Teddy and the Yeti #1 New Dimension Comics exclusive version is here!

I had a box waiting for me when I got home yesterday from Comixpress - when I opened it up I found, underneath tons of shredded paper for padding, the New Dimension Comics version of Teddy and the Yeti #1!  Check out the tour above.

The books look good and the Alan Gallo-Karin Rindevall cover looks great.  The interior coloring is just a bit brighter than the regular edition from Brenner, which is good when reading the Andromeda Jones story, though the Yeti has a little bit of a pinkish hue to her in a few panels.  In any case, you wouldn't notice a big difference unless you put the two copies side-by-side, which of course I did.

The next step is to ship these copies off to New Dimension Comics (I know, why didn't I just have them shipped directly to them?  Because I needed to inspect them first.  I NEEDED TO!), where they'll decide just when and how they'll go on sale.  I won't be selling any of these directly - hence, the "exclusive" tag - but I'll have a link to the NDC website on my main site.  It's great to check this off the "to do" list!

Issue #2 off to the printer

Issue #2 went thorough its proofreading stage, some small edits were made (I can't believe I wrote "onto" instead of "on to"...seriously, I should know better), and now the pdf file is off to the printer.  It's out of my hands!  And that's a great feeling.  We're still on schedule for a February release, which is just where I wanted it to be.  Most folks got a hold of issue #1 at the December 30th Indy Comic Book Week release, so those people will have to wait even less than the folks who got it when I took it around to stores myself.

Issue two, just like the New Dimension Comics exclusive edition of #1, is being printed through Comixpress, a fairly well-known small print run printer.  Issue #1 (the one with the Phil Hester cover) was printed through Brenner, and the folks there did a wonderful job; I'm not switching because of any problem I had with them.  Their pricing scale, combined with Diamond's suggested minimum print run, is set up more for larger print runs, and that ultimately doesn't fit the numbers for an independent book like Teddy and the Yeti.  Now that I'm distributing through Haven (and going door-to-door in some cases), I can be a little more conservative in how many books I print at once.  If I run out of books (what a great problem that'd be!  Assuming they didn't just get dumped in a lake or something), I can just place another order with them as necessary.

I'll be taking a few days off before getting down to the details on issue #3, but that issue, honestly, is pretty well put together as it is.  The entire book is colored (minus the cover) and about a third of it is already lettered.  So maybe I won't have as many late late nights this time around.  One can dream...

The books are in.

...and they look absolutely fantastic.  I couldn't be happier with the overall quality.  It's like...well, it's like reading an actual comic book, which I guess IS THE POINT!, but it's a different feeling when you're holding the book in your hands.  For those of you that ordered a copy, please know that it is safe and sound, residing in my house, waiting to be shipped off to your place, wherever that might be.  If it makes it any more enticing, I will personally kiss each issue that goes out.  If that makes you uncomfortable, forget all about what I just said.

Random updates

...get it? The image is of the character "Random" from X-Force...or X-Factor...one of those X-Men spinoff teams. Whatever. Anyway, a few updates to pass along, none big enough to warrant a long rant:

- I've updated this blog site just a bit by adding a few widgets to the side bar over on the right. Now you can search all posts (just like you've always wanted!), and wander through the maze that is the largest, most incomprehensible tag cloud with all the many, many labels I've used in the past.

You want to know how many times I've used "The Thing" as a tag? Four! (well, now it's five.) How about "Pittsburgh"? Take a peek on the right...and you just might find out! I've even tagged Sarah Palin once, for who knows what reason.

- Todd Nauck has agreed to do an interview for Teddy and the Yeti issue #2. As you'll recall (YOU WILL!), Todd drew the Mr. Massive cover to the same issue. Phil Hester was kind enough to do the same for issue #1 - a cover and an interview. I wasn't sure if I could get a hold of Todd, but I was able to a few days ago.

- They're having a ridiculous sale over at Toyrocket.com, the place I preorder most of my Futurama toys from. I'm not sure how long the sale - 50-90% off their entire stock - will last, but I moved on it as soon as I got the e-mail: among a few other things, I got the Marvel Legends 1st Appearance Thing figure for five bucks!

- I got an e-mail from Pat Olliffe on Thursday saying that his Teddy and the Yeti cover is done. He both penciled and inked it, and I'll be getting it in the mail in a few days. This is theoretically the cover to issue #4, though Duane and I may take some time off after #3...so we'll see what eventually happens.

- Teddy and the Yeti #1 is officially on its way from Brenner Printing to my house. I should get all 2,000 issues by Tuesday, at which time I'll have to figure out where to put them between now and when I ship the orders off to Diamond's various warehouses.

- Teddy and the Yeti #1 is currently number 40 on Exclamation Comics' top 100 best selling comic books of the day, outranking Dark Reign: Hawkeye #5, Haunt #1 and Deadpool Team-Up #899. I have no idea what this means in any real context.

- Artist Nick Acs has a new blog with art from a backup story that will be featured in a future issue of Teddy and the Yeti. It was posted on October 25th, and as of now it's very much the only post on the site. Which is awesome.

That's all I've got! And a great time was had by all.

Proof.

I got a proof copy in the mail a few days ago from the printer. A proof is, basically, a single copy for me to go over and approve or make changes to. In this case, it is also proof that I haven't been completely wasting my time these past months.

I will make a few changes - the lettering is a bit small in some places. But at least I know that things are coming to a close and the first issue will be out sooner rather than later. Glee!

The Skinny

As promised, a more detailed update on Teddy and the Yeti and its current status: first, the bad news. Teddy and the Yeti #1 won't be in stores until December of this year. Now, the good news. TEDDY AND THE YETI #1 WILL BE IN STORES THIS DECEMBER!!!

Ah, the old good news-bad news trick. Gets 'em every time.

After lots of work and preparation, I submitted a complete copy of the first issue of the book to Diamond Comic Distributors, otherwise known as the distribution company who might as well be the only game in town. It's been accepted, which while I expected as much is still a huge relief, and is set to appear in the September issue of Previews magazine. Once that comes out, everyone can rush to their local comic book store and demand (DEMAND!) that a copy is held for them.

In the meantime, I'm trying to focus on printing the book. I am planning on printing through Brenner, and things seem to be going well on that front, though it's not finalized just yet. I hope to have that under control within a week, because the first time in forever, I actually have more than self-imposed deadlines to work against.

So things are moving along. There's lots to do, but that's an exciting feeling.