Thread 149174798

And there it is.

>>149174798 (OP)
Dude’s traumatized as all hell. The noise, the chaos, the sheer press of bodies of a teeming crowd… yeah man, dude needs some peace and quiet in the countryside, and that ain’t gonna be in the Queen’s peaceguard.

Website comment:
>Elka is very sensitive. Good thing she thought better of bringing along that Get Well card she had everyone sign back at the depot, the one that said: “YOU’RE OUT OF THE ARMY NOW LOL!”

>Check out the print book ANNOUNCEMENT if you missed it! :D

>-Ashley
Patreon comment:
>Elka is a little frosty towards him to start. For a minute there she thought he hadn't learned a damn thing and was running away from Emne again. Even if it's legal, apparently, it's a bad look.

>But there's more to it than that. You don't go through what he went through, lose your right arm, and bounce back into the hero's spotlight. It's just too much.

>---

>So, the publisher mentioned wanting the follower count for the Kickstarter to break 300 by the time it launches. Readers, that sucker's over 1200 now in only 24 hours.

>https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ironspike/summer-2025-mystery-project

>I'm pretty chuffed, no lie. I thought I was gonna embarrass myself and have to get my family members to register for KS and follow it, and the publisher was going to regret signing me, and I would perish of lameness and humiliation.

>But over 1200! Thanks, guys :)

>>149174798 (OP)
Look how disappointed he is about the dick jokes.

>>149174932
Well, also the crowd is currently cheering the hangings. The queen wanted Toma to stand up in front of that and give a speech. Dude's had enough death.

just suck his dick already elka.

>>149174952
>So, the publisher mentioned wanting the follower count for the Kickstarter to break 300 by the time it launches. Readers, that sucker's over 1200 now in only 24 hours.
as someone who has run a couple of underperforming but still 'successful' kickstarters, I'm happy for her

>>149174798 (OP)
I thought only his forearm was getting put through it that entire time but I guess they just went "whole thing's fucked, screw it"

>>149175345
Same— never run a kickstarter myself, but I’m really happy to see she beat the publisher’s minimum expectations three times over, just a day after announcing the kickstarter. That ought to inspire confidence in the publisher.

>>149175428
Four times over, and counting.

>>149175345
It'll be interesting to see how the backers compare to previous Kickstarters
>Volume 1 : 1275
>Volume 2 : 1678
>Volume 3 : 1656

Volume 3 was back in 2017, I'm honestly not sure how much the reader base has grown over the years. I imagine a lot of people have read and caught up with it but staying updated is a big ask over 15 years of updates. Her Patreon backers have almost doubled since 2017 so that's pretty good. Hopefully the broader reach of Iron Circus Comics gets some people interested in it, especially since Book 1 is basically done so they can advertise the next books on a set schedule instead of "whenever the creator finishes it."

>>149174952
>You don't go through what he went through, lose your right arm, and bounce back into the hero's spotlight
I guess Duane's just built different then.

>>149175482
With how the internet is now having a solid and steady audience is super valuable at least.

>>149175363
I know it’s just a comic but desu, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was risking compartment syndrome by the time he got medical attention. The whole arm was way fucked up, right up to the shoulder when he got swung up like a rag doll.

>>149175482
I'm curious what to expect with regards to seeing it in stores eventually. I wonder how much an impact that'll have on the reach. I've always felt like it's criminally underrated, but it's also undeniably niche. I also wonder how many copies will be available for stores.
>>149175501
Duane didn't just bounce back though. It took him years to even begin to find his footing, and once he did he mostly just powered through with deep self-loathing, certain he was an afront to God. That part has only recently changed. Toma will get there with time too.

>>149175646
>I'm curious what to expect with regards to seeing it in stores eventually. I wonder how much an impact that'll have on the reach. I've always felt like it's criminally underrated, but it's also undeniably niche. I also wonder how many copies will be available for stores.
It depends on the publisher I guess. And the US market being weird because of the comic book store/book store divide.

