Also, if you like reading comics on apps, Follower is available on both Webtoons and Tapas! And if you subscribe there, it really helps me out, because I’m a little bit closer to being eligible for an ad revenue share.
I’ve had to make a few changes regarding Follower’s update schedule. It will be returning on February 21 to accommodate my health issues. More details are in the post below if you’re interested. Thanks for your understanding!
I’ve been working on new Follower pages and there are currently 3 previews up for Chio Club members! That means you can get 3 updates ahead of the current story, and be way ahead by the time regular updates resume in February!
Hey folks! Just wanted to make a quick update post about some new stuff that’s been posted for Chio Club supporters!
First: the final version of Follower page 8.14 is up. It took forever, working on and off through shoulder pain, but it’s finally done, and thankfully I’m starting to get some pain relief. (As a direct result of Chio Club & other support!)
I also uploaded rough versions of pages 15-17, since those are next on my agenda and it might be interesting to see through this part of the process.
Next: I have a timelapse video of work on page 8.14 which will be up on Monday for Chio Club folks.
Still easing my way back into working on pages, but it is so much easier now that I have some means to manage some of the pain I’ve been in. I just have to be slightly more aware of when I’m overdoing it, because it’s easy to get caught up in it and then pay for it later. (That’s what happened to me on Friday, oops.)
Anyway! Onward to more new stuff! Join the Chio Club for early sneak peeks at what I’m working on, and to help me stay alive and out of pain!
It has been a rough weekend for me pain-wise so far, and all my brain wants to do is draw. Figures. I had a moment and seized it to sketch a messy little Dia for fun. Hopefully I can get this all better dealt with soon. Cross your fingers for me. 🤞
After about a billion years, I’ve made some updates to the shop! Two brand-new digital products have been added: a Wallpaper Mega Pack which includes wallpapers I made from 2014-2020, and a bundle of 7 themed sketchbook PDFs. So if you enjoy my art, particularly the art for Messenger and Follower, these are a great way to get more than you see in the comics themselves.
Wallpaper Mega Pack (2014-2020)
A ZIP file containing monthly wallpapers from 2014-2020.
In addition to new stuff in our shop here, we also have a bunch of sales going on throughout the month on other merch like shirts and stickers! Here’s where you can find what’s up:
Threadless
Did you know we have a Threadless shop? Because we do! A bunch of our designs are available on everything from shirts to skateboards, and sales are running throughout the month! Check out these codes and dates to get the best deals!
There are also some great sales happening this month in our Teepublic shop, which includes some officially licensed merch like my Star Trek Tribble Trouble shirt! (One of my personal favorite designs!!)
Whether you’re after shirts, stickers, or other merch, this is probably one of the best times of year to get them! Sales are happening throughout the month, so I’ll do my best to make sure you know about ’em!
October was a month of ups and downs for us; I’ve been working my hardest to make progress on both Follower edits and website updates along with new pages. I’ve also been fighting the healthcare system to make any forward progress on dealing with my chronic pain situation. We also unexpectedly lost our cat, which made the latter half of the month more challenging than usual. Still, we press on.
What’s New?
This has been a difficult month. I’ve made a few animated videos for my TikTok page about some of the difficulties of dealing with chronic pain (and health insurance) as a way to try and stay sane through what feels like an absurd process. Still, things are moving forward for me, however slowly.
I’ve made a little progress on some new Follower updates, which are available to Chio Club members. I’m still working on learning how to deal with dysfunctional hands and joints, but I refuse to give up on comics or Follower, even though it’s been hard, pain-wise.
In the past two weeks, we found ourselves having to say goodbye to our beloved cat Milo, who, like it or not, was very much a part of our lives as creative people. He was the boss around here, really, and it’s been difficult to find the new normal without him. If you’d like to read more about him, I wrote a bit of a eulogy for him to try and work through some of my own thoughts. (Though I will warn you in advance if you are sensitive to the topic of pet loss; it’s a little emotional.)
