A Brand New Endeavor

I've risen from the grave to tell you about my new comic, Ariador, which you can find on the world wide webernet at http://patchwerx33.wixsite.com/ariadorcomic... at least until I cough up the money to get a better URL.  If there are any of my old readers who managed to get that subscribe function to work, you may be looking at this now and wondering "what the hell was this?" and "why am I receiving this?" and I'm here to tell you that you should read the new comic because it's vastly different than Super U. but you'll like it anyway.
Long story short, I went for too long without stretching my artist muscles and flexing my writing brain and I'm having another go at it.  There's even a (ugh) Facebook page for it, but I'm not ambitious enough to link to that right now.
So check it out, and tell me what you think!  Just don't tell me here, because I will never see it.

Thanks for your support!
-Matt

A Return from Oblivion... With Merchandise!

Holy shit, you guys!  I don't even know if I remember how to post things on here.  Anyway, a quick update; I'm still alive! And living in the sticks, just as I intended. I haven't been drawing too much these days, but long story short I'm involved with a group of artists out here and I'm doing my damndest to get motivated about art again.  It's been hard, and I don't know why.  Well, maybe I do.  Super U. was my baby, and I think the lack of attention it received, particularly from my own friends and family, caused me to be incredibly jaded about my art in general.  I'm still jaded, but talking with some folks out here I accidentally drummed up some interest in the ol' comic (a couple guys even bought books!) and, long story short again, I decided to look into publishing the second book after all.  Lo and behold, Blurb has new and improved self-publishing software, and even better, a reasonably-sized book at a reasonable price!
So here I am, making it available to you.
I gotta say, it looks really good.  Way better than that embarrassing crap I sold before (which is still available for purchase, by the way).  You can even read the print!
The price is just shy of $20 bucks.  A little steep, I know, but keep in mind, Blurb's making half that.  I think I'm only making a couple bucks off the old books now.

I think sometimes about rekindling the comic.  If I did, it would probably look a lot different (for starters, screw drawing on the computer).  Maybe just for me.  I don't know.  I'd love to hear if there's anyone left out there... anyone who's still interested in the comic after all this time.  I won't get my hopes up.  Well... maybe a little.

Social Media-less

Hey everybody,

I just wanted to give you guys the latest.  The book is all put together (minus the cover), but it looks like ass, so I've got to try some new things.  I really wanted to go with a bigger size, but the price would be outrageous.  If anyone can recommend a cheaper self-publisher than Blurb, I'm open to suggestions.  Leave a comment.  My other option is playing with the format some more to try and make it work.  I'll keep at it, but in all honesty I'm in no rush here.  Ain't like anybody's chomping at the bit to buy it.

In another step toward complete isolation, I've gotten off of Twitter.  Facebook is a distant memory, and I've been happily living without a functioning cell phone for a long time now.  So, if you want to get a hold of me, your best bet would be to e-mail me.  You'll probably want to do that soon, because my next step is going to be getting rid of that e-mail address.

I've come to view the internet as the destruction of our society as we know it, so I don't expect to be around much.

These Prices are INSANE!!!

Hi!

Just wanted to give you a heads up I've cut the prices on all the merchandise, including the book.  The book, Chapters 1&2, is now $12.99!  Apparently, you can put a price on art.

Also!  All the stuff in the Zazzle store has been reduced significantly, with most of the stickers now being $5.75.  I mean, really, I'm not even going to be making money off this shit anymore.  I just want to sell stuff!  However, the price drops for the Zazzle store won't go into effect until the 20th.  Why?  Because Zazzle sucks, that's why.

You can find the handy-dandy links to Blurb and Zazzle on the left there.

Pleading

My wife made me aware that Super U. just had it's two-year anniversary.  And by "just" I mean 12 days ago.  Oops!  I had intended to make a big announcement and stuff, but it slipped my mind.

So, yeah.  Super U. is two years old this month!  104 strips isn't a staggering amount of material for two years worth of work, but I like to look at how far the strip has come since then.  

