Here is the scene on Youtube but it’s in Cantonese. Sorry, I can’t find it in English.

If you want to see more Vis Dev for Kung Fu Panda 2 then check out my last post on the subject here: Kung Fu Panda 2 – Set Designs

You can also get the art book here: The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2

This is one of those pages that kinda makes me and my wife’s skin crawl whenever we look at it. I’m a bit worried that some parents will see this and ban their kids from any future installments. I’ve branded this comic as PG but this might be pushing it.

Perhaps I could tame it down a bit if needed but I’m a big believer that there is a real lack of threat or evil in kids shows these days. That sounds kinda funny but let me explain. I remember watching cartoons as a kid and being 100% invested in the main character because there really was a threat of evil around the corner that still creeps me to this day. Even more now that I am older. Now days, the big studios turn all these threats into a funny slap stick joke. I’m not singling any movie out because it’s almost ALL of them for kids now.

If we remove all the threats from a kid show then you also remove most of the emotional investment in wanting the hero to succeed. Sometimes there really is a BAD or EVIL villain out there who will stop at nothing to do whatever he feels he needs or wants to do. I think that’s one of the reasons Harry Potter is so powerful, because Voldemont is a REALLLLLLY evil villain. In a way, I think it helps prepare kids for the reality that the world is not a fairy tale. You can get hurt if you do foolish things. Life isn’t always fair. There are really evil people out there. You can be hurt if you wonder down the wrong street or hang out with the wrong person. You can’t hold a bomb when it explodes. This stuff is real and to remove it from our children’s fiction seems to me like it’s masking the truth and in turn doesn’t help them prepare for the reality of growing up.

Hmmm. Since when did I become all deep like this. I better get off my soap box.

So anyway, I like this set of pages because it makes my skin crawl. haha.

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Also, just so you know, I have been all sold out of reMIND Vol. 1 on Amazon for over a week now. Because of this, there are several computerized stores that are jacking up the price to $200 to $300 for a copy now. I assure you, this is not a good price to pay for the book because I will be reprinting it in several months and selling it again for the cover price. So if you really want a copy, then just join my mailing list and you will be notified when I launch my new Kickstarter (in about 5 months) and you will be able to get the first books off the press.

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Once again, please help me get this website in front of as many new eyes as you can. I’m still just a nobody to 99.99% of the population. There are always new people just discovering reMIND saying that it’s their new favorite comic. I know that this book sells at conventions as long as I can show it to someone. The trick is to get someone to look at it. We are all busy and don’t have time to test out every webcomic on the internet. But we almost always try something out if one of our friends or family sends us a link in an email.

In other words, if you really like reMIND then please personally share this with someone you think will enjoy it too. That word of mouth stuff is amazing. Neil Gaiman’s wife, Amanda Palmer, said it best in her Kickstarter, “WE ARE THE MEDIA!” 

Thanks again for all the love! Happy Monday!

This page is kinda an homage (in a way) to the book that heavily inspired this whole idea of brain transplantation when I was a kid. “The Master Mind of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Or maybe the book was “The Synthetic Men of Mars”. I seem to get them mixed up a little after 15 years but they have been such an influence in so many of my story ideas to this day. Anyway, I drew the first panel of this page based on my memory of this book cover from long ago. I did a quick internet search just now to see how similar it actually was. Not bad. Obviously, it’s a completely different situation but it was fun to recreate it in my own little way.

By the way, if you are wondering, I loved the John Carter movie. It’s a shame that my favorite stories in that universe will probably never see the light of day on the big screen after the failure of its box office results. But in a way, it’s probably better for all of us who have been inspired by the books.

See you soon!

(KINDA A SPOILER)

P.S. If you are reading this with your little ones then you might want to check out next weeks page before you let them load it up. I am worried that it’s going into the PG-13 area because of blood but I could be wrong. I never know how to judge the rating system these days. It would probably be a G rating if it was on TV with the kinda of trash that is accepted on prime time. ha!

Wormworld Saga – Chapter 3!

Daniel Lieske just posted the third chapter of his amazing online graphic novel the other day. If you haven’t seen it yet then you really need to check it out. This is as good as free comics get in my opinion.

Plushie Fun!

If any of you are in the market to make a plushie for your webcomic then check out this article written by ComicRocket.com. I was interviewed for the article and I give away all my secrets. ;) If you want to hire the same people that I used then this article gives you all the juicy details.

Making Plushies for your Webcomic!

Bye for now.

- Jason

The moment we have all been waiting for! SLAP!

I use a new technique on this page. Can you tell what it is?

Also, I will be posting a new podcast with Jake Parker over at MakingComics.com very soon so please check it out if you like to hear me mumble about stuff. :)

Also, I hate to sound like a broken record but please reTweet or share this page or comic as much as you can if you enjoy it. I have been spending money every week on advertising but the best way to grow readership is by word of mouth. If you have been sharing this (and I know there are many who do) then I thank you 1000 times!

- Jason

If you haven’t seen it yet then I want to introduce you to The Antler Boy and Other Short Stories by Jake Parker. It funded in less than a day but you still have about 3 weeks to jump in and help support the project and get a nice looking hardcover book in return!

Well, the cat is out of the bag now… or cage.

I’ll keep my post short today but I want to reMIND you that there are only a few copies of reMIND still on Amazon. Once they are gone then they are gone. I’ll be rePRINTING volume 1 next year (2013) so plan on waiting a while if you missed the first printing. I still have a few hundred copies reserved for my convention appearances this year, but no more online sales for this first printing.

