Hello again!  After nearly a year without a new Dressed for Success comic page we wanted to spread the news. Work is being done on picking things up where we left off and continuing on telling the story of our intrepid heroes Alex and Walter. As had been mentioned previously, I found myself in a situation where I needed to focus my energies on other things and couldn’t continue with the ongoing production schedule of a weekly webcomic.  After some time, things have settled down and the ability to move forward with the comic series has presented itself. After some discussion, it was determined that trying to move on with the weekly schedule that had been maintained for a few years wasn’t necessarily going to work.  At least not without the potential for some page release hiccups or creator burn outs along the way. After all, we are doing the comic in our spare time around full-time jobs and juggling various family commitments throughout the year. So it can be a challenge at times. With this realization it has been decided to adjust the production and release schedule in such a way where we will post 2 blocks of story pages throughout the year, with short breaks in between. Here is how it will break down: Over the course of a year we will release a block (or chapter) of 20 pages, one page a week.  Followed by a 6 week break.  Then continuing on with another section of 20 pages and another 6 week break. So we would be looking at producing 40 pages of comic story over the course of a year instead of 52. We feel this is a reasonable compromise which allows ourselves to create a decent amount of pages overall while giving us a bit of a break along the way. As I am producing new pages I am doing so using the program Manga Studio, which will hopefully help increase my speed at drawing pages as well. Right now we are in the early days of ramping up production on new pages and as of yet don’t have a firm date on when new comic pages will start being posted again. We are hoping sooner rather than later.  In the meantime, let us know what you think of our plans and continue to watch this space for further updates on this topic and other things related to Dressed for Success. – Jeff

So something surprising happened this week. We ended up on auction. Okay, not us,but a piece of Dressed For Success art. Actually, it’s the second time this piece has been auctioned.  Let’s go back 20 years. Mega Con was a largely one off comic show held at the historic Royal York hotel in downtown Toronto. Unlike most shows of the time, it was a small limited show. Only a few vendors and a limited guest list. And who was on that list? Dave Sim, Steve Bissette, Ty Templeton, Richard Pace, Max (Salgood Sam) Douglas and us, the Egesta Comics crew. At the time, this was Jeff and myself as well as Greg Beetam and Stephen Geigen-Miller whose Xeno’s Arrow started out as an Egesta book. Instead of being a massive shopping extravaganza and celebrity circus, it was focused on the guests. I think it was a bit of a proto version of the Spirits of Independents Tour a few years later.

Right off the bat, being on that list was pretty awesome. One of the elements of the show was to be a charity auction for the CBLDF. We were thinking about what we could contribute and the idea came up of doing a jam piece with Cerebus. So how do you go about doing a jam piece with a major creator when you’re doing a little black and white photocopy comic? Well, as it turns out, you just ask. Seriously, we called Dave and he said sure. Blew my little fan mind. The plan was the original would be auctioned off at the show and we would make a limited number of ‘prints’ to give away at the show with the purchase of a comic.

So Jeff and I came up with a situation in which Alex and Walter could meet Cerebus. When in doubt, put them in a bar. Jeff drew up the image, with Alex, Walter and the bartender and their dialogue. The bar was just a penciled in line. Then it was couriered off to Dave. And then we waited. As it turns out, there was a mix up with the courier and Dave didn’t get the piece till late. When it came back, not only had he put in Cerebus and his response, he’d also done in all the bar. The bartender’s shirt was just white at this point and I quickly hatched it in to balance the piece out a bit. We printed up I think 75 copies and went off to the show.

And what a show. The arrangement had people in a single line to meet all the guests. They had to pass our spot at the table to get to the other guests. Which meant a captive audience who listened to our pitch. And bought comics. Now it may have been they bought them just to get a print. In fact, we had people wanting to buy prints. We were offered $10 to $15 dollars each, but we were giving them away with the purchase of a $1.50 comic. And sketches! We were drawing like fiends. And so many people wanted Cerebus sketches, which seemed dumb, Dave was right over there! But we drew things like Cerebus holding the severed head of Batman. It was nuts.

Later in the show there was a panel discussion, primarily taking audience questions. And me being the group mouthpiece was chosen to join the other guests on stage. I’m on stage with Sim, Bissette, Templeton, I’m almost shaking. And some well-meaning fan asks Dave when the Dressed For Success/Cerebus crossover is going to happen. Almost died. Dave graciously said our people could call his people and see what could be worked out. I’m sure I was red.

Then there was the auction, and this time Jeff, rightly, got the nod to go on stage and take the bids on the jam piece. Well, he and Dave. And at no point was anyone checking out anyone’s butt, despite what the photos might suggest.

I know nothing about what happened beyond our table and the stage. We couldn’t move. The line never stopped. The only other memory I have of the day was going to dinner after. Another Oh My God I can’t believe this moment. Going out to after con dinner with all of these incredible people. Seriously, spent the day star struck. And now, twenty years later, the original art for that jam piece is up for Auction. Same auction house that has auctioned off Dave’s original art for the past few months. If you want to check it out, or throw in a bid, head over to Heritage Auctions. Last check it was over $100. Go quick, it ends November 23.    

Hey folks, bit of an update for you. So for the second year we are participating in the Comic Creators for Freedom fundraiser.  This year’s theme is school pictures, and you can see our entry above. The CCFF goal is to end child trafficking and exploitation. Any size donation is greatly appreciated. The other thing of note about Alex’s school portrait is that it’s Jeff’s first piece done completely digital. I’ve been working on designs for my next Bertram’s Tale, drawing squirrels, bears and bridges. I had this crazy idea that I’d actually figure out what I was going to draw before I jumped into pages. As pleased as I was with my first outing on Lazy Jack, I’m really looking forward to having done prep work before starting this time. I’ll be moving Bertram’s Tales over to Tapastic, as well as running the original DFS stories there as well. Hopefully, we’ll have more news shortly.