WE HAVE ARRIVED.
Unit 44 #5 is officially available for preorder from publisher Alterna Comics.
I’ve dedicated some serious words to the creation and resurrection of my sci-fi/comedy comic book series, but the reason I’ve espoused on this topic so much is less for marketing purposes, and more because I’m so freaking excited to see Unit 44 return.
If you’d like to support Unit 44 (thus helping me to create more issues), today you can preorder issue #5 right now for $2. Yep. $2.
Alterna’s whole modus operandi is to make comics accessible, and that includes a ridiculously low cover price. (If you’re a Marvel or DC reader, you know comic prices are rapidly approaching $5 for 20 pages of entertainment). Me? I’m all about affordability and bulldozing the barrier to entry.
Alterna Comics utilizes the Crowdfunding platform Indiegogo to presell its issues, ensuring that enough copies are printed to provide its voracious readers. Issues will ship in June 2022.
BUT WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
I’ve been on pins and needles to share this new cover with you, so here it is in all its glory. Even though original series artist Ed Jimenez couldn’t continue providing interior art, he was kind enough to whip a cover for our agents’ triumphant return. (Ed also drew a back up strip for this issue because he’s that amazing!)
What’s the issue about?
FOLLOW THE LEADER - Unit 44 returns with a new artist, new attitude, and new format! After (barely) saving the world from an extraterrestrial threat, inept Area 51 employees Agent Gibson and Agent Hatch set off on their next supernatural case! The Blood Moon Cult has moved into town and its ranks are quickly filling up, forcing Gibson and Hatch to infiltrate the group to uncover its secret plans. Is there mind control at play, or is it something infinitely more sinister? This issue is the perfect jumping on point for new readers!
How about an exclusive for my fearless newsletter subscribers? Here’s the first 4 pages of the issue in all their sci-fi/comedy glory. (Click/tap on the pages for a bigger view if needed!)
HEY WES, THAT WAS FUN AND ALL, BUT WHAT IF I’VE NEVER READ ISSUES 1-4?
That’s totally cool. In fact, I’ve written all the issues moving forward with the assumption that each one will be a reader’s first introduction to the world of Unit 44. Each issue will be a self-contained story. You won’t have to read anything that has come before it (or anything after it) in order to draw laughs and enjoyment from the experience. Though, why you wouldn’t want to laugh so hard that you snork snoda out through your nose every couple months, I can’t imagine.
Agent Gibson and Agent Hatch are Area 51 employees. They investigate strange occurrences and reclaim supernatural items for housing inside of Storage Unit 44. They are total idiots.
That’s pretty much all you need to know.
But if you did want to read the first four issues of the series, this campaign offers Unit 44 volume 1 as an Alterna GIANT, a huge, 96-page comic collecting all 4 issues of the original series!
Remember that affordability thing we talked about? Yeah, this giant is $6.
I’m terrible at math, but it seems like you could get the previous issues and the new issue for a total of… *Puts on translucent green visor and taps on a Texas Instruments 30Xa calculator*… $8. That can’t be right! Oh, but it is!
It’s not just Unit 44 that’s the star of this campaign. Alterna Comics is also funding issues of Downcast, Tinseltown, Mr. Crypt & Friends, Wulf & Batsy, and more!
THANKS FOR THE INFO, WES.
My pleasure. Thank you for being a subscriber to my newsletter. And if you support Unit 44 (or Alterna Comics) throughout the course of this preorder campaign, thank you x2!
HAPPY SPRING, BY THE WAY!
Hey, back at you!
If you’ve been too busy recovering from the Daylight Saving Time switch-up, you may have forgotten that today is the first day of Spring. It comes not a moment too soon, because I’m soooooo sick of winter.
Spring is also a season of birthdays in my world. On Friday my daughter turned three years old, and today is my mother’s birthday. (Happy birthday, Mom!) I even have a birthday of my own in a couple of weeks where I will turn roughly 80 years old. (And I feel it in my bones!) If you also celebrate a spring birthday, happy birthday to you, too.
DON’T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT, WES.
I’m going to cut this one short because I’ve already bludgeoned you over the head with enough info for one newsletter, however, I have some amazing topics to explore in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned, and thank you for being a friend!
WAIT, WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WHO ARE YOU?
I’m Wes Locher. I’ve been writing professionally for a decade. I write comic books, video games, fiction, and nonfiction. I write whatever seems fun, cool, and inspiring. I also love helping other writers to demystify the process of making a living through words. This is my newsletter.
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