Home Again, Home Again!
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Aug 11, 2021 at 09:28:47 AM
I’m home from London, and work is progressing solidly and steadily.
London was great – I quarantined with my parents, which was the point, and also focused on THE TAO OF IGOR, which was another point.
Frustratingly, I’d forgotten just how terrible my parents’ WiFi is. This meant many problems cropped up, trying to work from the Cloud, getting my laptop and iPad Pro to communicate effectively with each other.
This was far from ideal, yes, but I still had plenty to work on up. I wasn’t lacking for TAO things to touch up.
Home, now, it’s going quickly and smoothly, both both my iMac and iPad can work directly from a central Cloud folder.
Obviously, the phrase “work is going solidly and steadily” sort of stands in stark contrast with the fact that it is August, and the pdfs are still not finished. Probably my greatest regret through this whole experience is how poorly I’ve estimated what’s left to be done, and how long it will take, time and time again.
To force the project kicking and screaming over the finish line, I have blocked out the hours of 9 am to 4 pm each and every working day (and some parts of Saturday) solely for THE TAO OF IGOR, until it is finished. Any other work (and this includes the DORK TOWER web strips) must be tackled either in the morning, before 9, or the evening, or on the weekends.
“Kicking and screaming” implies this is a difficult process. It’s really not. Thngs are going smoothly. I’m completing many things that need completing, so that I can (finally) get the PDFs to you, and (finally) get the book to press.
Sending the Solicitation Sheets to distributors last month was me pulling the trigger, knowing this would be done, and (relatively) soon.
I keep working, my mantra being it’s almost there.
I remain so very grateful for your patience and good humor, as I finish what I thought would be finished a long time ago.
One enoyable aspect of this project has been revisiting a couple of characters I’ve not drawn for perhaps two decades.
Kayleigh has appeared sort of recently in the Dork Tower online comic strip, yes. But does anyone remember she works at a newspaper? Or that her boss is J. Jonah Grant?
Yeah…I totally had to look him up to draw him again.
He last appeared in Dork Tower #23, which was reprinted in the sixth Dork Tower collection, 1D6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION, back in…2003 (ulp)!
After (and only after) THE TAO OF IGOR pdfs are sent, I’ll be pulling together a special pdf for all Kickstarter backers, regardless of level.
It’ll be what would have been DORK TOWER 37, essentially the double-plus-size last chapter of the collection, but as its own “comic book,” complete with extras, and letter page, etc.
Back before I pulled the plug on publishing, in 2008, this was to have been the cover for DORK TOWER 37:
It was based on the Jam’s ALL MOD CONS albums. (The Jam is my favorite band. “Going Underground” my all-time favorite single.)
I sort of hated the cover I drew – there was so much wrong with it. Had I continued on in publishing, I’d surely have drawn something entirely new.
Well, fast forward to now.
I was gonna use that first cover as-is, to start the THE TAO OF IGOR’S final chapter. But guess what? I still kind of hate it.
However, redrawing it in my current style, on the iPad Pro, produced a cover I actually like. Rather a lot, really.
A question remains, though – why did I never think to change ALL MOD CONS to the natural, obvious pun ALL MUD CONS until recently?
- John
Solicitation Sheets Sent!
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Jul 16, 2021 at 01:08:25 AM
This is not the “THE TAO OF IGOR is Finished: PDFs are On Their Way” update I had hoped this would be.
So…dangit (insert stronger word here).
The last few weeks have been hard. There was some tough personal news to take, and there was a logjam with other work. This is an explanation, though - not an excuse.
However, the solicitation sheets are off to the distributors. THE TAO OF IGOR will be officially listed as a September 2021 release. As soon as it is back from printers, backers will be getting their copies before it goes out to distributors.
I’ll be sending pages to the proofreading volunteers beginning this weekend (along with a little thank-you token).
I had hoped to have had this all pulled together by the end of June. That did not happen.
My backup plan was July 15. Today. That was CLOSER to happening, but still has not happened.
Tonight, I fly to England to visit my parents (we’re all fully vaccinated). I quarantine with them for 10 days, then I’ll linger in London until the end of the month.
I’ve cleared my schedule, so all I’ll be concentrating while quarantining in the UK is getting THE TAO OF IGOR press-ready.
If things go well, I may try and arrange a meet-up at the George (Borough Hight Street, near London Bridge Station) sometime the week of the 26th, for London-area Kickstarter backers and Patreons. No promises, but fingers crossed. We'll see how work (and also the Delta variant) goes.
Remember that very, VERY detailed page I showed off, a while back?
Here’s something funny:: I just covered up a great deal of that detail with Igor’s snoring. Gah!
