Fundraising

We're still hard at work here, trying to get the comic out this fall and all that jazz. But something else has been on our minds lately too, and that thing is money.

Self-publishing a comic isn't cheap, even the black and white preview issues we did cost something, and now that we are anticipating printing out a full issue, we've been thinking a lot about ways to raise money for the comic. Cristian has sold a sculpture, and Mario might sell some of his sneakers.
Thankfully we have good friends that want to help and support us. The bartending ladies at The Dubliner Bar in West Portal here in San Francisco have offered to help us set up a fundraising event at the bar. Right now things are just in the idea stage, but make sure you keep checking back here at the blog for any news on our fundraising efforts. Hopefully we'll be able to set something up by the end of summer.

We hope everyone had a great 4th of July!
Have a great week everyone,
~Angelica P.R.

Randomness of the Week

We showed up to buy our tickets for The Return of the King last night and the tickets were all sold out! So a group of us went to our usual bar, The Dubliner, to drink and nerd out together. Mario did a bit of writing and earlier that day Cristian had finished another panel on the big paper. Things are progressing really nicely on our end of things.

Sadly, because we haven't been to a convention lately the posts here aren't always exciting. I've been thinking about some other topics to write about, nerdy summer movies, games, etc.

What would you guys be interested in reading about??

Did anyone else pick up the LOTR special edition in Blue Ray yesterday? I can't wait to watch our copy!

Have a good week everyone!
~Angelica P.R.

Logistics and Another Late Post

I suppose I should just admit at this point that until the director's cut of The Lord of the Rings films are finished showing in theaters that the weekly posts here will be late! So one more week of this and then we'll be back to normal.

Now that we are on our way to getting the comic finished, logistics is coming back to the forefront of our issues. We need to do several things by the end of the month, one of which is applying t another convention here in the bay area, called HyperCon.
Now, it is down in San Mateo and it is an anime convention primarily, but it is run by a former classmate of Cristian's from the Academy of Art, and it is fairly cheap to show there since the convention is only in it's second year. We'll keep you posted on our HyperCon plans.
We also need to fill out and turn in our seller's permit for APE, without it we won't be able to sell anything, and let's face it, we need the money!

What conventions are you guys going to this summer? ComicCon? Anime Expo? Anywhere you would like us to come and show our work?

Thanks again everyone, see you next week!
~Angelica P.R.

APE and LOTR

Another late post, I'm sorry I've been so lax in my blogging duties the past two weeks, I promise to go back to your regularly scheduled updates next week. Cristian and I went to watch the director's cut of The Fellowship of the Ring in theaters last night, which is my excuse for this late post. And if you're wondering why Mario didn't go as well, LOTR is not his cup'o'tea, he prefers The Dark Tower series by Stephan King.

Anyway, this week has been very productive. Cristian has finally finished all of the thumbnails, and is set to start making the real pages on the big paper. And yesterday he took a few shots of our friend and model Bunny Lyn to use as reference for, you guessed it, a female character for the comic book. You can check out her portfolio here: http://www.modelmayhem.com/1504507
We also received some wonderful news, WE'RE GOING TO APE!! We just got the email this week, so make sure you get October 1st and 2nd off so you can come on down to San Francisco's Alternative Press Expo and pick up a full edition of Reluctant Zero, meet the creators, and get your swag signed. We look forward to seeing you there and maybe even selling some prints for you guys.

Thanks for your support, things are really starting to come together here and we couldn't have done it without you!
~Angelica P.R.

Time Management and Inspiration

Sorry for the late post everyone, yesterday was spent cleaning and attempting to sell clothes at Crossroads in order to make some extra cash for bills/the comic. Glamorous life right?

Now back to your regularly scheduled update!
Perhaps you guys have been wondering how two guys with full time jobs and school can manage to take on a project so large and personally important. The answer is that you have to prioritize your time and micro-manage your days quiet a bit. One solution that we've found works is that we have turned our weekly bar get-together with our friends into a mini work session as well. Multi-tasking for the win!
This also illustrates one of the other most important things about being an artist, never go out without paper and a pencil. You never know where inspirations could strike you. Mario keeps a notepad in his backpack, Cristian keeps pens and pencils in his pockets and drawing pads in the car, and I am never without my camera.
Make sure you are always prepared, so that you can capture your ideas right as they come to you.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
~Angelica P.R.

What's in a Name?

So, why "Reluctant Zero"? I'm sure a few of you have been wondering about the title, or perhaps you've figured it out on your own, or perhaps you are more interested in our content then the package? In any case, today I'm going to explain where the title came from and how it relates not only to our comic, but to all nerds.

"Reluctant Zero" is essentially the way society views Memo and his friends (all nerds, really). No one sets out to be a loser, or a "zero". We are labeled these things by others who don't understand our obsessions. The funny thing is we all have our obsessions, but only some of us are considered zeros. This is one of the many themes they wish to showcase within the pages of the comicbook.

Hopefully that was interesting for you guys and gave you a little more insight into where we're coming from.

Till next time,
~ Angelica P.R.

The Start of Summer and Some Much Needed Help

The thumbnails are almost finished, and all of our finals are finally over this week. We're celebrating summer by drawing and creating, how are you guys celebrating?

We would also like to announce that we have acquired the services of both and inker and a letterer, we do all our lettering by hand, both of whom are close friends and fellow artists. This way, once Cristian finishes each panel he'll be able to hand it off, to our inker and then to the letter, hopefully increasing our production rate so we can get the comic to you guys faster!

Mario is making headway on the second issue, so we'll be able to move seamlessly into that once we finish the first one.
And we also have one perspective carrier for our comic as well, stay tuned for announcements once we get closer to go time for information on how or where to purchase the comic.

And make sure you check our twitter for fun updates about the creators and myself, as well as cool nerdy stuff, and interesting things happening here in the city.

Till next time,
~Angelica P.R.