The Star Wars galaxy is filled with many stories and characters across its vast history. Most of which we never get to see in the movies but have the joy of seeing them unfold in various mediums like video games. Cal Kestis is a character that many Star Wars fans have grown fond of ever since he made his first appearance in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. But the scope of his story gets even bigger and more dangerous in the sequel Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. As hope for the galaxy becomes dim, Cal and his friends do what they can to keep it from fading away, taking players on a space adventure that is fun to see through, but dampened by a few frustrating bits.
The story of Star Wars: Jedi Survivor takes place about 5 years after the events of the previous game, which in the Star Wars timeline is about 10 years after Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Cal and his friends have gone their separate ways across the galaxy, but he still fights against the reigning Galactic Empire. While Cal’s exploits haven’t fazed the overwhelming hold the Emperor has on the galaxy, word of a way to help survivors of The Purge and rebuild the Jedi Order brings Cal together again with his friends. But a new threat from the High Republic era resurfaces and threatens what could be the very last chance for Cal Kestis and the remaining Jedi to survive.
What is interesting about the story in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor is how it blends together different eras of the Star Wars timeline into the plot. Cal Kestis is still fighting Imperial forces wherever he goes, but parts of the Clone Wars and the High Republic era are littered throughout every planet. Whether it’s B-1 Battledroids, ancient High Republic tech, or newly deployed Imperial walkers; this is one of the best combinations of different Star Wars eras into one story. The game doesn’t linger long enough to display everything about each era fully, but you get a sense of history that’s played out with each era of Star Wars lore that is either hidden or put on full display.
Cameron Monaghan returns as Cal Kestis and is given a wider scope of emotions and situations to display his acting ability. Much of the story is darker than the first game, with a lot of events that push Cal and others to the brink of either falling to the dark side or questioning what was previously known. This works out great with the rest of the cast who return from Jedi Fallen Order, but also the newer characters we meet in Jedi Survivor.
While most major plot points can feel a bit predictable, there are moments during the nearly 30-hour story that is shocking and clever with how they unfold. Cal’s relationship with characters like Merrin, Greez, and a few other characters from the previous game progress in big ways that make a lot of sense. The weakest part of all this is Dagan Gera, the Jedi from the High Republic era Cal meets on his travels. Though there are some big clashes involving him, his story feels like it comes to an end all too quickly and is anti-climactic, especially with some of the big reveals toward the final portions of Jedi Survivor’s story.
The most interesting changes in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor over its predecessor are in the gameplay, specifically in the scope and quality-of-life updates. Jedi Survivor is a much bigger game than Jedi Fallen Order, allowing you to explore planets you visit and spend a lot of time away from the main story just taking in different parts of the galaxy you’ve probably never seen before. The planets look fantastic and are populated with enemies to fight, side quests to complete, hidden secrets to rediscover, and so much more. What’s neat is how you can mount a creature and travel around a planet rather than on foot, and you have access to fast travel between Meditation Points, which act as the game’s bonfire to save and recover. While not every planet is gigantic, the majority of them are big and will take you a lot of time to fully explore.
Unfortunately, the beauty of the game is dampened by a few technical hiccups that occasionally appear. Depending on the platform you play on (PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC), you might experience issues like drops in framerate, characters getting stuff in objects or structures randomly, and even texture pop-in from time to time. None of these issues are a frequent occurrence or game-breaking in most cases, but they do become a distraction and can influence some fights you get into. When enemies end up getting stuck in walls, the game doesn’t force you to defeat them before you can progress onward, and nothing of the sort appears to happen to any of the boss fights you encounter.
Speaking of which, most battles you find yourself in will test your abilities very well, regardless of what difficulty setting you choose to play with. Cal Kestis has a variety of new lightsaber forms and abilities that build upon his Jedi powers from the first game, letting you wreak havoc on enemies. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor also puts you in situations where very large groups of smaller enemies can appear, which looks fantastic and can be a lot of fun to play. But if you aren’t quick on your reflexes and falter even a bit, you’ll find Cal getting beaten up very easily. The same can be said with every boss encounter, which ranges from stronger enemies to larger foes, and even a few key battles against main characters. These fights will require you to learn patterns and be patient for when you can strike, but they can just as easily frustrate you in the worst way possible.
Like its predecessor, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor has a lot of difficulty spikes that will make you want to hurl a controller. Even if you bring down the difficulty in the menu to the lower end, some encounters will have you raging pretty hard at how challenging or tedious they can be. This is only made tougher when you can end up fighting with the controls during a battle, much like how it was in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Sometimes you’ll accidentally hit a button to attack and will be unable to dodge, forcing you to take a hit that deals massive damage or outright kills you. It’s to a point where it can feel like your button inputs seem delayed a bit or unresponsive, but that’s because another action like an attack is already happening. Being mindful of what button you press and how much you press it during a fight is a great asset for getting around the seemingly impossible fights that will test your patience and your mettle.
When you’re not having Cal complete the main story, there are so many other things to do. Side quests on every planet will take you around nearly every nook and cranny you can explore, including hidden High Republic temples that act as the game’s puzzles. These can be tedious activities because you’ll need to use all of your abilities to solve them, whether it’s using the Force to move objects or carefully time your platforming to get to a goal. They aren’t necessary to complete the main story but can yield a number of good rewards that will help you out along the way.
In addition to that, rumors you can pick up from various characters you speak to will open up more side quests and optional battles in planets like Koboh. You can even bring characters you meet on your travels to the local cantina in Koboh, which open up shops and other fun perks that can help Cal on his journey. Finding everyone and everything to fill up the cantina can be fun, especially when you don’t know what strange friend will pop up there.