(Funny to you, anyway, I hope. More...I dunno...absolutely not funny at all, in the slightest, to me.)
My great friend and amazing colleague Andrew Hackard passed away, in June, from glioblastoma, a virulent disease.
Andrew wrote the introduction to THE TAO OF IGOR, and I’m gutted that I couldn’t get it done in time for him to hold a copy in his hands.
I was working on a MUNCHKIN project these last few weeks, one that Andrew mostly wrote, and that was similarly gutting.
I couldn’t just drop Andrew a line, or pick up the phone, and laugh or chat or otherwise discuss a card I might have thoughts on, as we did so often, in the past.
Andrew and I collaborated on dozens of MUNCHKIN projects, and I’ve literally drawn thousands of cards he’s written. His wit was genius. On a certain level, I feel like Albert Uderzo without my René Goscinny.
To put it simply, Andrew was just the best guy. Kind, smart, hilarious, warm, caring, brilliant, and talented as all get-out.
I miss him so dang much, right now (insert much stronger word here).
- John
Updates! We got updates!
over 3 years ago
– Wed, Jun 16, 2021 at 02:02:08 PM
Updates! We got updates!
I sent the back cover to Layout Guru Hal Mangold, yesterday. Here’s what it will look like, without the text:
And here’s the text Hal will be massaging onto it:
DORK TOWER IS BACK! The fan-favorite, critically-acclaimed comic returns with the eagerly awaited THE TAO OF IGOR! It’s the big day - Mud Con! But is its new director, Igor, ready? Or even awake? And what of Matt, Gilly, Carson, Ken, Sujata and the rest of the gang? Great for new readers, a delight for long- time fans, THE TAO OF IGOR is the Dork Tower collection you’ve LITERALLY been waiting for!
"I've enjoyed John Kovalic's work in all its multifarious glory for years. But of everything he's done, I think I love DORK TOWER the most. It's a constant source of kindness, wit, and geeky joy in my life." - PAT ROTHFUSS, New York Times Best-Selling Author
“DORK TOWER is the cat's pajamas. A smorgasbord of cute, funny, geeky, nerdy, and muskrat love." - KEITH KNIGHT, The K Chronicles, Woke
“John Kovalic is a perfect cartooning ecosystem. He balances character with comedy under the warm sun of geekiness. I want to live there.” - JUDD WINNICK, Hilo
“John and his comics have always been adorable, spot on emotionally, and his work is forever fun.” - JACKIE KASHIAN
“John Kovalic’s hilarious DORK TOWER is the perfect comic strip for gamers, muskrats, and everyone in between.” - RUBEN BOLLING, Tom the Dancing Bug
There are other blurbs coming, but the above will adorn the back-cover.
I have to say, it’s incredibly lovely reading them all. Self-doubt is a powerful enemy, and even though I know all the folks involved, approaching anyone for a blurb is difficult. The awkwardness alone can be stupefying. “Here’s my stuff…it doesn’t suck…I think. Would you mind saying something nice about it?”
Munchkin Tzar Andrew Hackard’s introduction should also go to layout, today or tomorrow. This was hugely emotional for me, and I am so damn fortunate I get to call him my friend.
We’re also getting in touch with our European and Australian partners, this week, to make sure plans we made previously are still plans that will work now, or if things need to be tweaked (HINT: Brexit is not helping).
I’ve been incredibly busy these last few weeks, with a mid-size Munchkin project on the docket along with finishing THE TAO OF IGOR, keeping up to date with the DORK TOWER webstrips, and a few small assorted odds-and-ends. But it’s been a terrific time, snapping me out of the doldrums, and reminding me of everything I was accomplishing pre-pandemic.
This will be an important week for TAO work. By the weekend, I should know if I can get the PDFs off by the end of the month, or whether July will be more likely. I still believe June is possible. Many small (but necessary) items have been knocked off the to-do list, these last couple of weeks, along with the basic coloring-and-lettering that remains.
Speaking of lettering, I was unsure about a little joke that opens the last chapter. However, revisiting it last week, it made me chuckle. So I thought I’d share the top two-thirds of page 163 with you:
OK…back to work!
I hope your days are spectacular, and that you are safe and well,
John
Home Again, Home Again...
over 3 years ago
– Thu, May 27, 2021 at 09:58:48 PM
As Obi-Wan Kenobi said, several times, “Hello there.”
I’m back from London.
It was a very good trip, both for personal reasons (seeing my parents and my sister for the first time in 16 months; seeing my brother for the first time in nearly 20 months), and professional.
I did not get the quantity of work done that I usually do, when in London (mostly because it was mainly about seeing family, and spending time with them), but the quality was off-the-charts, and hugely important.
