Hello hello!  Just wanted to let y'all know that we have started up a Kickstarter for the Robot 13 US TPB with lots of extra goodies for those of you that pitch in: [link]


So why are we not going with a publisher for the trade?  Well....kinda goes like this:  Tom and I self-published the individual issues and distributed them ourselves along with the help of an awesome freelance distributor.  And we saw a certain level of success with the books.  Personally, all I wanted was for the books to at least pay for themselves, and they most certainly did that (as with KING!).  And we NEVER had trouble getting the book into stores here in the US and Canada and even across the pond.  The books have been collected for an Italian trade publication and a Finnish trade will be surfacing soon as well.  The digital publication also set a record for most downloaded indie comic and was awarded the Digital Innovation Award beating out Disney's Epic Mickey digital comics in 2011 ( [link] ).  With all that considered, Tom and I figured we shouldn't have too much trouble finding a home for R13's trade publications.  So we looked, we talked, we gained interest, and were eventually turned down.  Why?  The most common response was "well, you guys are doing fine on your own.  Don't need our help.  Go team!"  Another response was "We're not really into working with other companies." - when we explained to them that Blacklist is just a two man team and not a full on company with artists and writers and editors and sexy women doing sexy dances on our sexy desks while we worked like they do at Archie we just got blank stares.  (not a jab at Archie...I actually love them).

Now, why did we want to have somebody else publish our trade?  For a few reasons, actually.  Storage being a large one.  Storing a dozen boxes of comics is one thing...we had a set number of those.  with the trade, not so much.  There's gonna be a much larger print run for that, and Tom and I can't store all those.  Fortunately, that has been worked out.  Also, publishers have easier access to more online stores and brick and mortar book stores.  Fortunately, that, too, is currently working itself out now.  And, finally, shipping all those books.  That's just gonna be a chore we'll have to handle (unless there are any sexy ladies wanting to do some sexy mailing for us).  So yeah...basically we wanted a publisher to handle that kind of stuff cuz we're lazy and also have full time day jobs and families.  Thankfully, its with the continuous support and patience of our families that is making this possible.  So the only other thing we need is your help.  Bounce on over to Kickstarter and see if this is something you'd like to get behind.  Even a buck helps.

Thanks y'all!