Cal Kestis may be the main character of Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add your own flair to him. The game has many more customization options than Jedi Fallen Order, allowing you to change Cal’s overall look and the style of his weapons, including his lightsaber and blaster. Many of these options are found or unlocked as you play, with the bulk of them coming from freely exploring the planets you visit. You can even customize the look of BD-1 with a wide range of droid parts, making your version of Cal and BD-1 feel unique and stylish. None of the changes you make have any real gameplay influence other than their appearance, which may or may not be disappointing for some people. The only significant options that influence your abilities in combat are the lightsaber forms you gain over time and the Perks you can equip, which change up some properties of combat like the amount of damage you do and the EXP you can gain. They don’t always have a huge impact on combat, but some of them are definitely more helpful than others.
More than likely, you’ll be spending most of your time exploring in the post-game once you complete the story. You’ll need a lot of the new abilities Cal can obtain in order to reach new areas find new items and complete side quests. The majority of optional content is locked behind most of this, which can feel limiting for a while until you finish the main quest. You’ll often come across a spot that requires an ability you won’t gain until much later in the story, but once you have them all it feels like a whole new range of locations open up to you.
The best parts of Star Wars: Jedi Survivor are incredible highs that are great for both Star Wars fans and others who just enjoy playing action games. The various technical issues and other missteps are definitely ones that stick out when they happen, but not enough to completely drown out the better times one can have following Cal Kestis’ journey once again. You might rage a few times throughout, but there is still a lot of fun to be had in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. A new game plus and the promise of more things to discover will definitely keep you coming back for more in this part of a galaxy far, far away.
Are you going to play Star Wars: Jedi Survivor on any platform? What is your favorite thing about Star Wars and who is your favorite character? Share your thoughts in the comment section down below!
The Masters of the Univers Origins line may be heading to the toy graveyard, but it’s going out swinging. At the end of all things, we’re finally getting an Origins version of Snake Mountain!
We spotted it for pre-order over at Entertainment Earth. The release date is listed as August.
Sadly, Snake Mountain isn’t inexpensive. Like Castle Grayskull, Skeletor’s lair is $79.99. However, if you’ve been lucky enough to find the Grayskull playset, you’ll know it is a quality item that improves many of the play features of the original toy. The new version of Snake Mountain looks to do the same, except it removes a key component.
The voice changer is gone. Rather than using the wolf head as a mic, all it does is spin in place, according to Mattel. Other differences include vines in front of the escape tunnel and a recreation of Skeletor’s throne from the Filmation series.
A welcome upgrade includes a change to how Skeletor can capture He-Man. The trapdoor gimmick is still there, but the prey is now caught in a cell instead of a net.
In front, the Wolf head spins and the gate opens. The snake on top can pick up a 5.5-inch scale Origins figure in its mouth or knock it off the upper platform. Origins figures sold separately, subject to availability.
As a figure moves up the stairs and through the upper gate — BAM! It will drop through the trapdoor into the cage. The cage can move to the dungeon underneath the throne of Skeletor™ for safekeeping.
To get to throne, figures must pass by the wolf head and the intimidating spider. To get out, they must watch out for the ‘acid pool’ on the way to the hidden escape tunnel.
The Evil Dead series has always had a reputation for blending dark humor and a high level of gore. Later sequels after the first movie leaned heavily on the comedy, but still manage to hold onto the horror elements along the way. And while the newest entry of the series, Evil Dead Rise, doesn’t have fan-favorite Bruce Campbell starring as Ash, it does go back to what made the Evil Dead stand out to begin with. Lots of suspense, a messed-up tale, and plenty of gore to make everyone squirm.
Things hit the ground running in this new Evil Dead movie, with a wild scare that will catch you off guard that takes place a day after the events of the story that’s about to unfold. The movie tends to play tricks on you in a variety of ways just like this, with camera shots and music that will have you waiting for something to happen, only to flip things around, and then catch you with a surprise when you least expect it. It’s the makings of great horror films, where you won’t be ready for what happens next. But when something does happen, it’s right in your face in all of its detailed glory, or rather goriness in some cases.
The story that we do follow is about a young woman named Beth, who visits her sister Ellie and her children after traveling around as a concert sound technician. Ellie and Beth have been estranged for some time, but a dire situation brings her back to seek help. However, Ellie’s children find the infamous Necronomicon, the Book of the Dead, hidden in an abandoned bank vault after an earthquake ruptures the building they live in. One of the kids, Danny, takes the book and some mysterious vinyl records that were stored with it back home, looking through the book and playing the records on his player. This causes the demonic forces from the book to arrive and kill Ellie, turning her into the walking and forcing Beth and the kids into a nightmarish struggle for survival.
There are many edgy things littered throughout the start of Evil Dead Rise before the dead begin to rise. Ellie and her kids are immersed in alternative and metal culture, which is played off with some humorous moments between the group before Beth arrives at their doorstep. Despite their hard edge and quips towards each other, the movie makes an effort to have you connect with them as the main group before things go crazy. The big standouts of the family are Nell Fisher as Kassie (the youngest daughter) and Gabrielle Echols as Bridget. The two of them do a great job playing off each other in various moments before and after things begin to happen with the Necronomicon.
