Perhapablog

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

addressing the issue...

okay...

while i've mentioned it here from time to time before, putting out your own monthly comic book--even with all of the magnificent help that image offers--is a lotta work. and, though i'm sure that many of you believe that if we're doing our own comic book we must be raking in the dough, we're really making no money. in reality, we are so 180ยบ away from making money that it's just not funny. we have actually invested a lot more money into our latest image run of the all-new, all-different perhapanauts than we could really hope to recoup. and that's as we try to forget what we threw into the dark horse runs...
i don't mean to sound like i'm crying.

'cause the truth is, we LOVE this book! we LOVE the characters! we LOVE the stories! and we LOVE working together on it!



but still...not paying the bills.

in the current comic book market, a book needs to sell around 5000 copies to break even. to make any money at all for it's creators, it needs to get up around 6500. as did our run at dark horse, we've been averaging somewhere around 3200.

we do it 'cause we love it. and we love YOU 'cause you love it.
and we're gonna keep doing it for a long, long time.



however, we DO need to pay the bills.
and that's why the perhapanauts--originally scheduled to be a monthly book--has been more like a month-and-a-halfly. or a two-monthly. (oh, wait--that's bi-monthly.) fortunately, craig and i have both been blessed with some absolutely great work from marvel, craig aon the spider-man loves mary jane series, me on marvel adventures spider-man. and we'vbe both been given even more work in the last few weeks to keep us actually making money for the next year or so (more on this cool news later...!)

but see, that's where things slow down for our perhapanauts. the paying work needs to take priority. 'cause, y'know, it's paying. and while we long for a time when the perhapanauts might be paying, until then the other stuff has to take precedence.

so we apologize--profusely--for the delays and uneven schedule.
and we thank you, more than you could know, for your understanding and patience.



the way things look, perhapanauts 5 will be out just before christmas, and issue 6--our halloween special!--will be out in late january (take that simpson's treehouse of horror!)


--mike ploog halloween cover--


thank you, again, for your patience and understanding.
todd and craig

14 comments:

Brian said...

Whew! You are too good at this suspensful writing Todd, because they way you started off had me fearing the worst.

First and foremost, Yay! Both for the fact that Marvel is showing you guys the love - nice to be able to pay the bills, especially these days - and that there will be more 'Haps down the road and whether that be every other month, every three months or even straight to trade, I'll be there, hard earned money in hand, for one of the best comics currently on the market.

Heywood Jablomie said...

Yeah I was a little worried there too!

Glad to hear that there's continuing work for you guys at the big m!

I'll be there behind you guys, well not literally ha!-with the book, you know that! so why not just do it bi-monthly, this way you don't have to feel guilty if it's not out monthly?

Christian D. Leaf said...

I, too, was wondering where this story was going. Glad that it had the ending we were all hoping for. (Though I'm sure we'd add better sales to this tale if we could.)

Your dedication to the characters only inspires more loyalty in your humble fans.

Adam Hutch said...

Seems like you got everybody worried with those first few paragraphs. Man, don't do that again!

I'll be reading whenever the issues come out. I'm with Mike why not do it bi-monthly (or at least schedule it that way) officially?

Scott Weinstein said...

Well, I think it's safe to say that no matter what the delays are, we will all happily wait for the next Perhaps issue. So, rest assured that your readers aren't going anywhere.

And doesn't your Spidey Adventures issue come out this week?

Scott Weinstein said...

As well as Craig's Spidey Loves MJ.

~ Wendy ~ said...

