Chapter 6 Update #6 – All Done.

Oct03
by on 3 October 2025
I was very happy to write this note in my notebook.

Eleven years and three months after going live with the first page of Long John, I officially wrapped in the late evening of September 23, 2025.

I’ve already started uploading pages to the website and writing their accompanying posts. Of course, this happened right when a huge pile of essays came in from my day job which immediately demanded my attention.

This was only a few days after this year’s CrockerCon, the first in the show’s history to be an all-day event and, from what I’ve heard from the folks involved, was a wild success. Over 7000 people came out for the show, which blows any previous numbers out of the water.

The view from my table at CrockerCon, just beneath the banner of the poster I made for the 2019 show.

Personally, it was an incredible show, as always. Those of us who have been attending for years often describe it as a class reunion or something similar––getting to see old friends and local creatives all in one place is always a treat.

So, once I get these essays graded (I’m almost done!) the plan going forward for chapter 6 is planning. Figuring out the release schedule, finishing up the book side of things (cover, extra material, etc.) and getting that all set up for preorders (I’m thinking around November or early December).

A lot of people have been asking about Kickstarting a collection. I’m not against it, but I am terrified of running a Kickstarter campaign, especially on my own. We’ll see! For now, I’m more concerned about getting Chapter 6 updating on the site and getting this final volume put together. Then I can worry about the bigger stuff.

Keep an eye out for future updates! We’re almost there!

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Crocker Con 2025 – Sunday, 9/21

Sep17
by on 17 September 2025
The poster for Crocker Con 2025 (art by Matt Crouch)

Crocker Con returns and this time it’s bigger and better!

For the first time, the show has been moved out of the ArtMix program the Crocker Art Museum holds every month. What this means is that instead of being a four hour show on a Thursday evening, it is now and all day event that will be held at the Crocker this Sunday, 9/21, from 10 to 4pm. The other thing that this brings with it is that Crocker Con 2025 is FREE to enter. So, there’s NO reason not to go and check out all the costumes, games, activities, and––of course––local talent that will be there.

From what I’ve heard from behind the scenes, it’s already on pace to be the biggest Crocker Con ever, so I’m really excited for the sheer amount of people that will not only be introduced to the talent of Sacramento, but also the Crocker as a museum in its own right.

Unfortunately, I won’t have Volume 6 of Long John at the show, though I’m very close to wrapping up the art on it and will likely start posting to the website soon.

However, I will have all my normal wares and, more than anything, I am up for discussing art and comics as always since the crowd the show brings in is always so diverse and eclectic.

I hope to see you there!

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Chapter 6 Update #5 – 50% of the Final Step

Aug08
by on 8 August 2025
WARNING: There is food in Long John, Chapter 6

As of today, I have crossed the halfway point of the final stage of book creation: shading/lighting.

Just as a recap, my basic stages of comic creation are as follows:

  • Outlining
  • Thumbnailing/Scripting
  • Pencilling
  • Inking
  • Flatting
  • Lettering
  • Shading/lighting

So, when I say I’m halfway, I don’t mean I’m halfway through the overall process; I’m halfway through the final stage of the process which, in my mind, means I’m very close to being done. When I stop to think about it, I freak out a bit, to be honest.

I freak out not only because the gestation period of this book has been uncommonly long, but because it’s the last book of Long John’s story. While I’ve always known that the story would end, it’s kind of weird to 1. not only realize it’s here but that 2. I’ve actually gotten to the finish line.

It’s the end of an eleven-year process that I didn’t expect to take this long, but I wouldn’t have sacrificed any time if it meant compromising the quality of the books I have been making. With that in mind, the satisfying aspect of this last stage of the process is that the finished pages are looking as good as I expected them to look when I drew them.

Even though it’s the last chapter, I’m trying new stuff in these pages.

While that might not sound like a surprise, even if I have an idea of what they should look like when I lay down pencils and inks, it’s still just an idea. Once they’re scanned and flatted, I approach each panel rather individually and it’s only when I finish adding shading and lighting to the page do I step back to see how it all fits together. More than previous chapters, I have looked over the completed pages of Chapter 6 with surprise when I see that they are working as intended with little tweaking or revision needed. As I said to Kyrun Silva (of Taurus Comics) earlier this week, “It’s like I’ve actually learned something over the last 11 years.”

So, I’m eager to keep pushing through these pages (genuinely, I think the hardest pages are behind me) so I can put the final stamp on not only Chapter 6, but on Long John as a whole.

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