Unfortunately, the weakest character of the group is Danny, played by Morgan Davies. While he is the reason things go sideways for the family after finding the Necronomicon, most of his scenes feel very bland. That is until the latter half of the film, where Danny has some better scenes. While he’s very important to the story because of how he finds the Necronomicon, the rest of his moments at the start are not great, mostly due to what feels like poor lines being delivered. There’s a specific point in the film where you can see the shift of where things for Danny get much better and a lot more interesting. But it does take some time to get there.
The absolute best part of Evil Dead Rise is Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie. Everything that happens to her character is a whirlwind of emotions, from the sweet moments with her kids to the horrific fate that awaits her. Alyssa fully dives into the role and really gets some big standout moments after being possessed. Her delivery of some dialogue will have you chilled and awaiting the big scare, but the timing she has in the crazy moments will always catch you off guard. The cinematography of the movie helps make some of her scarier scenes even better, especially when the camera angles are placed in ways that the Evil Dead series is known for. Among the reasons to see this movie, Alyssa’s performance is definitely one of the biggest.
But what is the other big reason to watch Evil Dead Rise? The fantastic rendition of all the gore once the killing starts, it’ll hit you hard. Some characters we meet throughout the film die in creative and bold ways that will have you wanting to look away, but you simply won’t be able to stop staring. Anyone who is squeamish and can’t handle seeing lots of gore in a movie will definitely have a problem watching Evil Dead Rise because the film doesn’t shy away from making the blood and guts pop out on screen. In both the figurative and literal sense, Evil Dead Rise will throw gore in your face.
And yet at the same time, it showcases some clever ways its characters can be hurt or killed without it feeling unceremonious. One scene will have someone trying to get away from being cut by a cheese grater, another scene will have shotgun shells being fired, and another an electric tattoo pen stabbing into someone. There’s variety in the danger and hazards that can inflict some real harm onto anyone, and you won’t be prepared for how it happens nor how it looks on screen.
There are a few minor hiccups in Evil Dead Rise that don’t bring down the whole movie, but end up being shallow. A number of characters you meet aren’t given much time or attention rounding out their character, appearing to be obvious fodder for the evil that lurks around. It becomes a little too obvious in some cases and downright silly, but everything is made up for toward the climax when things go down.
At the same time, a few of the actions taken by both Ellie’s kids and a few other characters do feel unbelievably stupid and are the cause of things getting worse for the family. While some of it can be explained as the naivety of kids or adults who are overly stressed, some of their actions are clearly the worst thing one can do in a given situation. Better explanations or changes could’ve been made to scenes like that, but as is they can feel unnecessary.
Evil Dead Rise is a movie that will satisfy fans of the series and scare the horrify anyone who hasn’t watched the previous films. It’s very loosely connected to the rest of the series, feeling more self-contained than anything else, so anyone can jump in and get a complete story. If you can easily overcome a fear of seeing lots of blood and guts, then you’ll find a well-made and scary horror movie that isn’t afraid to pass the perceived line of tolerance. It might not be as groovy without Ash Williams here, but it’s definitely a bold one that will scare you good.
Are you a fan of the Evil Dead series? Are you going to watch Evil Dead Rise anytime soon? Post a comment down below with your thoughts and let us know!
Chaos! Comics’s Lady Death was one of the few reasons I stayed interested in comic books after the industry surged in the mid-1990s. She and Evil Ernie tread into territories only indie and Image comics dared to at the time. It was a refreshing change of pace from Marvel and DC.
Lady Death definitely had an impact because decades later, she still shows up in the high-end collectibles market. And Premium Collectibles Studio believes fans of Lady Death are willing to pay a hefty price for the latest statue.
Legs spread, sword in hand, and the Angel of Death crowning her queen, this Lady Death statue is f’ing beautiful. The torches are aglow thanks to LEDs, and the whole scene, minus Death, measures 21.5″ x 19″ x 15″. Get ready for some sticker shock, though.
The Platinum Exclusive edition of Lady Death is priced at $1,100 and is limited to only 75 pieces. The less feature-heavy PCS Exclusive version is $1,050, and 175 copies will be produced. Both are estimated to ship between October and December of this year.
“Lady Death is fully sculpted, the detailed texture of her black leather costume with metallic accents and armor contrasts strikingly with her pale complexion. Her pupiless eyes, flowing white hair and bold red lipstick give her an otherworldly beauty complemented by the fearsome Apocalypse blade in her hand. Also included is a fully sculpted Angel of Death figure to be placed behind Lady Death’s throne. Death hovers menacingly behind her seat, lowering a burning crown onto the head of Hell’s regent.”
The Lady Death Platinum Exclusive statue comes with the following:
Unique LED light-up effect, bringing the torches on Lady Death’s throne to ghastly life.
Strictly limited to only 75 pieces
1 in 75 chance of winning a real 1/2 troy ounce Platinum PCS Coin
Platinum PCS Coin includes PCS Ruby Ticket worth $100 in PCS Loyalty Points
Metal Certificate of Authenticity
Custom Premium Collectibles Studio statue cleaning kit
Want more scantily-clad comic book hotties? Check out the Purgatori statue we covered a while back.
Over the years, I’ve met many people who want to make comic books. Most are well-meaning fanboys who love the medium that runs so deep they feel obligated to participate by creating some small part of it. Unfortunately, most of these naïve waifs burn a lot of money and waste a lot of paper and time.
Saddle up because today I’m gonna tell you the Rules of Being a Comic Book Publisher.
Christian Beranek and I did a webcomic comic called Comic Book Mafia. It’s a satire on the comic book industry; you can read it here. Still, the big takeaway for this article is that comic book publishers were divided into two camps: The ones that acted like gangsters and the ones that acted like degenerate gamblers. This satirization was not wholly untrue.
