Printing and Promos and Pepper, Oh My!

Feed Them to the Crows #1 is officially with the printer. I had a moment of panic right after I uploaded the files as I checked the QR code I had generated for the Clean Up Crew #1 campaign only to find out that it didn’t work. I had downloaded the preview of the QR code, not the actual one, so it went to a blank page. Fortunately, Mario was able to swap it out quickly and the printer has the corrected files.

I’ll be getting a physical proof to show how everything looks. If that checks out, I’ll give the go ahead to print the full order. I have already looked through a digital proof and I trust Comic Impressions as they always do good work, but it can’t hurt to get the physical copy to make sure. The last thing I want is a printing error that I didn’t catch while flipping through the PDF.

We had a couple minor delays on production for the second issue. Fortunately, Daniel is back at it and we should be wrapping up the artwork soon. I’ve already made a basic campaign structure on Kickstarter so people can at least sign up to be notified when we go live with the next issue. You can sign up by clicking the image above or this link here. We’re still a ways from launch as Clean Up Crew #1 will run first, over the summer.

Speaking of which, I’m really happy with the promo image Mario put together that will appear in the back of Feed Them to the Crows #1. It’s simple and effective. Check it out below. You can sign up to be notified when we launch this one by clicking on the image below or this link here.

So, what is Clean Up Crew? This is a story I’ve had in my head for over 20 years. I thought about it when I was working as an assistant manager at a chain drug store. Once every week or two, one of the managers had to stay late as we had a janitorial crew come in to give a hard cleaning to the floors. They waxed and polished them. This was above and beyond what we’d do on a daily basis, which was just sweeping up dust and other debris. Somewhere along the line, it hit me that this would be a great job for a vampire. They’d only work at night. They’d avoid people and attention.

This was during my college years. I had worked at that drug store for five years total, going through half of high school and all of college. I was good at the job and I could have continued my work there, but it made me question why I went to college in the first place if I was going to leave it with the same job I came in with. That being said, I had no idea what I really wanted to do for a career. I just figured I’d get an internship and try to get hired at wherever that was.

That feeling of uncertainty as I was starting my adult life coupled with the vampire janitor concept was the catalyst for Clean Up Crew. At the center of the story is Miles, a kid who has recently graduated college, having worked at this chain hardware store The Tool Box to help pay for it. He’s all alone as his parents have passed away. He’s in a small town, so he needs this job and he can do it, but he had bigger dreams that he hasn’t yet started in on.

After him and his buddy, Roger goof off a bit too much one day, they’re forced to stay late to help the overnight janitorial staff clean up the store before a big visit the next morning from the district manager. The janitors are vampires and shortly after the night begins, they go on the hunt. Miles and Roger have to use the items in the store and their wits to survive the night.

Clean Up Crew is a five-issue mini-series illustrated by Samir Samao, colored by Colin Johnson, lettered by Micah Myers, and written by me. Darren Vogt designed the logo and he’s handling the design of the book. All five issues are written. The first one is fully illustrated and colored. Micah is lettering it right now. Samir is already working on the second issue and we have close to half of it complete.

I’ll talk more about Clean Up Crew each week as we get closer to launch. This is my big swing of a comic. It’s the one I’ve put the most work into and I really want to do everything I can to make it a success. I cannot tell you how proud of this book I am. I really hope you’ll join this ride.

Clean Up Crew #1 on Kickstarter

I’ve been on a string of books that just weren’t doing it for me lately, both in comics and audiobooks. I read through a bunch over the past week that left much to be desired. That was until I read the first volume of Ghost Pepper from Ludo Lullabi and Adriano Lucas. What a refreshing and fun comic this was!

Ghost Pepper is set in a desolate world recovering from a giant’s attack. People are scraping by, avoiding the attention of the overbearing government and its tracking robots, especially Loloi, who travels the land in a food truck, serving up favorites to the locals. Her journey takes a crazy turn when a customer takes on those robots in a massive battle. She is pulled into this guy’s world and learns that there’s more to the story told by the powers that be.

This book reminded me so much of the first few anime series that pulled me into that medium, particularly Trigun and Cowboy Bebop. I found myself grinning ear-to-ear as I flipped through each page. It was a definite nostalgia trip, but while Ghost Pepper may pull from some of those classics for inspiration, it stands on its own as something entirely new.

The characters drive the story forward and Lullabi reveals just enough about each of them to leave you wanting more. Every new tidbit you learn gives you another piece of this world, further fleshing out its history and the connections between each person. I cannot wait to read more from this beautiful and refreshing series.