C O P R A # 12

Copra #12, on sale now.

Five page preview over at Comics Alliance.

And a t-shirt. There’s a t-shirt now available.

Copra.

Number.

Twelve.

There, I said it. It’s not as if I didn’t think I would, but hey… this is kinda weird! This may be just another walk in the park to those down-in-the-trenches lifers (shout out to my man Sal B.), but this is new to me. I’ve never done anything at this pace or with this schedule. On top of that, these kind of action stories were strangely outside my comfort zone. I took the risk, put my money where my mouth was, and a year later, 12 issues later…

You folks had a lot to do with this. Your support and enthusiasm really made this enterprise keep running. I’m not gonna sit here and say that I would’ve seen this thing through no matter how few fans Copra would’ve had (I’ve made plenty of comics with minimal reader numbers, like an open mic nite audience consisting of 2 roommates, a co-worker and a distant cousin). Oh, sure, I designed and conceived Copra to serve as a thing that would make me personally happy, a thing that would be fun and hilarious to work on. But the fact that you guys showed up and liked it, that made a world of difference. It made it easier to tell these stories. Like it or not, this is a two way street, baby.

Big thanks to the subscribers and the retail stores, the letter writers and fan artists.  Many thanks for the critics and their reviews, the write ups, the mentions, the pros, the peers and the aspiring cartoonists. Every single reader, thank you.

Colin Murchison, Chris Sinderson, Jason Thibodeaux, Erik Mallo, Tom Adams, Tucker Stone, Bryan Galatis, Kat Roberts: I would be an empty  chunk of skin flapping in the wind without your collective breath of unwavering support. Flapping, I tell you!

Okay, so what now? I got a collection in the works and a few non-Copra related projects brewing. But as far as Copra issues go, I will definitely be continuing the series. I know I committed to 12 issues initially, but early on I kept coming up with ripe ideas to explore beyond the limit I set for myself. I aim to release subsequent issues in 6 issue bursts. It’ll still be on a tight schedule and I will still remain its sole creator, the one pushing the nib and slapping the shipping labels on the envelopes.

I can drop dead tomorrow but I can at least say that I did a monthly comic the way I saw fit with no interference, on paper, with a letters page, with fan art, with subscribers and in stores… it’s my dream project.

I believe it is time to chill. Where, I ask, are my bro bros at?

Hey, it’s not over yet. You still have to get Copra #12 in your hands. I do hope you like it.

Have a safe holiday and please do keep in touch. See you all real soon.

–Fiffe