Well … Now THAT was interesting.

Some of you might have noticed the lack of pages last week on both The Rookie and Black Jack Justice.  Those of you who live in the Mid-Western part of the United States or have been following the weather news know the reason — on Jan 29 - 31 we were hit by the mother of all ice storms.

Here’s my story from Louisville, KY. 

On the night of Jan 29 it started snowing.  It didn’t snow much, only about 6 to 8 inches.  But then, during the night, the air warmed up enough to turn the snow into a fine, misty rain. 

On the morning of Thursday the 29th, it had really just started getting bad and everything looked pretty normal.  A little snow, some rain — happens all the time.  Probably be gone in a day or two.  Especially if it was warm enough to rain. 

But it just kept coming.

The rain continued for the next two days — coating everything in a HEAVY layer of ice.  On flat surfaces this was on top of the snow adding about 2 inches of ice.

We lost power about 7pm on Thursday.  When we went to bed the house was still warm. 

I woke up before daylight on Friday to a cold house and the sound of breaking limbs and exploding transformers.  Literally, the sound woke me up. “CRACK” — “Teeeesssseee” as the millions of pieces of ice on the limbs hit the ice covering the ground or rooftop.  Over and over.  I stood in my front door and watched trees collapsing and power lines falling all around our neighborhood as the sun rose.  Very strange.

The rain finally let up on Friday afternoon — but as you can see by the pictures, the damage was done.  

Now 6 to 8 inches of snow is not that much for some of you (Gregg from Canada and Sami from Finland are probably laughing at us) and, really, it’s not a lot even by Kentucky standards.  But the ice… That was bad.   Our infrastructure and even our trees and bushes are just not used to that kind of abuse. 

Imagine the weight on the electric lines and tree limbs of 3/4 inch of ice on EVERY surface.

Our poor trees just couldn’t take it. Here’s my (once) beautiful Holly Tree and a tree across the road.  The Holly Tree was twice as tall just two days ago.  The whole top broke out.

This picture below — taken after the ice had started melting — shows what happened to many, many of the smaller trees.  They just litterally split apart — each side falling away from the others.

The Governor declared a state of emergency for Kentucky (something President Obama also did a bit later) on Friday and told everyone but emergency people to stay off the roads.  Hey, no problem — I wasn’t going anywhere anyway.

Nor could I have even if I wanted to — this is one entance to our neighborhood.   On MONDAY. 

Our power came back on Friday afternoon and stayed on until Saturday Morning.  Then it went off and stayed off until Monday afternoon.  Monday night it went off a third time and stayed off until Friday Morning — at which point it has stayed on for good.

As I write this, many are still without power in Louisville and the rest of the state.  They said on the news this morning that it will still be a week for all of Louisville to be back online and up to a month for some of the rural counties.

According to the Louisville Courier-Journal Newspaper, all told the storm cause 30 deaths and 769,000 + power outages in Kentucky alone (90,000 are still out as of Sunday.)

One last thing – Even though I know there’s only a very small chance any of them will ever read this, I want to say …

THANK YOU to the men and women of Louisville Gas and Electric for the Kick Ass job they do all the time.   You guys are the best.

Mark
   

  

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We have been promising it since day one — and it’s finally up and running

The Art of Addictive Comics Blog is LIVE!

We’ve wanted to do this even before we started the comics, but we weren’t sure if there was really a need for it.  As creators we love to discuss the story and artwork amoungst ourselves, but we didn’t know if the readers would be interested or not.

But the comments on the Blogs have convinced us that at least a few of you would like to delve more deeply into the creation process. 

So we’ve created The Art of Addictive Comics Blog.

Some of you may note that we only have one Art Blog when we have mentioned before that we would be doing individual ones for each book.  We decided that one would be better.  That’s all.

You might also notice, when you visit, that it looks a little sparce.  We’ll be fixing that as we go along. 

Our first post is all about the Black Jack Justice page for this week - Justice Served Cold - Page 8.  But don’t worry– The Rookie and other Sigler stuff will get its fair time.

If you are interested in Artwork, the creation process or you’re just wasting time at work until the whistle blows — Check out The Art of Addictive Comics Blog by CLICKING HERE NOW. 

Mark

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We have a new page Black Jack Justice this week –  Page 6 is here. 