Oh I agree .. my heart dropped when I first started reading your post. I'm happy to read the Perhaps is still to be.. and I agree, why not just make it a bi-monthly - take the pressure off you guys for a while .. if you have time you could always throw ina "special" edition here and there.. but bi-monthly would work, yes? no?
and, I too, will be there with my hard earned money waiting for my dear cartoon guy to open his store so I can get my issue WHENEVER it comes out!
Yeah for Marvel to see and use the talented Craig & Todd !! I am sure they will continue to do so for years and years!! (that is if they know what is good for them!! LOL)

craig rousseau said...

that todd sure does know how to hook the reader, doesn't he?

well, like the man said, we'd love nothing more but to do this book for our loyal readers and make a profit every month (and for that to happen, we would need several thousand more of you, in fact)...

but as sales numbers don't lie, there's only so much we can do (and how much we can afford to sink into every issue) and we're gonna do the best we can when we can around our paying work (funny, with all the the folks we know and the people we meet at shows and through email, i'm fairly convinced we know EVERYBODY who buys the book every time it comes out... so thanks, folks!)

there's still PLENTY of story we need to tell... like how arisa finally finds out that mg...


see, i can do it too, todd.

Heywood Jablomie said...

C!-

I'd like to just go on record and say you guys are EVIL.....=P

Leanne said...

Yeesh, that was an evil intro there, Todd. I was fearing the worst!

I love the 'Haps, and as long as you guys continue to publish it, I'll keep buying it. The wait between issues doesn't matter-- it's definitely worth waiting for.

And, Craig... you're evil too.

Anonymous said...

Ok

Enough is enough.

I can keep my silence no longer.

Todd, I must cease in assisting you in this charade.

It's time for you all to know that all this talk of low sales is nothing more than a skillfully concocted marketing ploy executed by Todd at the urging of Jake...

The truth of the matter is that for the past few months, Todd Dezago has been writing the entire run of Secret Invasion and the majority of its spinoffs under various aliases.

He writes Marvel Apes as well.

He sits at his computer around the clock, never glimpsing the light of day, with only a singular desire for monetary gain driving him.

But this is only the latest.

Civil War? Endangered Species? Brand New Day?

Todd. Todd! TODD!!!

It's true friends. He has spent the past decade establishing himself as a megalomaniac in the world of comics. His domination from the inside reaches beyond just creative domination and into Marvel's business ventures as well.

Joe Quesada? Does that sound like a name that any real person would have? I think not.

In fact, I KNOW better.

I'm sorry it had to be carried out this way Todd, but what's done is done. I hope that your loyal readers are able to finally recognize your deception before you delete my post.

To all of you who do read this, there is only one way to combat this mad man. He is already raking in massive amounts of dollars from its DC re release and the impending feature film. In a last ditch effort to quell his monopoly of the comic industry we all know and love I am hearby calling for a worldwide boycott of the Watchmen movie.

Yes, dear friends, Todd wrote that too...

Sincerely,

A Concerned Comics Fan

P.S.

Down with Perhapanauts!

Buy Glamourpuss!

God Bless!

Warren said...

I'm glad to see you on a Spidey book, Todd. And I'm enjoying Spidey Loves MJ. It's good to have Marvel books that are fun reads.

And I'd love to see the Perhapanauts turn into a huge seller. The book deserves a larger audience.

Personally, I think the 'Haps would make the best animated show evar.

Cooper said...

Man, I concur, this was definitely shaping up to be like reading Todd's belated entry into his own "scary stories" contest!

Oh, and...That Ploog cover makes me giddy.

Anonymous said...

[url=http://www.adulthostedblogs.com/?u=videoseallyn4]Ideal DVD Copy 3.0.2[/url] [url=http://www.drawingboard.org/blogs/?u=videoseabigayle6]dvdXsoft Zune Video Converter 1.32[/url]
1Click DVD Copy Pro 2.5.1.8 Absolute Video Splitter Joiner
http://blog.bakililar.az/videoseamanda7/ Screen2SWF
[url=http://blog.bakililar.az/videosealeta2/]Easy DVD CD Burner 3.0.116[/url] [url=http://www.blogsplosion.com/?u=videoseashlie9]A-Z Video Converter Profession 7.25[/url]
Windows Media Player 12 2008 Zealot All Video Joiner 3.6
http://www.drawingboard.org/blogs/?u=videosealexus8 Cheetah DVD Burner 2.23
Avex Zune Video Converter
my icq:858499940385