People used to get surprised by seeing SSSS on bookshelf stores and in public libraries in euroland, down to the deal that Minna had with a euro publisher. She was still free to run her kickstarters and ship books out herself to her backers, the publisher handled printing and the store side of things, and apparently it worked out very well for her.

It's possible that in Ashley's case the "store" is ICW's web store. But I'm just speculating, no idea really.

>>149175770
She actually talked about it briefly saying it'll be available in physical stores and on ICW's store. It was either on the Tumblr or Patreon I don't recall. In any case, having a publisher list it on their store and make it available for sale in physical stores definitely will bring it to more eyes. I'm curious how it turns out though and how many new readers Ash will reach with this.

>>149175865
Just quietly, her having a publisher now also opens up another door... one I personally tried to open last year to no avail.

>>149175879
Which door are you thinking of here? I feel like there are a lot of new and some old possibilities opening up to her.

>>149175482
keep in mind that was really only domestic
I feel being able to go international with the new publisher will net ash exponentially more readers
There's a whole euro following for unsounded on top of the vatnik one (snowniggers don't buy things at the best of times though so it's not important)

>>149175913
I don't want to say. Cope is shy.

>>149175934
Fuck it. It starts with I and ends with zner

>>149175919
>keep in mind that was really only domestic
Not really. Me and many other buyers are non-US. The block she put on outside orders from her web store was much more recent than the kickstarters.

>>149175963
>Not really. Me and many other buyers are non-US.
Do you have a percentage?

>>149174798 (OP)
Elkas just disappointed.

>>149175938
Izner?
You mean ghost writing?

>>149175975
No, I only know from here and other places peeps talk about unsounded.

>>149175991
jesus dude, no.

>>149176018
Oh, but she lost to gunnerkrigg court a few years back despite being nominated

>>149176027
Neither Gunnerkrigg Court nor Unsounded have ever been nominated.

>>149175975
She has/had a whole Russian fan translation, not sure if it's still running after everything. Ignoring that though, you could probably ask her what portion of her sales were overseas. Anon is right that the limitation about no overseas shipping came significantly after all 3 Kickstarters had already run. Only significantly after the fact sales would have been impacted. And now this will no longer be a limiting factor.

>>149176052
then I'm thinking of another webcomic award?

it was during the 2020 pandemic, they had the whole thing in zoom calls and it was either unsounded of gunnerkrigg, and gunner won
hold on

>>149175482
>set schedule
They seem to want to do two volumes and year and with two coming out now and two more next year that is already book 1 done which took 15 years for cope to do. Publishing is going take a multi year break after catching up in 2026.

>>149176070
There's enough of an international readership that there was and still is a fair bit of bitching about the lack of international ordering.

Oh right, gunnerkrigg won the *reuben award* for Best Longform Online Comic

https://youtu.be/SJJ20poXH4s

>>149176086
Anon, Unsounded isn't even in the nominees in that video.

>>149176100
huh
okay that's on me
but why not
they got ksbd in there

>>149176081
That's what I'm saying, they can have these things be a yearly release for a few years which is a lot more palatable than Kickstart this Volume 1 when Volume 2 isn't even completely drawn yet like in the original Kickstarter. Should hopefully add some more interest, more people willing to buy in and give it a chance.

>>149176106
ksbd is pretty popular

>>149176100
And it won't be in the nominees for any of the other things either. The web comic category in the awards I mentioned tend to be weak, for the simple reason that only the author and the publisher can nominate, and most web comics are self published. So, 90% of them can only nominate themselves, and Cope isnt' the sort to do that.

I tried. I spoke directly to the lovely old lady who runs the whole thing last year. But now, there's a proper publisher. I don't want to embarrass her, but I think she deserves it.

