The first collection of my comic strip Chronicle has a title and a cover. “You Can’t Get There From Here” will be available sometime in the next few weeks. The book will feature 120 pages of strips, sketches, and other surprises. It will be available directly from Lulu.com for $15, or in an “artist’s edition” with a personalized sketch from yours truly for $20. Stay tuned for more details.

This is the first time I’ve rendered the whole Chronicle gang in color. Shereen thought Chuck was blond. Maybe he is. Maybe I made a mistake. What say you?

I slapped this design on some tee shirts and mugs over at Cafe Press. Check them out, won’t you?

According to their about page, Digital Strips exists “to bring the 5% of webcomics worth reading to the rest of the world.” How flattering, then, that they’ve just posted an interview with yours truly. In this, possibly the most important document ever published, I answer six questions about Chronicle, its characters and origins, and my thoughts on the creative process. Cool, huh?

Internet/real-life friend Shane Bertou was kind enough to be my surrogate at a book signing by the Perry Bible Fellowship’s Nicholas Gurewich. He mailed me a book containing the autograph you see above, and I am grateful.

PS – PBF is a great absurd webcomic. If you click the link above be advised that it is intended for mature readers and has little to do with Perries, Bibles, or fellowships.

My name was mentioned, however briefly and fleetingly, on the latest edition of the increasingly popular Webcomics Weekly podcast. The podcast features four successful web cartoonists talking shop for the benefit of other artists. There’s no “webcomics drama” talk as they call it, just tips and information. It’s really a great resource.

My name comes up within the first five minutes of the latest episode, and it’s not nearly as cool or as big a deal as you might think. Basically, I gave some tips about digital inking on the Webcomics Weekly forum which were apparently adopted by Ugly Hill creator Paul Southworth. Scott Kurtz of PvP mentions this on the show, but the focus is really more on Southworth’s use of the tips than on yours truly (I’m referred to as “some guy” until Kurtz actually takes a look at the forum post).

I’m not complaining. Ugly Hill is one of my favorite strips and Mr. Southworth gave me a nice thank you in the forum. I’m thrilled that my tips were actually helpful to someone I admire. Cool, huh? It just would have been nicer if they’d acknowledged my comic or, even better, mentioned its URL.

The Chronicle Forum is not new, but I realized I hadn’t officially invited all you JW.com types to come on over and join in the fun that I’m sure will start any moment now. It’s not exactly hopping with activity yet, but that’s kind of why I’m mentioning it. Join me, won’t us?

Attention: You are now the property of MediaNetCORP. All rights to you are reserved. Any unauthorized duplication and/or distribution of yourself is strictly prohibited and may be punishable by fees up to and including $250,000 and/or up to fifteen years in prison.

That is all. Await further instruction.

In which I whine a bit

It hasn’t even been two weeks and I’ve experienced quite a lot since launching the comic. It’s been almost equal parts exhilaration and frustration, with some glee and disappointment sprinkled in to taste.

In regard to the strip itself, I couldn’t be more pleased. I don’t mean there’s no room for improvement, because there clearly is. But I’m doing my best work and I’m more than happy with where it is and where it’s going. It’s the business aspect of being a cartoonist that has been something of a roller coaster.

On the one hand it’s exciting to watch the Google Analytics stats and see that I have daily readers from as far away as India, Japan and Australia. On the other hand, almost every attempt I’ve made to reach out to like-minded individuals or professionals I admire has been completely ignored. I know it’s early, and my best bet for gaining clout is to just draw my comic every day for a long time. Still, it does sting a bit when you go out on a limb to email someone you consider a successful role mode, only to receive no response at all.

Also, why do folks keep turning down my ads? I’m offering the same amount of money as those other people who advertise these sites, and my ads are at least as attractive. But I’ve been turned away at every attempt.

Anyway, those are the big complaints. By no means am I discouraged, these are just the growing pains of a guy who isn’t used to having to sell himself. I’ve been a big fish in a tiny pond for too long. Suddenly I’m in an ocean. Scary, sure, but the opportunities it presents are exciting to say the least.

I’m posting all of this here rather than on the Chronicle blog or forum because I don’t think it’s appropriate there. I’m not a fan of webcomics creators splattering their personal emotional baggage all over their strip blogs. It always changes the way I look at their work, seldom for the better. (Wait – does that mean I’m ruining Chronicle for all you JW.com readers?)