We knew some publishers that acted like gangsters. Insanely dishonest, they would get artists to work on books, publish them and then stiff them on the proceeds. One publisher, in particular, drove a car worth $50K but owed dozens of artists for their work, and he eventually declared bankruptcy to avoid paying anything.
The other extreme is what we call in the comic a degenerate comic book publisher. This publisher kept putting out comics even though he was losing money. Eventually, when the money ran out, his entire company would collapse, leaving some creators paid, others frustrated, fans confused, and legal entanglements that lasted for years.
Obviously, these are two exaggerated extremes. You want to be somewhere in the middle: Enough of a businessman to do what is necessary, but with enough heart to do what is right.
Publish With You Head First and Heart Second
Publishing with your heart will lead you to become a degenerate comic book publisher. Sadly, this is the most common failed comic book publisher I have seen at cons over the years. Enthusiastic initially, desperate after a second issue, and then crushed as the money runs dry.
Image by Pixabay
If you’re going to publish comic books, you need a business plan, even if you have little money or big plans. And yes, the plan has to revolve around making money. This is the metric by which you measure success and how you survive, even if this is just a side hobby or a side hustle. It can be a loss leader providing other benefits, but you cannot know what’s happening without keeping track of the money.
Publishing Within Your Means
Look at your finances and what capital you can pull together to determine what you can sustainably publish. Over the years, many people I’ve met would launch ambitious superhero lines with plans of 37-issue story arcs and dozens of characters, all with crazy powers and names you had never heard of. It’s pretty frustrating when the whole thing falls apart on issue three, and you never finish.
Marvel and DC have been around for decades and have millions of dollars; you probably don’t. (If you do, call me!) It is a comic book publishing suicide to attempt to compete with these entities right out of the gate directly. You would literally need millions of dollars, an office building, a staff, freelancers—
What most of you have are a couple of grand to throw at this thing, maybe slightly more. You’ll need most of that for printing and promotion, so an open-ended commitment to even one ongoing, monthly superhero comic book is foolish. Publishing within your means is publishing one book, probably a graphic novel, with one story complete. If things snowball positively, you can always make more. Even if you’re so tight, you can only publish one issue; make it self-contained.
Social Media is Crucial
If you’re one of the Luddite holdouts that still won’t get on board with promoting via social media, you probably should stop reading the article. You’re screwed, and you’ll fail. Now more than ever, a social media presence is crucial to connect with your fans. It’s time-consuming and tedious, but the upshot is it’s primarily free promotion. In fact, if you stick with it, you can actually make some money. (I just hit 3000 subscribers on my YouTube Channel. Feel free to ask me questions directly. I love making videos.)
Videos: This is the most time-consuming, but if you can build an audience, it can pay off. Guys like Eric July and Raz0rfist turned their massive subscriber bases into paying customers through crowdfunding. YouTube is still the most well-known, but you can also do videos on sites like Rumble, Bitchute, and Odysee. Twitter and Facebook also do live streams, and Twitter may soon compete directly with YouTube. Some software you can download to make videos include OBS, which is free, and you can also use Streamyard in conjunction with other video channels.
Image by Pixabay
If you don’t have much time to do videos, stay away from live streaming and do short, punchy videos about a topic you know and love. And I would not, under any circumstances, use TikTok. It’s owned by a Chinese company and is rumored to be highly intrusive on computers and phones where it is downloaded. (I also think the subscriber numbers are wildly inflated for the users to keep them on the platform, but I have no proof of this.)
Twitter: Under Elon, the site has dramatically improved, but I think that’s a low bar. It’s still annoying of full of randos with axes to grind, but if you keep your head above the fray and don’t get into arguments, it can be a great tool to promote. Twitter-like entities that do the same thing are Gab, Truth, and Parler. There are various communities to join, depending on the subject matter of your comic. Stay out of political discussions (unless you’re into that sort of thing), and it’s okay.
Facebook: I think it used to be great, but these days I perceive the reach as greatly limited unless you pay them. You can cut and paste whatever you post to Twitter; it doesn’t take long. Facebook-like alternatives include Minds and MeWe, which have smaller audiences but usually great engagement.
Other Sites: Instagram, which Facebook owns, is a picture-driven platform that gets slightly more engagement, in my view. You can always throw up an art piece and a link. Reddit used to get me a ton of hits, but I think the site is past its prime. It’s probably suitable for one or two announcement posts if you have the time, but I wouldn’t go out of my way unless your comic is very niche. I post in the South Jersey subreddit for The Pineys and get a decent response.
Your Website: It’s good to have a home base if, for nothing else, to have a spot for fans to visit when they are interested in you and your comic. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but if you want to go bare bones, you can create a LinkTree with all your social media sites.
Overall: Positive engagement is what you’re after on social media. Spread the word and try to stay away from the drama. Yes, drama can get you more attention, but it can also get you negative attention. Avoid the drama unless you’re mentally prepared for the rollercoaster ride of Internet fame. Social media platforms give you the ability to block and mute people. As always on the Internet, don’t feed the trolls.
Dealing With Talent
In my columns about Collaboration and Money, I discussed this, so you must prepare to deal with other people unless you’re a one-person operation. If you can write and draw a comic all by yourself, that’s the ideal staff, and it does work. Ethan Van Sciver is a one-man CyberFrog machine!
