ITS Returns Next Week! (with some caveats)
In this newsletter, you’ll find out about everything I released over the past 30-31 days.
Anything not labeled “Patreon” or “paid” is free and publicly available.
September 5 to October 5, 2025
Announcements
Into the Smoke is returning from hiatus next week! That’s means this is your last chance to pledge on Patreon and see the hiatus exclusive NSFW minicomic! We will have 4 new guaranteed episodes of Into the Smoke. After that, my plans depend on you.
Last month, I mentioned that there would be some drastic changes to my schedule. Here’s a bit more info.
The short version:
I need to increase Patreon pledges by about $750/month to continue making webcomics as I have been. This is because a delayed graphic novel project is back on my plate and will take up most of my work hours, but I won’t get paid for it again until 2028. Whatever I do outside the graphic novel is the only income I’ll have for the next 2 years. My webcomics and Patreon would take up all my remaining time, so unless it covers all my bills, I’d have to turn to other work instead.
Leave a one-time donation on Ko-fi
The long version:
A few years ago, while I was developing Into the Smoke, I sold a graphic novel to a publisher. But then the GN started going through such heavy delays that I wasn’t sure it’d work out, so I launched ITS and gave it my all.
Well, after 2 years of delays, my graphic novel is suddenly back on schedule and I have tight publishing deadlines that essentially require full time hours. The problem: my next advance installment won’t be paid until the GN is done, which is projected to be 2028. I can’t make my first installment stretch that far, since it wasn’t huge and the timeline is two years longer and I’ve had two surgeries in that time.
That means that, for the next two years, whatever I do outside the contracted graphic novel is the only income I’ll have.
My Patreon has been amazing. For a handful of years, it covered all my basic monthly expenses. Now, after inflation and a change in my main project that’s led to turnover, it still covers a significant amount, but not as much. It’s too much to lose but too little to live on.
For Patreon to cover my basic expenses (utilities, housing costs, insurance, groceries), I’d need to make about $750/month more than I’m making now. If we can meet that, I can continue the webcomics with some possible scheduling tweaks. If we can even get close, I can possibly bridge the gap with my savings until I’m done with the GN.
But if we can’t get even halfway there, it’s likely I’ll have to pursue other work, which would mean setting aside the webcomics. If I set them aside, I probably won’t be able to come back to them. This is because if I stop working on them, people will cancel their pledges, and then I won’t have the funding to pick them back up. I’d likely continue them as written novels or visual novels instead of comics, because those are things I can do within “hobby” hours, as opposed to the full time hours I put into my current work.
But this comes back to the core question of why I do what I do, and it’s something I’ve had to ask myself a lot during recent hard times. Why do I rely on the webcomic model of posting free pages, with only the hope that anyone might choose to pay for it? Why don’t I just focus on graphic novels that pay an advance?
The answer is simple: the stories that matter most to me, stories like Into the Smoke and Demon of the Underground, can’t be sold in any existing comics market. Publishers just don’t acquire multi-volume creator-owned non-manga adult (but not adult) fantasy graphic novels with overtly queer main characters. So it has to be webcomics.
But free unpaid webcomics are mostly the realm of creators who (1) are supported by a spouse, (2) have a day job that covers the bills but leaves enough hours/energy for comics, (3) have no/minimal disruptive chronic health conditions, and/or (4) don’t update their comic on a committed or fast schedule. I’m outside all of those things, which is why, unfortunately, I can only make comics if I make money from them. I can write prose for free, but not comics. And my comics are long enough that I can only ever complete them if I put out fast updates.
Apart from the fact that this situation makes me deeply unhappy, it’s taken me so long to start writing this post precisely because I hate asking for this sort of thing. It’s so difficult that, back in August with the last ITS episode, I was leaning toward just quitting without asking for anything.
But then I had to consider the handful of readers who have been so overwhelmingly supportive of my creative work, for the sole reason that they want to be able to read more of it. The last thing I ever want to do is look at those people and say “it’s still not enough.”
The people who’ve pledged for 11 years matter to me. The high-dollar patrons matter. The ones who pledge their only spare couple of dollars on the occasional months they can afford matter. The ones who can’t do a subscription but drop a ko-fi donation here and there matter. And the ones who don’t have money but have the enthusiasm to spread the word about my comics matter. The ones who don’t have money but remind me in the comments that they enjoy my work matter. Every version of support matters to me.
I know how easy it is in our current era for any of my readers to just find something else to read, by someone who probably draws faster than me. And that makes the pledges and support matter to me even more. So I want to do my part, the hard and ugly part, and ask instead of quitting.
If you are able to:
Pledge on Patreon
Leave a one-time donation on Ko-fi
And now, the usual monthly roundup!
Into the Smoke
Into the Smoke is my new free vertical-scroll webcomic. It updates every other Wednesday. “When gay medium Blaze binds himself to an evil spirit, he hopes solving the ghost’s murder will help bring him peace. But Alastor the Angel Killer has other plans…”
Into the Smoke is on hiatus and returning next week!! BUT: Check out the latest guest episode!
Extras:
1. We have an nsfw hiatus exclusive minicomic! It’ll only be available to patrons who support during the hiatus. This means you have ONE WEEK LEFT to pledge and see it!
2. If you want a little preview of what’s coming in the next ITS episode, you can watch a fancy video of my inking it here on Tumblr!
3. September was a Sketch month on Patreon! That means I did 15 new original sketches. All patrons got to see them, and patrons in the Sketch tiers got to request an original to receive in the mail. If you pledge to a Sketch tier in the next day or two, you can request one of the remaining sketches from this batch of 15, or a past unclaimed sketch. If you pledge to any tier at any time, you can see all the sketches.
This round, I did some DOTU, some ITS, and some birds. Catch the ITS and birds here:
- Sketches 7-12 (Patreon)
- Sketches 13-15 (Patreon)
4. So I’ve done like 950 original Patreon sketches, but I wanted to do an actual pencil drawing for a change. So, for September’s Bonus Tier update, I did a fancy and pretty Blaze portrait. And then I got inspired remembering some of the old traditional+digital art techniques I used to do in college, so I did a digital color version too. (Patreon)
5. It’s a new month on Top Webcomics! Vote for ITS and see a 2021 Patreon sketch of Judd in his exorcism vestments!
Vote for Into the Smoke on TopWebcomics!
Demon of the Underground
Demon of the Underground is my longest-running webcomic. It’s about Pogo, a half-demon with telekinetic powers who falls into a treacherous underground world beneath Chicago. The first 300+ pages can be read for free at demonoftheunderground.com. Current pages are being released on Patreon, with plans for new free pages in the future.
Demon of the Underground is updating with free public pages on Tapas! We’re up to chapter 4, page 75!
Heads up: I’m no longer part of the Creator Bonus Program on Tapas, so reading for free does not get me paid anymore. If you want to support the comic, please pledge on Patreon!
I did some DOTU portraits for September’s quarterly Patreon sketches! You can see them here:
- Sketches 1-6 (Patreon)
Minicomics
My latest dream involved some intense quacking.
Odds and Ends
For September’s Secret Gallery post on Patreon, I shared a preview of an upcoming zine that will be released next spring! (Patreon Post)(Public Preview)
Throwback! For the first time, I saw pied billed grebes in the wild! So I have to share my grebe minicomic.
And that’s everything from this past month! See ya next time!
