100 Typing Monkeys
Episode 215
Hello Tribe!
Starting off a new year and already feeling swamped by everything life has to throw at us, I’m considering merging all my newsletters into one. To be completely honest, I feel like three separate newsletters is getting too much to juggle. But, let me know if you’d prefer a newsletter like this one, or if I should continue with the three separate ones. I live to serve.
So, this will be a long one, probably too long to read in your email. You may need to open the newsletter in the Substack app or website.
Anyway, let’s get into it…
Work continues on GORILLA MY DREAMS TEAM-UP #2 Kickstarter. Samir has submitted page #16 this week, so we’re still making headway.
So, I’ll keep you updated whenever we get new art or whatever else happens with GORILLA MY DREAMS TEAM-UP #2. And if you’re interested in getting a copy, late pledges are still open on the Kickstarter Page.
Another piece of news if the progress (or lack thereof) on GORILLA MY DREAMS: OLD MAN KG.
This one is set in the year 2089 where The Prehistoric Death Cult have declared themselves rulers of all! Can a 75-year-old Knockaround-Guy stop them?
Now, I do understand that I OWE a few people this comic. They paid extra to have their characters/likenesses in this comic (and you can see them in the cover art above; Mandrill P.I., Garlic Brad, and Cancelled Lad). You can see them above on the cover art by the SUPER TALENTED Fish Lee.
Last year I had an artist working on it, but they’ve ghosted me. I’ve done everything I can to contact them and either get some art, or my money back, but to no avail.
But the good news is, I THINK I’ve found a new artist for GORILLA MY DREAMS: OLD MAN KG. I’ll keep you posted as we go.
And I guess the flow on from that is that MASTIFF is on hold for a bit too. I have the next issue re-written, but it’s just a matter of cash-flow before I can get the art started on issue two there. It’s a bit frustrating having about ten finished scripts just sitting there waiting and not being able to anything with them right now.
There just isn’t enough money to do every comic I’d love to do, so I’m just working my way through the comics I can, one project at a time.
So, I guess that’s where we’re at with comic book news.
And speaking of comics I’ll probably never get around to…
Zine Quest is happening this month on Kickstarter. And I like coming up with a little 5E DnD compatible zine to throw into the mix.
This year’s 5E Zine is The BASTARD BRIGADE.
Heroic adventurers aren't the answer to every problem. Sometimes, extreme situations require extreme measures… or extreme individuals. The sort of individuals who some would call infamous... villains.
That's the charm of the BASTARD BRIGADE. This group of hard-core killers from different points of time in the past, assembled and trained by the cybernetic Harold Holt, undertake high-risk covert operations. And we do mean high-risk. Regardless of their abilities and talents, every member of the Brigade is expendable—it’s expected that most will not return.
Ned Kelly was the first recruit of Director Holt, becoming field leader of the BASTARD BRIGADE. When all of time and space is attacked by Nikola Tesla, H.P. Lovecraft, and The CACODAEMONIACAL SOCIETY, Holt and Kelly use alien technology to pluck history's fiercest killers from their timelines and force them to defend the world.
Billy the Kid, Vlad the Impaler, Ned Kelly, Director Harold Hold, Jack the Ripper, and Joan of Arc.
A group of history's worst killers with a license to take drastic action in the name of saving the world? What could probably go wrong?
The Bastard Brigade is actually an idea I have for a comic, but I fear I’ll never get around to writing it. So, I figured, the next best thing is letting table-top RPGers tell their own stories.
The characters and monsters in Bastard Brigade are 100% compatible with any 5E RPG, so you can use them with any other Cirque du Nocturne product, or official Dungeons and Dragons stuff.
And I’m trying something different and cool this time, in the form of a $1 pledge…
Do you have a monster or personage of historical significance that you want designed, developed, and published as part of the BASTARD BRIGADE or the CACODAEMONIACAL SOCIETY? As part of this Kickstarter, we're offering backers a chance to suggest a monster or character of their choosing. Tell us all about your idea ("real" or made-up), and we'll put the team to work. The resulting stats will go into the book, to be shared with the entire world of time-travelling dungeon-crawlers!