Bug Bits is (was?) a small series of autobiographical strips I made over the years. They were originally posted on Tapas and Webtoon before I took them down with the intention of doing…something…with them, which I clearly never did. Anyway, now seems as good a time as any to revive Bug Bits. Here is a… Read more: COMIC: a shell of a human being (bug bits)
Hi friends, long time no post? Sort of? I’m here to resolve this posting drought by….posting about not posting. Hmm. As you might have already read if you’re up to date with the goings-on on Follower, or via the Chio Club, I’m going through some kind of burnout and need to take a bit of… Read more: In the Wilderness
It’s a Turkey-Type Sale! If you’re in America, it’s that one week of the year again. *eyeroll* So I suppose I gotta do one of these. Anyway, all my comics, wallpapers, sketchbooks, and brushes are 50% off on itch.io. Everything in my Teepublic shop is on sale, too! That includes shirts, stickers, mugs, hoodies, and… Read more: Turkey-Type Sale
This is just a tiny update to say that I’m leaving Twitter for good. There are a lot of reasons why, but I think it’s finally time. I’ve long since arrived at the point where it’s more effort for me to make a post than what I get in return, where on sites like Bluesky… Read more: Abandoning the bird
Hey folks! There’s a Chio Club update with a preview of the next page and some information about the upcoming schedule for the comic. $1+ members can take a peek right now!
What’s Next?
Despite the challenges of October, I’m still working my hardest to make progress on comics. I’ve been trialling some different pain management options, most of which have been ineffective, but I’m trying to push through it and work on new pages anyway. These updates have been made available to Chio Club members so far, so be sure to join if you’re interested in an early peek at what’s to come.
I’m continuing to work on the new website for Follower, which is coming along very well. The site itself is mostly functioning and complete, I just have to prepare edited and resized pages to upload to it. These pages are also what I’m planning to use for Volume One, so again, if you’re interested in an early peek at all of these things, definitely check out the Chio Club.
Community News
One of the new parts of the new Follower website I’m considering opening to readers is the option to help transcribe pages for vision-impaired readers. For now, I’ve been doing the transcriptions myself, but there are hundreds of pages to go. I might open this up to the community as a volunteer project. If you’re at all interested in this sort of thing, please drop in on the Discord chat and let me know!
If there is community interest, I will open up a private channel just for transcribers, and probably create a special role for it.
Thanks For Reading!
Thank you for reading this month’s news. It’s been a difficult month around here, so it means a lot that you’re around and checking in on what we’re up to. We’re doing our best to get new stuff made, and crossing our fingers that my situation gets better soon. Draw through the pain! (No, don’t!!)
Hey all! One of the projects I’ve been working on in the background while drawing has been difficult is building a shiny new website for Follower. As part of this, I’m going to be finally transferring the whole comic onto its own URL instead of living underneath messenger-comic.com. It’s a lot easier to give people a shorter URL that they might remember than the current one. After 10 years (!!) it’s finally time.
What does this mean for you? If you use RSS to subscribe to the comic, you’ll have to switch to the new feed URL. I will make sure to post about it well in advance so you’ll see something before the site moves. I’m planning to be relatively loud about it so it won’t go unnoticed, even after the move.
If you don’t use RSS (you should, though!) you won’t notice a big change since I am planning to make the old URL eventually automatically redirect to the new one. So when you visit the site, you’ll end up in the new place no matter what.
There will be a short transition period in between where both sites will be alive at the same time, just to make sure people see the change, but then it’ll become an automatic redirect after that.
Welcome back to Spooky Month, the month where everything is a trick or a treat and we live in candy chaos. It finally feels like fall is upon us here at Chio HQ. Let’s get on with the latest and greatest!
What’s New?
Follower Update Status
Follower remains on hiatus for the time being. I am getting better at working around some of the joint pain issues I have, and have done more comic work this past month than I have in quite some time. Still, it’s not enough for proper updates yet. A lot of the medical help I was counting on in September fell apart or was pushed out for various reasons, which has been frustrating since some of it would have definitely helped me in the drawing department. Regardless, I’m continuing to do my best, albeit at a slower pace. Chio Club folks have gotten the first look at what I’ve been working on, and I’ll have more to share soon.
Like I mentioned last month, I’ve been working on something more in the autobio comics realm, but it’s required a bit of supporting research. I don’t have a title yet, and I haven’t completely figured out the structure, but I do have a general idea of what I want to say so I guess that’s something. Unfortunately it’s all still in the notes phase so it’s not terribly exciting to look at, yet.
Teepublic Sale Dates!
In smaller news, I’ve been spending some of my “practice” time re-acclimating my drawing hand to…drawing… by working on some simple shirt designs for my shop. If you like anything you see, my whole shop will be on sale from October 12-15 and October 26-29.
While there isn’t much new going on with the community lately, you should come join us on Discord for casual chat and hanging out. It’s open to everyone and we strive to keep it a friendly place! Join us today!
Thanks For Reading!
As usual, thanks again for keeping up with the latest from us! I’m doing my best to get better and stronger so I can get back to making comics and art. Thanks for your patience with my slow pace!
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