The HijiNKS ENSUE Podcast Returns (again)!

Posted on August 13, 2012June 10, 2017 | 26 Comments

Long story, incredibly short: The HE Podcast is returning this week. The first new episode will be up for download (website, RSS, iTunes) on Wednesday morning. All 51 Post Shows have been moved from The Vault into the main feed. Only about 50 people have ever heard the post shows they were honestly some of our funniest stuff. So you can start by binging on a good 30ish hours of new (old) material.

I NEED YOUR HELP! If you want the show to succeed and continue, please consider setting up a DONATION SUBSCRIPTION. Actually getting paid to do this job will make it SOOOO much easier to make sure it doesn’t fall by the wayside again. Also, please leave positive reviews on iTunes and TELL YOUR FRIENDS.

Long story, somewhat long: The HE podcast went on hiatus just over a year ago. The main reason was that my co-hosts were unable to find time in their busy schedules to record. I, being the only one of us who didn’t have a “real” job, had no right to complain or insist on them giving freely of their time but once Josh and Eli both entered a “crunch” phase at their respective jobs, the frustrations of trying to schedule the show became overwhelming. You might remember that I started recording more with “The B Team” of Alex and Roger towards the end. While those guys were more accessible (and certainly entertaining and hilarious), scheduling was still an issue. I knew I wasn’t able to commit to definitely having a new episode up every week, so I decided rather than constantly making excuses I would just hang it up and shut it down. Continue reading→

4 Year Experimentiversary, 5 Year Anniversary & More Experimenting

Posted on May 7, 2012June 10, 2017 | 135 Comments

I didn’t realize until after I got home from Emerald City Comicon that I had forgotten to mention the 4 year anniversary of The Experiment. I have officially been professionally unemployed making comics for 4 years as of March 31, 2012. People used to ask me all the time, ” How is the experiment going?” To which I would reply, “It’s going. I’m still doing it. There are ups and downs, but I haven’t given up.” The more and more I gave that answer, which I thought to be a bit an over simplified response seeing as how I didn’t want to get into the details of nearly missed mortgage payments, mounting credit card debt due to travel expenses and rest of the struggles that come with self employment with every person that asked, the more I realized it was actually the most honest answer I could give. There wasn’t actually an end goal for The Experiment. I never said, “If I can do this for 5 years, I have won.” The goal was to just keep doing it. To keep making comics for a living. To sustain myself and my family through following my passion and doing what I love. The unspecified addendum to that ideal was that in order for it to be a success, I had to keep doing it forever. So the actual and honest response to, “How’s The Experiment going?” is “As long as this is my job, I am winning.”Continue reading→

2 Year Experiment-versary, New Olmos Shirt and BIG NEWS!

Posted on April 6, 2010June 10, 2017 | 10 Comments

That’s right, you Fancy Bastards. As of last week I have been professionally unemployed as a webcartoonist for 2 years! WTF, right? Absolutely no part of that makes any sense. I wrote more about it in THIS BLOG POST [under the comic]. Again, I just want to say thanks for making this incredibly unlikely anniversary possible.

If you are fairly new to HE and The Experiment and would like to show your support, please consider getting a book or shirt in the store or making a donation.

Battlestar Galactica/UN "So Say We All" T-Shirt

As part of the next phase of The Experiment, I am now producing HijiNKS ENSUE 4 times a week. I know it’s going to be rocky at first upping my output like this but I really think it is imperative to the survival of the comic that I get as close to one comic a day as possible.

UPDATE: I spoke too soon. While it is still my goal to produce HE at least 4 times a week, so far it has proven impossible due to travel, cons and other obligations. WAY TO FAIL!

I am also happy to announce that I was asked by Olmos Productions, Inc. to design a new shirt for them based on the meeting that took place last year between the cast of Battlestar Galactica and delegates of the United Nations. Please check it out HERE and send the link to any scifi/BSG blogs or forums that you frequent.

BOOK NEWS: HijiNKS Ensue Volume 1 Preorder is GO! GO! GO!

Posted on July 27, 2009July 27, 2009 | 8 Comments

HijiNKS Ensue Volume 1: Godspeed You Fancy Bastard is up for preorder in The HE Store NOW!

What’s in the book?

All of the HE comics from 2007-2008 in full color
116 Pages of geeky goodness
“Directors Commentary” on each comic
A forward by Bill Barnes of Unshelved (it’s incredibly mean)
Early sketches of the HE characters
Never before seen comics from my Highschool Newspaper days
AND MORE!

If the Preorder goes well, the books should ship in mid to late September. The first books is always the hardest, so please bear with me on the preorder and shipping times.