Image by Pixabay
The bottom line with dealing with talent, you have to pay them or make compromises to appease them. You might share ownership of the comic, but you must also prepare for the day when you part ways. Figure that stuff out before you start making the comic. Have a contract written in straightforward, plain English that you both understand. If you’re lucky enough to have a lawyer friend or are one yourself, do your best to keep it straightforward and legal. And hey, if you do part ways, no law says you can’t work together again. Just figure out who retains the rights of the project and how you’ll split whatever proceeds and inventory are left. (Unless, of course, you paid them, in which case, that’s it.)
Be Professional
Being professional as a comic book publisher is doing all the boring business stuff most creatives want to avoid. You have to keep track of the following:
1: Your Costs: All the money that you spend that you intend to reimburse yourself and/or your company. This includes art supplies, printing, shipping costs, and promotion. If you’re paying talent, you need to keep track. You also should pay talent as you go. As you get pages, pay promptly but not before. You always want something to hold over talent so they complete the work.
2: Your Gross and Net Profits: Gross profits are just the money you bring in, and the Net profit is the money you make after the project pays for itself. Use something like an Excel spreadsheet.
3: Your Inventory: Once you do a print run, you should have several hundred or several thousand extra books to sell at conventions. Keep track of it so you know when you reprint. You might also be able to write off some of the excess inventory for tax purposes, especially if you end up giving it away to get rid of it. Consult an accountant for the rules as they frequently change. Also, consider discounting the books after a certain amount of time has passed or moving the product in bulk. (For instance, if you had a four-issue run that costs $3 per book, you could discount the run for $10 if the price point still makes you profit.)
4: The Talent: You need their contact info and copies of their signed contracts, and you need to pay them royalties if that’s what you promised them. Organize this stuff so you have it ready when you need it.
5: Storage: You’ll need someplace to hold the inventory and the contracts. Usually, this isn’t a big deal if you have a house or apartment, and it depends on how many you decide to print. You’ll also need to store the signage and table promotion gear you will use at conventions.
Image by Pixabay
Communication and Transparency
As the publisher, you are the captain of the ship. If you have a crew, you must ensure they’re current on what’s happening. I send out Quarterly reports along with royalty payments for The Webcomic Factory. (That’s every three months.) If there’s very little money, you might wait longer; if there’s a lot, you might do it sooner.
No matter how you do it, you must inform the rest of the crew what’s happening. If you’re the publisher, you must contact your talent regularly and tell them what’s happening. You will also want to inform them of any promotional events you expect them to attend. Once you establish a pattern of contact, stick to that. Businesses run on predictability.
Attending Promotion Events
If you’re dealing with talent, taking them to promotional events can be mutually beneficial, but ensure they know what you will and will not pay for. In my publishing days, the best I could do was buy the artists lunch. They appreciated it, and it made a good impression. (Everyone likes food.)
Remember, the first time you deal with talent sets the tone. If you pay for their travel and/or hotel, they will expect it every time. Since most of you don’t have that kind of money, do what I do: “I can’t pay for anything but your lunch, but if you want to come to Awesome Con, let me know by Thursday, and maybe we can carpool.”
If the talent decides to come, plan out what will happen. Artists might expect a prime spot at the table to sell artwork from not only your book but others. They also might want to do commissions or talk to the fans endlessly. Lay out the course of action, “Our primary goal is to sell the comic. If you want to sell some art on top of that, it’s fine, but let’s make sure we pitch the comic to anyone that comes to the table first.”
If you’ve hired a writer (first of all, bless you), make sure he knows his role at the table. He might have other comics, too, that he wants to sell. If you’re okay with that, go ahead, but if you’re not— Outline the plan before anyone agrees to go with you. You want to avoid traveling to the comic-con and arguing over what will happen at the table. Instead, make it clear that you’re the publisher and will make those decisions. If anyone balks while you’re discussing this ahead of time, don’t bring them. (Perhaps suggest they call the comic-con and arrange their own table next to yours.)
Image by Pixabay
Being the Face
As the publisher, you are the face of your comic book company. As Stan Lee spoke for Marvel, you talk for your company, whatever it is. Whether you publish just one book that you drew and wrote or if you publish many that you financed— You speak for the company. You set the tone that anyone that works with you should also emulate. Here are some basics:
1: Dress Well: Artists can look a little crazy. That’s expected. Publishers should, at minimum, dress business casual. Look successful, and you will be successful, as they say.
2: Speak Well: You have to articulate your publishing company’s vision and all its products and talent. You NEVER say anything negative about your product or the talent. Ever. Even if your artist is a complete jerk that just punched you in the face five minutes before your interview, never air out dirty laundry in public. Even if your talent makes the mistake of speaking ill of you, take them to the side and tell them privately not to slam you in the media.
3: Stay on Topic: You’re there to promote the comic. However, podcasters and reporters have their own ideas. It’s fine to answer questions about your favorite comics and whatnot, but always remember why you’re doing an interview: to promote your comic. Stay away from politics and controversy (again, unless you like that stuff and can handle the backlash), and keep pitching your comic to the audience. Don’t give away the entire story, of course, but keep teasing it. If you find you don’t have much to say, feel free to end the interview early. Once you get good interviews, you’ll know to promote at the beginning and end of an interview. If your talent is with you, you can always let them talk about their creative process. They, too, should be well briefed in whatever you’re doing. Speaking of which…
4: Prepare Your Talent/Staff: Talent and Staff that work for your publishing company should be aware of how you do things and how you present. At the very least, give them the basics: What the comic is about, your vision, and the publishing company. If you bring on spouses and friends to help you, make it clear that this isn’t a joke. You don’t want one of your knucklehead friends telling an inappropriate story about you for laughs on a podcast.
