Back From the Dead
The journey of Halloween Team has been a bit more complicated than I originally anticipated. But the silver lining has been that I've learned a lot about what it takes to create, publish, and promote an original comic book series.
For a long time, my main goal with this series was to self-publish as a means to finding a publisher. Any publisher (well, almost any). I was convinced that doing so would unlock a whole new level of publicity, distribution, and sales. But what I now realize is that, while I'd still like to find a publishing partner to help optimize our book's exposure, it has to be the *right* publisher, under the right set of circumstances. In the meantime though, I've circled back around to self-publishing - and I've been enjoying the freedom and agency that comes with that.
The fact is, the comic book industry is very challenged right now on a lot of levels, and indie publishers across the board seem to be straining to figure out how to crack the digital distribution landscape, how to get any sort of physical distribution, how to shore up the money to launch a critical mass of comics, and how to get the word out to potential fans about their books. Given that, the ability to be nimble, adaptive, and quick-moving can be an asset, and therein lies one of the key advantages of self-publishing in today's market.
All that to say ... for a while there, I wasn't sure what would become of Halloween Team. But now, I'm happy to say that Halloween Team is, in fact, back from the dead.
The first order of business has been to re-launch the original Halloween Team series on digital storefronts. All four individual issues - plus the discounted collected edition - are back live on Amazon, GlobalComix, and Comix.One. Plus, I've been able to add the series to a few new digital stores, such as Barnes & Noble and DriveThruComics.
Very exciting, as Barnes & Noble has had a special place in my heart since childhood, and DriveThruComics seems to be incredibly supportive of indie comics creators.
I'm hoping that, as we approach October, new fans will be able to discover the original series - and that the book will get some organic lift thanks to its Halloween seasonality. If you've read and enjoyed the series, please spread the word to friends and family!
Now, here's the *really* exciting part: we are back to work on sequel series Halloween Team: Shadows, and it's going to re-launch soon!
Previously, we had published Issue #1 of Shadows, and were set to go live with #2 before things got derailed. And I won't lie, it's been a somewhat long and difficult process to pick up the pieces and get things back on track. However, there is, finally, some real positive momentum once again.
A lot of that positive momentum can be credited to our brand new artist for Shadows, Danny Roberts. Danny (great name, by the way) has come onboard and is helping to reassemble the Shadows series and get us to the finish line. To start, Danny is working to re-do some aspects of Issue #1 to clean it up and make it an even better read - i.e. re-doing the lettering. He's also doing lettering - plus drawing an awesome new cover! - for Shadows #2. Then, the fun really begins, as Danny dives into the deep end and creates all-new interior art for Issues #3 and #4. Based on some of the early work I've seen, Danny Roberts is going to positively crush it, and he's going to bring an exciting new energy and dynamism to the book. So please, join me in welcoming Danny (R) to the team!
And by the way, a reminder that each issue of Shadows will also have flashback sequences drawn by our original series artist Matt Shults. Matt absolutely knocks those pages out of the park, and draws some extremely pivotal scenes in the story.
I'm both very excited and very relieved that Halloween Team is back, and that Halloween Team: Shadows is finally set to release in full. As I've mentioned, I've been eager to get this sequel series out since publishing the original volume - because this is where we really get to explore a lot of the team's backstory in full, and address a lot of the big, lingering questions that were left after Volume 1. Not to mention, Halloween Team: Shadows is a big, blockbuster story with new heroes, new villains, and a strong emotional core.
I'll have more details on the Shadows release schedule soon, but look for the re-release of Issue #1 imminently, with more releases planned prior to Halloween.
And again, please help spread the word: Halloween Team is back! Hopefully, this time, for good.
For a long time, my main goal with this series was to self-publish as a means to finding a publisher. Any publisher (well, almost any). I was convinced that doing so would unlock a whole new level of publicity, distribution, and sales. But what I now realize is that, while I'd still like to find a publishing partner to help optimize our book's exposure, it has to be the *right* publisher, under the right set of circumstances. In the meantime though, I've circled back around to self-publishing - and I've been enjoying the freedom and agency that comes with that.
The fact is, the comic book industry is very challenged right now on a lot of levels, and indie publishers across the board seem to be straining to figure out how to crack the digital distribution landscape, how to get any sort of physical distribution, how to shore up the money to launch a critical mass of comics, and how to get the word out to potential fans about their books. Given that, the ability to be nimble, adaptive, and quick-moving can be an asset, and therein lies one of the key advantages of self-publishing in today's market.
All that to say ... for a while there, I wasn't sure what would become of Halloween Team. But now, I'm happy to say that Halloween Team is, in fact, back from the dead.
The first order of business has been to re-launch the original Halloween Team series on digital storefronts. All four individual issues - plus the discounted collected edition - are back live on Amazon, GlobalComix, and Comix.One. Plus, I've been able to add the series to a few new digital stores, such as Barnes & Noble and DriveThruComics.
Very exciting, as Barnes & Noble has had a special place in my heart since childhood, and DriveThruComics seems to be incredibly supportive of indie comics creators.
I'm hoping that, as we approach October, new fans will be able to discover the original series - and that the book will get some organic lift thanks to its Halloween seasonality. If you've read and enjoyed the series, please spread the word to friends and family!
Now, here's the *really* exciting part: we are back to work on sequel series Halloween Team: Shadows, and it's going to re-launch soon!
Previously, we had published Issue #1 of Shadows, and were set to go live with #2 before things got derailed. And I won't lie, it's been a somewhat long and difficult process to pick up the pieces and get things back on track. However, there is, finally, some real positive momentum once again.
A lot of that positive momentum can be credited to our brand new artist for Shadows, Danny Roberts. Danny (great name, by the way) has come onboard and is helping to reassemble the Shadows series and get us to the finish line. To start, Danny is working to re-do some aspects of Issue #1 to clean it up and make it an even better read - i.e. re-doing the lettering. He's also doing lettering - plus drawing an awesome new cover! - for Shadows #2. Then, the fun really begins, as Danny dives into the deep end and creates all-new interior art for Issues #3 and #4. Based on some of the early work I've seen, Danny Roberts is going to positively crush it, and he's going to bring an exciting new energy and dynamism to the book. So please, join me in welcoming Danny (R) to the team!
And by the way, a reminder that each issue of Shadows will also have flashback sequences drawn by our original series artist Matt Shults. Matt absolutely knocks those pages out of the park, and draws some extremely pivotal scenes in the story.
I'm both very excited and very relieved that Halloween Team is back, and that Halloween Team: Shadows is finally set to release in full. As I've mentioned, I've been eager to get this sequel series out since publishing the original volume - because this is where we really get to explore a lot of the team's backstory in full, and address a lot of the big, lingering questions that were left after Volume 1. Not to mention, Halloween Team: Shadows is a big, blockbuster story with new heroes, new villains, and a strong emotional core.
I'll have more details on the Shadows release schedule soon, but look for the re-release of Issue #1 imminently, with more releases planned prior to Halloween.
And again, please help spread the word: Halloween Team is back! Hopefully, this time, for good.
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