Sluggy Freelance

Hey guys! After careful consideration I’ve decided to resume strips. I’m going for one a week. Three reasons for this:

1) I am well on my way to finishing the book, but because of the sheer size and scope of the book and the UNPRECEDENTED 15-16 page bonus story, it requires more time than I’m willing to have you all wait. This book may be the one of my proudest achievements.  It’s been a back-crushing anxiety-driving labor of love, but I can finally see the finish line! It’s going to be so worth it when we all have it in our hands!

2) You guys have been waiting weeks and I don’t want you to disengage any further from what will ultimately be a very meaningful story.

3) There's rarely been a week without Sluggy Freelance comics EVAR. I’d hate to break precedent and have a month without strips. It feels like letting the pandemic win a little. Screw you, coronavirus!

So for those reasons I’m switching from 'no comics' to 'one comic a week'. The next two comics should land on July 22nd and July 29th!

As far as the book being off to the printers, I think It’ll be by the end of July, or not far past that!

Hey all! I'm getting sleep again (THANK GOODNESS). This hiatus from the strips is working! And I've completed step one in getting back on top of the pile! Let's talk Pawnz and Bookmarks!

A NOTE ON MAILING PAWNZ & BOOKMARK MAIL REWARDS!: I haven't sent out any physical rewards (Pawnz-Postcards & Bookmarks) since February due to the pandemic-caused-postal-chaos that has ensued. I think domestic mail is under control now, but that there are still issues with international shipping. I need to do more research when I have time! In any case I'm going to send all rewards out eventually, never fear!

YOU CAN NOW OPT OUT OF PAWNZ & BOOKMARK MAIL REWARDS!: Several of you have expressed that you're pledging at a higher tier to keep the strip going, and not because you want postcards and bookmarks in your mailbox every month. Well now you can Opt Out here! https://login.sluggy.com/subscription_profile  also found from hovering over yourusername -> Subscription Profile. THIS WILL NOT OPT YOU OUT FROM RECEIVING EARNED BOOKS! If you earned a free Sluggy book I'm damn-well going to see you get one, and you can't stop me!


So here's the Pawnz & Bookmarks for June, July, and August!

June has already passed but as long as you were a Level 2(or higher) Defender by mid June, you will have this little NOM-possesed Bun-bun in your digital collection, and a nifty NOM bookmark to use on the site! Level 3 or higher gets the physical postcard (allowing you to cut out and fold your own little pawnz NOM-Bun-bun) and bookmark mailed to you once I resume mailing! The “Safehouse: The NOM” story appears in the upcoming Sluggy Freelance Book 21, 4U City Red.

July is special, and as long as you’re a Defender of the right level by mid July you’ll get both of these guys! FROG and CORSICA! Same deal as for June! Level2+ for digital copies, Level 3+ for physical copies as well!

More Details (optional read): When the store reopens, the digital Frog Pawn will be available in the Sluggy Store for $0.99. So Corsica is the Pawnz of the Month, and Frog is a Store Item. Frog is close to core-cast so I wanted him available to all. But I really wanted the 2+ Defenders to have both at once, and the 3+ Defenders to be able to make the cut-n-fold amphibian couple as a set, so this was the simplest way to make that happen. If that's confusing don’t worry. Anyone can buy a digital frog for a buck soon. Defender Level 2+ you’ll have Frog and Corsica digitally free, Defender Level 3+ you’ll have Frog and Corsica postcard mailed to you free.

For August 2020, and for Sluggy Freelance’s 23rd Anniversary, I can think of nothing more fitting than the irascible Frog unleashing an angry tirade! The Angry Frog Bookmark, Pawnz and Postcard! Nifty!


And that's Pawnz & Bookmarks DONE! On to Book 21!

This news story is actually two recent headline updates that were taking up too much room.
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6/26/20 UPDATE: Head’s-up everybody! I don’t know if you read the “Light Switch!” news story in the news section below, but I’ve fallen back into ‘Light Switch OFF’. My severe insomnia is making work near impossible. I haven’t gotten to the ‘Pawnz & Bookmarks’ for this month even though this month is almost done because I’ve been pushing to complete Book 21 work in the background. The anxiety from falling behind on first the ‘P&B’, and then the book, and soon on the strips, is causing anxiety that's causing the insomnia that is increasing the anxiety.

This circle of stress-anxiety-insomnia may cause delays in future strips. With everything going on in the world I have nothing to complain about but I did want to explain, if for no other reason, that your understanding may help me lower the anxiety. I’m putting all this pressure on myself and I’m having a hard time willing it away to get a solid night’s sleep.

