually enjoy it. And while this will fill in some of the story and include some easter eggs you’ll understand better as the comics come out, comic readers who hate prose work can skip it. But here are the reasons I feel it is in the best interest offer this as a paid subscription:
I work best when people are expecting something. Having subscribers counting on me will force me to make headway on this project.
$5 a month (I’m setting it to the lowest amount Substack will allow me to charge) times however many of our readers take me up on it, will allow me to get our finances ready for the art teams that will help us deliver Tart 17 and beyond. Quite frankly (not, Frank Quitely) I’m going to have to put in some of my own money to start this train, and would like that sum to be as small as humanly possible. Okay, I can be transparent about that : )
While I love writing comics, I’ve always wanted to do some prose work. This may teach my brain how to do it and stick with it.
While I don’t know if we’ll print a physical copy of this collection (some form of an e-book is incredibly likely), I will print the names of everyone (unless you ask me not to) in whatever collection we do release.
This will be a very fluid process as we learn how all this works together. So please feel free to give suggestions to me at any time. My hope is to have the first chapter released the beginning of May (I have a few chapters typed into google docs, and a few others handwritten already. But I do want to get a few more in the can before I start releasing them).
So if you’d like to get ready, you can upgrade to the paid subscription at any time. I’ll likely make the first chapter free for everyone on the Substack, and save the paywall for the second installment of the story. And if you don’t want to upgrade… please don’t.
Before I go, I have two friends with about 5 hours left in their campaign. And they are $400 short of their goal.
Matta Sorcier (writer and artist of Sacrimony) is working with writer Jon Westoff (Bulletproof Chicken) to bring the third issues of his series Child Possession Services to the world.
The story takes place in a world where demonic possessions have started to run rampant, prompting the government to make possessing a child a criminal act.
The DPS is created to ensure the safety of the children that are targeted for possession.
I honestly really like Matta and Jon as people, so I’m extra invested in them succeeding in this campaign. But I’m also intrigued by the story they are telling.
If you are intrigued as well, please check it out before 8 PM EDT. They have so little to get them past their funding goal, but your pledge will be a huge help in getting them there.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/parttimecomix/cps3
Kevin
Another comic book person joins the dark side writing prose. :)