The Financial Perils of Cliffhangers - Why My Open-Ended Comic Needs a Conclusion

Let's talk about the most exciting topic in comics! Business models!

I've tried a lot of different business models to make comics over the last several years. The original run of Incredible Doom was kind of like a magazine subscription. I produced the second volume of Incredible Doom as work for hire for Harper Alley. But with this new story, I wanted to try making the "traditional." way. (I put traditional in quotes because it still boggles my mind that this is possible. But I'm old.)

The traditional way includes serializing comics on the web that are free to read, supported by monthly Patreon backers, and then eventually collecting a large portion of those comics into a book. That book could be funded by Kickstarter and self-published. That book could be put out through a publisher that will help handle the logistics. There are several options.

But the gist of it remains the same. Regular, ongoing, public comics, supported through Patreon, culminating in the release of a book. Some cartoonists make most of their money through Patreon, and the book is just a fun thing to do on the side. Others make very little on Patreon and make all their money from books for the year. So what will the new Incredible Doom project model be? It's tough to say. We're going to find out. But either way, the book is a big part of the plan.

So why am I telling you all this?

Well, thinking about this book led to some changes in the project over the last week.