Locus, Year Three

At the end of October, Locus Year Two will draw to a close. The end of Issue 12 is the end of a lot of things, and the beginning of a lot more. To understand this fully, you need to understand Locus from Day One. If you've been a fan since the beginning, this is all review to you--although I will be telling you behind-the-scenes stuff I've never told you before.

If you're a new fan, take a moment to look busy at your Day Job and give the following a read:

LOCUS YEAR ONE

The mantra from the beginning of this project has been "Locus Is An Experiment". Any scientist will tell you that the early experiments always end in failure and/or disappointment. Experimentation is, essentially, the process of fucking up until you can't fuck up anymore. I know that everyone likes a success story, and I know that everyone loves an instant success story full of triumphs and devoid of failures.

But that's not the way the world works, and you know it.

Locus Year One began because I was the first person in history to write, draw, color and letter an official Kiss comic all by myself. I may hold that record for a long time, although I'm sure I won't hold it forever.

Kiss 4K was a good gig. It was a fun gig. I didn't do as good a job on it as someone else would have, but I will always be grateful for the learning experience. K4K was an experiment, too. An experiment in reader interaction. And it was fun to work on a comic promoted by Gene Simmons. It was also fun to walk right up to Paul Stanley and shake his hand. That man is Living Cool. He is The Breeze.

When the Kiss gig dried up, I found myself with a hole in my life. A M/W/F schedule with nothing to update! So I relaunched an old title called "Locus". My friend DJ Coffman put in a good word with me over on Keenspot, and his friend Chris Crosby agreed to host Locus for her first year.

Locus Year One ended both in mild success and mild failure. That wasn't Chris Crosby's fault. Wasn't Keenspot's fault. Wasn't Locus' fault, either. It was the fault of the ad networks.

I live in a country run by loud, belligerent, lily-livered assclowns who think it's their right to tell everyone what is acceptable and what is not. Some of these assholes run ad networks, and they want nothing to do with Boobs, Blood and Bad Language (tm). There is a line you quite simply Do Not Cross, and that line is called "PG-13".

And if you're in agreement with that mindset, fuck you. You're wrong. Here's why:

These morons will tell you that nudity is evil. Breasts should be taboo and hidden. Ladies, what do you really think about someone you've never met insisting that a natural and life-giving part of your body is dirty and evil? Your breasts have been taboo-ed to the point where you are treated like sexual objects every single time your breasts are even slightly noticeable. I think it's fuckin' retarded.

These are the same idiots that tell you stoners are more dangerous than alcoholics. It's the same fear-mongering and the same flawed logic. For fuck's sake, people! One of the first things you ever saw in your life was a tit. And not just any tit...this was your momma's tit. And what did you do with this tit? You put your mouth over it and sucked for all you were worth.

Tits aren't evil. Humans are mammals and mammals are amazing because mammals give nutrients from their own bodies to feed their young. It's a miracle of life and a crown of evolutionary achievement.

And that (believe it or not) was Locus Year One: The Crusade for Understanding. The fans got it. The Crosbys got it, too. But the ad network ass-wipes were too afraid. Anything that robs those penny-pinching dickheads of even a dime scares the hell out of them.

They took it out on Keenspot, and Keenspot was forced to push Locus to the back of the room. I couldn't live back there, so I left.

LOCUS YEAR TWO

Locus Year Two is when I moved over to my friend Matt Jacobs' comic site, Needcomics--which later became Wevolt.

Matt's a bright guy. He and I met in the Platinum/Kiss 4K days, and he's still a good friend. Matt said he wanted to make Locus a success, and he busted his ass night and day--every day--for a whole year.

I know a lot of you guys didn't like Wevolt, but Wevolt's problems were also Keenspot's problems. Namely: Locus vs the Ad Network Assholes. Believe it or not, everything unfortunate that happened at Wevolt was (directly or indirectly) the fallout from Ad Network Assholes balking at Locus.

I only found this out two days ago, otherwise I would've told you sooner!

Matt had a lot of sweet ad revenue lined up for Wevolt, but every time those ad dicks saw that Locus was the flagship title, they all got wide-eyed and scared and rubbing their hands together all sweaty and shit. They backed out, like the chickenshit idiots they are. I have no respect for people like that. Fuck them all.

