A Huge Milestone

I'm not usually one to get sappy and emotional, but oh my god, everyone: In just slightly over a week of our Patreon campaign being launched, we've hit one of our most important milestones, "Independence Bonanza!" That means, thanks to all your generous pledges, shares, and reblogs, K and I finally have something often rumored to exist, yet only spoken of in hushed, reverent tones: "Bill-Paying Money." I joke about it, as is my usual way of dealing with everything, but if I didn't laugh, I'd be crying with happiness right now. I won't lie; as many of you know, even from personal experience, freelancing in the creative industry is a risky business fraught with distrustful looks and guffaws when you dare admit that you create art for a living. It's easy to get discouraged, be bogged down with doubts for the future, or simply face the ugly day when your living expenses are discussed with phrases like "manageable debt," "cut off," or "maybe next time." That used to feel like the inevitable outcome of pursuing any job outside the norm -- failure and poverty weren't just a possibility, they were expected. Not anymore, and not just for us. Things are changing by leaps and bounds thanks to the internet and crowdfunding. Suddenly, it's completely possible for independent creators to make a living, for a shared passion between us all to thrive and not get buried under the pressures of simply surviving. Just in the last two or three years, more and more creators are getting a chance to keep creating thanks to others' generous support, and I'm beyond honored that K and I have become some of the lucky and growing numbers, all thanks to you. Where do we go from here? We keep creating! In fact, as soon as I'm done writing this blog, I'm going straight back to my desk to resume drawing comics, sitting across from K, who's busily tweaking the next script as I type. With our current funding, we can focus entirely on our comics without other paid projects getting priority and causing us to fall behind. It will no longer be a game of catch-up, it will be a chance to do everything and more -- more comics, more media, more interacting with you guys. All of the additional funding we get from this point will start going towards even loftier goals: better tools and supplies to make comic production faster and more streamlined, exciting things like "getting doctor check ups" (something neither of us have done since roughly 2003), invest in print editions of our comics, and (fingers-crossed) having the funds to travel and exhibit at conventions, hopefully getting a chance to meet many of you in person, at long last! I'm beyond excited and overwhelmed for what this year has already brought us and will bring in the future. I could probably make some stale analogy of optimism and Spring, but I doubt I could even articulate some fluffy prose about flowers that would accurately describe my actual state of excited flailing and wheezing. I'm still in mild shock, so I hope you'll forgive me if I just end on Thank You. Thank You. THANK YOU. I'm not crying. Maybe.