Hell on Earth January Update!
I have promised updates about Hell on Earth, and I am delivering it with a bitchin' new poster! First, a quick TLDR for those of us who donβt want to scroll through the whole post:
Issue 2's script is awaiting editing. Issues 3 and 6 is currently being beat-sheeted. All of the issues' general plots have been beat-sheeted.
Thumbnailing has begun for Issue 2 and Issue 6. Concept sketches for the covers have begun. Character reference sheets will come out within the next month or two.
Because I don't fully trust myself to get sufficient content completed by the end of the year, I may push the official release days to December 2025. The quarterly release schedule will stand no matter what.
Issue 1 will be pre-released at the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo in April 2025 β along with The Book of Haborym.
What is this comic? How did it come about?
Hell on Earth was initially my senior capstone, but I got really attached to it and wanted to make more. Unfortunately, I kept writing the same plot over and over and kept making the same mistakes, so I got really depressed and tried to scrap the whole thing in favor of a new plot. Ove winter break, I made an entirely new plot, cast, script, and thumbnails
Then on January 8th, 2024, I was dragged down a hill by one of the family dogs and I fractured the two bones in your ankle that will not heal on their own. Surgery was required, I was forced to pull out of what would have been my final semester, and I relearned how to walk over the summer. It was a mess, I was a mess, it was horrible.
However, it did give me an opportunity to pay more attention to the capstone. With that time I spent being unable to walk, I started to move back to what I'd originally conceived, now having a fresh start and read all the Walking Dead comics and watched Romero's Living Dead films. And now I've created something that I am not only obsessed with, but am dying to share with the world.
What can we expect from Hell on Earth?
Zombies! Zombies lurking around, stalking us, looming in the background. Because at the end of the day, this is a zombie story. Hell on Earth is going to be a relatively slow burn for the spook side of things, but it will be showing more and more of its face as the story goes on.
I'm planning to do six issues per story arc, and as of now I only want to start with one or two. I have enough material for a second and third run, and if all goes well, I'll get more of my plot ducks in a row. This first run is like an introduction to the world, but it's also a story that can be read on its own.
Where will Hell on Earth be sold?
I'm still figuring that out. I have yet to update my own personal website (I love that Wix wants me to shell out $30 a month to sell things on my own damn site), so I'm open to suggestions and currently searching for a place to sell it. I'm leaning towards selling it on Amazon (boo, hiss) until I have enough money to sell it over my Wix site.
You mentioned pushing the release date back. Why?
I donβt know if I trust myself to finish enough issues by the release date. ADHD is hard to manage on its own, especially when youβre trying to force yourself to get five more issues done over the course of a year and three months. Iβm trying hard, but aside from the wonderful pro bono help of my editors, I am making this thing entirely on my own. Iβm doing all the writing, penciling, inking, coloring, lettering, and printing, and it's all coming out of my own (jobless) pocket. This is going to take a while. The bottom line is that I want to deliver a quality comic and I want to figure out the workflow that will help me get this done in a timely manner so Iβm not turning this into another Book of Haborym.
Why are you still doing the prerelease if you think you'll push this back?
Issue 1 is completely finished. Like, absolutely 110% done. This isnβt a Book of Haborym situation where Iβm sorta done with it and still touching it up so I can sell it. Itβs done. And since I've already posted about this, I figure it's not worth making people wait more for a thing that's already finished.
I'm lucky enough to have been given a table at the Small Press and Comics Expo here in Columbus with the rest of CCAD's comics seniors. A certain amount of Issue 1 copies will be sold there, along with copies of The Book of Haborym. Yep, that's right. I've finally finished up that goddamn book!
Thank you to everyone whoβs supported me in the journey of creating this! I have very high hopes for the way the series could go. And just so y'all arenβt scrolling for nothing, hereβs some sketches for future covers!