T Campbell's Blog

So I've rounded up a little talent for Search Engine Funnies with my usual method, and I have an artist that I really like who looks like he'll be able to round out the team. He can take two days a week, Jamie'll take two and Thor'll take one, with the occasional guest artist or fill-in, and that puts us up to 5 days a week, no problem.

9:42 AM today, I get this e-mail:

Hey T, I was workin on the strip last night when I gotta phone call about a job opportunity. The job'll mean I can cover my fair share of the rent (which my current job can't claim) but it'll be taking over a large portion of my free time. I was thinking it over last night. If I took on SEF artwork then I'd be rushing it and I feel shitty enough rushing my own comic pages. I'll pass the word around in case maybe someone I know's interested in taking on some comic work.

Good luck with SEF, sorry about all this hassle for nothing in the end.

Hey, it happens. Happens all the time in this field, really, and you have to prepare. I had a few other possibilities in mind, and I'm offering more money up front than when I made my first talent search, so I expect we can get the team up to snuff in another week or t--

11:30 AM, I get this e-mail from Jamie Noguchi:

Argh, the timing couldn't be worse, I know, but I'm terribly over-extended. I thought I could manage my time better, but projects are piling up that require my attention. Unfortunately, well fortunately for me, there is significant monetary gains to be had that outweigh my work with SEF. I gotta go where the moneys are at cause I gotta pay my rent. I have to bow out of SEF.

I have the logo as an Illustrator file which can be resized to whatever dimensions you need. The only other thing I have that you might need is the Google font I believe so if you still need that, I can send it over. I really hate to do this because it puts you in a shitty position. But I've got to streamline a bit so I can focus.

Ouch. I don't take it personally-- Jamie's a friend, and a pro, and I'd do the same thing if I were in his shoes. But this really hurts the strip. He established its look and feel. Most of the strips we did together are just gorgeous. Well, we're going to have to cut back production for a bit. But at least there's still Thor. Loyal, hardworking, funny Thor, who seems to be finding a whole new style these days. Thor, who's been producing strips like a machine despite working insane hours at Kinko's-- insane hours that are about to come to an end, because he's up for a promo--

You can see it coming, can't you?

--a promotion. His big meeting was yesterday, in fact. I really ought to call him up and see how it w--

5:42 PM: I hate to do this, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to quit doing Search Engine Funnies. On Tuesday, I finally got that manager promotion at Kinko's; unfortunately, it entails a drastic change in my work schedule to the point where I can't be reliable for steady work artwise. I figure it's better to stop now than to be late on a constant basis (which I kinda have been for a while now). [If you say so, Thor-- I wouldn't count twice in four months as "constant."] I'm sorry to have to tell you this way, but I've been so busy with my new position that I haven't been able to tell you over the phone properly. The only way that Tales of Marga will be updated is due to the fact that all the art is already done for the next year. If you need the art files that I've done for the past episodes, let me know and I'll mail you a CD with everything on it. Again, I am sorry. I just wish I had enough time to do everything...

...

(crickets)

Is this The End?

Yes-- and no. I have been in talks about a Search Engine Funnies spinoff, which now appears even more likely to happen.

Only now it'll be less the "little brother looking up to Search Engine Funnies' success" and more the "infant rocketed away from the exploding Search Engine Funnies planet." This'll be less of a freewheeling free-association thing-- there'll be regular characters, character-based humor, storylines, accessibility. You won't need to be as caught up in current events on this one, but there'll be extra fun if you are.

I'm sorry that I seem to have set the record for the shortest official 5-day-a-week schedule running. The spinoff strip, we're still figuring out the schedule on.

I will fold the previously announced contest and fan-strip policy into the spinoff.

And the strip rate policy, too. Ten dollars a strip until we're profitable enough to pay more. So hey, if you want to make a little extra cash at the drawing table, this is a good time to be speaking up.

After all, if you work on search engine comics long enough, apparently really good things happen to your career!