Anywho I HOPE to reveal the June P&B before the end of June, I HOPE to get the book off to the printer in very early July and I HOPE to keep the comics coming Tuesdays and Fridays but all bets are off until the Light Switch goes back ON!

6/30/20 UPDATE: IT’S WORSE! Yep, the insomnia train keeps on rolling. Its hard to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it, but it really feels like losing your mind a little bit. Thanks to all of you who reached out to me to let me know everything’s OK.

I've made a tough decision on how to proceed. After today's comic (June 30^th), I'm on ‘vacation’. I'm not going to the beach or anything (I hate swimming in a soggy mask!), but will allow myself to try to sleep stress free. As soon as I feel up to it, I will create the Pawnz and Bookmarks for June, July, and August. After that, when I feel up to it I will complete the bonus story work on Book 21, wrap it up, and send it off to the printer. And only then will I resume strips. With the self-imposed weight off my shoulders we should get back to business as usual! I'm really excited to tell this story and don't want my deteriorated brain-from-insomnia to screw it all up!

Could this mean no new strips in July? I sure hope not. And I may change these plans especially if I start getting sleep and feeling better. In the meantime wish me luck, stay golden, and be kind, empathetic, and smart.

I hadn’t been sleeping for a couple of weeks. Maybe 3-5 hours a night? And my usual power-naps that I could always rely on for a nice hour midday had just stopped working. Then, as inexplicably as it started, it stopped. My naps worked, I got 8 hours some nights, and I was like, “Wow, THIS is what it’s like to not be exhausted all the time! I remember this!”

The thing was, I didn’t realize during it how exhausted I was. I was functioning at 40% thinking I was at 80%. Now, it’s like a light-switch flipped on. My reality is completely one thing. Oh, now my reality is completely another thing.

So (as blog-post reading defenders already know) I’m normally not able to write in a house full of people. I used to have an empty house half the day and ability to go off to a hotel in writing emergency situations. No more of that. I’d been coasting on Anima scripts I had done in 2019. Chapter 73 was a blank sheet of paper, and try-after-try I couldn’t fill it. I knew what I wanted to do with Chapter 73, but it was ambitious and required focus I could NOT achieves. I was seriously concerned there’d be no knew scripts, and thus no new comics at all in June.

So my family worked with me to create the best environment possible for me to avoid distractions and interruptions and gain focus. No guarantee it would work, but our best shot. And then after 48 hours the light flipped on. I went from a reality where Chapter 73 was a blank sheet of paper to I GOT SCRIPTS! Not just any scripts, ones for that ambitious story I wanted to tell!

The blank sheet is no longer blank. The road map is drawn from start of journey to destination. I WILL have to work out some kinks along the way. Like, if I have writers block or script issues and delays, it’s in hammering out the specifics, which is still hard to do in a house full of people. BUT I HAVE THE GENERAL PLAN ROCK-SOLID! I love that light switch in the on position. Chapter 73, The Immortal King, begins Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020. 6/2 UPDATE: Due to unforeseen delays Chapter 73, The Immortal King, begins Friday, June 5th, 2020.

Hey guys! The store is closed for the holiday! Thanks for the exhausting outpouring of orders, and it was a joy to send all the free book 20's out to the level-4-and-higher Defenders. As you may remember I have Book 21 pretty much laid out. I look to early 2020 to create the bonus content (the 4u City Amber story), and when that is under control i should be able to let you know when the store will reopen. Until then, I hope you have a safe and happy holiday season and be nifty to each other.

The Sluggy Store will open Monday at noon, Eastern Time! Here's what you need to know. The store will carry the usual beanie Bun-buns (which have NEVER stopped being awesome), an eclectic size-selection of shirts, AND ALL OF THE SLUGGY BOOKS!

SOLD OUT (as of 8pm 12/4) BUT AT INDYPLANET SOON: SLUGGY FREELANCE BOOK 20 "4U GREEN - 4U BLUE": At a whopping 272 pages, this is the largest Sluggy Freelance book ever! (Megatomes count as multiple books).
MEGATOME 2 "LITTLE EVILS": Still sold out. But I'm offering some "Scratch and Dent" versions. Readable, but cover-damaged, and much cheaper than the upcoming re-release of "Little Evils".
ALL THE OTHER BOOKS TOO!: We'll have the usual Megatome 1 "Born of Nifty", and Book 9 "Dangerous Days".  On top of that we'll also have a very limited supply of books 8-7, and 10-19.

You may miss out if you don't order ASAP!
The store opens Monday, December 2nd. The International Deadline, if you want your Sluggy stuff by Christmas, is Thursday, December 5th. Not much time. Also limited supplies mean, even though the Domestic deadline is much later than Thursday, books may become sold out quickly. Even Book 20. No matter where you live, if it's important to you, please order ASAP!