WE DID IT!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Aug 05, 2022 at 10:05:33 PM

Daymakers...

WE DID IT!

This campaign reminds me of the Hulk coaster at Universal Studios Florida. It took off like a rocket and then weaved up and down and made me nauseous the rest of the way. Luckily, thanks to all of you, light defeated darkness and Daybreak! #2 is now a real, live thing.

For most of us, this isn't our first time at the rodeo; you guys know what happens next. Kickstarter takes about two weeks to collect the funds, the files get sent to the printer, they do some kind of voodoo magic and a comic book grows out of digital air. New Pain is planning for the same quick fulfillment as the campaigns for Microscopic #1 and Daybreak! #1 so it's a pretty safe bet everyone will receive their books in September, the targeted date. Stefan and I are excited to get this next chapter out in the world!

But again, none of this happens without you guys and all of us are extremely grateful for the support. 

As for the future of Daybreak, Stefan has the script to #3 (I've written #4 and #5 too, optimistic fool that I am), and he'll get it on his table in the near future. The tentative plan is to run the campaign for Daybreak! #3 in late January/early February if we can get it finished in time. New Pain is also in the planning stages of one final campaign this year, around October. It's going to be a lot different than these first three campaigns, from what I'm told.  So stay tuned, sports fans!

ONE LAST THING 

New Pain is going to be launching a talent/project search in the near future; contrary to popular belief, I don't need (or want) to be the writer of every project, I'm just convenient. But we want to give our loyal backers the first chance to submit material so if you've got a project, either fully complete or something that could be serialized in an anthology format, drop a line to [email protected] and someone will get back to you- maybe even me. 

That's all for now, Daymakers! Enjoy a nice little break from me for a couple of weeks and I'll report back soon with the latest news. 

Your pal,

Keith Champagne

One final reward added
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Aug 03, 2022 at 11:12:06 PM

Daymakers! 

I won't take up too much of your time today. 24 hours left, share share share like you've never shared before! 

Don't tell Tom, Rob or Landers but I'm going to call an audible on the stretch goals. On the outside chance that we reach the first one at 6k, instead of unlocking the sketch covers (at a point in time when it will likely be too late to add one to your pledges so...useless for all of us), I'm going to instead release the Daybreak print that I drew (colored by Rich Stahnke).

At least this way, we can try to get all of you guys something of value for free. A lot can happen in 24 hours so stay tuned on this.

Also, I've added one final reward as an add-on this morning, a Daybreak! #1 sketch cover with everyone's favorite, Doc Matter that I drew over the weekend at Terrificon.  If anyone wants to grab it, it's listed for $75.

That's all for today, guys. Let's see what the final 24 hours brings.

Your pal,

Keith Champagne

PHEW! But...
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Aug 03, 2022 at 07:09:44 PM

Good morning, Daymakers!

Guess what, guys? WE FUNDED! Not once, but twice because this campaign insists on being a stress ball of a roller coaster from start to finish.

A HUGE thank you to Zach and Kristin from WONDERLAND COMICS for their pledge to put us over the top the first time and also to Ryan Katz for apparently "borrowing" his dad's credit card last night and putting us within spitting range in the first place. Zoiks! Let's hope there's not a lengthy time-out in a Ryan's future.

But victory for Team Daymaker was short lived because soon after, another backer hit Daybreak! #2 with a large cancel and put the campaign back underwater.  My heart sank in real-time as I got the text message from New Pain to turn off Better Call Saul and put down the sparkling cider.

Luckily, the hero Daybreak both needs and deserves, Mister Bradley Brown, stepped in and helped us reach our funding goal for the second time. So, right now,  as I type these words, we're A REAL, LIVE PROJECT. Thank you to everyone that helped make this happen;  you're helping us build something special here with Daybreak and I guarantee you'll love issue two (and issue one if you're joining us late).

But let's not take for granted that it's all smooth sailing from here. Of all the campaigns I've been involved with or run, whether my own or for Ominous Press or New Pain, this has been the bumpiest, most stubborn, hardest to anticipate. Maybe there's some kind of weird karmic parallel going on. The more I care about a project, the harder the gods make me work to bring it to life. 

Which is my typical long-winded way of saying we're not out of the woods yet and a lot can happen in either direction over the final 48 hours. So by all means, it wouldn't suck if you kept on sharing this campaign out to the world. 

NEW REWARD

Several backers have suggested that we add a PDF of The Switch graphic novel as an add-on, after the print copies were snatched up so quickly.  We always listen to people smarter than us so I'm told that the digital version of The Switch, featuring the first appearance of the villain SNOW, will be available by noon EST.  If not, drop a note and I'll yell at someone in ALL CAPS through text message.

Thanks also to those of you that came by in person to meet Tom Nguyen and myself at Terrificon this past weekend. It's always great to put a face to a name.

We're doing it, guys. Thanks for everything! Let's push for at least one of those stretch goal, shall we?

Your pal,

Keith Champagne

PS- don't sleep on  RIOT EARP! Fully funded, 8 days to go, knocking off stretch goals like a mafia hitman and creator Michael Katz is a TREMENDOUS friend of the Daybreak! campaign. If you have the means to return the favor, you'll be glad you did.

State Of The Union
almost 2 years ago – Fri, Jul 29, 2022 at 06:54:45 AM

Daymakers!