The Rookie is taking a Bye Week (a Football term which means the team isn’t playing) but will return next week.  If you like you can read the reasons on The Rookie Blog

VIDEO! (sorta…)  

In the previous Post below (and on the Black Jack Justice Blog) you can see Addictive Comics’ first foray into video.

It’s just a little Slide Show-type presentation, but we think it has a pretty good “Feel” to it.  What do you think? 

You may note that the comments are turned “off” on the video post.  That wasn’t because we didn’t want to hear from you .  We would love to hear what you think and any ideas you may have to make it better and how we can do more.  Please leave your comments and suggestions on this post or over on the Black Jack Justice Blog.

The problem is that Wordpress is horribly flakey where videos are concerned.  Each time you “Edit” a post (which is how we respond to your comments) you run the risk of the video screwing up.  It happens almost everytime. 

I discuss the “programming” problem over on the Black Jack Justice Blog.  If you are interested and especially if you can help please head over there and leave a comment.

New Videos

Anyway, we have this video for BJJ and a similar one for The Rookie, finished and ready to post on some of the video sharing sites.  The one below is only on YouTube and here right now and The Rookie isn’t posted at all. 

We’ll monitor the results and, if they are getting us some good results (more readers!), we’ll probably do some more of them.  So far it looks promising — there have been 42 views in a little under 12 hours.  Not bad.  We really hope this does well, because we want to do some personal vids.  Scott is especially excited about mouthing off in front of the camera.   

If and when we do more, we’ll post them here or maybe at the bottom of the comic pages, which have no problem with vids. 

So please let us know what you think and any ideas you have for more vids and any other “get the word out” activities.

We do thank you.

Here is the YouTube address –  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm18eRvwu8U

And here is the direct address of the Black Jack Justice Blog posting — http://addictivecomics.com/blackjackjusticeblog/uncategorized/hard-boiled-detective-stories-in-an-intelligent-webcomic

Mark

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http://addictivecomics.com/blackjackjustice/ The Fan Favorite Podcast from Decoder Ring Theatre is now a Webcomic! Read Black Jack Justice’s adventures weekly from Addictive Comics.

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Many of you are probably getting sick of seeing me post everytime.

And the Black Jack Justice fans will have read and enjoyed several posts and comments by BJJ writer, Gregg Taylor and artist, Sami Kivelä.

But many of you Rookie fans will have noticed an strange absence of the otherwise VERY talkative half of the Addictive Comics team, Scott Sigler, during the opening weeks of the site. 

There’s been a very good – and very bad — reason for this.

On our opening day, December 16th, Scott received some very serious news about a family member and informed me that he could not take part in the opening.  

Unfortunately, everything was scheduled, planned and announced.  So we had to go forward with the opening — even though Scott could not be involved.

Out of respect for his and his family’s privacy, we did not even reveal the problem.

However, I are happy to report that the news now is all good!  Out of respect for him (and a fear of getting something wrong), I’m still not gonna go into it here — but you can read about it on Scott’s own site at http://www.scottsigler.com/ and leave some comments of support for him. 

As soon as this crisis is fully over I am sure that General Siglerisimo (is that how you spell it?  For crying out loud — who talks like this?!)  will be back and as active as ever.

See ya soon,

Mark   

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We have new story pages up on both The Rookie and Black Jack Justice today.

The Rookie

Black Jack Justice

Check them out and then let us know what you think on The Rookie Blog and the Black Jack Justice Blog.

—————————–

We’ve been coasting a little through the Holiday Season — we know everyone is busy with family, friends and parties. 

But we have many new and exciting things planned for the New Year.

So keep your eyes on Addictive Comics.

The Addictive Gang

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We have new story pages up on both The Rookie and Black Jack Justice today. 

The Rookie

Black Jack Justice

Check them out and then let us know what you think on The Rookie Blog and the Black Jack Justice Blog.

————————————

If you have no idea what that last sentence means — or if you had no idea how to get to the blogs to leave your words of wisdom — or if you are just bored and want to read all about blogs — We have created a page just for you!

How to Use the Addictive Comics Blog Comment System

One of the best things about online comics for the creators and the readers, is the chance to comment and interact with each other.  It’s something we REALLY hope to do a lot of with Addictive Comics.

So, we’ve set up a Super Easy and Very Efficiant way for you to leave your comments.  However, it’s a little different than most webcomics, so some of you have missed it.