Additionally, clarify that everything about the company and the comics you publish goes through you. Talent and staff are not authorized to make deals with other publishers or promoters. It doesn’t mean they can’t bring you an opportunity, but you ultimately have a say on whether or not it goes forward.
5: Lead: You’re the captain; act like it. You make the decisions and tell people what to do. “Hey, Frank, why don’t you go get lunch and Marcy will watch the table for a while.” or “Carlos, take a break and walk around the comic-con; I’ll watch the table.”
Have a plan to do all those things I told you about in previous columns. Remember, you go to events to sell comics and possibly parlay that into better publishing deals. You do not represent your talent as an agent, but you will likely get inquiries on their behalf. While it’s nice to pass on these opportunities to your talent, understand that you might be setting in motion what causes them to leave you for more money and/or prestige. Happens all the time in comics, so you might as well get credit for being nice about it. (This is why you need a plan to part ways on friendly terms.)
Additionally, if you want to avoid doing interviews, arrange for your talent to be interviewed. It might be a better choice if you’re not great in front of the camera and your talent loves the spotlight.
Transitioning into Full Time Work
If you’re lucky enough that the comic brings in enough money to pay everyone’s bills, the transition should be relatively painless because you’re keeping track of everything. The main worry is that you need to pay your taxes, but you might also be subject to state-level taxes, payroll taxes, and other rules depending on the number of employees and/or freelancers you employ. At the end of the day, it’s all about money. You don’t need to worry about it unless you bring in thousands of dollars. You need to pay the taxes on the money you make.
If you reach this level of success, congrats! You want to sit down with an accountant and/or business professional and outline the best course of action for your small business. It’ll be a headache and boring, but it’s a good problem to have if you’re paying your bills just by selling your comics.
Image by Pixabay
What Publishers Pay For
Typically, publishers will pay for the printing and promotion. If they can, they will also pay the talent. One of the things you need to do is pay for a really nice logo if you can’t make on yourself. Basically, anything connected to the comic is going to be your expense.
What Publishers Don’t Pay For
You’re not obligated to pay for anything talent-related you didn’t promise. I always told my artist I would reimburse them for some art supplies depending on the circumstance. Most of them considered it an expense they would absorb since they used their supplies on a variety of projects, and they could write it off on their own taxes anyway. Also, don’t pay for reviews; it’s tacky, and reviewers that take money rarely, if ever, have any decent audience to spread the word about your comics.
Crowd Funding
Crowdfunding is an excellent avenue for today’s creators, but it has its pitfalls. In the old days, an artist would draw a cover, solicit in Previews and then only draw the comic if there were enough orders. These days, publishers post comics and rewards on crowdfunding sites to raise money and then go to print if they achieve their goals. Using sites that allow you to publish if you fall short of the goal is preferable since it gives you the option to finish the project regardless of the amount of funding you’ve received.
There are video tutorials on the crowdfunding sites, so watch them. As the publisher, this is all you. You have to learn it because you’ll either coordinate with the talent to make the necessary promotional materials or make them yourself.
You must, however, budget well. That means you have to know what this project is going to cost to make, print, and ship. That’s all your costs, including the extra rewards and what it costs to ship them. Shipping is usually the pitfall here, and it can get very messy if you ship everything worldwide (as I did). I nearly got creamed on postage costs to Russia for one fan. Remember to factor in shipping out of the country or don’t offer shipping outside a specific area.
The Pros: Crowdfunding forces you to do all the critical budgeting and money stuff upfront, so you’ll be ready to go if your funding goals are reached. Additionally, everything is paid for, and since you’re going to budget some extra inventory so you can sell it at conventions, this means you’re going to make 100% profit on all those additional books.
The Cons: If you don’t meet your goals, the project never happens, or you’ll be forced to kick in the shortfall. If you budget too much, this can cause fans to balk at your project. If you budget too little, you might have to put up money you didn’t expect to spend to finish. This is why it’s essential to get reasonable estimates from reliable printers.
Picking a Printer
I’ve used local printers and ones in foreign countries; ultimately, it’s all about the cost of the print job and the shipping costs to you. You’ll have to make some phone calls and send some emails, but here are a few hot tips.
Image by NightCafe
Find a printer that’s printed a comic book before. Printers inexperienced in the comic book medium sometimes don’t understand that fans expect the best look for the least amount of money. You might get a great deal with the guy who prints shopping circulars, but if your colors and lines come out all muddled and poorly cut— Your fans will be howling for your blood.
Try to find a local printer: If you’re lucky enough to find a printer you can drive to, you’ll save a bundle on shipping.
Foreign Printers and Port Cities: If you or a friend lives in a major port city your printer will ship to, you can save money by picking up your comics at customs or having your friend pick them up and send them to you. You may have to pay some customs fees for this.
Check Out Their Samples: Experienced comic book printers will have a sample pack of previous comics they’ll use to show you their work. Check them out.
Get Estimates: Printers are happy to give you a price estimate on your job because they want your business. Make sure you get a price for the job and the shipping.
Ask Fellow Creators: Surely you know SOME people in this business. It never hurts to ask them who they use and/or recommend.
Compare: Once you have the prices, compare that and the quality and make the call.
Printers to Avoid: Besides the ones that have never printed a comic, you want to avoid printers with shady reps. They exist, and they sometimes demand money upfront because they still need to publish the last customer’s comics. They’ll use your money to print that, then turn around and say that you’ll need to find them another customer so they can publish your comic.
