2016: YEAR IN PREVIEW

Hi folks,

It's 2016, and things are set to really kick into gear... I have high hopes for a productive year. For a long time, the unpredictability of my living situations led to me getting less work done that I would have liked, but now I find myself in Domestic Bliss: two dogs, two cats, a backyard with lots of birdfeeders, a stable, loving relationship with a wonderful woman... it's been great! So I'm really hoping to get back to a two per year schedule with King-Cat. KC #76 is already well on its way to publication (likely in February sometime), and that will give me plenty of room to get #77 out in the fall. Additionally, I'm finally going to be publishing my South Beloit Journal, a three month span of daily diary strips from 2011 (a few were excerpted in King-Cat 72).

Even bigger news is that this summer will see the release of Spit and a Half's first book form publication, a 200+ page collection of Jenny Zervakis' seminal Strange Growths comics. This is something I've wanted to do since 1997, and the time is finally here!

I'll be travelling some in 2016 too, but truthfully, I'm hoping to wind down the amount of road time I've been putting in over the past seven years or so. As I get older, it's begun to really wear on me. With the upgraded Spit and a Half distro site, it's now easier than ever to get tons of great comics delivered to your doorstep, so I'm hoping that will pick up some of the slack from me not travelling as much.

And finally, after a lot of soul searching and hand wringing, I'd like to announce the debut of my Patreon page. Patreon is a web platform that allows fans of an artist's work to make small, regular, monthly donations to help support that work. Mine is set up with a number of levels, where contributors receive anything from a simple "thank you" to an ongoing subscription program. There will also be an exclusive monthly e-newsletter for Patreon supporters, The Boney Island Observer, featuring chit chat, comics, photos, samples of work in progress, and up to the minute Groundhog news, delivered straight to your inbox.

I realize times are tight, but if you find yourself in a situation where you can afford to donate something, it would be greatly appreciated. As you no doubt know, comics and underground publishing are still mostly labors of love. Your support goes a long way towards keeping all this going.

Thanks! I'll see you around...
LOVE John P.