Okay, folks, this is the horse’s mouth and I’m here to let you all know that next Monday June 23rd, Ultra-Lad will be hitting Act-i-vate! Look for the graphic to the left to be your gateway.

Unlike this site, The Transmigration of Ultra-Lad will be updated regularly on a bi-weekly basis. I apologize to fans of this webcomic as I settle out my work schedule and resume posting new pages of the Process. Take heart, The Transmigration of Ultra-lad is part of the Process! As I may have already mentioned it’s a future chapter that doubles as a standalone story. Here’s the back story:

While rummaging through the attic of my childhood home, I found a very mysterious old comic. I had been up there to look for some of my older comics from when I was a teen and this comic, “the New Adventures of Ultra-lad” was not at all familiar to me. I did a little research on it and it appears to have been a comic printed very shortly before the “Seduction of the Innocent” controversy and as a result of that, this ashcan comic never saw print as it was ultimately intended. In fact, the New Adventures of Ultra-lad was to be the flagship of the startup, Jolly Brand Comics. Publisher Arnie F Junio had sunk all of his money into getting Ultra-lad off the ground and the whole venture collapsed when the gavel fell and the writing was on the wall for comics. The artist and/or writer for this book are not credited and I fear their name(s) are lost to posterity.
So there I was with this rare comic whose art and dialogue is remarkably ahead of its time and whose story ties in strongly with my own work!  I couldn’t let it  or the creators pass away into obscurity. When the opportunity to do a webcomic on Act-i-vate came up, I discussed a few possibilities with Alexis Sottile. This time around we thought I should do something unconventional and post up pages from this comic that has inspired me so much. It’s a way for this lost tale to be brought to light and made available for anyone to enjoy for free. The comic itself is at times funny and campy but not without serious subtext. It deals with a lot of the issues of youth, growing up and growing old; things that will resonate with many comics readers in today’s market: the older comix reader who thrills at being transported to his youth and the young comix reader who delights at Ultra-lad’s outrageous feats of daring adventure and action.

So there you have it! See you next Monday at Act-i-vate.com!

After a little trepidation with the USPS/Canadian Postal Service, the drawing giveaway reached its destination yesterday safe and sound. PHEW! Once again, I not only got a confirmation email but photographic documentation to boot! Daniel Lafrance apparently didn’t let it rest for any period of time before it was up on his wall! He received it yesterday and in the same afternoon had this image fired off to me.

Thanks for the pic, Daniel! Once again, I am left with a warm feeling with the happiness that my art has brought someone else. You guys are the greatest. Thank you.

Now, you’re probably all wondering if I get such a warm fuzzy from showing you my art why I have been so stingy of late. Yes, I’ll admit that this project has suffered from neglect and I promise that will soon change. I am currently in the process of finishing up one project as I prepare to launch a couple more. My previous state of the webcomic address was before the Eisner Nomination and my opportunities have multiplied since then. It’s been a bit of a juggling act trying to keep all the balls in the air. But come early June, you will all have some more graphic storytelling from me. I’ve already hinted at it but I’ll have to say this. It is a future chapter of ‘the Process’ told out of sequence in searing four-color glory. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll be thrilled. That’s a promise. Once this project launches, I can then go back to a regular schedule of Borrowed Time 3, the Process and ‘PROJECT X’. Thank you for your patience and loyalty.

Here’s proof that satisfaction is guaranteed when you commission a sketch. Not only did I get an email when the piece was delivered but an email full of photos posing with the sketch! This level of enthusiasm deserves recognition and here it is:

This gentleman is a fan of this project and was particularly keyed up about Ultra-Lad. So much so in fact, that I had to warn him that if he sent me any more ideas about the character, I’d have to credit him! In all sincerity, this sort of thing really makes me feel good…it’s not often that I get to meet someone this excited about one of my creations. Frankly, his enthusiasm is infectious and I am very thankful to have his support. Cheers, you are a Prince among men

Want to join in the love? Well, it’s a simple donation away. A $25 donation gets you a black and white sketch and a $50 donation or more gets you a full color sketch such as this. Please note, photos of you with the sketch are optional and public display of said photos is not required.

Hey, Industry Professionals! It’s that time again where we all vote for our favorite Eisner nominees. This year, as many of you already know, I’ve been nominated in the Best Digital Comic category for this project, the Process. This is a huge deal to me. If you haven’t already read the comic, do so now! The journey starts here. When you’re done, head on over to the Eisner voting website, www.eisnervote.com and cast your vote for your favorites. If you took a shine to the Process and think it deserves wider recognition, I would very much appreciate your vote! Thanks for your support, everyone!

Well, things went well at the big convention this past weekend. I met lots of people, made a few connections and I believe I have started to plant some seeds for future endeavors. There’s nothing to report as yet but I’ll keep you up to date as things develop.

One of the highlights for me was the only panel that I attended, the Act-i-vate Webcomics Panel. In it, members of the Act-i-vate collective talked about the genesis of the group and how working online has changed the way comics are being created and delivered to their audience. It was great to see some of webcomics’ finest talking about the medium in an insightful way; in many ways crystallizing my amorphous thoughts and feelings. All in all it was a very inspirational panel and I left feeling energized and proud to be a part of this webcomics movement.

Some of the key points that really resonated with me revolved around the discussion of monetizing free online content. Many creators cited examples of publishing and selling books through esteemed publishers of content still available online for free! How great is that!? It was also interesting to hear Paul Maybury talk about reworking past pages (something that I am guilty of). In my mind it’s an example of how this malleable medium of the internet allows for artists to let their work develop organically while presenting it to its audience. Comicbooks are static but online comics evolve. Of course, this idea is central to the Process so it’s easy to see why I was so jazzed that other webcomics creators are exploiting the medium in much the same way. Speaking of jazz, Dean Haspiel talked about how, for his strips, he doesn’t necessarily know how they are going to end! Fluidity and openness to improvisation like this are keys to creativity. More and more, these webcomickers are capitalizing on the advantages of the internet to simultaneously deliver content and keep it alive and evolving.

It’s also helped them evolve as creators; propelling their art and storytelling to new levels. They maintain regular schedules of updates that force them to constantly focus and push their stories from week to week. This sort of comics pressure-cooker has so many benefits to an artist. As the old addage says, ‘Practice makes perfect.’ But that’s not all! They actively comment and critique each other’s work as soon as it’s live. Their responses alongside readers’ feedback is almost like opening your studio to the world and having the world tell you what works and what doesn’t! For these reasons, there’s little question in my mind why Act-i-vate is the internet’s premier webcomics collective. Click the link to see what I mean.

Now from the sublime to the mundane, the other piece of news is that I have updated the way comments are handled on the blog. You can now reply to specific comments and receive emails when somebody replies to yours. This is going to be really good for creating the discussions that I hope to have happen here. Lastly, you’ll notice a link to email each post/page. Clicking this will allow you to send content to anyone’s email address. So please take advantage of these new features and participate in this content.