I have a lot of stuff to do today coming off a holiday weekend, but I did want to expand on this a bit quickly if I could. Vita's right (as they so often are), comics take a long time to make, and I think I can highlight just how long if folks are interested. 1/11 https://twitter.com/definitelyvita/status/1361393521257816068

First off, a little about my day. I had 3 back-to-back meetings. I have 9 individual issues that I'd call "in production" to check on today--9 books with immediate updates to keep track of. I have 12 or 13 titles I have to do active work on today, which is different. 2/11

That includes books that are getting schedules set or pitches read or whatever. The latest book I have to do active work on today is a fall release. It won't be out for 6-7 months, but it's in the beginning stages of work now. That's not my latest book generally, though. 3/11

Last week, I was looking at stuff for comics that go into 2022, but that are getting rolling now. Now, some rough ballparks for what other people are doing. Scripts come in roughly once a month. Sometimes more frequently, but usually once a month for a monthly title. 4/11

Lineart can really vary, but assume most issues are done between 5 and 8 weeks. Now, that's a big range that depends on a lot of things--how many artists are working, if no one gets sick or loses power or otherwise sidetracked, how detailed the art is, etc. 5/11

If the colors and lettering are being done as lineart comes in and all goes well, add at least one more week for those. I work on a lot of licensed comics which take extra review time, so add a couple weeks for that to be done. THEN, factor in the printing. 6/ 11

Printing takes time. Shipping takes time. Inventory takes time. And, yes, printed books do generally have to release at the same time as digital even if digital could technically come first (barring some exceptions). So, let's assume everything goes absolutely right, okay? 7/11

If lineart starts immediately after the script comes in, comes in exactly 20 days later at a page a day, colors are right behind, lettering's right behind, everything is instantly approved... your minimum is 5 weeks. But, things often take longer. While releasing monthly... 8/11

So, yeah. Things take a while. Life happens. Comics are not an easy thing to make and don't just appear out of some creative ether. They're work and they take time. Please appreciate that time and work and effort appropriately. 9/11

And if a comic takes a little longer, or you see a schedule being adjusted, know that most of the time, someone just needs a little extra time to get their part of the process done and that they're working hard to bring you the best dang comic possible. 10/11

Thanks to all the creators I'm fortunate enough to work with for often juggling multiple projects (and sometimes day jobs and kids and stuff) at once and still keeping to a schedule and working so hard to make great comics. 11/11