the days are long and short

Jon ≠ Nova - Also, a new comic!

When I was in middle school and first discovering the awesomeness of comics, I used to love backup stories. They were like the easter eggs of comics. You get to the end of the newest issue of Amazing Spider-Man and exclaim “Theres four extra pages in here! There’s a bit about some guy named Nova! I don’t know who the heck Nova is but his helmet kind of reminds me of Magneto and Magneto is bad ass. This is going to be awesome.”

So, in the tradition of the backup stories I grew up with, I’ve drawn a four page comic about a character related to The Chairs’ Hiatus who was never featured in it. He’s even cooler than Nova, he’s everyones favorite crime fighting badass¹: “Mary Sozers ex-boyfriend Jon!”

Here are a few random panels from the story:

I’m really happy with the way the comic turned out and, if you like The Chairs’ Hiatus, I’m sure you’ll like this addendum to it. The point at which you are introduced to Jon in the graphic novel seemed like it was too late in the story to start introducing new characters so I decided to show only Marys side of the phone conversation and keep Jon unseen. Because of that, I was always a bit sad that you guys never got to meet Jon, who I always liked as a character. This story lets him show his face, and gives you a slightly fuller idea of what Mary was like before the events in The Chairs’ Hiatus went down.

How to get the backup story.

I drew the story as a way to say thank you to the folks who are kind enough to pitch in a couple bucks for The Chairs’ Hiatus. So if you pick up any one of the for pay versions you’ll get it.

You can choose:²

• The Kindle version

• The iOS version

• The print version

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The Chairs’ Hiatus is now available on the Amazon Kindle.

From the moment that I knew I was going to be drawing a graphic novel I knew that I wanted it to be available on multiple different platforms. However, I’m a big proponent of the idea that the presentation of the work is part of the piece itself. So, while many comics are designed for print and then modified to work elsewhere, I wanted to create something from the ground up with the particulars and possibilities of the web, print, iPhone, iPad, and e-readers in mind.

That’s why I’m extremely excited to announce that I’ve added a Kindle version of the chairs hiatus to the already existing web, print, Google+, PDF and CBZ versions.

Specifically designed and tested on Amazons line of existing Kindle readers, (as of writing this the Kindle Fire is not yet available) this new version of the story allowed me to use a couple of storytelling techniques that I didn’t feel like were appropriate on other platforms such as the web or print. (I’m particularly happy with the moment to moment transitions during the YouTube video section, and the changes that have been made to the scene transitions.)

Take a look!

(If you use this link to buy the book I’ll get a higher percentage of the sale.)

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If you are at the Alternative Press Expo today, I’m at table 403 selling hot off the press new books of The Chairs’ Hiatus! Come by and say hi. I’d love to meet you!

Albums used as reference for the records in “Bone Cellar Records” in the last scene of the graphic novel I just finishedThe Chairs’ Hiatus.

It’s a lot of fun being able to stock a record shop with only records you want to listen to!

You can read the whole story, all three chapters, totally free by clicking here:

The Chairs’ Hiatus

Or you can download a version for your iPad and iPhone here:

The Chairs’ Hiatus - iPad / iPhone downloads

Can you spot these guys in the background?

The Chairs’ Hiatus is done.

Over the weekend I posted the final update to my graphic novel The Chairs’ Hiatus. It’s a huge update of over 20 pages and it brings the story to a close.

Mysteries are explained and Mary and Nel finally spend some time alone together.

Feels Good

I’ve never worked so hard and for such a long time on anything. I started the first draft in June of 2010 and posted the first page on December 13th 2010.

Prior to this project I hadn’t drawn a page in 7 years, and I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to be doing it again.

The Future

This is just the beginning for The Chairs’ Hiatus. A print version is in the works and I’ll be headed out to conventions to try and spread the word. I’ve also put up a bit of an experiment in the form of a downloadable version formatted for the iPad and iPhone. You can set your own price for these or download a copy totally free. I’ll be writing more about all of this over the next few weeks and months.

Finally

Thank you so much to everyone who helped me make this project a reality. I hope you will stick around, as this is something I plan to do a lot more of.

For now, I’d love to know what you think of the story. There’s a new comment section at the end of the last chapter, or say hi on various different social networks.

You guys are great, and I can’t thank you enough!

The Chairs’ Hiatus - How would that work?

More pages of The Chairs’ Hiatus appeared recently. I’m not sure from where. I think the cat drew them.

“I’ll tell you the whole thing.” The Chairs’ Hiatus update

There are several new pages up on The Chairs’ Hiatus Part 3 page over on my site matthewbogart.net but you can read them right now right here!

The Chairs’ Hiatus - Part 3 just started.

I just posted the first few pages of the third and final part of The Chairs’ Hiatus a comic that I’ve been working on. I’m so excited to be in the home stretch of this story. You guys should be too! Just look at these amazing things to come:

• find out out what happened between Mary and Nel that caused Mary to be in the state she’s is now.

• At least one panel of someone running.

• Someone saying the phrase “‘This’ meaning our relationship.”

• Possibly a drawing of a motel!

Woo boy!

Read Part 1

Read Part 2

Read what I have done so far of part 3

Here are the pages that I posted:

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I posted 11 new pages of comics, the last pages of part 2!

Woooo! 2/3rds done!

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I’m thinking about breaking this story up into printed issues before I collect it into a larger book. If I do, this would be the majority of issue #2.

It seems like only a week ago I was handing out copies of the first 20 pages!