It is available in several tastey flavors:

ULTIMATE SPECIAL FANCY EDITION (limited to 150): $50

The book, signed and numbered
A special limited print of the cover image, also signed and numbered
A “Godspeed, You Fancy Bastard” sticker
Upgrade to “Artist Edition” for just $10 more and I will sketch in the book, essentially ruining it

This edition of the book is for you Super Fancy Bastards that want to help with the printing costs of the book. The price includes a $10-$15ish donation. No other books or prints will ever be numbered so these are one of a kind editions. If I can sell all 150 of these I can pay for ALL of the books I am printing (and sleep at night).

Artist Edition: $35

I will sign, personalize and sketch in your book

Regular Awesome Edition: $20

A book, with all that other stuff, minus the fancy stuff

Any long time FB’s who are familiar with The Experiment know how important this book preorder is to the continuation of HijiNKS Ensue. You can read more of the dire details of the situation HERE. The bottom line is (and yes, this is basically me begging) if you enjoy HE and want it to continue PLEASE PREORDER THE BOOK. The next month or so is going to determine the future of HijiNKS Ensue.

Godspeed, You Fancy Bastards

-Joel

New T-Shirts + 1 Year Experimentversary

Posted on March 31, 2009June 10, 2017 | 18 Comments

Holy effin’ crap, guys! It’s been 1 year to the day since I started The Experiment (read the original announcement here)! For new readers or old school Fancy Bastard who may have forgotten, The Experiment is my attempt to make a living from my webcomic. Originally I gave myself 4-6 months to try this out after I lost my day job. Since it’s been 12 months, you might think The Experiment has been a success. Success is a relative term. This is certainly the most rewarding job I have ever had, and I wouldn’t trade these last 12 months for anything, but as of today HijiNKS Ensue only provides a little less than half the income my family needs to meet our basic responsibilities. This income comes from your DONATIONS and store purchases. A tiny tiny tiny tiny sliver comes from advertising (almost enough to pay the car note!), and the rest comes from my personal savings. The savings well has dried up several times in the last year, but has been occasionally replenished by tax refunds and other such unexpected allocations of cash.

So now it’s “do or die” time. Phase 1 of The Experiment was all about “make the best comic you can and see what happens money-wise.” Phase 2 (this is Phase 2) is all about “The comic is pretty good, let’s get serious about the money part!”

A big part of the new money seriousness is that the fine folks at Topatoco will now be selling HijiNKS Ensue Shirts along with the shirts they already offer from all of your other favorite webcomics.

Check them out HERE!

This is a pretty big deal for me and it’s great news for you. Topatoco is a top notch operation and all they do is sell webcomics merchandise. The shirts are cheaper than they were before, the are professionally screenprinted and you can save on shipping when you buy multiple shirts from me or any other artist. I’m extremely excited. I really want the Topatoco guys to see they made the right choice in adding HijiNKS Ensue to their roster and a great way to show them would be to pick up one (or all) of the new shirts (hint cough hint).

What about the old store? It’s still there… for now. It’s run through Yahoo Stores and I have ALWAYS hated their back end and every other aspect of using them, so I will be shutting this store down in the next couple of weeks. You can still purchase any of the shirts or prints available in the old store as long as it’s still there. I will be moving to a different store front service (same URL for your convenience) shortly. You will still be able to buy prints there and eventually it will have the first HE book. Seriously. I’m watching my wife lay it out right now. It’s happening. I will probably still offer some of the non-Topatoco shirts in the store but not many. If there’s one you want I would suggest getting it now.

What about the Donation Drive? Your monthly donations currently total a little over $700. I am so freaking grateful for this, I can barely express it. The original idea was to reach a goal of $1500 in monthly donation subscriptions. Then the economy went to shit and the donations dried up. Anyone who has donated any amount, especially those of you that have stuck it out and continued your subscriptions have my heartfelt thanks. I’m not going to be shooting for a specific goal any more with the donations. Instead I’m just going to post the monthly totals in the sidebar of the site. I don’t want you guys to feel like “we are never going to get there” in terms of donations. What you are doing now is already more generous than I could have ever imagined.

What about The Vault? The Vault is the “premium content” site that all donators and subscribers get access to. I have big plans for it in this phase of The Experiment, but you can already get Post Shows for the HE Podcast, Destop Wallpapers, iPhone Wallpapers, unfinished art, behind the scenes/making of type stuff, and much more when you donate or subscrbe.

So that’s the current “State of The Experiment.” Treading water but hopeful. The new shirts, the book, and a few other things I have planned for this year are really going to decide the fate of HijiNKS Ensue. If you want to help (with money) you can buy a shirt, buy a print or subscribe to The Vault. If you want to help (without money) you can tell a friend about the site, post a comic on your blog, or send me an encouraging email. Every little bit helps.

Thank you all so much for making the last 12 months so geektastically amazing.

-Joel