Last Friday, TMNT Vol. 4 #29 was made available for download through Wowio.com.Welcome back to TMNT Volume 4!
Well, not quite yet... but soon. Volume 4 is going to return this year, but in a slightly different form -- or forms, to be more precise. There will be an inexpensive -- or possibly free -- online form, as well as a more expensive limited edition collectible printed version.
There are a few reasons for this new approach, mostly related to my work habits. For quite some time, before I took most of the last year off from doing the Vol. 4 comics, I had been getting more and more
frustrated by what was required of me, with every issue, to meet the requirements of Diamond Comics, the major comics distributor. This included preparing solicitation material three months in advance for the "Diamond Previews" catalog, along with ads and such. For whatever reason, preparing these materials on this schedule, along with actually getting the book ready to go to the printer by a set deadline, was just really starting to get to me. (Don't get me wrong -- Diamond's system is a fine, reasonable, businesslike approach to distributing comics, and works very well. I just can't deal with it anymore.)
I was also getting frustrated with the time lag between finishing the book and actually seeing it appear before the eyes of the fans, on comic store shelves. It would very often be up to four or five weeks from the time we sent the materials to our printer. Again, not uncommon and completely reasonable -- it takes time to print, bind, trim and ship a comic book.
So, while I was on hiatus, I started thinking about it, and came up with a new scheme. It may turn out to be harebrained, or it might be really good... or maybe just okay. We'll see.
Here's the plan:
1.) Digital Distribution: Each issue will be posted online at the ninjaturtles.com official TMNT website, within a few days (or maybe even hours) of being completed. Access to each issue will very likely be free to anyone with an internet connection and a decent browser, though I am looking into possibly charging a small fee... haven't figured that one out quite yet.
In addition, if feasible technically, I may try something new for TMNT -- a somewhat interactive online letters page. I'm not completely sure how or even if this will work, but I'm mulling it over.
2.) Limited-Edition Printed Distribution: Each issue will also be printed in a "collectible" limited edition, very likely somewhere between 1000 and 3000 copies. These will be available via mail order from Mirage, and will probably cost $10.00 each, shipping included. The first hundred books ordered per issue will have an original black and white TMNT head sketch drawn and signed by me on the inside front or back cover.
These print versions will almost certainly not appear at the same time that the online version is posted, but probably several weeks later.
I'm hoping that these changes will work, and will allow me to continue doing Volume 4 with the same sense of fun which has sustained the book from its inception in 2001 up until the beginning of my hiatus in June of 2006. I think it's worth a shot... and I hope you do too!
-- Peter Laird
