3Q3A 017

See Who? SEE YOU!

The last time we were all together in this space, I had never been to C2E2, and we had received no printed copies. Now both of those things have changed!

We received our first printed editions of the Softcover version of the [SYSTEMS] Sourcebook and even produced an instant unboxing video. Check it out:

UNBOXING THE [SYSTEMS] GRAPHIC NOVEL SOURCEBOOK (VIDEO)

(My days working with Marvel’s Digital Media team clearly did not go to waste. Look at that great cinematography and impressive production work!)

The assorted Thwimmers who came to the booth and our live meet-and-greet were all impressed with just how beautifully this book came out. I can’t wait until it, and its even prettier Hardcover cousin, are in your hands.

C2E2 was a terrific experience and, from what I gathered talking to fans, a pretty emotional one as the last C2E2 took place just before the pandemic shut down so much of the world. It was the last touchpoint for so many fans, so getting together after 2+ years hit people straight-up in the feels.

Skottie and I posing for our “roll the credits” sit-com shot

As you probably saw in our emails, Jon was unable to make it at the last minute due to health issues, but I and the Mikes and special guest Jason Howard were shot out of a cannon, and the Mikes both have sprained wrists from the amount of drawing and signing they did.

Our second ever 3W3M Founders Meet-and-Greet was also a damn fine time. The drinks and food flowed, and we got to meet many of you.

It’s a pretty interesting lot of characters out there in Founders’ land. I found myself caught up in conversations ranging from old comics, new movies, podcasts, mentoring young artists, hip-hop, why the X-Men stink,  and even one debate pitting Cincinnati against Cleveland! (Cleveland won.)

These get-togethers have quickly become my favorite part of these conventions. Thanks to all of you who made it. The team is looking forward to meeting more of you in Seattle in a couple of weeks. (I won’t be there, but that’s because I don’t look good in flannel.)

(BREAKING!! DATED 90s SEATTLE REFERENCE ALERT IN ABOVE PARAGRAPH!)

After Seattle, we have New York Comicon, so it’s a busy stretch travel-wise. Phew.

Okay, enough of me. Let’s get to your Qs!

Q1

Joseph Cohen couldn’t wait to say:
I have been a Founder for around a year and still have not received any physical rewards. I have Zoop my address info months ago and then...nothing. Anyone else have this experience?

A1

No worries, Jason. You haven’t missed anything. As discussed in several posts, we just had to push a few weeks to make sure we had the printing at the level we needed. If you submitted your information to Zoop, you should be fine. We also extended subscriptions for a month to help mitigate the wait.

Q2

Wilson G presses letters and out comes:
It looks like the unofficial Discord was deleted by the owner. Any plans to start an official one?

A2

Whoa! Were you at our team dinner, Wilson?

Stay tuned.

Q3

The final Question this week is actually for all of you. A subscriber we met in San Diego CHRIS THOMAS) had an interesting notion that I thought was worth getting your feedback on. It

I signed up as a Founder after sitting in on the panel at SDCC and I just finished reading through the backlog of posts and comics. Everything looks great and I'm looking forward to seeing what's next, but I do have 1 very random question that occurred while I was reading The Lab comic:

Is there any sort of life-extending technology available? The Highmaster makes the comment that it's been "a lifetime" since any progress was made when he's telling Taxe why the experiment is being shut down, and I initially took that as just a turn of phrase, but on looking back at the art, Taxe does not appear to be significantly younger in the panel showing the initial success, which would be odd for an amount of time passing that would be described as a lifetime, even if it's just being used metaphorically. Which then got me thinking that since the cycles are apparently hundreds or thousands of years long, some sort of life-extending/anti-aging tech would be a way to follow certain characters throughout more of that timeframe. It's definitely a minor point, but I'm always a lore-junky for stuff like that, and I figure what's the point of having access to the creators and developers like this if I don't take advantage of the opportunity to ask, right?

While I don’t want to give away where we may or may not be headed with the overall idea of extended lifespans, the stakes change dramatically for a character when they may outlive and survive through any massive societal change.

(The immediate story that comes to mind is Hob Gadling’s story from Gaiman and Zulli’s brilliant classic Sandman #13)

I do want to ask, however, if readers think that adding this element (be it scientific in nature or magical) would make characters TOO powerful given the nature of our worlds. How does perspective change the longer you live?  Does life matter as much if you don’t have to worry about death?

Give us some of your thoughts below.  It’s an exciting idea.

Thanks, Chris!

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And with that we will be back here next week! Be on the lookout for more of the completed SOURCEBOOK chapters we’ve been releasing as well as some other surprises.

Viva Templar!

Stephen W.

8/9/22

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