Launch!

Okay, you've read this before. (If not, you can check previous posts and read it now.) But this time I think I mean it: the QlownTown site (www.qlowntown.com) will officially launch online on Friday, March 6th, THIS YEAR! That means that you will see a new cartoon every day from then until the end of time, or until I run out of ideas and shoot myself.

Coming up with new ideas doesn't worry me, because I have about a year's worth now, having been generating ideas the whole year this has been in development (and even before that). Of course, there may be days when you'll read one and say, "He had a year to plan and this is the best he could come up with?*" But, in the words of Maine humorist Tim Sample, "If you don't laugh, it's not because it isn't funny...it's because you don't get it." Of course, that may be true of Maine humor, which can sometimes be, as many regional styles are, distinct and peculiar (I personally love it, and have a slight whistle in my S's to this day because I spent so much time trying to get that whistle when doing a Downeast accent), but may not be true of your average everyday comic strip humor.

So if you think a cartoon's not funny, let me know. If it's because you don't know a critical part of the joke (for example, if a character speaks in French with no translation or you never heard of Puddintane), look it up on the Internet first. I'm still amazed at how I can type in a long sentence, like "How do I change the rear wiper on a Toyota Prius?" and will get links to sites with pictures, instructions and other information I didn't even know I wanted. There's also a site I love www.ComicsIDontUnderstand.com, where people post comics they, well, don't understand. Then a number of people will write in with explanations, critiques, etc. Any exposure is good exposure, within reason, so if you don't get one of mine, send it to them.

And speaking of exposure--oh, what a smooooth segue!---once you've visited the site, PLEASE tell everyone you know about it. Send emails, call them on the phone, accost them on the street, put posters on their front doors, send flaming arrows with the web address on the shaft into their yards--just get the word out. It's been a year-long process, and the payoff will be if I can get thousands, ultimately tens of thousands of people reading the strip...well, that, and get them to buy merchandise related to the strip. But for now, please spread the word...that's Phase One of my plan for Qlown Domination.

I recently marked down the original art from what it was going to be, because I had priced it at the value I anticipate a year or two from now, but of course it may not be worth that much yet. So I see the original art as a good investment. Remember, there's only one piece of original art for each strip, so when the first one's gone, they all are!

See you on Friday!

*Grammatically speaking, this sentence should actually end with "...up with which he could come?", but that sounds somehow inappropriate.