Multiplex - a comic strip about life at the movies
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Posts Tagged ‘Book 2’

 

Multiplex: There and Back Again — The Kickstarter Project

People have asked me about Multiplex: Book 2 for a while now, and I’ve never had a very good answer about when I was going to have it done. I hadn’t planned on using Kickstarter again, but considering I’m about to head into grad school, and I don’t have any steady freelance work to speak of, now just seemed like as good a time as any to get Book 2 finished — if, once again, I can pay my bills while I work on it… and, of course, the print run.

And so… Multiplex: There and Back Again Lightning Round, the Kickstarter Project for Book 2. And, if we make more than the goal, maybe even Book 3 as well.

I don’t want to rehash everything I say on the Kickstarter Project page, so please just go there and read it.

Finished, already?

Alright.

As I said there, the fundraising period for Book 1 was way too long. This time, I’m doing three weeks and out. (Well, 23 days, so it ends at midnight on April 12th.) This way, I won’t get sick of it, and hopefully you won’t get sick of me, either. If we don’t make our goal in that time, so be it. No Book 2 for… who knows how long? But I’d like to do it sooner rather than later, and I hope that enough of you do, too.

You already know that I will live up to my end of the project — I did with Book 1, didn’t I? You already know what the book will look like — it’ll look like Book 1, or maybe a little better. You already know what Kickstarter is, because it’s like this huge freaking THING now, whereas when I did Book 1, I was the first webcartoonist to use it, ever. So all the biggest question marks with the first project don’t apply anymore.

The last remaining question is: Do you want Book 2?

Chapter 7 cover illustration

Here’s the final(?) cover/chapter illustration for the upcoming Chapter 7 digital collection, featuring Devi. I had posted this to Facebook a little bit ago, but updated it to start using the new way I’m drawing eyes in Multiplex (as of #678), now with pupils and highlights. Since this is much larger than any single panel, it gives you a better look at the new detail, which I think makes the characters feel more warm.

I remember experimenting with pupils in the characters’ eyes when I first designed them (seven years ago, for the oldest cast members) but at that point, the strip was so undetailed that it looks bizarre to have this small area of heightened detail. Now, I pack a bit more into each panel, so it doesn’t seem so out of place. Or maybe I just changed my mind. I dunno.

(This will, of course, also be the second chapter in Multiplex Book 2, currently/tentatively titled Multiplex: There and Back Again.)

Chapter 7 has two more strips left before I can publish it, but I probably won’t have time to get to those until after I’m back from Emerald City Comic Con, unfortunately!

Multiplex #122 1/2: Hot Off the Press

Because of Multipacked! (the Shortpacked!/Multiplex crossover) pushing Monday’s regularly-scheduled strip to Tuesday, there would have been no new Multiplex on Monday for the first time in a very long time. That just would not do.

So for the long-time readers of Multiplex, here’s a strip from the upcoming Chapter 7 (Book 2) eBook, set after #122 in the archives — although it’s really more just one of the many bonus strips for the collected editions about bolstering Gretchen’s presence earlier in Book 2 so that her prominence later in the book feels more congruous, when read in the planned printed collection:

#122 1/2: Hot Off the Press

 

If you’re shocked and amazed by the three updates last week and four strips this week, the reason that’s possible is that I’ve had a bit of free time this week, as I’m in-between paying freelance gigs. (This despite getting a bunch headaches that forced me to keep off the computer. I’m pretty sure they’re eye strain related, and am seeing a doctor on Monday about that and other general things. I’m sure she’ll just tell me to stop surfing the internet on the new smartphone and exercise more.)

Anyway, this lack of freelance work also means I don’t have any money coming in, which makes things a little, um, difficult. So if you’re thrilled about the extra strips this week, don’t want me to starve to death, or just have a few dollars burning a hole in your pocket, please consider buying something from the Store (or Amazon, for that matter), advertising on the Multiplex site via Project Wonderful, or even donating to Multiplex via PayPal:





Multiplex: Book 2 begins here! The Chapter 6 eBook is now available.

The Multiplex: Chapter 6 eBook, is now available for in the Multiplex Store! This 34 page PDF format eBook is perfect for reading on an iPad or any other tablet. (A PDF reader is required.)

Chapter 6 collects strips #103–121 from the Multiplex archives, plus six bonus comics (a few of which first appeared at the Deleted Scenes blog) and two extended scenes — all for only $1.49! Highlights include the Blogger becoming the Multiplex 10’s new Santa and the introduction of our gang’s archenemies: the staff of Flickhead Video.

As I’ve mentioned before, if you’re one of those Multiplex fans eager to see the Book 2 print collection come out sooner or later, you can speed up the production of Book 2 by getting the Multiplex eBooks — and you won’t be spoiling the printed book completely, since — like Multiplex: Enjoy Your Show (Book 1) — there will be even more bonus comics exclusive to the printed collection. (Unlike Book 1, however, the exclusive comics in Book 2 won’t be a single story, but several regular-length strips spread throughout the collection.)

Think of each eBook as a mini-Kickstarter for the creation of Multiplex: Book 2.