Tears & Pain

Hot:

Hey Painkillers,

Here it is.

In Time for this Christmas there Will be Available:

Tears & Pain:
Age of The Red Queen
Vol. I

That’s right my very first Book collection, covering from the first strip to the end of “In The Beginning” around 150 strips plus a ton of extras including Character Profiles, Maps, commentary, Sneak peeks and Much More!

Also, I will be Redrawing all the Strips up until the Beginning of “In The Beginning” To keep the look the same and consistent with the rest of the strip.

So I have a lot of work ahead of me and I look forward to announcing it’s Release

And yes I will have Artist Editions available.

Good Travels,
Thorne

Hot:

Hello Painkillers,

I read the sad news that one of my favorite webcomics http://somethingwonderfulcomic.com would stop updating today. Tommie Kelly the amazingly gifted artist and writer of the comic can no longer Juggle the mundane life *Bills, job etc.* with his artistic side * The comic obviously* he sat back took some priorities and made the decision that he had to put aside what he loved to do for what he had to do. I am sad to see him go, and hope that he will return one day, but in this instance, I think he made the right decision.

I wish I could say that everyone of us creators are going to be the Next Kurtz, or Guigar, or Sohmer *Just to name a few* but the truth is, it probably isn’t going to happen. The market is flooded with webcomics of varying degrees to wonderfully drawn and told ones, to ones that honestly look like a first grader did it. I am not judging because Art is anything that moves you and you can take a look at my comic and realize I have very little talent for writing or drawing But I digress.

The problem with a market so flooded is that there’s not enough chance for the shining gems out there to breathe, Occasionally one or two peek their head out and do get notoriety, some muddle along in relative obscurity for years and never get seen. And some unfortunately like http://somethingwonderfulcomic.com are a gem that fades away because real life happens.

So how do we as creators, balance our real life with our mundane life…at least until we get noticed by one of the big guns out there and get that treasured “Linkback” from their blog? For me personally, I keep my updates to twice a week, with a Retro comic on Sundays. I could update five or even seven days a week, and have thought about it more than once, I mean more content, more readers, hey that’s the way to do it yeh? BUT then I realize, that once I start that it’s a disappointment if it has to go back down to fewer updates. Basically, Unless I start to earn a salary for doing Tears&Pain I’m going to keep it simple, I am going to deliver the best comics that I can and not overwork myself to where it interferes with my mundane life. *hint: it will ALWAYS interfere with your mundane life*

I have drifted along with some bumps in the road for almost two years with T&P changed my art style seemingly a thousand times, worked with a different artist for almost a year. and given up in my mind I do not know how many times. Does it make me jealous when I see a comic that’s only been around for two months getting 2,000 hits a day while mine gets maybe 60? of course it does I wouldn’t be human if it didn’t, but more importantly what it does is it makes me look at what I am doing and how can I change it to become more efficient, better at what I do and a stronger presence on the net.

Because even though my little Gem may never shine as bright as some of the others in the pile, it MY gem, and I love it.

So what does this say for you my fellow Illustrators, Writers, Readers? Do you think you should go all out and follow your passion? Should you not start something because you are afraid it will fail? Or should you learn how to balance the two and wish for a little bit of luck?

The Life of  a webcomic is fickle and the Reaper stands over our shoulders with it’s chill breath raising the hairs on the back of our necks. Love your comic, Love your Readers, Love those who build you up and let you know you mean something to them, that your characters, your stories have inspired them and pushed them to think about the world around them differently.

I will Miss Something Wonderful, it was a smile in the mornings before work, but I know Tommie is a great guy, and I wish him all the best of luck in straightening out his current challenges.

I would love to hear what you think, how do you balance it all what are changes you would like to see?

Good Travels,
Thorne