Daybreak! #1-4

Daybreak #4 update- slight delay
6 months ago – Tue, Mar 19, 2024 at 09:10:32 AM

Daymakers!

Because of a death in the immediate family and the resulting time away from my office the last two weeks, Daybreak! #4 will be slightly delayed.

Sorry. Sincerely. But sometimes life kicks you in the no-no square.

The good news is we're still on track to fulfill the campaign in April, as intended. Just later in April than originally planned.

Stefan and I have 4 pages left of Daybreak! #4 to complete, plus the handbook-style page for The Custodian. I had a lot of fun writing it and my Daybreak! partner in crime will put it together once the full art on this issue is complete. We're in good shape to finish the book with time to spare.

You can now expect surveys to be sent through Backerkit on April 1st, with a deadline of April 14 to complete and return your information to New Pain HQ. 

I'm now flying to Tennessee on April 24th to sign all the physical copies of #4. All told, I'll be on the ground in the Knoxville area for about 4 hours before I'm back on a plane and headed home. It's going to be a grueling day but also fun in a weird way.

I'll be delivering the add-ons like foil covers and metallic prints, which were sourced to a different print house, to our usual printer while I'm there and expect everything to be packaged and mailed to you guys that final week of April. I'm going to bag and board copies while I'm there. We have several backers that live in the surrounding area and it may be possible to arrange to hand you your packages while I'm in town. As mentioned, time will be tight on this end but if it seems logistically possible, you'll be contacted the week before to try to work out details on your end. I always, always enjoy meeting our backers and talking comics and I hope time and your also-busy schedules will allow for that on this quick trip.  

If anything else changes, you guys will be the first to know but we plan on sticking to this revised schedule. 

Thanks for the extra little bit of patience.

Your bestie,

Keith Champagne

WOW!
7 months ago – Tue, Feb 27, 2024 at 10:52:46 AM

Daymakers!

Looks like all you backers are getting their copies of Daybreak! #4 signed--and digital backers will be getting their exclusive DEFENSE #1 ashcan. 

After a whirlwind stretch of pledges and cancels this morning that saw us unlock our final stretch goal, fall back under, unlock it again, fall back under AGAIN and finally hit it permanently during the last 24 minutes of the campaign...wait. I've got so much whiplash I don't know how to finish this sentence.  

But the good news is the flight to the print/fulfill center in Tennessee I booked yesterday won't go to waste now.

Thank you, guys.  Not just for making #4 a reality but for believing in this entire series from start to finish. It's difficult not to feel a real sense of accomplishment after the last two years of work. Even Tom Nguyen smiled ever so slightly and that almost NEVER happens, he's inscrutable.

Expect another update in a couple of weeks, after the funds clear Kickstarter. The surveys should arrive about a week later, our plucky intern will start cracking on those next week. In the meantime, Stefan and I will be putting the final touches on the last 10 pages of #4, I'll write up the "Handbook" pages (Stefan has already drawn The Machine entry) and we'll slap this puppy together, get it printed, signed and into your hands. along with all the other rewards.

I'd be remiss in not mentioning that Michael Katz' campaign for HORROR SHOW is funded and has a couple of days left. If you haven't checked it out yet, don't miss out. 

I'm also overdue in plugging Rylend Grant's project, THE PEACEKEEPERS, which has two days left and is in the stretch goal phase. 

Here's the pitch, directly from the campaign page:

"All hell breaks loose in a quaint northern Michigan community when a team of in-over-their-heads bank robbers kills a beloved Sheriff’s Deputy. In a small town with BIG secrets, local detective Richard Holton races to peel back the layers of a depraved down home conspiracy before the bungling Federal Agents assigned to the case send everyone involved to ground."

I'm new to the world of The Peacekeepers myself but I'm excited to check it out, Rylend is a pretty solid writer. He even has a book called The Jump so clearly we are simpatico creative spirits! 

Gotta run, guys. Crazy day. But thanks again for everything. More info soon.