Before I start with the update, a quick mention that I chatted with Cody from Keeping It Geekly a couple of days ago about Daybreak, going through the campaign and also digging into some of the impetus and inspiration for the project.  I'm not the biggest fan of doing interviews in general, livestreams in particular but I really enjoyed the time we spent together. If you want to give it a watch,  CHECK IT OUT HERE and don't be afraid to subscribe. He's a super nice guy.

And now...the update!

I've been realizing lately that I repeat myself a lot in these updates, hitting the same points (because they're necessary to reinforce the campaign) frequently to drive the message home. So before I hit those same points again for the new backers, here's a little inside baseball on this project.

This hasn't really been mentioned yet but in addition to my other creative duties on Daybreak!, I'm also lettering the project this time around; mainly for financial reasons, to keep the funding goal from creeping up higher, but also because I'm a strong admirer of letterers. They're the unsung heroes of this field and it's something I've wanted to do for a while. I really enjoy the lettering process (I've also decided to letter a new project I'm writing for Aftershock), but I also find it surprisingly educational as a writer. Lettering the book has really forced me to sharpen my pen and given me the freedom to rewrite dialogue, edit it down if its too wordy etc until the last possible second. I really recommend anyone that writes comics tinker with lettering a little bit. It will definitely help to refine the way you write for someone else to letter. 

Also, no one has noticed yet but when the campaign page was built, the decision was made to use the flat colors for the preview art; mainly to keep as much of the book under wraps as possible (which is probably me overthinking). But I thought you'd all like to see an actual finished page of color (with my lettering) to give an idea of the time and sweat Stefan is putting into the work.  There's a big difference between the flats and the rendered color. Hope you all dig it as much as I do.

STATE OF THE UNION

6 days left as I type these words. We were making some great progress earlier this week but our largest pledge canceled and that wiped out the gains we were making (and then some).  Cancellations are a part of every kickstarter, especially as the campaign gets closer to the finish line. I believe we'll get there, we just need to round up 30-40 more backers over the next six days. Many of you have already added on more items to help us out (Thanks, John O'Hare, especially!). If you can also share the campaign to your friends on social media, that goes a long way. I posted about Daybreak on my Instagram two days ago and only 6% of my followers saw the post this time. It really, really helps and it doesn't take a second longer to share a post as it does to like one.

Also, speaking of add-ons, I should mention again that we're offering a BACKER-ONLY set of signed/numbered prints through these updates.

The print set isn't available on the main campaign page and won't be for sale when the campaign ends. It's only offered through these updates to existing backers and is limited to a print run of 25. There are still several sets unspoken for; if you'd like one, just adjust your pledge an additional $40 and drop a comment. It'll be taken care of for you behind the scenes. 

Finally!

If you're looking for other cool projects to read, allow me to direct you to EPICENTER from Michael Dolce, Babisu Kourtis and more, from Dren Productions.

"Stay Close...or Stay Dead"

"Camping with her boyfriend Matthew and a group of friends post-prom, Beth Cooper awakens to the sound of screams and a massive explosion in the distance. When Matthew and her go to investigate, they're attacked by a feral alien creature out for blood. As they scramble to save themselves, Beth soon learns that Matthew is not what he seems and might be the reason these creatures have appeared here on Earth.

The only chance is to stay close to him. Like the eye of the hurricane, anyone within close proximity to Matthew stays protected from these aliens. Step outside his immediate epicenter however, and end up like the rest."

I encourage everyone to check it out, it's a pretty cool concept, right? You can ride the link  RIGHT HERE! 

One last tidbit!

Along with Mr New Pain himself, Tom Nguyen, I'll be at Terrificon at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT today, tomorrow and Sunday. If you happen to be at the show, stop by and say hi. We love to meet backers of our projects in person although be warned, Tom is a hugger.

Thanks for everything, guys. Home stretch, let's do this!

Your pal,

Keith Champagne

The end is (getting) near so...ORIGINAL ART PARTY
almost 2 years ago – Tue, Jul 26, 2022 at 05:00:38 PM

Good morning, Daymakers! 

I wish I could say we've made better progress towards our funding goal over the last several days but the campaign has more-or-less been treading water. We'll gain a few backers, then a few more will cancel (something I said?) so we're still hovering more or less at the 80% funded margin with 8-9 days to go. Plenty of time left to hit the mark but still,  I'm seeing a little more gray hair around the temples than I did a few weeks ago. 

On Tom Nguyen's head, obviously, not mine. I'm eternally youthful, dammit!

This morning, the team added a new original art reward to the campaign, a splash page (page 17) from this issue of Daybreak by Stefan Tosheff. Take a look!

In addition, I also found some time to ink Joe St Pierre's sketch cover on a Daybreak! #1 blank and we've rejiggered that reward tier to offer it in its now completed state. I stitched this image together in photoshop really quickly so just wanted to mention the spine of the comic is fine, that seam is just from trying to match the two sides together in 31 seconds because I have a deadline today.

 And let's not forget the other remaining original art tiers. Kevin West's variant cover art...

And of course, the fully-nude adults only cover by Mr New Pain himself, Tom Nguyen!

The original art rewards are all very affordable but are still all big enough ticket items that if one or two of them are snatched up, it would put the campaign a long way towards meeting its funding goal. If you've got a buddy that would like a piece of art on their wall, by all means share the campaign or if you want one for yourself, just adjust your existing pledge to cover the cost of the reward, drop a comment, and Landers will make it happen.  There are also several copies of the Stranger Things Summer Special I wrote available as add-ons if you're into that kind of thing.

Please share, guys. We need your help to make this project happen.

Your pal,

Keith Champagne