Hi Heroes:
I’ve got a bit of an announcement here.
For the past ten weeks I’ve had the opportunity to do not ONE, but TWO comic strips. I’ve had a blast doing them, too. But, I need to scale back the operation a wee bit because I’m rushing through the strips and not doing work up to my satisfaction level.
When I began this endeavor, I was doing APOLLO seven days a week, with full-color Sunday pages (which is the equivalent of three dailies) and I was doing Methuselah’s Gate: Water World three days a week. That workload is the equivalent of 12 daily comic strips per week. Keep in mind, too, I’m doing ALL this myself. I don’t have an assistant or anything like that. AND, I work a full-time job that occupies 50-60 hours a week and I teach part-time.
So, after talking it over with Len, we’ve decided to put Methuselah’s Gate: Water World on hold until the week of January 3, 2010 and I am doing the same with Apollo.
My feelings about this are mixed, however I want to do the best job that I can on BOTH strips and I need the lead-time to get some more strips into the drawer.
When both strips return in January, I will be publishing them on a reduced schedule until I can get far enough ahead on them that I feel comfortable going back to their previous schedules. I’ll be doing both strips TWICE a week, with sketchbook sections on Fridays. The plan is to publish APOLLO on MONDAYS and WEDNESDAYS and METHUSELAH’S GATE: WATER WORLD on TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS. That will be a more manageable schedule for me.
In the meantime, watch www.matthewhansel.com for updates on both strips and other Len and Matt projects. I’ve also got a few commissions in the pipe that I’ll post there, too.
I hope I haven't disappointed you too much with this announcement.
See you in January.
Best,
MPH