Here’s what we’ve done…

We have created COMPANION BLOGS for each of our Comics so that the readers and creators would have a way to interact.  And so far that is exactly what is happening.

The Blogs are all about YOU. 

We’ve had many great comments from the readers and some excellent discussions about the stories, the artwork and even the fonts.  Gregg Taylor, the writer/creator of Black Jack Justice,  Sami Kivelä, the artist of Black Jack Justice and even me, Mark, the artist of The Rookie have all stopped by and left posts and replies.  It’s even been rumored that Trixie Dixon herself, Andrea Lyons, paid a visit.   

Blogs are made for comments and interaction.  You might say it is their purpose in life.  So it is Super Easy for the Readers and Creators to Interact. 

So if you want to comment or join in the discussions — you should visit The Rookie Blog or the Black Jack Justice Blog.

…And if you DON’T want to comment — you should STILL visit  The Rookie Blog or the Black Jack Justice Blog.

If you need help in ANY WAY - then click on the link below and go to the Super Easy - Very Detailed Description page.

CLICK HERE to visit — How to Use the Addictive Comics Blog Comment System

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Launch day came finally came and went and the Gang here at Addictive Comics could not have been happier.

We would like to thank each and every one of you who stopped by, read the comics and left a comment or a word of encouragement on the blogs.

It’s early days yet and we are wondering about a few things that we know will later work themselves out.  Like — how often to update the blogs, how often to Email, should we just send Addictive Comics information on Twitter or do what most everyone else does and send “Found this cool site”-type stuff.

Keep letting us know what you think and want.  It’ll work out.

———————————————

Here are 3 things that came up during the launch.  None of them are critical (as if ANYTHING on a webcomic could be critical! ) but we think some of you may enjoy them.

One More Time! 

Okay, this probably won’t really be the last time we say this…

We just want to say again that this is Totally a Trial (”soft opening”) for us and we are Totally Counting on You to help us out. 

Please let us know what you like, what you don’t like and what you would like to see.

Where is Scott?

Something always seemed to keep coming up to push the Launch of Addictive Comics further and further behind.  From serious family stuff to stupid crap. 

Finally, we had just about everything ready and I mentioned December 16th.

Unfortunately, Scott was finishing up the podcast novel NOCTURNAL (40 episodes in a year) and starting his new podcast novel, CONTAGIOUS (Check out both of these at  Scott’s Website and keep you eye on this blog for the Graphic Novel versions.) 

So I just asked Scott if I could do the Launch — ready or not!   I would have the help of Sami and Gregg and I thought it would work.

He agreed and we went for it. 

You’ve seen the results.  It’s not half bad.

Scott still has a packed full two weeks to finish up 2008 but is raring to go in 2009.  Expect to see him take a fully active role on Addictive Comics.

What the Fudge Happened on The Rookie?

A few weeks ago, Scott and I discussed the language in The Rookie.  Specifically his use — or over use — of hard curse words in the novel version (you know the ones.) 

We have always felt that The Rookie was an Adult Book.  But being a comic, we knew that our audience may not appreciate the rough language.  We finally decided that the overly-graphic words really added nothing to the story and that we would take them out.  Scott even sent me a “substitutions” sheet to print and keep as I adapted the script. 

Then — I forgot.

So on launch day we had still had Scott’s Favorite word up on the pages (rhymes with “Firetruck“) in four places.

I change it on Wednesday night. (Not to “Fudge“, by the way.  That was a joke.) 

No one complained about the language in the first two days (most of you are Sigler fans) — but we wanted to mention it and let you know of our decision.

We may do Adult Only comics in the future (Nocturnal comes to mind) and we do still feel that The Rookie is an Adults Book.  But for now The Rookie would be rated a solid PG.  You don’t have to click off if the Kids walk into the room.

Black Jack Justice has always been a G (or PG if you count the smoking and innuendo.)

Mark & Scott 

    

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Hey!  It’s finally time.

ADDICTIVE COMICS IS NOW LIVE!

Thank you for sticking with us these past few weeks.  Several times it felt like this day would never come.

But it’s FINALLY HERE.

So instead of wasting anymore time — please check out the NEW ADDICTIVE COMICS!

We are Launching with Two Brand New ONGOING SERIES –

Unless we messed it up somehow, these two banners should be links.  Just click them to visit the Comics.

Or click these links –

THE ROOKIE

BLACK JACK JUSTICE

Read the stories, take a good look around and then, PLEASE let us know what you think.

