I'm starting a new thread here instead of bumping my old one, because I can't change the thread title, and I'm pretty far past page 275 now. Actually, tomorrow, I'll be posting page 400.

Here is my synopsis for Used Books :

One is former police officer who, five years ago, single-handedly brought down an infamous criminal organization. Another is an ex-assassin who now runs a used book store. The third is a genius with multiple PhDs who orphaned as a child. What do they have in common? These three ladies are best friends sharing their joys and troubles. Common enemies threaten their lives, and closely guarded secrets threaten their friendships. In a story of old grudges and new foes, jilted lovers and deep regrets, there's no telling what is waiting on the next page...

Rating: T+ for violence and mild cursing.
Update Schedule: Daily
Style: Sketch (some manga influence)
Genres: Adventure/Mystery (and a bit of drama and some romance at times)

The comic consists of many smaller semi-self-contained stories in an episodic format. The tone is not all that dark or serious, but it has its share of dramatic and intense moments. I take particular pride in my cast of characters and the dialogue. I draw my inspiration mostly from sitcoms and murder mysteries.

I'm kinda developing/raw (er, bad?) as far as art goes. I've actually improved a good bit since I drew the pages posted so far. (I have a "buffer" of about 250 pages.) Here's a sample:

I love your color stuff, it really helps your pages stand out. The black and white is pretty cool too. The characters have realistic conversations, but sometimes can be a bit melodramatic (however, I'm the last person on earth who should comment about other writer's being melodramatic). They're pretty sensative characters, but I think that comes from the fact that they've lead such interesting and intense lives.

With over 300 pages to go through and daily updates, this is a hard comic to pass up!

The fact that you can update this comic daily is absolutely amazing to me - I have no idea how you do it!

Keep up the great work, and I look forward to my daily dose of Used Books!

T

trevoramueller
The characters have realistic conversations, but sometimes can be a bit melodramatic (however, I'm the last person on earth who should comment about other writer's being melodramatic). They're pretty sensative characters, but I think that comes from the fact that they've lead such interesting and intense lives.

Yeah, their situations are more extreme than they are. It isn't really meant to be "real" but rather more "enhanced reality" (like sitcom/anime/prime-time-drama characters). Plus, the main characters are women, and we are a melodramatic lot. ;)

I think it's amazing that you hit 400 pages, congratulations! Y'know, I don't really care for the art. Pretty much the same perspective. The art overall, does nothing for me.

However, I think it's most certainly well written. It's easy to see why Used Books has a big and steady audience. Good dialogue, good characterization and great characters. Did I mention it's funny? Good stuff there.

albone
I think it's amazing that you hit 400 pages, congratulations! Y'know, I don't really care for the art. Pretty much the same perspective. The art overall, does nothing for me.

However, I think it's most certainly well written. It's easy to see why Used Books has a big and steady audience. Good dialogue, good characterization and great characters. Did I mention it's funny? Good stuff there.

Thanks. I always hope I can claim to be a good writer. ;)

I know I'm not much of an artist, but comments and suggestions have helped me improve (from god-awful to sub-par, lol). You're right about perspective. I neglect it too much even in my "buffer." I'll work on making things a bit more dynamic/varied.

Monthly bump. :)

At page 430 right now. Tomorrow starts a new story arc. It's almost summer time in my story, so a nice little break from the cold winter blues of real life. The next couple chapters/episodes take place at the beach. There's been a lot of new developments and revelations lately, and those will continue. More violence, more awkward semi-romance, more bittersweet memories of days gone by, more sarcastic humor and beautiful irony.

February 24th marks my one-year anniversary at DrunkDuck. I'm proud to say that I have updated every day without missing a single one so far. In the future, I might eventually have to cut back, but I'm still updating daily for now. (I have pages drawn up to 680 at the moment.)

Thanks for reading and for bearing with my clumsy but improving art skills.

This isn't a pointless bump. Today marks one year since I joined DrunkDuck and uploaded the earliest pages of my comic. Included with today's regular update (btw, one whole year, daily updates, never missed one, no filler ;) ) are some of my very earliest brainstorming sketches from a year ago. Quite ugly but nostalgic. Today's page also starts a new chapter, so it's in color.

Monthly bump time.

My daily updates have continued, and I will be able to continue them for a while (though I have found a job and have a bit less free time now). The last month had a "romantic" flashback and a mysterious disappearance. The story is soon going to be plunging into some major plot development (and some sinister and sad turns).

-- Oh, and I just broke 100,000 total pageviews! ^_^
*Throws confetti*

Congrats on the page views! You're on fire!

I've been saving my "monthly bump" for today, since I just hit a pretty cool milestone:

Page 500

I still have a couple hundred pages of "buffer" and am drawing several pages a week, so don't worry about it ending any time soon. ;) Today's page is fairly representative of the comic, so take a look.

The plot is getting deeper and more dynamic at this point with a couple villains from the past recently getting out of prison, Kaida and her ex-husband struggling (independently) with memory gaps, Seiko recovering from the recent loss of some very close friends/family, etc. Soon, we will also be plunging into more details about Yuki and her departed fiance Luke. So, make sure you check it out sometime. Lots of mystery, violence, tension, and a bit of levity (and maybe romance?) is in store.

Bump...

Page 525 now. Due to time constraints (and the fact that pages are taking me much longer to create/polish), I update only Monday through Friday now. When I have an extra sketch to show off, I'll sneak it in on the weekend.

Plotwise, there is some major character development going on. Kaida is especially undergoing a bit of turmoil. Her vulnerabilities are surfacing. There's some action today -- an enemy Kaida didn't even know she had (but is not all that surprised by).

There will be more action and plenty of dramatic emotion in the coming weeks. -- And, as always, some light and happy times too.

Some announcements...

~~Used Books will reach Page 550 on Monday.
~~The last page of Chapter 55 goes up on Tuesday.

~~Then, I am taking a short hiatus (could last a few weeks) while I move to VA. I will still be online and active during this time, but I won't have time to create/polish pages for uploading.

During my hiatus, I'll be posting some filler/sketches and guest art. If you'd like to send me art to post, email it to usedbooks@comic.com I'll post it with a link. The only guidelines are that it must be rated G to T+

(Pssst... Now would be a good time to brave the archives and/or get caught up.)

~~When I return from hiatus, I'll be back to weekday updates (5 a week). The next story arc spans over 75 pages and the plot will be growing progressively more intense, so I hope you visit and check it out sometime. ;)

Back from my hiatus. New chapter has begun. ;)

Wow... Past 550 pages. That's quite a lot! Congratulations on that! I don't know how you can update almost every day lol

Good story so far, keep 'em coming!

Thank you very much. ^_^

I'm not a particularly productive drawing machine or anything, though. I haven't drawn any "new" pages in over a month. (Just in a slump from moving, atm. I have my next two chapters scripted and plan to draw them soon.) The pages I'm posting now were actually drawn about eight months ago. I have over 700 total so far. They just need some digital editing/clean-up before uploading -- which does take *some* time, so I had to cut down to 5 rather than 7 a week.

It is sort of annoying to have to post "old, ugly" pages, but on the plus side, *I* know my art has improved since then, and my readers can't sway my planned story, since it's already written. ;) And it's also fun reading my old pages as I upload them. I get to see them with a fresh eye, which helps me catch errors and typos, improve dialogue, etc. (On the minus side, I have to be extra careful to avoid giving away spoilers.)