I nearly got jammed up with a printer like this, but fortunately, I used a credit card to pay for the work. Credit cards often have insurance, so if you don’t get what you paid for, you can sic the credit card company on the printer. I can’t go into the complicated details, but I was fortunate that I got right with my printer, partly due to the pressure of my credit card company.
This doesn’t mean you won’t have to pay the printer upfront; you usually have to do that. But if you use a credit card, there has to be an acknowledgment of receipt of the goods. Call the printer first to see what happens if you don’t get your comics. Eventually, if you determine they’re not coming, call your credit card company and tell them you have yet to receive the service you were promised.
Check the Print Run: You actually have to see the print run to know that it’s good. Printers will send you a proof for approval (sometimes it’s electronic proof to save money; otherwise, there may be an additional fee). Either way, when you get the comics, don’t just check the top one on the first box; check a lot of them in different boxes. Sometimes something goes wrong mid-way through the print run, and you might find a few dozen or a few hundred misprinted comics.
If this happens, take them out and go through the entire print run. Fill your orders with the good comics and call your printer about the misprinted ones. Hopefully, you have enough to fulfill your existing orders; if you don’t, that’s a problem, and you have to get the printer to address the issue. You may get a partial refund, or the print may be able to fire up the press again to do a short run. Depends on the situation, but be prepared to deal with it. If your printer won’t make you whole on the print run you paid for, call your credit card company and demand that they get you at least a partial refund.
Being the Boss
As the publisher, you’re the boss, and being the boss sucks. That’s why the boss gets paid all or most of the money. He does a lot of work and coordination, and often everyone from the fans to the talent to the printers— They’ll complain about you. It’s a thankless job but a necessary one if you want to publish your own comic book.
If you want to be everyone’s friend, being a boss or a comic book publisher is not the way to do it. If you want to make good comic books and contribute to a great medium, just like any hero— You must go on a journey. This journey will be filled with trials, tribulations, and sacrifice, but if you come out at the end with a great comic book, it’ll all be worth it.
After a six-year hiatus, ‘The Ancient Magus’ Bride’ returned for a second season in April 2023 directed by Kazuaki Terasawa with Studio Kafka taking over production. Crunchyroll announced that, along with the first season and the OVAs, they would stream the new episodes along with producing an English dub.
Crunchyroll revealed that Dani Chambers would return as the protagonist Chise along with co-star Brian Mathis as Elias. Cris George has joined the project as the ADR Director.
Anime News Network listed the rest of the English cast:
Austin Tindle (Tokyo Ghoul, Attack on Titan) as Ruth
Jarrod Greene (Ace Attorney, Fairy Tail) as Mikhail Renfred
Jennifer Green (Tales of Zestiria the X, Yona of the Dawn) as Alice Swayne
Rachel Glass (Azur Lane, Black Clover) as Silky
Sarah Roach (Back Arrow, Dr. Stone) as Lucy Webster
Seth Magill (Arifureta – From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, Gosick) as Adolf Stroud
Josh Grelle (Psycho-Pass, Princess Jellyfish) as Joseph/Cartaphilus
Natalie Van Sistine (Spy x Family, Scarlet Nexus) as Alexandra Heath
“Chise was able to accept Elias and herself, if not necessarily everything about her situation. After Cartaphilus fell back into a slumber that would not last forever, Chise was able to go back to her regular life. Then she receives an invitation from a mutual aid organization for mages called the College.
Under the British Library exists a secret society of mages. Encounters and interactions with people are about to open some new doors. This is a story about saving yourself to save another.”
The first season was directed by Norihiro Naganuma and produced by Wit Studio.
Prior to the anime, Wit Studio released the three-part OVA ‘The Ancient Magus Bride: Those Awaiting a Star’ in 2016. It was directed by Norihiro Naganuma and music composed by Junichi Matsumoto.
Based on the 1997 RPG video game currently owned by Imagineer, ‘Medabots’ is an anime series from the Japanese animation studio Bee Train that ran for two seasons of fifty-two episodes in 1999 and 2000, respectively. A heavily edited version of the series aired in the United States on Fox Broadcasting as part of their Fox Kids programming block.
Discotek Media is bringing the complete uncut version of the series on home video release with the original Japanese audio with English subtitles under the title ‘Medabots First Series.’ While being a Blu-ray box set, the episodes will be in standard definition.
The DVDs have a planned release on June 27th, 2023 though it is available for pre-order on the Right Stuf Anime website.
They released the image of the Blu-ray set on their website:
Tensai Okamura directed ‘Medabots,’ known in Japan as ‘Medarot.’ It was written by Ryōta Yamaguchi with Osamu Tezuka composing the music for the series.
Discotek Media describes the synopsis as follows,
“In the near future, humans and robots coexist. “Robattles,” a competition in which Medabots are pitted against each other, is popular among kids. A Medabot’s consciousness, effectively its brains, is located in a Medal that can be inserted into and ejected from the robot body. By chance, nine-year-old Ikki finds a Rare Medal, and soon after has his own Medabot named Metabee. This is the story of their friendship and growth as they use wisdom and courage to fight countless opponents in robot battles.”
The anime was released in conjunction with a manga series from Kodansha between 1997 and 2000 in their ‘Comic BomBom’ magazine.
A sequel anime was released in 2000 and 2001 titled ‘Medarot Damashii’ produced by Trans Arts and Production I.G. It debuted in Japan on TV Tokyo and in the United States on ABC on the Jetix under the title ‘Medabots Spirits.’
