Happy May Day – traditionally the halfway point between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice that was celebrated in ancient times by my distant Celtic kin. But for the diehard THRILL SEEKER COMICS fans, today is also the day that I stated last fall that I planned to launch the Kickstarter Campaign to crowdfund THRILL SEEKER COMICS ANTHOLOGY #2. So that means some of you may be closely watching today for the announcement and I wanted to give you an update on the second
issue that some of you are patiently waiting on.
Well, I do have some good news and some bad news.
Bad news first which I feel I may be letting some folks down…
Nine months ago, I thought I would be all ready to launch that aforementioned Kickstarter today with my self-imposed deadline, but looking myself in the mirror this morning, I don’t feel ready to do so just yet. There is going to be a delay in releasing the second issue.
I sincerely apologize, but there is good reason to do so.
So good news… Production for THRILL SEEKER COMICS ANTHOLOGY #2 is coming along nicely. Here is also a peek at the cover for the second issue featuring the Mightiest Emerald Mantis and Son on the cover.
The premiere issue released at the end of last year had 36-pages. This second issue is going to be bigger and better as the blurb on the cover says as we’re boosting it up to 52-pages. I just have a lot of material and felt a bigger book is warranted in this anthology format. With that said, I also promised myself like with issue number one, I wanted the whole book to be 100% completed with the artwork before I solicited it for sale. I’ve seen too many Kickstarter campaigns for independent comics launch over the years where the book wasn’t ready for six months to over a year later and you’re there wondering if you’ve been bamboozled with someone taking your money not knowing if the book will ever be published. I want to be sure my THRILL SEEKER COMICS releases are “in the can” all completed and ready to go to print and distribution as soon as possible after my crowdfunding campaign ends and your payments are collected. I want us to both have the peace of mind in that.
Again, with all that said, here is where things are at the moment…
I have 75% of the second issue completed with all of the artwork finished. To be transparent, I still need to complete about five pages for a brand-new DEVILISH DUO story featuring the RED DEVIL-BAT AND KID DEVIL-MAYCARE in “The Lavendar Leopardess Diamond Heist”. It is coming along nicely. I also have a 10-page story to still draw for a brand-new MS. TITTENHURST: FINDER OF LOST THINGS story with “Case of the Missing Fiancé” that I’ve co-written with my wife Jennifer. This story continues with where we left off with the last issue as Dottie gets her first case looking for a mysterious woman’s groom-to-be during the last week of December 1941. This upcoming story for issue two takes place just before the current online comic storyline “Case of the Missing Guitar”.
The rest of the book is completely finished.
And speaking of MS. TITTENHURST that we’ve been running every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday online for free… we’re wrapping up this “Case of the Missing Guitar” storyline and are on the homestretch. It will clock in with 59 episodic installments and thus has about three weeks left to go before we close this case.
Jennifer and I appreciate the support this year from the readers and hope you’ve been enjoying it. We’ve had fun working on it. This has been a creative experiment of sorts and I must confess that the reception did not go as well as we hoped for in our desired results. The outreach didn’t get to where we wanted it, but we’re glad to have shared this story as we explore this new character in the Thrill Seeker Comics Universe. We also want to thank those loyal diehard fans who have been following and “liking” the series with “Likes”.
I must admit that I personally bit off more than I could chew this year and I’ve never been busier in my life with working on my personal independent comic projects. You’ve also got to remember that working on these comics is something that I do in my “spare time” outside my full-time day job. I’m doing this for fun and to scratch that creative itch.
Working on this online comic strip took up more time than I imagined it would and was a major part in why THRILL SEEKER COMICS ANTHOLOGY #2 is delayed. I also digressed this past year and have also been working on a non-Thrill Seeker Comics “secret comic project” for 2025 to be revealed next year that took away my attention and time. This other mystery project is on the backburner until fall as I finish up the art for issue two. I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but it also something exciting that I am working on that I’ve shared with a few close friends who seem to really get a kick out of it.
I will be busy over the next three to four months finishing up the art chores for these final pages.
SO WHAT IS THERE TO LOOK FORWARDS…
Let me share that we plan to collect all of these online comic strips for MS. TITTENHURST: FINDER OF LOST THINGS in “Case of the Missing Guitar” into a 24-page comic book special with the release of THRILL SEEKER COMICS PRESENTS #1 that will coincide with the release of THRILL SEEKER COMICS ANTHOLOGY #2. This collection of the online comic strips is 20-pages and will also feature four bonus “post credit scene” pages to this story to fit a regular-sized comic book that will act as a collector’s edition souvenir of this project.
Both THRILL SEEKER COMICS ANTHOLOGY #2 and THRILL SEEKER COMICS PRESENTS #1 (featuring MS. TITTENHURST: FINDER OF LOST THINGS in “Case of the Missing Guitar”) are now tentatively being pushed back to late August and/or early Autumn-ish release if all goes well. I plan self-publishing these two books together for simultaneous release.
As for beyond the publication of these two issues… we’re going to put future THRILL SEEKER COMICS online comic strips on hold after this current storyline finishes later this month. As for THRILL SEEKER COMICS ANTHOLOGY #3, we’re looking at moving it back on the publishing calendar also until sometime next year. Since these books are a thicker page count, I think it is best to re-evaluate the publishing schedule and probably moving towards this now just being a 52-page annual instead of being a bi-annual release because of the production time I need to work on these during my “spare time”.
But, we’ve still got lots of THRILL SEEKER COMICS stuff in the pipeline still planned for the future!
I will keep you updated and appreciate both your support and patience.
Thanks!
Scott McCullar
