Our story continues as the Steam Crew has escaped the mad Feratu of Skullopolis, with Chadworth thankfully repaired by the late (and famous) inventor Mig Nola.

Gently drifting in the Monstru sky, they realize that something has gone horribly awry with the sun…

It is dark. It is cold. It is dead.

- Daniel

Hi Guys -

I just got back from SDCC (which was great) to a rather hot house.

The it’s-105-outside-and-it’s-95-inside-of-the-house kind of arrival.

Long story short: we just spent $16,000 on air conditioners!

Yay!

To add to the situation, we just spent 4 hrs with the tech/salesman, which was 4 hrs I needed to finish up this rather epic history-chart.

I feel like I’ve failed you just a little bit, but I’ve already spent a good 30 hrs on this one strip… and it’s not THAT important to the new story.

I’ve got a solid buffer of UnSun done, but this one I’ve had to keep getting back to, to finish.

It has been an epic amount of effort, but I really like it.

Someday, I’ll finish it.

For now, I hope you like it.

Time to sleep. I only have to work in my 95+ degree studio for 2 more days.

YAY!

- Daniel

Well, I never really meant to do two epic strips in a row, but what the heck? It’s just how it comes out sometimes.

My office is still in the 90′s; the worker bees are supposed to come in here tomorrow and put in their very expensive equipment. (Not so happy about that.)

Hey, did I mention the Steam Crow Store? No, that would be crass, wouldn’t it.

Anyway, here’s a pdf of that old Monstru Chronicle newspaper, in case you wanted to make a prop of it for yourself. (1.4 meg, b/w pdf)

Lemme know if you like it

- Daniel

And if you happen to find a spelling error, it’s not me; the Chronicle is known to have terrible editors.

Cities will die
if dead is the Sun.

Terrors shall fly -
doom by the ton.

Wizard doth cry
need a cryst…

- Kip Cupwhistle

Dang Chadworth is always interrupting.

Isn’t it nice to see the boys again? I missed them.

- Daniel

“Yeti Chill, when you want your food cold; FAST!”

- Radio advert

- – -

This is the first ever view of the Steam Crow kitchenette.

It’s actually based on real vintage kitchenettes that I researched. I wanted this to be somewhat based in reality, and to make some sense to answer the question “How does everything fit in there?”

The answer: TIGHTLY

The reverse side of the kitchen would be the bunks. To the right is the cab, and to the left is the furnace. The loo would be in the back, too.

- – -

True story:

I lived in a camping trailer (8×20) for 2 years during High School. 3 of us lived there, and it really isn’t much different than the Steam Crow in scale and functionality. In fact, the Crow is much taller than the trailer.

Jeeze, the more I think about it, the ‘Crow herself is probably subconsciously based on that old trailer; it’s color isn’t too far off.

Hope that you like it. Someday I’ll have to draw a floor plan diagram for you guys. (And me!)

- Daniel

End of summer interview with the Goblin Boy.

Daniel (D): So, how was your summer?
Goblin Boy (GB): Good. Better than I think it was.
D: Why is that?
GB: Because I get to make a ship out of card board boxes.
D: Cool.
GB: And it’s my birthday.
D: Um, how was your birthday this year?
GB: Good. I got a toy ship.
D: AND…
GB: Tomorrow morning I’m going to make the wings for my cardboard ship. And I made the seat.
D: What was your favorite part of summer.
GB: It was going to my cousin’s (my papa and grandma) and seeing them.
D: You had fun playing together.
GB: Yeah.
D: How do you think the summer was for goblins?
GB: Um. That the creatures were actually all asleep because they don’t like Sundays because they’re all grumpy and tired and getting shovels putting coal into the fire.
D: Wow. The grumpy and tired part sounds like your dad.
GB: *Giggles* Good.
D: Am I tired and grumpy in the morning?
GB: Yes you are. I’m grumpy and tired now.
GB: I Just wanna go to bed. Are we DONE?!
D: Alright.
GB: Goodbye.

The goblin boy just turned 8 and he’s on to his last week of summer now.

- Daniel

Monster Commute Book 2 Update

I just wanted to let you know that I just JUST started working on the second Monster Commute book.

Right now, I’m just grinding through the various comics, resizing, adjusting, and reformatting them. This stage takes about 30-40 hrs, I’d bet.

Next, would be the writing, for the additional Monstru content. The plan is to continue using the copy area to tell you more about how Monstru works. If you have any other topics or specific ideas or questions for me to cover, please let me know ASAP. If I like your question, I may address it in one of the mini articles. Time: 80-100 hrs.

After that, it would be time to work on the cover. (Though really, I’ll likely start it pretty early on the project and will likely get it done sooner than later.) Time: 15-20 hrs.

Then it’s time for additional content. I don’t know if I’ll do guest art again, or if I’ll use this instead for more world stuff; maps, diagrams, character files, auto stuff, etc. I’m leaning towards that to build value.

Then it’s the editing, and formatting of everything. Last year, we were in a rush to edit the book, which wasn’t fun. This year, I’m hoping to allow more time for that.

THEN, it’s time for Book Drive 2.0. (Again sooner than later.) I hope that you’ll consider supporting our next Monster Commute book.

- Daniel

The State of the Crow

I’ve been thinking a lot about this next year, and all things Steam Crow. (And by extension, Monster Commute.)

A lot of things that I’ve been wanting to do have slipped aside (vinyl toys, weekly videos, etc.) partially due to the natural busy nature of the con season and the fact that we have to rely on partners to get a lot of stuff done.

I wish that we could get more done, but I have to confess that we’re working at pretty close to capacity these days.