I have nothing but love and respect for Matt. In fact, Matt wanted to redesign the whole Wevolt business model to accommodate Locus! Can you believe that? A hell of a guy, Matt Jacobs.

But that's not something I thought was a good idea for him or his project. There are plenty of great comics on Wevolt that would benefit from standard ad revenue options. Why piss in everyone's punch just to keep Locus around? That's no good.

So, as Locus Year Two draws to a close, I would like to announce that Locus will be moving again. And I don't wanna hear no griping this time! Here's why:

LOCUS YEAR THREE

Starting November 1, 2010, Locus will be on her own site. I will have total and direct control over everything, and the things I have planned will be the things Locus fans have been asking for throughout Year Two.

There will be pinups. There will be a fan club. There will be cool little extras and sneak-peeks into my studio, my working process, and my previous attempts at Locus--some of which date back to the mid-90s.

Lots of this will be free. Some of it you will have to pay for. But every penny you spend will be worth it, because I'm not going to go with some generic Webcomic Fan Boy template. The only way for Locus to succeed is for me to pick and choose everything carefully. I will be building a custom experience here. You will get this treatment nowhere else. Your time spent on Locus will be unique.

Ads, for instance. There are people and businesses that would love to advertise on Locus. I know that's true. I've seen like-minded people and kindred spirits all over the internet! They're other artists, musicians, writers, tattoo artists...people like you and me are everywhere. We're all sitting around wishing that the world wasn't dominated by Disney and McDonald's and family-friendly and all-ages and all that kiddie bullshit. We're fuckin' adults! We want monsters and tits and blood and suspense and violence and sex and action!

I will be searching for these kindred souls as potential sponsors and/or supporters of Locus. So even the ads will be part of the Awesome.

You can help me, too...the way you've always helped. Bring more like-minded people to Locus. Spread the word! Not to everyone; just those who Get It.

Speaking of like-minded kindred spirits...

I won't be doing this alone. There are other webcomic-makin' people that I will be in cahoots with. Others who don't fit the standard "fat, bickering nerd" (FBN) stereotype of webcomic creator. Let's leave the Scott Kurtzes of the world to their own little corner of the intertron. That shit is working great for those guys, and more power to them. Good for you guys! You Made It.

But fuck that scene. Locus is all about tits and blood and beer and flame jobs on hot rods and extra jalapenos on EVERYTHING. And I will be in cahoots with other webcomic artists who are also sick of that sad old FBN scene. That shit is ten years out of date, at the least. None of that old shit for Locus! I'll be working with DJ Coffman and Raven Perez to make Locus Year Three the ass-kickinest year ever.

Now, I'm not going to be collaborating with them on shared projects here. When I say "working with", I'm not talking about what you think I'm talking about. This is all behind-the-scenes stuff that will make all our comics standalone successes. Raven has a great property in Raven's Dojo, which I feel is the sister comic to Locus. And DJ is launching something big very soon--as with everything related to DJ, it will be exciting. You will be hearing a lot from me about Raven's and DJ's projects, and they will be talking about Locus as well.

IN CONCLUSION (FINALLY)

Wow. That was a lot of talk. What does it all mean for you, the Locus Fan?

It means that I'm at a point in my experimentation where the test tubes don't blow up the whole lab anymore. Those of you who have been around since the beginning will be happy, because this is the year all your waiting for me to get my shit together finally pays off. Haaa!

I have big things planned for Year Three. I have a new and interesting way I'll be doing things, and much of it will be new to webcomics in general. I will be introducing these ideas slowly, and I will be giving credit where credit is due, because a lot of these ideas aren't mine. I didn't sit down and magically dream up the Be-All and End-All of Locus Success by myself. I've been fortunate enough to have friends in this field who are willing to share ideas behind the scenes with their friends, and I will be taking the ideas that are the best way to give you guys the Locus stuff you've been asking for all last year.

But I'm just telling you this. Stick around and let me show you. It'll be fun, I promise.

Whether or not you stick around is up to you. I'm glad you were here as long as you were. When I said my fans are my friends, I meant it. The Locusts, The Locultists, and the Howlin' Monkeys.

You are all my friends, and I love you all. Thanks for sticking around up till now, and I hope you dig Year Three.