I (Jack, the writer) will be at C2E2 (the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo) this weekend. Not at a table or anything, but walking around with a stack of comics, handing them to potential publishers and creators I like.

If you’re going to be there, and you know what I look like, walk up and say hello. I’ll probably be so surprised that I give you a free comic. Unless I’ve run out of the ones I brought with that day. WE’LL FIND OUT, now won’t we? If you DON’T know what I look like, I’m the out-of-shape bearded white guy between 18 and 45 wearing a messenger bag.

Also, the official Facebook page for Paradox is up now, too. Like us, won’t you? You can read the whole comic on there for free, too. What. A. Deal. All that I ask in return is that you enjoy it.

Cheers!

That’s 1 of 3 boxes. I don’t think there’s much to be said that isn’t in that picture, really. Those little wet spots? My tears of joy.

Ordering 200 more right after I post this. Should be here in 2-3 weeks. SO PUMPED.

Hey guys,

Just wanted to send a quick update to tell you that THE COMIC IS DONE! Woo!

[Guitar solo. Corks popping out of champagne bottles. Ticker-tape parade. Jets scream overhead. Grandmothers everywhere weep openly.]

We’ve been working on this for longer than you would think, and to see it in actual 24-sequential-pages-of-story form is pretty dang terrific. Have I mentioned that I’m grateful? I can mention it more, if you want.

So, Kickstarter people, even though it’s done, I still need to print the thing, which means printing a test copy at two different printers (says it takes 1-2 weeks) and then printing all the rest (“about a month”). PDF people, you’ll be reading the comic some time next week. Print copy people…you’ve still got some time to kill. If you’re looking for other comics to read while you wait, I recommend either Reed Gunther or The Sixth Gun, two very different (yet equally great) books that, like this one, star cowboy guys.

In the meantime, John will be drawing your personalized sketches, and I’ll be getting all the other non-comics prizes together, and putting them in labeled envelopes. I got 100 flat-rate priority mail envelopes of the post office’s website, which they shipped to me for free. Did you know you could do that? You do now!

Also, hey, THE COMIC IS DONE!

Jack

Completely different comic, 9 years before I was born. These go for pretty cheap on ebay. I think I’m going to get one. I NEED TO KNOW. Look at how sharp he looks in his silk scarf / flower combo!

Hey guys. A few things:

1) John just turned in the 13th page, which means we are, as of this moment, HALF DONE. Right on schedule. Woo!

2) This, the official website of Paradox is now up at http://paradox.jackmcguigan.com/ It’ll have its own fancier URL eventually, but paradox, paradoxcomic, and paradox-comic .com are all taken, so…I’m open to suggestions.Take a look around, see if you like what you see. It’s all pretty rough still, but it should be all slick and exciting by the time the comic’s done. Which is HALFWAY from now.

3) I got interviewed for the Kickstarter like a few days in, and that article just got written.

CHICAGO ARTS MAGAZINE

I think she edited a lot of what I said. If you want the full effect, read my quotes with a lot more swear words and “duhhh”s and “yer darn tootin”s.

That’s all. Keep watching the skis!

Jack

Kickstarter told me I should update you guys every month or so, so you know that we’re working. We are! John is penciling and inking (with gusto) and I’m lettering as he goes, as well as compiling the results of your surveys. 95% of you have already gotten back to me, and for that, I thank you.

Here’s a little taste of the incoming art. I wept a little when I saw this page in my inbox. In a good way. And a manly way. Like, how Batman cries when thinks about justice.

I bet it’ll look even better colored. Smiley face.

SO awesome.

What happens now?

Here’s the breakdown:

Step 1: We all wait a few months for John to draw, Vanessa to color and me to letter. Then, when the comic is completed and ready…

Step 2: I will send out a form through Kickstarter (they have a system for it) asking you for your name, address, and other info depending on what you bought (which Dillon Sighting, what you want your sketch to be, etc, etc), and then…

Step 3: Print the comics, print the Dillon Sightings, draw the sketches, sign the comics, ship the sketches to from John to me (John lives in St. Louis, I live in Chicago), and then mail everything that is to be mailed to you. And then we’re done. Hooray!

Our secondary goal, after providing you with your hard-earned rewards, is to have copies of the comic to pass out to potential publishers at C2E2 (the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo) which is April 13-15, 2012. So, I would say that you’ll be getting your stuff ROUGHLY around then, if not sooner. Probably sooner.

How can I keep track of your progress?

This website. The one you’re reading this on.

I think that’s all for now. But remember, this is not the end, but the beginning of something wonderful. And by something wonderful, I mean the single most wonderful possible thing: a comic about a teenage girl and a cowboy fighting a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

We could not make this without you. Thanks!

Some guy commissioned Fortune to do a sketch of whatever he wants, as long as it’s in Hawaii, and he chose to draw Dillon and Katie, I’m assuming because they’ve been so very good to us. BEHOLD!

I’d just like to note, for my own ego, that this is the first time that characters I made up are being used for things I have nothing to do with. It’s a feeling, I’m sure, not unlike my kids going away to college. And they’re immediately half-naked. OF COURSE.