We’ve had a great year, and I’m really encouraged about the future of our little studio. The support that folks have given us is humbling, and it’s pretty funny to consider that maybe 7 years ago, it never occurred to me that this was even possible. (I set my mind on this course about 6 years ago now.)

We still have a very long way to go.

Most folks, even comic folks, don’t know about Steam Crow or Monster Commute.

“I’ve never heard of you,” says the person with the puzzled expression. (Acting like they’ve seen everything in the universe, but perhaps just not our little corner of the convention hall.)

“What is THIS?”:<– I need to better answer this question through our design.

I need to continue putting more energy into Monster Commute to make it great, and grow our readership little by little.

We need to entice more folks who do support us, to maybe consider buying from us online, and not just at comic-cons. (Online exclusives?)

We need to continue to diversify our income through our offerings. (Products, advertising, sponsorships, Steam Stock, art shows, etc.

I want to really develop our Street Team (The Steam Crow Army), so those of you who want to help us get the word out, can efficiently do so.

- – -

What do you think? What do you think we should be doing to take our studio further? What could we do better?

- Daniel

No, you’re right.

Kip’s not pumping gasolene (that doesn’t exist in Monstru) he’s pumping premium coal grit.

I really wanted service stations to have a familiar, retro flair. So I kept the standard style pumps.

I really like Jack’s. I’d go there for my coal grit.

Where in Monstru do you go?

- Daniel

I have a fear of going to a restaurant, ordering and eating the food, and then not having my wallet to pay.

Today, would they really make you stay and do the dishes?

(Maybe somebody who works in a restaurant will let us know how that works.)

Episode Notes:

I really enjoyed building this out as a week’s mini-storyline. We moved things along, but did it without dragging it out over weeks and weeks and weeks. (And it ties into the larger story, as well…)

I’m going to continue to experiment with this, and see if it makes for a more satisfying read. The next 2 weeks are nice little packages, too.

Have a weekend. (Or even a good weekend.)

- Daniel

This marks, at least to my highly subjective count, our 500th Monster Commute strip. (Give or take 1 or 2, but we’re definitely there.)

While this number is rather routine for a lot of webcomics, it’s pretty cool to me… I don’t know that I’ve ever made 500 of anything, let alone something that’s taken this much effort or time.

I’ll probably make a big deal out of strip 1000, which we should have by August 2012 or so. Now that I think about it, maybe I SHOULD make a bigger deal out of this. I’m only 1/2 way to 1000.

Anyway, thanks for reading along. It’s sometimes been a bumpy ride, but the Authority isn’t so keen on road upkeep these days. (But seriously, I make this stuff for you.)

Next Month (September 15th) marks our 2 yr anniversary. Zowie.

Who’s bringing the MUZZ? Please send pie and/or corndogs.

- Daniel

I like the idea of a Mechan crafted in the shape of a huge owl, with a sign that says “the end is near”. (And predicting the Creatu Sky Invasion.)

I like my little steampunk monster family.

- Daniel

Let the fear begin!

What I like about Troll Jazz DJ (his official canon name) is that he looks like he’s wearing a mask.

Well, that and he looks like he LOVES the band KISS, but that’s neither here nor there. There is no KISS in Monstru, so he’s apparently an original.

- Daniel

Once upon a time there was this Troll who met this Nymph, and they both played in punk/metal bands.

They started dating, and though their bands died, their relations did not and they got married. Things were not always simple or easy, but it seemed to work out just fine.

Instead of having wolves as pets they decided to have a child, whom they dubbed the “goblin boy”. The Goblin was small and ginger and liked to slap his belly and laugh. He also made up his own words for things, like “Wasaigah!”

Later, the Troll and the Nymph decided to move away from their homeland, to a scary new desert. The Troll thought that it might be nice to shake things up, as his head was getting lazy and cloudy. The Nymph agreed, and they moved across the country in their wagon.

It was hot there, and all of the people hid inside far away from the evil sun. (That is a different story.)

Eventually, the Troll took the Nymph to a crazy nerd convention, and the Nymph had the idea to start making books and monstery stuff. The Troll thought about it, and realized that he didn’t need any crown or magical blessing from mythical creatures, and they founded Steam Crow.

“Steam Crow” was named after a big steampunk scarecrow that the Troll like to tell stories about.

They started making books, prints, buttons and MNSTR bags. They started selling them at comic conventions and on the interwebs. The Troll started to be less angry as he realized that people liked his creations.

Steam Crow didn’t become an instant hit like other teen sensations, but they did slowly make friends with people (townies) and they supported the Troll and the Nymph by buying their humble offerings and offering words of encouragement. These folks were good.

Slowly Steam Crow grew and grew, until boxes and crates of products filled out half of their house. The Troll always had inspiration for new things to make, and so he designed them like mad. Sometimes the Nymph had to guide the Troll into making things that other people might actually like.

The Troll knew that he wanted to create things for Steam Crow with all of his time, but first he had to teach more and more people about Steam Crow, which he did a little bit, every day. The Nymph agreed, and made sandwiches for the Troll and the Goblin Boy.

The Troll also realized that he needed some help from the people that did know about Steam Crow, and he asked them to tell others about it, too.

The Troll called these people “The Steam Crow Army” or “Steam Crew” for short.

The Troll really appreciated and liked these folks, and would hug them all, except he would break all of their arms and spines on accident.

Well that, and some just people don’t like hugging trolls.

- The Troll

So, you can bet that our steampunk friend Kip Cupwhistle has a drinking problem, and has likely set the Crew back further than the initial fillup of coal.

Really, it’s how Jack’s stays in business; indentured servitude is cheap!

- Daniel