There seems to be a little confusion about this, so I'll explain to the best of my ability. Warning: I'm not always good at explaining things, so bear with me.
See, up until now, you've had two KISS 4K story lines running concurrently: the story in the print book, which debuted at Wizard World LA last year complete with a press conference featuring Gene and Paul. This was also when the Destoyer Edition was unveiled to the public, which is certified by the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest comic book ever made. But you know all that already.
The second story was available here, at my humble little webcomic site on Drunk Duck. The webcomic existed to tell backstories about the previous incarnations of the 4K spirits, and we took them a month at a time, starting with Casanova, then moving on to Yoshiie, Constantine and Shaka. I also snuck in a little Christmas special, which seemed to go over well with everyone.
Well, as of today, all that's changed. The two have merged into one. The storyline from the print comic will now be told here, exclusively. There'll be no more backstories or side-stories–those have all been told. So, when you're done reading issue 6 and are ready for issue 7, you don't drive to your friendly neighborhood comic shop. You come here.
The publishing schedule will still be the same: three days a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The downside of this is that you don't get to read the whole thing at once. The upside is: you don't have to wait a month for the next issue. Once issue 7 is done, issue 8 will follow immediately on the next scheduled update.
So…why? Why is this happening?
Platinum Dan explained it best in a comment on Friday's page, which I will quote here, in case you missed it:
Platinum Dan
The print book has been selling really well for us here at Platinum and we're very excited about it. There are several reasons why we're doing this.
First and foremost is that Gene, Paul and Scott (Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, CEO of Platinum Studios) are trend-setters and usually at the forefront of what is hot. (KISS was in comics back in the 70's, thirty years before a lot of rock stars like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and all the other bands “discovering” the comics medium right now.) Scott and Gene both see the world moving towards the digital distribution, like DD and websites like Wowio (hint, hint), and they want to be on the trailblazers like they always have been. (Remember when everyone said iTunes wouldn't work?)
Secondly, Gene and Paul plain love Adam's work and want HIM to be the vision that guides 4K from here on out. You guys may not know this, but Gene and Paul both insist on their approval over every printed page of KISS 4K, but they let Adam, and only Adam, do what he wants on the title here online. Actually, I'm kind of jealous of the guy sometimes because they give him more free reign than me. :-)
Anyway, it's not the end of the 4K in print, not by any means, (hinting again) it's just a new example of KISS being the guys that everyone else follows behind. Hope this answers you questions and thanks to Adam for being such an awesome partner for us.
There's really not a lot to add to that (thanks, Dan!), other than this:
I'm ridiculously excited about this. And a little nervous. While this is the fourth Kiss comic to see print (starting with the Marvel comic in the 70s), it's the first Kiss comic to be created entirely by one person. Me. That's a lot of responsibility.
You guys be sure to let me know how I'm doing.
And Dan's not the only one saying good things about this. Matman over at Secret Identity Podcast is very happy with the news. You can read about it here. Thanks for the kind words, Matt!
On a miscellaneous note: Up until now, I've been telling stories a month at a time. That means I've been trying to squeeze 24 pages worth of story into 12 or 13. Well, that's changing, too.
Each issue published online here will span two months. That gives me 24 pages, plus one page for a cover. It also gives me a page at the end of every issue, and I'll be doing pinups and such for those “extra” pages. In other words, the webcomic schedule now looks like this:
Issue 7: March and April (2008)
Issue 8: May and June
Issue 9: July and August
Issue 10: September and October
Issue 11: November and December
Issue 12: January and February (2009)
As the original KISS 4K story was slated for 12 issues, that's the schedule I'm sticking with. So this story will come to an end a year from now. After that, who knows? It's all up to you guys, really. Feel free to let me know what you'd like to see.
That's about it for this month's blog entry. I'd like to say thanks to Dan Forcey, Dave Collins, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Scott Mitchell Rosenberg for trusting me with this monster of a comic book.
I'd also like to say thanks to DJ Coffman for his help when I was getting started (and after) and Jason Embury for his invaluable coloring tips.
P.S.: I'll be at Wizard World LA from the 14th to the 16th of this month. The cover to issue 7 will be for sale as a lithograph. Stop by and check it out! I'll sign it for ya, we can have a couple of beers, talk about old times…that sort of thing. ;)