Every $500 raised we will pick one monster/character suggested by YOU, THE BACKERS!
Some limitations apply: The suggested monster/character MUST NOT violate anyone else's copyright, basic fairness, or my sense of decency (for example, the Beast of a Thousand Jiggling Boobies will probably not get selected for this zine). We reserve the right to reject any idea that does not meet our standards for a fun, playable monster.
The finished monster/character will be CR 10 or lower.
Of course, this benefit will carry on to every pledge level, so no matter which level you choose, you can still suggest a character/monster.
I just thought this would be a fun thing to do.
If this sounds like your sort of thing, you can hit the NOTIFY ME button on THIS PAGE and even preview the full Kickstarter page HERE!
This week I’ll be a guest host on The Movie Club, as being a comic book nerd, my buddy Luke always gets me in to discuss superhero flicks.
And you guess it, we’ll be reviewing the New Captain America movie.
So, make sure you subscribe to The Movie Club, so you get the episode as soon as it drops., as being a comic book nerd, my buddy Luke always gets me in to discuss superhero flicks.
That’s it for today.
I love ya, and I mean it!
Big Tim!
"It's alright to be scared. Remember, there is no courage without fear."
NEXT WEEK: BASTARD BRIGADE: a 5E hunt for Nikola Tesla & H.P. Lovecraft
26 April: Geek Markets Goulburn (pending)
24 May: Comic Gong (pending)
11 October: Geek Markets Wollongong (pending)
COMING SOON: GORILLA MY DREAMS TEAM-UP #3 (Featuring TORN) - An Aussie Superhero Romp Kickstarter
COMING SOON: GORILLA MY DREAMS: OLD MAN KG - An Apocalyptic Monster Romp Kickstarter
COMING SOON: Cirque du Nocturne: CRYPTIDS for 5E Kickstarter
* Trigger warning: Brief mention of suicidal tendencies
It’s amazing how important a genuine, good leader is.
If you’re a long-time reader/follower of mine, you’ll know the struggles I’ve had with toxic workplaces. I’ve had some of the worst leaders in the workplace that you could imagine. And it takes a toll. It fucks with your self-esteem, mental health, and happiness in general. You just want to keep your head low, get your work done as quietly as possible, and just fly under everyone’s radar.
Then you’ll get the occasional leader come in who is a genuine, caring human being. You find yourself smiling more, working harder, and encouraged to achieve bigger things. And just like the shit leaders mentioned above, it affects more than just your work. It affects your OUTSIDE life.
At my day-job, I currently have one of the latter leaders.
I’ve been doing the day-job I’m in for about 15 years. I’ve looked at the ELs around me and have had no desire or aspiration to become one of them. I’ve seen more than a couple people become a total arsehole once they crossed that line from being one of us shit-kickers to becoming an executive.
But working with my current supervisor? Well, damned if that motherfucker hasn’t convinced me that not only am I capable of being a executive, but I could do a lot of good from that position.
Needless to say, work life has been pretty good.
But my current supervisor was sick last week and took a week off, leaving us with the remnants of the old leadership regime.
I’m not going to go into details, because 1) I could get in trouble for talking about my work out of school, and 2) you don’t really need to kow the ins-and-outs of my day job and the Belko Experiment style psychopaths I work with.
Suffice to say one week without half-decent leadership, not only has all the hope and ambition in me been completely crushed, but I was genuinely considering suicide again for the first time in a long, long time. The ONLY THING that stopped me was the thought that if I killed myself, my family wouldn’t get my life-insurance money, and I don’t want them to struggle without me.
And all that is me ON my meds.
I guess all that is to say, the quality of leadership matters.
We live in a world where the biggest mouth gets the job and I'm fucking sick of it. I’m sick of not being able to get ahead if you’re not spruiking 24/7, I’m tired of a world where being the loudest (even when you’re wrong) makes you a leader.
And honestly, I don’t know what to do about it.