>>149176114
yeah I'm wondering why didn't unsounded even get nominated
like I mandela effect myself the finals were gunnerkrigg and unsounded instead it was ksbd and gunnerkigg

like how much of a online longform comic can you get the thing's been going on since 2010
>>149176124

oooh, I see
>and Cope isnt' the sort to do that.
oh dear
ms Cope can be a very silly person sometimes
biggest enemy and everything
at least I get it now
it would probably have been a good tie between ksbd and unsounded instead of tom's shitshow

>>149176124
You are sweet but art awards are dumb. Art is too subjective to have to compete with other art Anyone who finishes a comic is a winner. Also early Unsounded is mid as hell so it doesn't deserve anything.

You really are sweet though. I feel awarded enough that so many cool people like my trash.

>>149176124
Maybe when Book 1 is truly complete we can bully her into it. Ashley if you're reading this, no one cares about webcomic categories anyway! It's like Best Animated at the Oscars, most of the voters don't even watch all of them.

>>149176146
See, look at this. I can't even namefag properly, I'm a disgrace.

>>149176106
Awards usually have some criteria for submission and there's always the chance someone won't submit even if they qualify. It's also going to be impossible for any single award to be truly comprehensive.

>>149176124
>>149176138
Dammit, Ashley. Could she refuse to accept a publisher nominating her? Would she be foolish enough to do that? Surely that's not one of the battles she would pick with them.

>>149176157
I thank god I'm not an artist every now and then
congrats on the publishing deal ya nerd

>>149176146
Eisner's have mass, Cope. MASS.

>>149176157
Go to bed Ashley you got drawing to do

>>149176179
So does my ass, Anon!

>>149176070
I think the Russian fan translation was discontinued after the guy initially doing it took his own life. Someone tried to pick it up after but it never really stuck.

Rest in peace, Dusker.

>>149176146
>>149176157
Increasing the eyes on your webcomic is reason enough to apply for it from a business perspective. Get yourself some more patreons so you can buy whatever BL trash your fujo heart desires. But as much as it might pain you to admit, Unsounded is the best webcomic out there hands down and the only others that can even try to hold a candle to it have never been about to compete in terms of consistent updates, which matters far more to what's worth reading.

>>149176194
I can nominate that at least. Don't need to be no stinkin' publisher.

>>149176194
Yo Ashley, what're you gonna do with the old Volume 1 and 3s you don't sell? Keep em to just give out randomly?

>>149176197
Yeah, I'm aware of what happened. I just couldn't remember if the successors ever stuck or not. That's a shame.

>>149176209
I was wondering this as well. How many are left? Any other extra merch?

>>149176209
I really dunno, man. It feels insane to just pitch them in a dumpster but they're about to be outdated. I guess I'll probably bin all the v3s and then yeah, keep the 1s to hand out at conventions or leave in the bathrooms at Disney World and various nursery schools and daycare facilities.

cope, am i allowed to ask for a doodle of sette's feet for some applicable tier of the kickstarter? genuine question

>>149176199
There was an anon who mentioned buying some copies for his local library and now I plan to visit mine and see if they take donations or requests.

>>149176243
make sure to put them in the kids section for high speed Family friendly trauma :D

>>149176232
Nah, don't toss them. What about donating them to libraries throughout Florida along with a digital version of the other books?
>>149176243
I'm thinking about doing this as well. I want to help Ashley spread her audience far and wide.

>>149176230
I have a lot of 1 left since I ordered a buttload when I did the second printing, trying to future proof it. Not as much of 3. I have a bunch of stickers and bookmarks and a few postcard print sets from the second KS. I'm gonna slip them into Patreon orders this weekend. I also have a custom Sette ball jointed doll that I need to shift, but that'll probably go on ebay at some point.

>>149176242
You gotta score a commission. No loli, you'll get me cancelled. Ask for raunchy adult stuff! Or monsters! Man, I love monsters.

>>149176232
Noooo don’t bin the V3s! You can donate them to libraries.