The mysterious Asus ROG Ally handheld hasn’t seen much press lately, but the price and release date may have just been leaked.
Thanks to Tech Radar‘s recent find, we now may have a better idea as to the price and storage size of the Asus ROG Ally. The info comes from an unlikely place, a leaked product page spotted by a tech journalist.
Khumail Thakur, who is supposedly the reviews editor for Stuff India, posted an image that alleges to show a leaked product page on Best Buy. The Asus ROG Ally’s 512GB model will retail for $699 if Thakur’s info is correct. The unit will also ship out starting on June 13th.
In case Thankur’s tweet does now show up, it says the following:
Best Buy product page leaked the price of the Asus ROG Ally. It will be priced at $699 dollars for the 16GB/512GB variant.
Best Buy product page leaked the price of the Asus ROG Ally. It will be priced at $699 dollars for the 16GB/512GB variant. pic.twitter.com/CbfERTkGT4
This price tag puts it $50 higher than the 512GB Steam Deck. However, this means you’ll also probably get the newer AMD Zen 4 chip for that price.
The ROG Ally was announced on April 1st, and Asus had to reiterate to skeptics that this wasn’t an April Fool’s joke. The handheld gaming platform will act similarly to Valve’s Steam Deck but will be exclusively sold through Best Buy.
So far, we’ve yet to see official specs. The best we could find was details found in Dave2D‘s hands-on video with the ROG Ally.
I’ve been using an Asus gaming laptop for the past two years and found it to be a steady bet once you remove the Armory Crate, of course. Seriously. That program caused way too many issues, including locking up the Windows on startup, and negatively impacted performance.
What do you think of Asus’s new Steak Deck rival? Let us know below.
The third season of ‘Dr. Stone’ from TMS Entertainment made its way to fans in April 2023. Subtitled “New World,” we see the Kingdom of Science setting on a new adventure with Shūhei Matsushita directing. Crunchyroll announced they would be streaming this season as well as the first two of the anime based on the Jump Comics manga by writer Riichiro Inagaki and illustrator Boichi.
Crunchyroll also revealed an English dub cast that features many returning actors and actresses from the previous seasons:
Senku voiced by Aaron Dismuke (Chigiri in BLUELOCK)
Chrome voiced by Matt Shipman (Reki in SK8 the Infinity)
Kohaku voiced by Felecia Angelle (Suzune in Classroom of the Elite)
Gen voiced by Brandon McInnis (Milo in SABIKUI BISCO)
Taiju voiced by Ricco Fajardo (Kotaro in ZOMBIE LAND SAGA)
Ryusui voiced by Clifford Chapin (Bakugo in My Hero Academia)
Cris George works on the project as the ADR Director.
“With the ambitious Ryuusui Nanami on board, Senkuu Ishigami and his team are almost ready to sail the seas and reach the other side of the world—where the bizarre green light that petrified humanity originated. Thanks to the revival of a skillful chef, enough food is being prepared for the entire crew, and the incredible reinvention of the GPS promises to ensure safety on the open sea.
Preparations for the upcoming journey progress swimmingly until Senkuu receives an eerie message from a mysterious source. More driven than ever, the scientist sets out to explore the new world and discover what it can offer for his scientific cause. Though the uncharted territories may hide unkind surprises, Senkuu, with a little help from science, is ready to take on any challenge.”
The first two seasons of the anime were directed by Shinya Iino.
Crunchyroll announced that they would be producing an English dub for the comedy adventure anime ‘The Legendary Hero Is Dead!’ The series premiered in 2023 and is produced by Liden Films. The show is directed by Rion Kujo and written by Yū Satō.
They revealed the cast on the Crunchyroll website:
Touka voiced by Ricco Fajardo (Junichiro in Tomo-chan Is a Girl!)
Sion voiced by Justin Briner (Kiyotaka in Classroom of the Elite)
Yuna voiced by Alexis Tipton (Aileen in I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss)
Anri voiced by Michelle Rojas (Shion in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime)
Kyle voiced by Bradley Gareth (Guel in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury)
Ethel voiced by Caitlin Glass (Damian in SPY x FAMILY)
“Far to the north of the world lies Hell’s Gate, a portal formerly used by the Demon Lord to invade the human realm. Thanks to the legendary hero Shion Bladearts, wielder of Excalibur, and his loyal band of companions, the Gate was sealed off and the demonic threat was vanquished.
Unfortunately, the seal was incomplete and has begun to weaken, allowing the demons to once again begin their attack. Worried about the safety of his village, selfish and perverted farmer Touka Scott dig pitfalls to defend against the demons. But fear not, for Shion is on his way to reseal Hell’s Gate and save humanity!
Or at least he was, because the legendary hero is dead, having fallen into one of the pitfalls Touka dug. Luckily, dealing with the dead is the specialty of necromancer Anri Haynesworth. While she can’t revive him, Anri can at least salvage their quest by forcing Touka’s soul into Shion’s rotting body and dragging him along to Hell’s Gate in Shion’s place. Not wanting to be left behind, Touka’s childhood friend Yuna Yunis tags along. Together, the three of them set out as what just might be the most unsuitable party to ever try to save the world!”
The anime is based on a manga created by the Japanese author known as Subaruichi and published by Shogakukan. The chapters were serialized in the magazine Ura Sunday and the webcomic host MangaONE from December 16, 2014, to December 14, 2020.
