The 2015 Wondermark Calendar.

get it

It is well-known that on a certain evening in Hamburg, a summer night in 18__, a concert was held which permanently afflicted all in attendance gravely and irreversibly. No one knows—or will tell—how such a collection of instruments were made to play in harmony; no one knows—or will tell—how such dumb constructs of wood, brass, and bone came to possess such power.

Within, for the first and only time, is what was heard on that evening, a night black, without stars…

Now pre-ordering. Only 250 will be made. We sell out every year. Update: They are sold out.

UNRELATED BUT ALSO GOOD: The Machine of Death Artbook.

…Over 100 interviews in which the writers and illustrators explain what went into the creation of their work — thoughts on technique, developing story ideas, early sketches, the creative process, and lots of other neat behind-the-scenes stuff! If you like the MOD series, there’s a lot of really cool insight here from the folks whose work made the books so great.

Available now in print or PDF.

also good.

Machine of Death Game Is Done & Available!

Here is a video I made with Kris Straub! Kris, of course, has been my collaborator in the Machine of Death card game.

In this video, Kris and I are working on one of the promised stretch goals in the MOD Kickstarter: creating an audiobook version of the game.

I’m pleased to say we succeeded! Here’s an excerpt…

DEATH CARDS (19 min)

If you are so inclined, you can download the entire album (54 minutes of Kris’ sonorous voice) for two bucks right here. Or, stream it for free on the Machine of Death site!

I don’t know of another card game that has an audiobook. I’m quite pleased with this! But not only that

The Machine of Death Game is Out Now

It’s been a long time coming, but I’m pleased to say the full game is available for purchase to the public! If you missed out on the Kickstarter, YOUR TIME HAS COME.

Machine of Death game

I wrote a huge post about it here!

You have proven to be the right people for a guy like me to trust with a year and a half of his life. I don’t have another job! This dumb stuff is all I do. And it’s been so great to be on the receiving end of the confidence, faith, and kindness of you all. WE ARE DOING GOOD THINGS, HERE.

I’m only able to do these kinds of things because of your support. We’ve come really far, and I hope you are enjoying your game, and everything I’ve shared with you along the way (with more things to come still)!

So…

Now is when I ask you to TELL EVERYONE TO BUY THIS GAME.

You can download the manuals or the entire game at our site — it’s licensed under Creative Commons. Check out a few files to get a look at it, or print out your own full copy of the game.

If you want a factory-made copy, you can buy it from Amazon, ThinkGeek, or TopatoCo.

In Canada, get it from Snakes & Lattes.

More distribution options are coming later in the year.

It’s been a very long journey but I’m pleased to say it’s done!! If you’ve been waiting, fervent with anticipation, well, WAIT NO LONGER.

Meanwhile our puzzles are doing pretty dang great! It is a good day for nonsense products by this guy, that is for sure.

Machine of Death games are here!

I’m very excited! The Machine of Death card game that I’ve been working on all year long (and most of last year, too) has finally arrived!!

They have already begun shipping to Kickstarter backers, and once that process is finished, they’ll be made available to the general public.

So it’s, uh, NINETY PALLETS of merchandise

It’s going to take us a little while to manage everything. But it’s all VERY EXCITING!!!

TWO DAYS LEFT for TIHYD! + Signing at Comic-Con!

CONFIDENTIAL TO THE PEOPLE AT THE SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON CHECKING THIS BEFORE 11AM ON FRIDAY MORNING: Come to booth #1116 (pictured above) at 11 for our This Is How You Die signing! We’ll have several of the book’s authors and illustrators on hand to SCRIBBLE AWAY in a copy that you can take home and cherish.

And/or come on by my own booth (#1229) for a Roll-a-Sketch! Like THESE LOVELY PEOPLE DID (I’ll post bigger pictures of the drawings themselves later):

CONFIDENTIAL TO EVERYBODY ELSE: We have just TWO DAYS LEFT to tally copies of This Is How You Die to count toward our attempt to make the New York Times bestseller list!

If you like, here’s another free preview story from TIHYD — Ryan Estrada’s tale of a MOD call center operative, featured on Wired:

“While overall the percentage of ironic readings is forty-nine percent,” Manisha answered, “with your reading in particular it’s been pretty straightforward. One hundred percent of those we’ve gathered data on have in fact been killed by locomotives.”

“Well, the reason I’m asking is because I just started a new job, and I begin training tomorrow,” the customer interjected nervously.

“No need to be concerned, sir.” Manisha knew what he was getting at. “If training were your cause of death, the card would certainly say ‘training’ or ‘trainer.’ Not simply ‘train.’ While unexpected synonyms are often the cause of ironic readings, the machine always gets the grammar right.”

Training might be the death of me, though,
Manisha thought, remembering she had to be in three hours early for her next shift. For the third time in a month she was going to have to trade sleep for a mandatory training session…

We’re also very grateful for kind mentions about TIHYD this week from Vimeo (our video was named a Vimeo Staff Pick); Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing, and bestselling author Brandon Sanderson:

I think the concept is a great one, and the first book is quite entertaining. If you’ve read the first volume and are wondering if you should read the second, you may have noticed that one issue with the first is that a number of the stories tread the same ground, making a few of them a bit repetitive. The second book breaks that mold — the editors specifically put out a call for stories that took the concept in new and interesting directions.

I’ve read the second volume, and it certainly does that! A few of the stories do start out seeming like they’re going to be retreads and then you realize that something is wildly different…

What if you haven’t read the first volume? Don’t worry. These are both concept anthologies, not a coherent narrative. Each story stands on its own. All you need to know is the initial concept of a machine that predicts how you die, and you’re good to go. The stories can be read in any order or no order. If you haven’t read the first volume, don’t hesitate to read the second one now and decide later whether you want to read the first one. These are the cream of the crop (though the first volume also has some very good stories.)

Thanks, Brandon! If you haven’t gotten the book yet, I have only one request: DON’T WAIT. And if you have, thank you so much!!