There were a couple of sticking points in THE TAO OF IGOR that I just seemed unable to get past. I am now past these. In the end, they turned out to be far from insurmountable…yet I was agonizing about them for too long. I am happy they are in the rear-view mirror.
I also feared that I had accidentally overwritten a big, complex page while I was creating a sample to show you, a while back. Fortunately, I found the old, non-overwritten, full size, layered Photoshop file hiding on my iPad Pro. This is a relief.
I believe that getting the PDFs out in June is still an achievable goal, and that is what I continue to working towards.
Past Me penciled much of the intended dialog of the final pages’ scripts onto the original inked art. I would like to thank Past Me for such foresight, as this makes things much, much easier right now. (I don’t always pencil dialog onto original art, since I assume I will remember what was intended, when the time comes. This seldom actually happens.)
I will need volunteer proofreaders quite shortly. They will be seeing the final pages as I post them for layout (The first 160 or so are already proofread, but will be included, for context). Anyone with honest-to-goodness editing experience would be appreciated. (I have pro friends also doing this, but a few extra eyes never hurt – unless one of them is named “Vecna.”)
As always, I’ll try and keep a lookout for any questions that pop up here, or in the “Comments” section. I don’t always get alerts on my iPhone (I’m unsure as to why technology can be fickle), so I’ll try to check frequently, just in case.
Anyway, here are a couple of the new colored pages, and more will be in the next update:
- John
This Was the Week that Was
over 3 years ago
– Thu, May 06, 2021 at 05:00:55 PM
This has been one weird week.
I was Matt-level stressing, Monday, and got very little work done. Tuesday was Judith and my 25th wedding anniversary, so...no work then, either.
Yesterday I was up at 4 am, stress-working. I was exhausted by 4 pm, and literally fell asleep at my drawing table.
Today, I'm flying to London, to see my parents and my sister for the first time in 14 months, and my brother for the first time in 18.
Work has been going better, but still not as well as I'd like. My mind felt like it was working "at airline wifi speed" (© Josh Gondelman) this last month.
HOWEVER...
I’ll be quarantining in London for 10 days, at my family’s house, and I've uploaded all the TAO OF IGOR pages to the cloud, so I can work on those, while I'm there.
I work well at my parents' place, in Southwark, and I'm hoping to get a good way towards finally finishing this off while in London.
TAO remains very much in the “coloring and lettering” phase. I’m handling the basic coloring, a friend is adding shading.
Here’s a simple sample not-yet-shaded-by-my-professional-colorist-friend page:
(I sort of want to come up with a mascot for Mud Con, to add to the background posters. We’ll call it “Muddy.” It shouldn’t take long. It’s mud, for Pete’s sake.)
Here’s a peek at one that will be less simple (this is about a sixth of a glorious double-page spread):
Working on THE TAO OF IGOR remains enormous fun, and seeing things finish up is also fun...even if the pace has been too dang slow, this last month. But it will be a lot more fun once it’s done, and off to press, and in your hands.
Having blown estimates in the past, I’m hesitant to say just when exactly this will all be wrapped up. But if I can get the work done in London that I expect I will, we’d be looking at early June for the PDFs.
The crazy thing is, I’m actually VERY GOOD at making deadlines. I take pride when I get work in early. I once drew an entire Munchkin core game – 168 cards - in three weeks, because it was needed. (That would be MUNCHKIN OZ - It turned out to be one of my favorites, as well.)
I’ve never experienced a period like this in my career, and I am so deeply grateful for your patience and understanding, throughout it all. I’ve lined up are a couple of “thank you” surprises, once the PDF goes out. Right now, though, it’s all about getting the PDF done and out.
I'm turning things around, and will get this done!
I received my second Moderna vaccination two weeks ago (hence my London trip, to see my double-vaccinated family).
I designed an “I Got My Shot” sticker – something a little larger, cooler, and more permanent than the teeny tiny ones that are generally handed out:
I thought that giving them away for free would be a nifty idea. If anybody wants one, all you need do is visit the Dork Store at https://shop.dorktower.com/category/got-the-shot ($1 for postage, worldwide).
They’ve been awfully popular – Fulfillment Guru David has already shipped nearly 2,000 of them, all over the world.
(We also have T-shirts and prints for sale, which NOBODY HAS TO BUY. But we’ve sold a few, and those have paid for the free stickers. Patches and enamel pins will be added – folks have asked about them.)
Anyway, if you’d like a free sticker, the latest restock is in at the Dork Store, and should get out right away to you.
Ironically, I didn’t have one myself, when I received my second shot. But I saved the very first one off the presses for my wife, when she got hers!
- John
