Ponderings and A Little Thing About Free Comic Book Day...

Hello from the "Youth"-iverse!

We're plugging away at Issue #2, looking at hopefully a Mid-June release.  We're going as fast as we can!

I promise the moment someone calls us and says, "Hey...can you do this monthly?  We'll pay you..." then you'll have a monthly issue of Youth!  Until then, however, our unruly schedules for how we make money and survive will unfortunately reign.

I'm not complaining either.  We're both blessed to have this story, and have anyone read it.  We're lucky to do what we do.  Evan and I spent 2 years developing this so that it was a clean, interesting story to tell and now we're telling it, and to people that wanna hear it.  We both live in Los Angeles, the media capital of the world, and we have a comic book that is selling.  We're on our 2nd pressing.  And your support has pushed us to start brainstorming new things...Evan has been drawing other things while finishing up issue #2.  I sat down last week and, start to finish, wrote a full Dr. Strange pitch for Marvel (when we get there!).

Evan also storyboards.  He's done stuff for Nat Geo.

I write screenplays and direct sometimes.

I've thought a lot about it, and I realize that besides crippling depression (which is always solid for a burst of creativity), it's your guys' support and interest in what we're doing that makes us go and keep creating.  So for that...I gotta say Thank you again.

Wanted to say, that...

So, a couple of housekeeping things:

-We have Youth #1 in two stores right now:

Paper of Plastik Cafe
5772 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
-Great Coffee, Great Eats...and they're almost sold out of Youth.  We gave them 5 issues and they FLEW off the shelf.

A Shop Called Quest
175 N. Indian Hill Blvd.
Claremont, CA 91711
-For those of you Inland Empire friends, go check out this shop.  Super cool spot, and they're very down for the cause.

That's California.  To our friends in other states...this is at guerilla as it gets.  CALL YOUR COMIC SHOPS.  ASK FOR YOUTH.  GIVE THEM OUR BLOG SITE SO THEY CAN ORDER.  It's how we get it out there.  Tell your friends if they like comics.

So Great.  Thanks again, Joe.

Oh...hey, I gotta throw this in there.  Last week I bought the debut issue for 'Model Student' from Jake Bell and Joe Bowen.  They do it as a web comic at http://www.modelstudentcomic.com/, and you all should check it out.  I mean, it's just real well-written, lots of fun, kind of violent, and the art is BEAUTIFUL.

If you get a chance, say you're looking for more fresh indie comics after you put down Youth #1...check out Model Student.  Buy the first issue.  Support the indie comic scene.

Also...Jake and Joe are just real swell guys.





On Free Comic Book Day...This is something that interests me.  How do you guys buy your comics?  Now, before I go into this, let me reiterate...THERE IS NO WRONG WAY TO BUY YOUR COMICS...

...But on Free Comic Book Day, places give great deals.  You have the opportunity to read whatever in a lot of instances, so I gotta give my two cents, and take it for what it's worth, but this is what I wanna say:

-Try a new writer.  The way I buy my comics is first based on the writer.  One of my new favorites is James Tynion IV.  Check out his book, "The Eighth Seal" on Thrillbent.com.  Crazy cool stuff.

-Look at the art.  Whether you know it or not, can floor you.  It can completely change your feelings for a book and your interpretation of the text, be it penciling, shading, coloring...even the way characters are drawn.  For instance, Olivier Coipel has drawn Thor in some of my favorite stories, and now...that's how I expect Thor to look.  If we had released "Youth" the way Evan had originally drawn it in it's first iteration, the vibe for the book would be completely different.

-Try something you normally wouldn't.  I really don't like Vampire stories.  That's 80% Twilight issues, and the other 20% being no one has floored me with those kinds of stories...until I read Scott Snyder's "American Vampire"...holy shit.  Just go check it out, because it's awesome...and the art...blows you away.

So, essentially what I'm saying...on a day where you can get cool stuff for a great price...try something different, whether that's based on writers/artists/storylines/characters...just try something bizarre.  Who knows?  You might love it.


Anyway...this was a little ranty...but hey, Thanks for reading!  We'll have issue #2 for you soon enough!!!!!!  Thank you for everything, from the bottom of our hearts!


-Alex & Evan