Where We’re At And Where We’re Going

Where We're At and Where We're Going

Backwood Folk ISSUE TWO: Dry County Spirits coming soon!

The here and hereafter intersect at the Po’Dunk Farmer’s Market when Lilian learns her dairy products are less desired than her ability to commune with the dead.

Benedict has car trouble, and Cub learns where goats go when they die.

Hello friends! Not much today beyond a progress report and your assorted bits and bobs! Which is to say, Backwood Folk #2 is almost done! Working on the final sequences of it now, then it’s off lettering, and then it’s out the door. It took a lot longer than I expected and there’s a reason for that. I know I bandied about that I was half way done with the second installment the moment I put issue one out. And that much was true at the time. My initial plans had been for that first installment to be an oversized issue of 48 pages with subsequent issues being a more standard 24. Maybe 32 if I was feeling decadent. But no, that route leads itself to cliffhangers and a more intense serialization. A route I’m not unopposed to, but a route that requires a rapidity of release that isn’t really feasible in the one man operation I’ve got running. This is not and never will be a monthly book. I reoriented a bit. Issue #2 and what would have been issue #3 have been combined. So issue 2? Also 48 pages. Also hopefully the kinda issue that feels like a full meal.

These kind of shifts lead to all kinds of panic for about a week and the occasional unused art. Example above, a discarded cover from when two issues go down to one. But that’s all settled, and I’m very happy with the flow of Dry County Spirits. It follows immediately on the heels of our first issue. Probably the last time between issues without some level of time jump (talking weeks and months, nothing like a five years later play) but it made an appealing duology with the first issue. Benedict’s return and how it affects him for the first and how his return affects Lilian in the second. And who knows maybe I’ll use that discarded cover art elsewhere at some point. I quite like it.

If all goes to plan, my hope is to have you all back in Po’Dunk at the end of summer! But I never speak definitely in a world where it seems like I watch print prices creep up, seemingly matching pace with every other braindead headline our country provides. But I’d get this comic out to you in a world without paper. Can’t wait for you to read it.

Other Bits and Bobs

-I am deeply bad at mentioning that I’m also on an Ozark history and folklore podcast called WE ALWAYS LIE TO STRANGERS (named for the Vance Randolph book) We’ve been at for over a year, and it’s been a lot of fun. Just four of us talking about novelties we discover in this region. You can listen on spotify, itunes, and really all of the podcast places. You can find the social media for it on bluesky and instagram.
-I also mention this because we just did a podcast crossover with Beyond The Breakers. Tanner and Taylor run a really cool show about shipwrecks and maritime disasters. Which really hits my sweet spot for these kinda things. Seemingly niche but with an almost endless pool of wild stories. It’s not often you get a lot of opportunities to cover shipwrecks and other boat disasters on a landlocked podcast, so when you get that invitation you take it. You can find us on their episode on the I-40 Bridge Collapse. After that (or before that, how you engage with time is your business) check out their whole catalog! Just an incredible wealth of stories.