SKTCHD BOOK 2022

It's that time again! I'm David Harper, and the fourth print annual for SKTCHD, my subscription comic book site, and Off Panel, my weekly comics interview podcast, is ready to be ordered. We have another gem this year, with SKTCHD BOOK 2022 including a cover designed by artist Declan Shalvey and a foreword from writer/artist Chip Zdarsky, as well as five big feature articles from 2022 for the site and podcast. Those features are:

- Finding a New Path: What being a comic book creator means is changing, as it isn't just making comics, but running newsletters, crowdfunding, podcasting, hosting livestreams, having an online store, and a million other things. This piece explores that idea, with insight from folks like Liana Kangas, James Tynion IV, Heidi MacDonald, Joshua Williamson, and more.

- How Jane Foster Became The Mighty Thor: This retrospective tells the story of how....well, Jane Foster became Thor, with insight from the core team behind this journey, including Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman, Wil Moss, Lauren Sankovitch, and more.

- A career-spanning chat with writer Brian K. Vaughan: My interview with writer Brian K. Vaughan, in which we dig deep into his career and writing, will be in print for the first (and only????) time ever.

- Talking the art of Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters with Chris Samnee: The title says it all! This is a deep dive interview with Chris Samnee about the art of his amazing Oni series, and thanks to Chris and Laura Samnee as well as the team over at Oni, SKTCHD BOOK 2022 will include actual pages from Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters within it.

- The Art of Solicitations: You know solicits? Those little paragraphs that are meant to sell readers and retailers on comics? How exactly does one do those right, making them stand out in a sea of similar snippets? I talked to a variety of creators and marketing folks for a fascinating and fun dive into this comics curiosity.

The book is 123 pages long, A5 sized, with interiors printed on 80 lb uncoated paper and a 110 lb matte laminated cover. It's perfect bound, and comes with original art from artist Tadd Galusha, whose work introduces three of the sections. I also may have worked with a graphic designer to create the cover art for the solicitations article, and it might be the best/dumbest thing I've ever done. Oh, and Samnee's cover art for Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters #1 introduces his section, because of course it does.

Bonus: each order will get assorted goodies along with, with early orders from the United States (sorry International customers! I have to keep it tight to keep the weight down!) getting a copy of Neo Noir, the celebration of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' work that I wrote the essays for. Want your copy of Neo Noir or SKTCHD BOOK to be signed, because that's a thing people have wanted in the past? Please note that in the comments when you buy it!

One important note is the books will not be ordered until after orders close - I'm only doing one print run here, so if you want a book, now's the time! - and I'll be letting orders run a little longer than usual. I'll be accepting orders until Sunday, April 23rd at 5 pm Alaska time. With the supply chain still being a bit wonky and me being in France for most of April, I'm only getting the books made once all orders are in. Once the books are made, they'll ship to Alaska, at which point I will ship them out. Also, I can now offer both flat rate and media mail as options for U.S. customers, so American customers get some options.

Unfortunately, International rates are still terrible, and apparently are only getting worse? I am very sorry about how expensive they are. Unfortunately, I do not have another option here. Last year I thought I found a solution that allowed for cheaper prices, but that was unfortunately not the case. I just ended up eating significant costs. Shipping from Alaska is...not cheap, and this is the best I can do.

Here's a projected timeline for the book:

- April 23: Orders close
- April 24: Books are ordered and production begins at Mixam
- May 1-3: Books arrive in Alaska, at which point I will begin bundling and shipping
- May 5-8: Books should begin arriving for U.S. customers who selected flat rate.

Due to shipping insanity, it's tough to project when media mail and International orders will arrive. But they will!

If you have any questions or want to talk about some sort of bulk ordering solution, email me at [email protected] and I'll do my best to sort it out with you. Otherwise, happy ordering!