When does the comic update?
Tuesdays, about two pages every week.
Will this be available as a book? When is the book coming out?
Yes; this story is intended for print. It will be published in three volumes of 120 to 150 pages each, hopefully later compiled into one large book.
Volume 1, containing Chapters 1-13,
is currently available for purchase. Volume 2 will contain Chapters 14-29 and will most likely be out in mid-2013.
Can you ship the book internationally?
Yes, with a couple of caveats. Sometimes customs officers will open or confiscate international mail. If your order doesn't arrive within two months of purchase,
please let me know. Please note: due to the adult content in Volumes 2 and 3, there are several countries where those books will not be able to be delivered.
The signed editions are sold out. When will you have more?
I wish I could have signed & sketched books constantly available, but since they take so much time to do,
I can only do 10 to 20 at a time - they go up for sale once a week, usually
on Mondays.
Hey, when will you have TJ & Amal [keychains/t-shirts/stickers/doilies] for sale?
Buttons and prints tend to stay in stock with minimal breaks. Keychains get restocked every few months. T-shirts... are not happening for a long time, sorry. I'd like
to do t-shirts, but these days I can't spare the hours or storage space necessary for that particular undertaking.
I want to buy the book/other stuff, but don't have a Paypal account. Help?
Shoot me an e-mail and I'll pass you the PO Box info.
Is an RSS feed available?
Yes. It should publish text links that will take you to the new pages.
Why can't I leave comments on the comic pages?
Comment boxes are susceptible to spam-bots and often require a lot of clean-up - but mainly because <Epic is a long-form comic, I prefer there be no extra
stuff around the pages to pull the reader out of the story. News is always posted in the center column of the front page,
and author
comments can be found in the notes.
If you need to contact me, please e-mail ek[at]tjandamal.com.
Will you link to my website/comic?
Sorry, probably not. I link to comics I come across on my own, not on request.
Why do you only update once a week? Why just two pages a week instead of a bunch all at once?
I have a full-time job, so comic work is done in evenings and on weekends, which means the volume of my output won't match that of pro comics artists. Sorry.
Even though the story is meant to be read in one long go, I update bit by
bit for selfish reasons: having a regular schedule and
a manageable goal keeps me working at a steady, comfortable pace. ("How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.")
How long have you been working on this story?
Since October 2007. (Comic pages started going up on the web in December 2009.)
Hey, on [page], is that a reference to [book/film/TV show]?
Quite possibly. I've compiled a page of notes and credits; check them out if you like.
About translations...
If you want to try translating TJ and Amal, please feel free! If you
would like to send me translated pages, I'll put them up if there are more than 40.
All translations are done by fans on their own time, for fun. Since I am fluent only in English,
I am unable to make
corrections or check for accuracy, and am not responsible for translated content.
Is this story "yaoi"?
I... maybe? Probably not? Dudes kiss and all, but... hmm.
Nobody sparkles, at least.
How do you make the comic?
First, I hand-write a script for each section - Dialogue still changes as the page comes together. Then I do a bunch of thumbnail sketches to decide on the layout of each page. After thumbnailing, I draw each panel to scale on a separate sheet of bright white paper.
I draw the first rough pass in Col-Erase Pink, the second pass in Col-Erase Carmine Red, the third and fourth passes in mechanical pencil and ink, then shade with 2B and 3B soft pencil lead.
I then scan the artwork and import it to Photoshop, where
I extract the Red channel so that only the black and gray lines are visible.
After that, I piece all the panels together into a single page, do retouching and corrections, and add panel borders, balloons and lettering on new layers. Then
it sits in the buffer for weeks and then I come back and obsessively fix the old art right before the page goes up
Original pages are 3975 x 6150 px. I drop the web-version pages to 625 px wide before posting.
A single page takes anywhere from 10 to 20 hours, start to finish.
What font are you using for the dialogue?
Cloudsplitter BB, from Blambot.
Will you be at [convention]?
I will definitely attend
Ushicon
(February 3-5, Austin, TX) and Staple! Austin (March 3 & 4, Austin, TX).
I am hoping to be at Stumptown Comics Festival (April 28 & 29, Portland, OR), Small Press Expo (September 15 & 16, Bethesda, MD),
and AnimeFEST 2012 (Aug 31-Sept 3, Dallas, TX). Still waiting to hear back from those three about whether I'll be able to exhibit. I may also be at San
Japan (August 10-12, San Antonio, TX).
Past conventions: STRIPcon 2011, Staple 2011, Ushicon 2011, NYCC 2010, Stumptown 2010, Staple 2010, Staple 2009, Ikkicon 2009, Ohayocon 2009, AnimeFEST 2008.
Can I make icons/wallpapers/sig images from your art?
Sure, have at! Just please use your own webspace (or a service like Photobucket) for hosting them, and please give credit or a link back to this site if you can.
I'm generally fine with folks using my drawings for stuff as long as they're not being sold or plagiarized.
Do you have any banners?
Yup! I currently have these on Project Wonderful, as well: #1 (125x125px square) - #2 (125x125px round transparency) - #3 (468x60 banner)
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