I’ll continue to post my personal thoughts here from time to time as the struggle continues. So far, I’m having a blast. I’m just having trouble figuring out how to get noticed on these vast intertrons.

I thought this day would never arrive, and yet I feel blindsided by the whole thing.

Chronicle is live. I invite you to read it. Every day.

A while back I did some web design for my good friend and colleague Andres Valenzuela. Part of his payment to me was the offer of a photo shoot if I ever needed one. I’m not much for self-promotion (that’s why I run a website with my name plastered on it), but I figured now might be a good time to cash in as I’m getting serious about selling Chronicle.

Above are the three least-embarrassing images from my shoot with Andres. I can’t help what my face looks like, and Andres is a mere mortal, but he sure did make me look 20 pounds thinner than I really am. He’s very talented and you can check out more of his work at his site.

As for the photos themselves, they’re just one small piece of the enormous puzzle called ChronicleComic.com, which I have exactly one week to finish assembling. Back to it!

The word is out. My new comic strip Chronicle will debut on Monday, October 1, 2007. New strips will be posted every Monday thru Friday. The site is under construction at the moment, but you can stop by and sign up to receive an email reminder on launch day. Once the strip is live, you’ll be able to subscribe via daily email or RSS. Stay tuned, won’t you?

Hi, internet buddies.

Sorry for the slump. There’s a good reason for it, I assure you. This is a very exciting time. Not only is my life about to start changing in a big way, it’s happening at my absolute favorite time of year. Is it just me, or is fall in the air a tad early this year? Sept. and Oct. will be important months for me as I cast off some of the old clothes and slip into the trousers of change.

Everybody done enjoying that metaphor? No? Need a minute? OK.

Good. We’re all back.

I have no idea what the coming months will mean for this site. It’s not going anywhere, but something’s going to have to change. For one thing, I’m going to be promoting and pimping Chronicle so much I expect I’ll have to change the JoshWay.com domain into some kind of placeholder that will redirect to the comic site. If that happens, I’ll move this site to an alternate location, probably a subdomain like friends.joshway.com or something like that.

For many reasons – some sentimental, some practical – I’d like to try and preserve this community as much as possible, and not have it overrun by the hefty traffic I hope to summon with the comic. And since I intend to invite everyone on the planet and their Uncle Lou to the Chronicle site, I’ll need somewhere to chill with true friends in a relatively quiet and safe environment.

Sorry I haven’t followed up with another Chronicle podcast. So much is happening, to the degree that I feel like stopping to document it would hurt my stamina. The two biggest tasks at the moment are writing and drawing the first couple of months’ strips and creating the website. Both jobs are huge, but thankfully they compliment one another very well so the work never gets boring or overwhelming. The site is going to be really cool. I’m proud of it already. It will be very easy for readers to keep up with the strip, with a variety of tools for navigating the archives and subscribing to the daily comics.

Forgive me also for not blogging too much lately. Feel free to use this thread to discuss any or all of the following items, items I would have blogged on by now if I weren’t so busy:

• Miss Teen South Carolina is pretty, stupid
• I rented Hot Fuzz. It’s a very funny movie
• Why is the media reporting on Mother Teresa’s apparent doubts about her faith as though they disprove the very existence of God?
• Is there any redemption for Michael Vick?
• Did Owen Wilson try to kill himself? Have you seen ‘Zoolander’?
• Is TV dead?
• How awesome does Folklore for the PS3 look?

Josh out.

Here’s the official logo for the new comic strip. I like it. It has that “Web 2.0″, “put me on a t-shirt” kinda feeling to it.

I’m anxious to do another video podcast about the current state of the strip, but I’m simply too busy in the evenings lately. This should not be construed as a sign that progress isn’t being made. Things are happening at a good pace and I will have much to share with you soon. In fact, if you’ll forgive me a mad scientist moment, I’d like to proclaim that everything’s going according to plan. (Maniacal laughter implied.)

I was hoping to post another Chronicle Podcast before I left for San Diego, but it looks like that’s not gonna happen. Which is a shame, because much has happened since I made that first video. I really can’t believe the progress I’ve made this month alone, despite all the traveling.

But don’t despair! You’ll be inundated with Chronicle news and artwork when I return. And after spending four days with Brian, I’m sure I’ll have some great new perspective on my characters and story.

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