The Addictive Comics Gang. 

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Thank you to everyone who has made comments on the blog.  We love getting them.  It’s one of the reasons we wanted to put up the Prelaunch Blog in the first place. 

A few of you have asked some very good questions, either in the comment areas or by email that we have done our best to answer or at least address.  Some of those questions we feel are valuable enough that everyone should read them. 

So here they are!

SITE ADMIN & LOGIN LINKS

Pjotr (or maybe Peter — both are on there) wrote asking about the “Site Admin” and ”Login” links at the bottom of every page –

At the bottom left of every page is a login link, but where can we (or I) register. Or is that just for the admin…??? 

Actually that’s just for us.  It’s a short cut to the Editing and Posting areas.  There is a way to get there without the shortcut — but it’s difficult for our small brains to remember.  So we put up the quick link.  Unfortunately, it has to stay on everypage.  We did put it way down at the bottom to keep it out of the way. 

We’re more than happy that you are that enthusiastic about Addictive Comics — but, rest assured, everything is here.  You’re not missing anything. 

RSS FEEDS

David wrote in about the RSS Feeds –

Supposing I decide I’m only interested in one of the comics, will there be rss feeds available for the comics individually?

I answered him this way –

Yes. Each comic has it’s own RSS feed.
 
In fact, unfortunately, at the beginning there will be no “overall” comic feed.  Not sure if there will ever be — depends on the comments we get. 
 
Look for the feed Icon at the top of the right-hand side panel.  The Black Jack Justice icon is way cool.  We expect we’ll get lots of comments on it.

That’s all still true, of course, but upon further thought I realized we may have confused you by always saying that this blog and the Email would be “Ground Zero for all things Addictive Comics.”

What we mean is that all News and Updates will be posted here and emailed to those of you who sign up for the Newletter (if you haven’t yet — please do!  Click HERE to read all about our plans for it.) 

No actual comic pages will be posted on the Addictive Comics Blog or go out in the Newsletter or RSS Feed of this blog (except as samples or possibly Newsletter-Only comics in the future.)  To read the Online Addictive Comics you will need to visit the individual sites and/or sign up for the RSS feeds on those sites. 

We have no plans for a ”Line-Wide” feed at this time.  But never say never.

THE PROBLEMS WITH THE EMAIL SIGN UP BOX

I talked about this yesterday but just so everyone knows — The signup box should be in the top left of every page of this blog.  It is there on IE running Vista (I know because that’s what I created this blog on.)

First off, the box is OBVIOUS.  It says “SIGN UP FOR THE ADDICTIVE COMICS NEWSLETTER” in big red letters.  Look around, if it’s there you will see it.  It’s not suppose to be hiding or a secret.

Several readers have reported that on Firefox it seems to disappear completely sometimes.  I say “sometimes” because, weirdly, it is there on my computer when I load up Firefox (we think it may have something to do with AdBlock Plus.)  But nonetheless it may not be there for you if you run this browser.   The easiest fix here is to fire up IE (even if you hate it) and sign up. 

We have also seen that on computers running XP, the box sometimes moves to the very bottom of the page.  Why?  I have no clue.  But the fix here is obvious.

We haven’t got any reports of problems from Apple users or others (yet) but …

If you have ANY TROUBLE signing up, PLEASE contact us and we will help you. 

A FEW MORE QUICK ANSWERS

These are not crucial — but they are fun!

Nocturnal? - Yes!

Earthcore? - Probably

Red Panda? - Yes!  Check out the Black Jack Justice Blog on Tuesday for a Drawing of the Flying Squirrel I did.   

Ancestor? - Yes, DEFINITELY

Infected? - Probably not.

Kissy Man? - Yes.  Right after Black Jack Justice “Justice Served Cold.”

Will xxx, or xxx, or xxx be involved in Addictive Comics? - Trust us — as SOON as we can say something, we WILL.  It’s in our best interest to get these Superstar Names out as soon as possible.  Believe me when I say – you’re gonna freak when you hear some of the names we have lined up!

Please keep asking questions and leaving comments.  As we said yesterday we hope (WANT!) to build a VERY interactive community.  We’re doing our part.  Have some fun and join in.

Mark

Don’t forget — You can follow Addictive Comics on Twitter by visiting — http://twitter.com/AddictiveComics

  

   

  

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