🪑The Chairs' Hiatus - Revised Edition
(oops! Sent this "February" newsletter out a couple days late!)
Back in 2011, I finished my first graphic novel called "The Chairs' Hiatus." Here's how I've described the plot:
Mary and Nel were known for being close. Throughout the year that the two of them zig-zagged the country as the rock duo "The Chairs," they never spent more than a day or two apart.
That is until Mary mysteriously appears in a new city, having given up her music, fame, and friends. She wants nothing more than to work her lousy job and be left alone, but the two people who just showed up on her doorstep are determined to make sure that won't happen.
It's a project that, despite its rough edges, holds a special place in my heart. It seemed to strike a chord with a lot of folks. Over the years, it's lived various lives—from webcomic to paperback to hardback, and even a stint on Google Plus of all places. I had figured I'd put it to bed.
However a conversation with my literary agent in 2022 led to me looking into what it would take to release a revised edition. I spent a little time figuring out what that might look like, revisiting Mary and Nel and their weird band. A new edition didn't materialize, but doing some test revisions kind of made me fall in love with it again.
So, to say thanks for keeping up with my work I'm sharing the beginnings of the revised edition that never was. It's five pages longer than the original, with several bits of revised art and some brand-new work. I wrote up notes about the changes here.
I hope you like it, flip phones, cassette tapes and all.
The Oregon Book Awards
We recently discovered that our book Incredible Doom Vol. 2 os a finalist for the Oregon Book Award! Jesse and I got to go to a fancy reception and meet some great folks. We're quite honored. We find out the winners at the award ceremony on April 8th.
Wild.
💬 New Comics
Oh! And updates on incredibledoom.com are going weekly for a while. There have been lots of new pages up since the last newsletter. Meanwhile I'm still occasionally live-streaming my drawing process at matthewbogart.live !
🤝 For Patrons
There are over a hundred pages of Incredible Doom comics exclusively available to patrons right now, including two 24-hour comics, the entire third issue of Eternal September, and the complete "Lost Issue" that was never released, as well as short stories like our first for Eternal September featuring Thia, and several older shorts featuring the gag at evol house.
I shared a video about the completion and refinement process of "Incredible Doom" issue two, (which by the way, Patrons will be able to read in its entirety starting on March 6th!) In the video, I discussed script adjustments and incorporating valuable feedback.
Lastly, I gave a little love to my Patreons "collections". Making it easier for patrons to find some of my favorite supporter exclusive stuff from over the years. Putting it together I discovered that some of you have been backing for almost a decade now!
🔗 LINKS
Andy Baio
Years ago, I used to sit next to Andy Baio, and I remember him multiple times getting worried because some cool new thing on the web had taken venture capital money. Turns out his concerns were pretty spot on for Ello the hip new social network of 2014.
It's pretty dude heavy, but this thread of scans of folks posing with computers for newspapers by Josh Renaud would likely be right up the alley of some fans of Incredible Doom.
Signs against unwanted replies. Images and descriptions by DAN/VLG + FLO/FANGOHR
From Rachel J. Kwon: "A collection of articles that to some degree answer the question “Why have a personal website?” with 'Because it’s fun, and the #internet used to be #fun.'"
I've fallen down a D&D rabbit hole over the last few months. I've taken on the daunting role of being a Dungeon Master for some of my friends. Nothing helped me feel more confidant than the work of "Sly Flourish". Through their old school website, and kind of amazing stream of constant output through live-streaming, youtube, mastodon and podcasts and his great book "Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master"
By far my favorite discovery of this DnD hobby I've picked up is how nerdy and highscool-ish the creation of the game is. This story about how it came to use "those weird dice" exemplifies that.