Observe:

In that time I've managed to do almost everything I've set out to do.  I've got the website looking sharper (I would still like to improve navigation, but I'm pretty restricted using Blogspot), I have merchandise for sale (including an actual book), I'm social media'ing, advertising, I have business cards, and I've gone bi-weekly (tri-weekly if you count the Walters Files).

There's still a lot more to be accomplished, but that's not entirely up to me; it's also up to you.  I need your help spreading the Super U. love.  Help me to make this thing successful.

As an addendum, people have asked my why I'm on Blogspot and not Wordpress or the like.  The fact of the matter is I was, and am still, technically, but nobody was going to that site.  Everyone was going here.  So I'm banking pretty heavily on this whole one-Google thing, more specifically the connectedness of Google, Google+, Blogspot, YouTube and so on.  I don't particularly like it, but I'm trying to reap any sort of benefit I can from it.  I'm attempting to work within the system Google put in place.

It's not out of the question that I may potentially one day move all of this material over to a more professional location, but for now, here's as good as anywhere.

If you have any suggestions, feedback, etc... I'd love to hear it.  

Chapter 3 Begins... Now!

Clickify to Enlargicate

It's been a long time... but Chapter 3 is here!  

Thanks to all of you for your patience, especially to those of you who watched and shared the movies and stayed tuned during the hiatus.

After you read the comic, remember to vote for Super U. in the Top Web Comics 100.  That button to the left over there.  It's at number #896 right now, and there's only 12 days left to vote on it!  I don't, like, win anything, but it would be pretty good exposure and nice to have as bragging rights.

While you're at it, you can Like the comic on Facebook, too.  The button right above the last button.

And since we're on the topic of things you should do, you should also browse my wares in the Super U. Store or check out my book.  If there's any merchandise you want to see that I don't offer, tell me what you're interested in seeing and I can probably make it for you.  Also, I believe starting tomorrow, all the prices in the Super U. Store have will drop again.

So, yesterday was my daughter's first day of kindergarten... her first day of school of any kind, really.  I'm already tired of talking about it, but it seemed to go pretty well (on her end, anyway).  It was a strange sensation, yesterday, being home alone with my dog and cat and nobody else.  I've been the one home with her in the daytime for the majority of the last 5 1/2 years, and for the last several months I've been a "stay-at-home dad."  I took the opportunity to finish the comic, so I wouldn't have to be up all night finishing it like I've done in the past.  Today... I don't know.  I suppose I should clean things?  I do have to go grocery shopping.  It will be strange doing so and not misplacing my daughter every five minutes.

I was considering taking this opportunity to get a new job, but I'm not sure.  I would only have something like 5 hours to work, and that's if the job was close (and the only things close are chain restaurants and frickin' WalMart, none of those job being in any way desirable).  But there is a library in town; maybe I'll see if they need some help.

I'll be busy with the comic again, but I'm going to go ahead and say that I'm still open to do any commission work, if you guys are interested.  Contact me, and we can discuss details.  You can even pay via the Donate button here on the site.  Also, if you buy a book, send it to me and I'll sketch on the first page for you and then send it back to you.

Super U. Strip #76: Archrival - Part 4

Here's the last three movies!  They've been a ton of fun to make, and they gave me the time needed to put together ideas for Chapter 3 while still putting out some content.  I had hopes I could drum up a small YouTube audience with these, but no such luck.  For the most part, not even some of my regular readers seem to watch them (but some of you do, of course, and I thank you profusely).  So, while they've been fun, I don't think I'll be doing them anymore.  That, and I've about exhausted my iTunes music library making them.

Next Tuesday, Chapter 3 begins!  The very first strip will be done in Illustrator as usual, but after that point they will all be done (hopefully) in Manga Studio.  That means they will have a different look, one that will more closely-resemble my hand drawn artwork, and with any luck that will be a good thing.  The reason for the art-style switch should become apparent on Thursday, because, as I've done several times before, I'm incorporating the style-shift to accompany the story.  Beyond that, I can say no more... you'll just have to wait and see.

