Victory Lap! I can't tell you how jaw-dropping it is to realize I've been lucky enough to do this for 25 years. This milestone is worthy of celebration.
And it almost didn't happen. I've been so busy, tired and stressed, I didn't think I'd have time to do anything celebratory beyond some kind of animated strip. But with the help of my family, we came-up with a design that turned everything around. Big thanks to my daughter Leah for helping me design, render, and then animate the 25th anniversary "statue" art. We're using it as the main-page-parallax, in the comic itself, and hopefully you'll be able to purchase it as a poster in the store! One of the many reasons for the store's delayed opening was I wanted to proof the quality of the poster and also have the product in hand before taking orders.
Thanks to Shirt Guy Tom, Joe Sunday, and my daughter Leah for throwing together last minute artist-trading-cards to help me celebrate the day. There are so many people I could have and should have reached out to, to join in, but as I said, this was very last minute. Maybe I can do something bigger for the 30th Sluggy Freelance Anniversary (assuming I haven't wrapped everything up by then and the amazing Defenders are still supporting the comic)!
Speaking of, five years ago I was almost done because the comic was not financially viable. I didn't know how I was going to complete the story, but it wouldn't be as a webcomic. You New 20+ Defenders changed everything. And that support kept Sluggy Freelance afloat through events like the pandemic.
Unfortunately, times are getting more difficult and thanks to my old brain, my creative output is a little slower. I still have so much more to do, but I need your help! Please consider becoming a Defender if you're not already. You pay per strip I make, at a maximum of 12 strips per month. At the lowest tier that's only $6 a month max. That's the cost of a single fast food value-meal for a month of Sluggy goodness. It really makes a difference! Thank you very much for your consideration!
Anywho, after my victory lap around my house (causing the neighbors to stop and stare), I'm back to the drawing board, literally! ;)
One last thing. Everyone's getting a free digital bookmark! Just log into sluggy.com and you'll notice it is already added to your collection. Cheers, my friends! It's a good day.