Anyway, have a great Monday!

It all started with a crazy road trip for 20+ hours to pick up my brother in Oregon and make it just in time to set up in a city I’ve never been before with just a few hours to check into my hotel and take a shower before the show started. That in itself was crazy. But we made it and set up the booth. Mike Yamada and his wife Victoria Ying shared a corner booth with us too. If you haven’t seen their work you really should check it out. They are both amazingly talented.

The show opened and the self doubt hit me like a ton of bricks. Especially when the first 30 minutes we had no interested candidates to purchase anything at my booth. I started to really sweat because I dragged my brother all the way here and paid lots of money to be in an unfamiliar audience who didn’t seem to be interested. You could probably see it on my face but then suddenly a fan ran up to the booth in excitement and we talked for about 15 minutes. In that time two other fans approached and complimented me on my book. This really helped calm my nerves but I still wasn’t selling anythi– oh wait, a random attendee just came up out of the blue while I was talking to fans and throw down some cold hard cash. I’m in.

What was once crickets became a continuous stream of interest for my book and prints. About 2 hours in I turned to my brother realizing that this was probably the easiest crowd that I have ever sold to. By the end of the day we had it down and were averaging a book sold every 15 minutes mixed with lots of other little sales and conversation.

The first day was finished and as we walked out into the lobby I was greeted by Royden Lepp the talented writer and artist behind the Archaia book titled Rust. (order from this link and I get a small cut) We ended up going out to dinner with him and his wife and we had a blast. I’m so glad I got a chance to get to know them because they are such great people. Check out his book if you have a chance. It’s one of the few graphic novels that I’ve purchased in the last few years and I love it.

Saturday morning we rolled into the con and I picked up some amazing crepes from a little crepe shop on the street. Talk about the most yummy crepes I’ve ever eaten. That’s a whole post in itself. :)

The convention opened to shouts as attendees ran past to get into autograph lines. We sat back and waited for the first 30 minutes this time instead of worrying about selling books. Soon the customers started wondering by and my brother and I ended up selling 45 copies of reMIND that day alone. It was the most books I ever sold in one day at a con.

In the middle of the day Mleiv stopped by to say hi and gave me some delicious muffins! She does an amazing webcomic called The Locked Maze that you really should see. I think I was in a daze when she came by and I didn’t quite realize it was her until towards the end of our conversation. So, thanks Mleiv for the yummy muffins! Now everyone go and check out her amazing looking comic!

Travis Hanson of The Bean had set up a panel to talk about Kickstarter and he invited me to be part of it. I had no idea what to expect but I wanted to do a panel eventually so I jumped on the opportunity. I was crazy nervous. I was even more nervous when I saw the massive line stretching the length of the convention to get into the panel. The doors opened and we went into a huge room that quickly filled with over 140 people. It reached the room limit and they turned away everyone else. Gulp.

Travis lead the show and we had a fun time discussing what makes a good Kickstarter for about an hour. Thanks Trav, for letting me be a part of your amazing panel! I didn’t get any pictures so if anyone has one that they want to share then I’d love to post it here.

Go check out Trav’s webcomic, The Bean now!

After the panel was finished, I went back to my booth and my brother had sold out of all my signed copies of reMIND that I left for him. He also had two people waiting there for me. And that’s when Ed showed up…

Who’s Ed?

This is Ed.

On Friday, he came by my booth wearing an “I’ve seen the Lizard Man” shirt, which was cool enough to make me snap a picture. But then he showed me his new tattoo.

Look closer.

Yep, that is a brand new tattoo of Victuals on his arm. I might have to mark Ed down as my biggest fan now. We talked for quite a bit and he’s a super nice guy with a big laugh. Thanks Ed, for making this show unforgettable!

The day finished great and we ended up eating dinner with Jeremy Barlow (who edited reMIND) and his friends (who I don’t know their websites or their full names) (and now I feel like a total looser because of) (Help Jeremy!) (awkward pause)

…

Sunday started and I was delivered some home made pie! Yes, home made pie! Yes! Serious! Thank you so much Kelsie! Now everyone go follow her on twitter @bicyclefish.

One of the other highlights of the show was meeting Shari Chankhamma who helped me color several pages of Volume 2. I love her art and now I know that she is also a very nice person as well. :) She brought me a bunch of cool gifts and stopped by several times just to hang out. Go check out here work here and follow her on twitter here @sharihes. Here is one of her drawings.

I meet tons of other cool people and publishers and friends. I talked with printers, publishers and producers interested in reMIND. I was part of another cool panel on Small Press with a bunch of other cool people. Here’s a picture that Drew Pocza took of the panel. He was on the panel too.

The panel was hosted by Corrosive Comics:  Shawn Cruz, AnnMore Grove and Micah Baker

Also on the panel were:

Devour Comics: Akumyo (Rochelle Bea)
Pokeweed Comics Pokeweed:  Drew Pocza

The rest of the show went great and I sold 99 copies of reMIND, all the plushes that I brought, all my prints and lots of other random things.  We packed up and drove back to my brothers house that night. Then the next day I drove back home to Los Angeles. Exhausted.

I already paid for a booth for next year because this was such a great experience. Thank you to everyone who came out to see me and the fun conversations! See you there next year!

- Jason