Time Log

That #Comics Life, April 2018 pt 2

Saturday, May 26th, 2018

it's time to wipe your eyeballs all over the Time Log graphic novel

Thursday, February 12th, 2015

This is a story that had a loooong development process. It began nearly 15 years ago in Pittsburgh, PA. You can read a bit about that extensive history here.

From 2010 to 2012, I self-published four issues of Time Log. These quirky sci-fi comics came in different shapes and sizes. And they traveled with me to conventions in Buffalo, Austin, Toronto, New York City, and beyond.

Originally a one-shot, my collaborators and I followed it up with a 60-page webcomic. When I moved to Long Beach, CA in 2013, I began remixing the black and white pages from the Time Log one-shot into the same color format as the webcomic. Then I went through and remastered the entire shebang.

That's how the Time Log graphic novel came into existence. I intended to sell it through ComiXology Submit, howwweverrrr... it was rejected.

But my loss is your gain! Here's a free PDF of the remixed and remastered story:

Time Log graphic novel (108 pages, 40 MB)

The first half is by Pete Borrebach (writer), Shawn Atkins (penciler and cover artist), and yours truly (writer, inker, colorist, and letterer). Those roles continue into the second half of the story, only some of my duties are taken over by Paige Shoemaker (inker) and Justique Woolridge (colorist) while I become more of an editor.

Here's a preview of the story in case you wanna try it before you buy d/l it:

And here are PDFs of the original Time Log issues:

Time Log one-shot (28 pages, 14 MB) printed in April 2010

The New Time Log #1 (20 pages, 17 MB) printed in March 2011

The New Time Log #2 (22 pages, 18 MB) printed in September 2011

The New Time Log #3 (25 pages, 19 MB) printed in March 2012

(If you're interested in the creative process behind these comics, Shawn and I recorded a few podcasts for the AudioShocker's Sequential Underground that outline different aspects of Time Log's production. You can hear them here.)

Look, Time Log's not perfect. It has plenty of inconsistencies. It can be confusing at times. And there are lots of things I'd like to change.

But it was an invaluable learning experience for me. As a new comics creator, it taught me the folly of my hubris and helped me understand the extensive journey of taking a long story from concept to completion.

UPDATE April 2018...

The AudioShocker website is gone now, so any old links to the Time Log archives are sadly dead and gone (beyond using the Wayback Machine, that is).

But the far more important news happening this month is that the Stephen Foster statue has been removed from a busy stretch of Forbes Ave in Pittsburgh! University students and people headed to the city's main library branch no longer have to see this racist mess as they go to and from places of learning, and I'm thrilled about this development.

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015