Your bestie,

Keith

Final Day! State Of The Union address
7 months ago – Mon, Feb 26, 2024 at 11:06:46 AM

Daymakers! A hearty welcome to our new backers over the last couple of days, we're glad to have you join us.

Currently, we are less than 24 hours away from the end of our campaign and $850 and some spare change away from unlocking the final stretch goal which, because of the crackerjack timing that will be involved in finishing, printing and fulfilling the books, will entail my flying to our print/fulfill center in Tennessee in time to sign everyone's physical copy, then fly home that evening. I'm already gone two weekends in April for comicons so believe me, my family isn't happy with this new development in my travel schedule. 

But if you happen to think I'm bluffing? 

Call me crazy, call me confident, call me practical but I already booked the flight. As we all know, the closer to the date of travel we get, the more expensive the flight so I pulled the trigger.

So hey...locked in on my end. If you guys want to help us get there by telling a friend, I definitely won't complain. We'll be banging the drums on this end so let's all meet up tomorrow afternoon and see where this mad plan ends up.

LFG, as the kids say!

Your bestie,

Keith Champagne

Final stretch goal revealed!
7 months ago – Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 12:46:15 PM

Daymakers!

Sorry to interrupt your weekend but I wanted to share the exciting news that, barring any major cancels over the next few days (and cancels ALWAYS happen), we have officially unlocked the Daybreak! #1 motion comic from Bewildered Biscuit Studios! 

Thanks so much for making this happen, guys. The Biscuiteers do amazing work and we're really excited to unleash the fruits of their labor upon all of you. You're gonna love it, I promise! 

While I've got your attention, we also wanted to officially announce our FINAL stretch goal. Announcing it today instead of Monday will hopefully give us more time to reach it.

If we're lucky enough to reach 12K over these last 3 days, I'm going to sign every single physical backer's copy of Daybreak! #4. In order to fulfill the campaign in the promised time (because Stefan and I are still putting the final touches on this giant issue over the next several weeks), this will involve my actually flying to our print/fulfillment house in Tennessee with a Sharpee in hand, scribbling like a madman, then turning around and heading home.  I'm tired just thinking about it but it seems like the least I can do for you amazing supporters to thank you for making this our biggest and best campaign yet.

What about the digital backers, you may ask? 

Our digital ONLY-backers will be receiving a 12-page ashcan preview edition of an upcoming New Pain title called The Defense. Right now, the first issue has been penciled and lettered, which is the raw form this ashcan will be released in.

It's difficult to come up with rewards that equally acknowledge the contribution of our digital backers and something like a digital wallpaper doesn't feel like quite enough. Anyway, here's the cover, by Rags Morales and Rich Stahnke. If you backed the Two-In-One campaign, you will have seen this as part of UNcovered #1.

Let's see if we can stretch all the way to this final goal, fellas. Sharing is caring, don't forget!

Your bestie,

Keith Champagne

Four days left!
7 months ago – Fri, Feb 23, 2024 at 04:23:57 AM

Daymakers! 

Happy Friday, guys and gals. 

It's a super hectic morning so please find yourselves relieved at this much shorter-than-usual update. You're welcome! 

We've made some tremendous progress towards unlocking the FREE motion comic adaptation of Daybreak! #1. With a little over 4 days remaining, we're less than $500 away from the 10k benchmark and are cautiously optimistic that we're gonna get there. 

If you want to help the cause a little more, feel free to direct your comic book-loving friends to our campaign. We'd love to hit at least 200 backers on this campaign. Or please take another skim through the campaign page and add-ons if you haven't already. There are some great original art rewards remaining (Doug Mahnke and Netho Diaz covers!), a namesake reward, even some very rare bootleg items just waiting to join your personal collection.

If we have a strong weekend, knock on wood, I'll catch all of you Monday morning to reveal our final stretch goal. Thanks for all your help, team!

Your bestie,

Keith Champagne