> but they’re out of order anon, who even starts with a volume 3

Half the population who’s ever gotten into capeshit has probably never started with the first volume of a particular superhero, even in a bookstore.

Speaking of conventions. Any chance you ever plan to go to another convention sometime in this decade? I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed to see you at SDCC someday.

>>149176279
but you draw her feet every other panel!

>>149176279
>sette
>ball jointed doll
two of my favorite things. i will never be able to afford that without starving

>>149176294
It’s called plausible deniability, anon.

>>149176279
Yeah that's a really weird place to be with the Volume 3s. I was thinking of asking around if any international people wanted one and just ordering a few and holding onto in case an opportunity pops up to send them over. If feels super wrong to just toss them.

>>149176294
everyone has feet anon

>>149176253
True story. When I got my phyiscal copies they were delivered to my parents house. The parents brought them to me when we were all gathered at my brother's place for my niece's birthday. There were lots of kids there, a bouncy castle, even a pony. I put the books down in the kitchen and partied heartily.

When I went back to the kitchen two of the slightly older girls at the party were already halfway into volume 2. They were loving it, no trauma. Therefore based on my research with a massive sample size, people just need to see it, read it and they'll love it.

>>149176279
I would say definitely keep them to hand out or maybe sell as special editions if you're allowed to do that by your publisher, and then donate the rest to libraries.

>You gotta score a commission. No loli, you'll get me cancelled. Ask for raunchy adult stuff! Or monsters! Man, I love monsters.
It's a shame I'm not wealthy enough to ask for more Ruck/Bastion or Bastion/Ilganyang
At least our tastes are similar enough that I can usually count on you to make what I like for free.

Will the second book have any particularly enjoyable monsters?

>>149176326
I mean kids love seeing dead people being murdered horribly but would probably miss some of the undertones, mind you.

>>149176319
What the fuck

>>149176326
Kids are surprisingly resilient and also far less likely to be traumatized than adults often assume.

I used to be a camp counselor and we’d go creek stomping, catch wild snakes and large wolf spiders bare-handed. Most of the kids didn’t have a problem with the creepy crawlers, especially because we’d demonstrate proper handling of them first, so it kind of put them in awe.

The only kids who had a problem with the snakes were ones who’d either been taught to be afraid of them, or whose parents had clearly taught and enabled them to freak out and act hyper-anxious about everything for attention.

I feel like most of the gore and adult themes and whatnot in Unsounded are kinda the same. Most kids will just glide right past it to focus on the funny and exciting parts.

>>149176329
Not to worry anon, if I score a commission, I will ask for Ruck/Bastion. That sketch comic she did of them is ridiculously hot.

>>149176340
To be fair, nearly every kid there had parents with the same job. They've all heard shit. But also, there's nothing in Unsounded that is much worse than classics like The Hunchback of Notre Dame (real version) or the Grimm fairy tales. Kids love scary things.

>>149176364
Will you share with the class or lord it over the peasants?

>>149176371
Share with the class, of course.

If anyone has some good suggestions for how to frame that commission, I’m all ears. Just keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to snag the commission at all.

>>149176326
That story is awesome :D I've always said I think the comic is fine for 13+. It's essentially the Saturday morning cartoon I wish had been on the air when I was that age. It always bugged me when like, Mighty Max or Darkwing Duck would toe the edge of a grim line, but then not cross it. Kids want the line crossed, that's the good stuff. Don't tease.

>>149176329
It does have good monsters. There's a typhoon whale, seaborne waterwomen who are stripey and weirder than the river women, a wandering root, the return of Khette, and then Sette's mysterious brother is poking around somewhere. And some other surprises. I think Minnow and Duane should have an affair, don't you?

Okay, I'm going to bed now. Good night, monsterfuckers and friends <3

>>149176383
You have to beat me to the punch, anon. And I'm a twitchy motherfucker.

