Reno McCoy

So exciting. So much pressure. With the second pick in the 2017 CGC Raffle Draft, Reno McCoy picks, Item 12, from Azkaban - Mystery Box (will try and fit it around the taste of who picks it) - US Shipping Only

I love this idea. Start early for anyone who's around early. I'm ready to pick. Where's loboagain already?

Woo hoo! 2nd! So totally epic, as my son would say. Here's hoping I set the top two on my list correctly.

Those Mystery Minis are so much cooler than I thought they might be. When I bought them, I quickly realized that I wanted some for myself. Not Walking Dead, perhaps, but I imagine I'll be buying some in my future.

I read that it'll take about a year for the purchase to be final, so here's hoping DH has enough time to make plans for its future.

Woo hoo. I don't have my camera with me, but SpideyFein sent me several JLA comics, a stack of Adam Hughes Wonder Woman comics, and the Adam Hughes trade paperback collection of Betty and Veronica. I love me some Adam Hughes, so they'll find a happy spot in my collection.

Merry Christmas, Mike. I hope the gifts bring you a bit of joy Monday morning.

I was thinking this exact same thing today when I got my gift in the mail. That'd be quite something.

Oh heck yeah. I vaguely remember following along last year, but only remember the announcements, not the sales. Thanks!

Does Sideshow ever have coupons/deals at this time of year? I was out during Black Friday, and was hoping to snag a Premium Format. I'm not in a rush to buy for Christmas, so I can wait for the right deal, but would rather buy now if they don't do decent sales after Thanksgiving.

Woo hoo! Can't wait. Thanks for setting this up again this year!

Ah, interesting. Was the Hughes 1:100 announced prior to the store deciding to do a store variant? I mean, that's pretty savvy if the owner knew about the "rare" Hughes book ahead of time.

How does one get so many copies of a 1:100?

Glad you liked them. I can't wait to create more for next year.

Right on. I hope you enjoy them.

Some of you know that I write comics. Over the last year, I've been developing a series of scary comics called House of Fear. The series features complete, stand-alone stories intended for kids and adults. I've had a couple of successful Kickstarter campaigns, and next year I'll be moving to a trade paperback format and publishing at least two 3-story collections that will be available in comics shops. I love Halloween, and with the day just around the corner, I wanted to share the comics I've already done. Although I have print copies for sale and the series is available on Comixology, I wanted to share them digitally, for free, with the fine folks here on the CGC board. (I normally don't share free PDFs with anyone unless you sign up for my mailing list, but I've enjoyed this group for a long time, so I thought, what the heck?) To download a comic, simply click an image below. You'll be taken to dropbox, where you can download a PDF. I wrote two issues, and I edited the second issue there in the middle (which was written by Brandon Barrows). My goal is to launch another Kickstarter campaign next year that features bundles of these comics that are inexpensive enough that fans buy them to hand out to kids on Halloween. I've been giving away comics on Halloween for years, and while the bundles of mini-comics on sale at local shops are great, too often the story ends on a cliffhanger. Kids don't want to read half a scary story on Halloween. Although I didn't print mini versions of my comics this year, I have been selling bulk copies at a huge discounts, and people have been excited about the idea, so I think I'm on the right track. I hope you enjoy them.

I write my scripts using FinalDraft. A lot of people hate that program, though, but I've enjoyed it. When I edit others, I'll edit in whatever program they send me, which is usually Word.

Yep. I'm trying to build up to asking for more. I didn't want to launch my first campaign and ask for $10,000. I don't have the audience for that yet. Instead, I've been selling my beloved comic collection and saving money as much as possible so I could pay the art team. I launched the first one and paid for printing/shipping. Then with the next one, I asked for a little more, paid for printing/shipping, and got a little left over to help pay the creative team on the next one. Now, however, I've learned from experience that selling floppies is hard. The margins are thin. I've polled my audience (small as it is, but growing) and asked how they'd prefer these stories, and the majority said 3-4 stories in a small tradepaperback. From those I've polled (readers and creators), it's easier to sell a 90-page book for $10 than it is to sell a 32-page floppy for $3 or $4. That means more up front cost, but I'm hoping for more sales and an improved margin. (Plus, if I do it right, I'll start getting into libraries, comic shops, and book stores.)

I've taken courses on Kickstarter and building email lists and all that, so I'm definitely interested in the subject. Making your own comics is painfully slow, but so rewarding when they're done and you start getting feedback from readers. If all goes well, or maybe even if it doesn't, this time next year I won't have a day job and I'll be making comics full time.

I'm a writer who's self-published four comics now, the last two of which had successful Kickstarter campaigns, which you can find here and here. From what I've learned, a publisher Boom! or higher won't sign a deal with you until you've done a few comics on your own, proven that you can make great comics, and maybe even come on board with a sizable list of fans. Sure, there are people who fit in with one publisher or another, but the more I learn about that, the more I realize it's who you know. Even small press like, say, Black Mask, don't take unsolicited material to consider. You should also note that unless a publisher comes to you for a story, you'll need to have it complete or nearly complete for them to consider it anyway. I don't know of any publishers who will take on a creative team with only a --script and a few complete pages. Sure, that's Image's model, in theory, but that's a tough nut to crack. For your first Kickstarter, I suggest you have a complete book done. Sure, it's costly, but you'll find more backers when the risk is minimal. I've backed so many projects that took years to complete, and no one wants that. If you have a book that only needs to be printed, it's an easier buy-in for random strangers. As for a printer, I paid about $1500 for 1000 copies shipped to me. If you're doing print on demand locally, sure, the cost will be about $3 a copy. But if you do offset printing and print 500+, there are great options to choose from. I printed 1000 copies of each book I did. I sold at cons and online only. It's incredibly tough to sell through 1000 comics. I'm sitting on about 300 left of each issue, and that's after some serious pushes here and there. Next year, I'm switching to making books 90+ pages. The profits aren't there for floppies.

These comics are still available! Just $30 for the set.

Woot woot. Thanks!

One time price drop: $30 plus shipping.

Up for sale is a lot of 17 Daredevil Copper Age comics. All are keys, semi keys, or close to being semi keys. I'm selling the lot for $40 plus shipping. I figure issue 254 is worth at least half that price, so... All comics are NM- or better, with most of them being NM or NM+. Issue 254 looks sweet on the front, but there are a few spine tics on the black back cover. See images for a better look. Issues are 184, 220, 236, 238, 240, 248-250, 254-260, 270, 272.

Thanks, Spidey. Message coming soon.