Seriously though, you guys, I need help.  If you don't want to buy merchandise or whatever, I'm totally cool with that.  I'm not keen on soliciting my friends, anyway.  But it's free to share the comic with your friends.  And all of you goomba friends of mine who don't read the comic?  You guys are mean and unsupportive.

I figured out a way to put these directly from YouTube onto the site here at Blogspot again.  Before I would just click "Share to Blogspot," but they removed that option on YouTube (so much for this whole "one-Google thing...).  But I realized if I put the address for the movie directly into the... well, the point is, here they are, more or less how I want them to be.

So, without further ado, I give you the Archrival: Part 4,5 and 6!

The Book Is Here.

So, I know I said I was going to wait until I had a physical copy in my hand before I made the book available for purchase, but I can't wait.  The book is available for purchase!  There's the link to it, right over there on the left!  You can even preview the first 15 pages!  I'm fairly confident there aren't any glaring errors, but if there are... then oh well!  It's $19.99, but they're probably gonna charge you $7 or $8 to ship it.  Still though, that's worth it, right?  I mean, it's the culmination of a couple years worth of work, right?  C'mon.  Buy one!  Buy several!
If you want as well, you can also purchase an additional PDF version, if that's your thing.

I finally got around to making a button for the Super U. Store.  It features the cover art from the book.  If you don't see it there right away, check back tomorrow; sometimes they take a bit before the get "approved" or whatever.

Oh yeah, also, there's two new movies just below this post here.  I was laughing out loud doing The Commander one.  The flashbacks time to the music and everything.

An Update, and a Book Preview!

Hey guys,

See that new vote-box up there?  On the top left?  I listed Super U. on the Top Webcomics website.  They showcase the "top" 100 webcomics, as voted by people who vote on these things.  Currently, Super U. is somewhere in the 16,000's, heh, but we can change that!  You can actually vote for Super U. every day!  It only takes a few seconds.

Anyway, the book cover is done!  And, because I like you so much, here's what the cover is going to look like!  Click to enlargify.

There a are a couple small tweaks that need to be done, but otherwise it's good to go!  I just have to format it to the book tonight.  After that, I'm going to pre-order a copy (to make sure it's all good), and if that goes well, the book will go up for sale!  I'll keep you posted.

Also, new movies just below this post!  There are only 9 more movies, and then Chapter 3 begins!

Update

Hey everybody, the new movies are located below.  Just some quick updates:

The book cover is nearing completion!  I mentioned it on Facebook, but I decided to go with Illustrator for the cover, for time-efficiency but also because my stuff looks really different in Manga Studio (not necessarily worse, though), and I didn't want the cover to clash with the interior artwork too much.  Once the cover is finished, I'm going to write up a brief forward for the book and put it up on Blurb for purchase.  How cool is that?!  I'll definitely link right to it on the site here when it's good to go.

Also, Manga Studio commented on my status update on Facebook, which is both pretty cool and a little creepy.

The movies will be wrapping up in a couple weeks, and then it's on to Chapter 3!  I've penciled out the first few strips, and I'm still planning on drawing them in MS.  Well, maybe not the very first one.  You'll see why.  Let's just say that you know how I changed up the art style when the guys were playing Lairs and Lizards, and in Raine's origin flashback, and I use photographic backgrounds to represent the holographic environments in the Dangerous Room?  I don't want there to be an art-style change without a reason, and there is going to be a reason.

One of the issues I'm running into with MS is, while it's supremely better to "hand-draw" with than Photoshop or Illustrator, something is still lost in the transition from tablet to monitor.  What I really need is a Cintiq, so I can draw right on the surface of what I'm looking at.  So, if somebody wants to buy me one, the one I'd need is only about a thousand dollars.