>>149176326
Honestly, most kids like to read things with adult/ dark themes. And most teen lit has them. I've also seen more gratuitously written stuff that handles similar themes with less maturity in graphic novel sections that kids absolutely would leaf through.
>>149176359
Exactly. And no matter how dark or explicit Unsounded has gone, it's never felt exploitative. The most exploitation you get is shirtless Quigley. The heavier scenes are all handled with due care.
>>149176364
Doing God's work.

>>149176279
Ash, any chance you know what tier/cost a commission will be?

>>149176392
I pray there are enough ruck/bastion shippers that no matter what, we’ll get a good sketch comic out of it, and whoever gets it will share.

Maybe more than one person will request that. We may soon be eating well, friends.

>>149176383
Honestly? Leave it up to Ash what she does with it aside from the characters and a similar dynamic to the original. She knows her stuff.
>>149176390
I'm happy you're bringing Minnow back. Don't you dare cut her.

>>149176430
>Shipping Ruck x Bastion
Anon, not shipping them is part of what makes it hot.

>>149176431
Anon is wise.

>>149176294
Just ask for Sette doing a complicated jig or something, anon, jeez. Sharteshane, as a country of asshole sailors must have a bunch of stupid peasant dances and songs.

Show a bit of creativity if you wanna get off to feet.

>>149176470
it's not for spank material, i merely want my own one of a kind sette feet

>>149176487
>it's not for spank material
Anon, Ashley's left, you don't need to lie.

>>149176487
>>it's not for spank material
Uhhuh.

>>149176487
No worries anon, you're among friends.

>>149176146
>Also early Unsounded is mid as hell so it doesn't deserve anything.
I can't believe what I'm reading.

>>149176857
It gets better as it goes along, that much is true, but I thought the characters and world were interesting enough in the beginning to keep me reading for all this time. Considering how quick I am to drop something I don't like (especially fantasy) I'd say that counts as something.

Or maybe I just got a weakness for sassy girls.

>>149174798 (OP)
Elka is a Cresce Bitch

>>149176146
More mid than Gunnerkrig Court? Really? REALLY?

>>149176157
Honestly, for all that you're a failure as a namefag and some manner of perverted swamp hag, I genuinely think you're among the best fantasy authors out there, never mind just in the comics field. You're certainly one of the only ones that's the writer, the illustrator, the editor AND keeping it all on schedule WHILE ALSO doing interesting things with webcomics as a medium rather than just a distribution method (I have no idea how you're going to translate that into dead-tree format, but I am really looking forward to it!) The self-editing especially gets overlooked a lot. I would have really liked to see the stuff you say you cut in order to reach this ending, but at the same time it shows remarkable discipline and focus when some other creators could have got really self-indulgent.

Unsounded definitely improves as it goes along because your skills and confidence increase, but even the early stuff isn't bad. Besides, the heavyweights of the genre took a long time to really git gud. Take Terry Pratchett, as just one example. He started writing professionally at 17, his first book (The Carpet People) was published when he was 23, and he didn't start Discworld until he was 35, when The Colour Of Magic came out. And NOBODY seriously recommends you start reading Discworld with the Colour of Magic. Its fine. Its perfectly readable. But its not anywhere near as good as the later novels. I've never known a creator who likes their older work because they're hyper-aware of its flaws, but I'd say you're doing alright.

>>149176857
>>149176911
For me it's Duane saying "You'd cure a child lover in minutes"
That phrase still sticks in my head rent free

>>149176319
Not Rahm!
Well, or so it looks.

>>149176124
Do it i want to see Ashley spill her spaghetti on stage

>>149174798 (OP)
Bro has ptsd. Which, reasonable.

>>149179425
To be honest, I'm cresce at large seems to be so non-twitchy, given the last week or so.

>>149176279
>Ask for raunchy adult stuff
Anadyne Gokkun it is

>>149176146
Early unsounded had the high detailed painted pages though

>>149180320
Anadyne/Knock vore guro dommy mommy
they deserve to be together forever