NEW WEEKLY UPDATES
It's been quite a spell hasn't it? But fear not, the Barton Bros are still kickin' - kickin' ass that is, and working harder than ever to get KOZOR in your hands! You'll probably agree though, even with our nose to the grind stone, we need to check in with you more regularly and let you know what's in the hap.
So here's what we're gonna do - out with the monthly updates and in with the weekly ones. For you, but also for us. We see backers as our investors, and keeping them in the loop on the regular holds us accountable.
That said, let's crack into this.
THANK YOU
I want to say a big THANK YOU to each and every backer. We're just shy of 500 backers and it's a level of success we never expected to see our first time out the gate. More than the funds we've raised to produce this book, knowing at least that many people will ultimately be holding KOZOR in their hands thrills us to no end.
Every new backer is a massive motivator to deliver nothing but our best work so that we can leave a lasting impression - and get them fully invested for the future installments of KOZOR to come.
SO HERE'S WHERE WE'RE AT
KOZOR has become a formidable beast, precisely because of the level of awesome we're pumping into it. Though we initially expected to apply a light layer of gloss to the original and be done with it, we realized that simply would not do. First impressions count, and to leave a lasting impact on you, our readers, a whole new level of commitment and effort was needed.
This is no longer a simple remaster, but a complete overhaul of the original. That's right, we're taking it a step further than we promised. Most of the existing pages are being redrawn, inked and colored from scratch - with new ones added in from Issue 2 to meet the 48 page quota.
That's exciting, but we also owe you, patient backer, an apology. Because that extra work, is holding things up more than we'd like. The Barton Bros believe it's worth it however. Korey and I have a profound love for this book, and to deliver something which is imperfect to meet a deadline, just isn't why we're doing this.
But that's on us. The reality is, we still need to get this book to you quick smart, and it needs to be solid. No excuses.
So here's what we've done. Barton Bros Studios is now in lockdown. If KOZOR wasn't already our full time obsession, it is now. No more commissions, no more outside work. Everyday we're working on nothing but KOZOR from dawn till dusk.
You see we realized, as comic studio novices who are illustrating our own book, it's near impossible to take on anything outside of it. Focus is split, time is stretched too thin, stress ensues and delays become a running joke. Screw that. We're creating a legacy here, and it starts with KOZOR - that's going to take complete sacrifice to the cause.
All that said, with our new schedule combined with the weekly updates, you'll be seeing us make some serious progress on the book over the next few weeks.
KOZOR'S NEW DARK FANTASY COLOR PALETTE
Now for the fun stuff. One of the recent developments in KOZOR is the new Dark Fantasy Color palette we're going with, largely inspired by the incredible work of Frank Frazetta. We realized that the current colors simply didn't vibe with the foreboding mood of the narrative. So, just as with the line art, we decided to redo them in order to truly capture our vision for the book.
Korey is the one responsible for the lush color job you're seeing throughout the pages below. Over the last year, he has rapidly levelled up in his coloring abilities.
With the revamped line art by yours truly, and Korey's pro tier colors, the Barton Bros have become a force to be reckoned with! Just take a look at these pages. Here we get a glimpse at how truly epic KOZOR is going to be. This is how I know, even though this journey has become longer than we intended, it'll be totally worth it in the end.
But Korey isn't just taking charge of coloring the pages of KOZOR. No. He is coloring the extras too, including the trading cards. Take a gander at Trading Card #2 "Arthropodians".
It's hard to believe these are Korey's colors considering the mileage he's made in such a short amount of time - but they really are. Told you he was a pro!
WHAT'S TO COME
We're going to keep knocking out pages for KOZOR until this book is done, ensuring our rate of production stays consistent. You'll know we're keeping our word too, thanks to the weekly updates. In terms of fulfillment, we've got a new date we're working towards, but we're keeping it on the down low for now. Even with our new schedule, we don't want to make any guarantees and disappoint you if we don't make it. So the best we can say right now is KOZOR will be complete, when it's complete. Not something you want to hear we get it, but it's certainly better than telling you there's another delay. Rest assured though, we want this book out sooner rather than later, and we're doing all we can now to make that happen.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE OFFICIAL BARTON BROS YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Oh and hey, you can also Subscribe to our official Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0R38OjXKhqKJ2yD4QW90aQ for more KOZOR updates. We're always showing behind the scenes content from the book on our LIVE streams - heck, sometimes we're literally working on the book while we're streaming. So come hang out with us!
And that wraps up this weeks update! I hope you like the kick-ass new pages Korey has just finished coloring, and we hope it's got you psyched for what you can expect the rest of this book to offer. Stay savage!
-Clayton