Plans are taking formation for my exodus from society.  It won't happen as soon as I'd like, but ideally, I want to be out after Rinoa finishes kindergarten, in a year.  After the end of this month I won't have a cell phone anymore; you'll have to e-mail me to get a hold of me or hit me up in some onther fashion on the interweb.  In the near future, I'm considering ditching Facebook, for realz this time.  I may stay on Twitter (and I'll be forced to stay on Google+ if I want to keep this comic going), so you may to have to follow me on one of those if you want to keep updated on the comic.

Anyhoo, you're watching the movies, right?  I don't think I'll be doing movies for Chapter 3 and beyond; my hope was that I could drum up a YouTube audience, but they've produced little results.  But I've enjoyed making them, and I hope you've enjoyed watching them.

Status Update

Hey gang, just want to give you a heads up where things are at.

The book is close to be completed.  It's going to be a 6"x9" trade paperback.  As I mentioned before, it will be a compilation of Chapters 1 and 2 (every strip up until this point).  The cover is going to take me a bit; I started on it last night, and I'm using Manga Studio to create it.  I haven't messed with MS long, but I have to say I'm pretty impressed.  From what I've been hearing from a lot of other artists, MS is replacing Photoshop for their go-to digital art source, and I think I can already see why.  My wife showed me a brush last night, the Effect Brush, that literally creates a line the way you intended it to be drawn, instead of having to settle for what Photoshop or Illustrator may have perverted your line into.  
Get it, artists.  You won't regret it.  I think it was somewhere in the ballpark of $80... a steal when you compare it to the alternatives.

I want to create a button for the Zazzle store.  Anyone have any suggestions?  I was thinking of using one of these:

I haven't had much activity on the store yet, but to those that have purchased things, thank you SO much.  And of course, if there's any other merchandise you want to see, any other character you want to see, please let me know.  It's not difficult at all to create.

I said this on Facebook, but I've been told the shipping prices are pretty crazy on Zazzle.  Sorry about that.  Unfortunately, that's out of my control.  But I did knock down the prices on several items, most particularly the stickers, and those price changes will go into effect after the 20th of this month.

It won't be too long before the movies are wrapped up, and when they are, Chapter 3 will commence!

Also, did you notice the site re-design?  Not any major, changes, really, but among other things, there's now a YouTube bar on the left there that (in theory) plays the Super U. movies.  It works a little strangely, though.  For some reason, it initially tends to display movies about cars until it remembers to load the movies I told it to.  And when you play them, if you can hear the movie but not see it, scroll back up; it's probably playing higher up on your screen.

Lastly, some non-comic-related news.  I've come to the decision that I'm dropping off the face of the Earth.  I'm ditching my cell phone, and ideally after my daughter finishes kindergarten, my family and I are relocating to a remote corner of the Earth.  Society no longer makes any sense to me; I can't begin to explain it, but what I do know is that I don't belong... well, anywhere, really.  I desire a life of self-sufficiency... of work that produces tangible, gratifying results.  I need to find a place where I can carve out a space and make it my own.  I need to live in place where politics and technology don't matter; such a place seldom exists, I know, but there are places left in this world that are far more removed from them than others.  I need to be surrounded by natural splendor.

What will this mean for the comic?  Probably nothing.  I'll still have a computer and the internet in this place, and so nothing should prevent me from making comics.  But that's a promise I can't make; the lifestyle I envision living will be a demanding one, and I may not find myself having the spare time.  But that's further down the road, and nothing we should concern ourselves with right now.  For now, plan on Chapter 3 happening soon, and I hope you continue to enjoy the movies and the Walters Files.

-Matt out.

Felinophilia

Gonna keep this short, because immediately after posting it I'm going to watch Penny Arcade's new Strip Search.  I'd link to it, but they don't need the publicity.  I am not a fan of television, especially reality television, but then again, there's never been a reality TV show featuring artists trying to get into webcomics before.  But if you are a fan of such things, I highly, highly recommend this show.

I had considered trying to get into this show.  I may still if they do another.

Big news!  There is so much Saturday Super Story content, I've given it its own site and put it in the capable hands of J. Klemm.  What's more, I think Jason has been limiting himself to squeeze his ideas into my universe, and so this is an opportunity for him to explore some paths that might not necessarily see exploration in the comic.

