September 2022: The Next Step on the Road Trip to Hell

New announcements, new covers, and a new "official" role!

September—the month where my allergies ramp up as well as my anticipation for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! As we head into the spookiest month of the year, I’m looking back at a slew of announcements, an anniversary, and a finale.

Announcements

If you’ve been following my work in any capacity, then you know I’m super proud (and excited) to be publishing my creator-owned comic, Road Trip to Hell, through Scout Comics! Major Spoilers even did some coverage of the announcement (thank you!).

The first issue can still be ordered from Previewsworld or Lunar. But in the latest news, Road Trip to Hell #2 is officially ready for pre-orders as well! This means more new covers, including:

• A gorgeous cover A (OCT221936) by interior art team Monika Maccagni and Joaquin Pereyra

• Another insanely awesome retailer incentive cover by Marco Fontanili that’s available in a 1:10 variant (OCT221937) and a 1:50 spot foil variant (OCT221938)

You can even Subscribe to the series so you’ll be able to get each and every issue as they come out. Regarding when they will come out though: it’s a bit up in the air at this time. While Previewsworld and Lunar list release dates, it sounds like, between the paper shortages and Hurricane Ian, there will be a delay of at least one to two weeks on issue #1. I will most likely be unable to confirm the release date until a week before (when it appears on the “New Releases” tab on Previewsworld).

Speaking of Hurricane Ian, please share your love with Scout and the many other people who have been affected by this storm! The official Scout Comics account tweeted out a thread recounting the situation and how it has affected the company, as well as their printer. Thankfully, everyone is okay, but delays are to be expected. I hope that anyone reading this who has been affected by Hurricane Ian is safe and has been getting through this trying time.

What I’ve Been Editing

Scout Comics

For another Scout-tastic announcement, a comic that I’ve been editing for Scout has been solicited in the September Previewsworld Catalog for a November release: the Impossible Jones: Naughty or Nice one-shot! Celebrate this holiday season with IMP, whose perfect heist is thrown off by Holly Daze threatening to blow up the city, as well as with Even Steven in his very special backup story.

I also joined the rest of the By the Horns team, an ongoing fantasy comic book that I’ve been editing for Scout, on a live show with the always super sweet Blake’s Buzz! I was even able to promote my other projects a bit, including Road Trip to Hell. But rather than hearing my recap of it, please check out the full live show below:

Tapas Media

Time really does fly when you’re editing so many webcomics (and having fun)! September marked my two-year anniversary of working with Tapas Media. Since I began working as a webcomic editor for Tapas back in September 2020, I’ve worked on seven series for them. Some of those currently ongoing (and/or in production) webcomics include:

• Flawless, a love story taking place in a future where people are separated by their “perfect” status, reached its episode 50 finale in September.

• Thirst: The first exclusive mature dual release in Tapas history, this romance between a half-vampire actor and his co-star really heats up. It is currently in production on its third season.

• Comedown Machine: The first original mature dual release in Tapas history, this drama-filled romance begins with a woman getting cheated on and then hopping into a relationship with a celebrity—which has plenty of its own pitfalls! The second season is currently uploading every Friday.

• The Fox In My Bed: A more recent addition to my roster of romances, I began working on this fantasy-tinged series with their third season, featuring the love between a university student and a fox spirit.

More announcements will be forthcoming, including another romance that’s on its third season.

Band of Bards

While I’ve teased some of the projects I’ve been editing for Band of Bards in the past, including Sentience and Reluctant Hero, they’ve formally announced me as an editor on their team in their September 2022 newsletter. If you’re interested in keeping track of their upcoming projects as well, you can subscribe to that newsletter on their official website. The goal of the publisher involves “publishing stories with a focus on Representation, Inclusion, and Diversity.” I will have more upcoming announcements for projects that I’ve been editing with them soon.

Kickstarter

Concrete Arcanum is an anthology featuring supernatural and modern fantasy short comics. I’m only involved in a small way in this magical venture as the editor of the “Turner Family Terrors: Beach Day” short by Robert Krisch. It still has a couple of weeks to go on Kickstarter as of this update, so please consider checking it out and supporting the 120-page anthology (which features 35 comic creators!).

The Worries of Burnout as We Ramp Up Toward the End of the Year (and Halloween Comic Fest!)

Do you ever get in a funk? I have a plethora of projects to work on that I’m thankful to be a part of, but as we gear up toward the end of the year, I’m feeling a bit burnt out. I’ve been trying to incorporate more free time and relaxing activities into my work schedule: working out more, having less late-night desserts, and listening to ASMR or doing yoga/stretches to relax. Or playing video games like Necropolis (although that isn’t always relaxing…).

I will also be trying to do my first event appearance since pre-pandemic by attending Comic Fusion’s Halloween Comic Fest event on October 29, 2022, which I’m hoping will help. But if you have any tips for ways you avoid burnout or how you de-stress, please share them below.

Thanks for joining me for another update. If this is your first time here, please consider subscribing to learn more about the various projects that I’m a part of on a (roughly) monthly basis. And if you’re a returning reader, thanks for continuing with me on my nerdy journey!