Updates from Wondermark HQ!

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Here’s a little update on things I’m working on presently!

Above and below are the boxes for the three Wondermark jigsaw puzzles that we funded on Kickstarter last fall.

Based on some of my favorite Wondermark posters, the puzzles are on the press now. I’ve reviewed proofs and gotten advance samples and everything looks really good!

I’m excited for the puzzles to become available for backers and the general public later this spring. I estimated that they’d start shipping to backers in March. I do admit to a little trepidation: labor disputes have been causing drastic slowdowns at the Los Angeles seaport, at the precise spot where the puzzles are due to enter the States… But there’s nothing I can do to control or affect that particular matter. I asked the freight forwarder if they could shunt our shipment to a different port, and that option doesn’t look promising. So, we’ll just cross our fingers!

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I’ve also been doing a lot of setup work for projects that will see fruition later in the year:

We’re working on some videos for the Machine of Death card game (the game, of course, is available now!). I’m doing some design work for Zach Weinersmith on a really neat product he’ll be launching this spring, and I’m also in talks with a new T-shirt company that has a… pretty unique and strange perspective on what being a T-shirt company means. I don’t think I’m allowed to say much else about that just yet.

I’ll be attending the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle at the end of March as is my wont, and I’ll be hosting two fun game show-style panels there! I also still perform on stage with my improv comedy team on first and third Mondays in Santa Monica — those shows are always free so it’s easy to get your money’s worth.

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Oh and I set up a Patreon! Right now I have done exactly zero things with it. I wanted to get at least the puzzles out the door before I started up something new.

But, some very nice people have asked me if there’s a way they can support the things I make, and I know not everyone needs or wants merchandise or physical objects cluttering up their life.

So, if you’re so inclined, you can toss in a buck or two a month, and be a supporting member of Wondermark and the stuff we do here. Rewards for patrons will be forthcoming!

On Tumblr recently, I’ve:

Helped someone out with marketing their dog biscotti
Found an old letter I wrote to Brad Bird
Mastered the art of burger negotiation
Examined the postal employee weight requirement
Tried to Google each of the individual fifty shades of grey

It’s usually pretty easy to fill the days, around here.

A Glimpse of the Piranhamoose

Here is a little glimpse at something I’m working on for the next Wondermark collection! And here are some other recent gems from my personal tumblr (not to be confused with Old Timey Ads, which is separate, but also me):

• An excerpt from Dapper Caps & Pedal-Copters
• A critical examination of Disney/Pixar’s Cars
• The most amazing fountain pen I have ever seen
• My kittycat, Mall of America
• And more!

Introducing Malki-In-Progress !

A little while back I asked your opinion about what I should do with my sketches, works-in-progress and various miscellany. I am pleased to introduce Malki-In-Progress !

In flagrant disregard of public opinion, I have set up a Tumblr microblog which I hope to populate with all manner of strange nonsense. I decided to do it this way because I have come to regard the Wondermark site with a certain measure of reverence — it’s like a brightly-lit gallery for work I am beaming with pride to share, while the new site will be a more of a garage workshop where I can tinker with stupid things not fearing that the slightest absurd scribble will trigger ten thousand Feedburner emails to folks who subscribed expecting comics.

The new site has its own RSS, and all the site content will cross-post to Twitter @wondermarkfeed (which also posts the updates from this main site). Expect to see drawings, Wondermark comic in-progress shots and detail views, behind-the-scenes info on other major projects, and maybe — if I have the gumption — pages of a new book as I write them. Nothing will change or decrease here at Wondermark; everything on MiP! will be new, additional content. I’ll occasionally post highlights here so you don’t miss anything I think is particularly cool, but I won’t overload you with duplicate posts. (Or you can just cast an occasional eye over on the right-hand sidebar to see thumbnails of recent posts.) The main idea is just to give me a little playground to mess around in — I’m deliberately not setting a schedule or standardized format for the MiP! posts, and in fact will probably soon abandon the MiP! moniker as it’s starting to strike me as ridiculous.

ANYWAY HERE IT IS ENJOY