For those of you following both, note that you can expect there will be times when the strips and stories differ.  I'm putting the content of his site solely in his hands, just as everything here is solely in mine.

And so, more big news!  In an effort to get closer to my goal of posting thrice a week, on this site on Saturdays I will periodically be posting new Walters Files!  In fact, I have already posted the one that was previously featured in a comic to get us started, and there is a new Walters Files section just over there on the left of your screen!

The Walters Files are Mr. Walters' (formerly the Dark Avenger) personal, top-secret files he keeps on the students and staff.  This is a thing I've been wanting to do for a while, and I think it's a pretty cool way to to get to learn all the characters.

I purchased Manga Studio 5, a digital art program that I plan on using to draw the strip starting with Chapter 3.  I haven't had much time yet to fiddle with it, but in the short time that I have, I have been extremely impressed.  It seems you can do a lot with this thing, and, oh yeah, it's hella cheaper than Adobe products.  If such things interest you, I can already safely recommend you buy this product.

This Thursday I'm flying out to see family, and since I have to leave the house relatively early in the AM, I'm not entirely sure I'll get the strip posted.  But never fear!  Even if I do not, there are plans in the works...  The same goes for the following Tuesday.

Oh, yeah.  I saw the new Evil Dead the other night.  I don't want to talk about it.  Go see it if you like having nightmares.

Hrmph.  So much for keeping this short.

The Jump-Off

Spring Break has officially sprung, which means that I've been insanely busy with my actual job, so this week's strip almost didn't happen.  You may notice that not quite as much effort went into it this week.  Nevertheless, I deemed it more important to put out something rather than hold out for next week in the hopes that I could put out something even better next week, primarily because there's no guarantee I'll be any less busy then.

Which brings me to my big news.  My wife got her long-awaited promotion, which is good.  The part that makes it tricky is that now that she's salary, I can no longer expect her to arrive home precisely when I need to leave for work.  See, that's what we've been doing for the last three years.  She gets home from work, and I literally say, "there is ___  in the fridge," I kiss her goodbye, and then I haul ass out the door to get to work.  This has been the general quantity / quality of my adult interaction for three years.

Seeing as how I can no longer get to work on time, I'm left with two options.  A.) I be late for pretty much all of my shifts, and eventually this gets discovered and I get fired, or B.) I quit my job.  So I went for the latter.  Perhaps when Rinoa starts Kindergarten I'll have some time freed up to get something part-time, but until then I'll be completing my transition into stay-at-home dad and out-of-work artist.

But none of that is the news of which I spoke.  Starting in a few weeks, Super U. is going tri-weekly!  Saturday Super Stories will continue on Saturdays, but Super U. strips will be put up on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Yes, I'm essentially putting all my chips on the table for Super U.  I'm making a huge gamble, and that is putting all of my efforts into Super U. to make it my one and only occupation and the focus of all my artistic endeavors.  I realize this is a very stupid thing to do, considering, I think, since the beginning of Super U., this project has managed to amass me the fortune of somewhere around $3.  But I am going to take that $3, and put it into advertising, which, in theory, will bring in more hits to the site, which will then allow me to put more into advertising.  With any luck, this cycle will continue until eventually I can something resembling a small profit.  At that point, perhaps I can introduce merchandise.  

This is kind of opportunity that is only possible if you either A.) Live at home with your parents, or B.) Your significant other just got a promotion that brings in the money the two of you used to make combined.  I realize that.  I'm still holding out on the hope that, in time, Super U. will produce enough profit that it will be something I can be proud to tell others.  When they ask me, "What do you do for a living," I can say, grinning from ear-to-ear, "I'm a webcomic artist."

None of this, of course, will be possible without you guys.  I'm really going to need your help here.  Now more than ever, really.  Help me to get the word out about Super U, especially to your entrepreneurial friends who like to throw money at things.

As always, Join / Like / Share, and thanks!]

-Matt