Alpha Flag’s 10th Anniversary
Hey guys! Renee and I posted Alpha 00 on the 20th of January, 2011, which means today is the comic’s 10th Anniversary. To celebrate, Renee and I have been working on finally bringing you more, new Alpha Flag.
As such, today we posted nine new pages, starting where we left off with Hotel 10 and going through to the end of the Hotel chapter with 18. These new pages will also be higher resolution for those of you with high pixel density screens (previous chapters in @2x will be coming as well).
We also wanted to celebrate the occasion by reimagining that first cover we made way back when, but reflecting the Diver’s current status quo in the comic to show how far we’ve all come that’ll be slipped in after the Hotel chapter.
Moving forward with the next chapter, India, I’ve been taking a deep dive survey of the original outline that Alpha Flag has always been written from — that is, the story has always been written through to completion in bullet points in the original outline, but the two individual chapters that make up each issue would get written as I approached the end of the previous one. India and Juliet are coming along, but I’m also taking an opportunity to write a little farther and deeper than before so the continuing story has a little more consistent polish. Expect some more movement on India next month as Renee and I figure out what fits into our respective schedules.
Anyway, welcome back, and thanks for having us in your lives again!
– Jon
Patreon
Hey guys! If you’re a big webcomics reader, you’re probably already quite aware of what Patreon is, but if not, it’s a platform where you can set up a monthly, recurring donation to help connect a creator to the resources they need to make the work you want to see from them.
Alpha Flag has been quite susceptible to the tidal forces of my freelance day job, but with Patreon I’d love to have your help in making more time for comics. I’d love to put out comics for you at a much faster rate. If you’d like that, too, please check out my patreon campaign. I’ve got some rewards tiers that might interest you if you’re already a fan of my work. The first few milestone goals are specifically about ensuring that both Renee and I can produce Alpha Flag with regularity, and after that, expanding the side comics (Untitled SF, Terminal Hair, and more) I put out for you, too.
– Jon
The Start of Hotel + Alone and Forgotten 14
Sorry for the missed update on Alone and Forgotten! Renee got slammed by a work-related crunch period and I was out of the country/AFK. Alone and Forgotten 14 is going to be the last page of the story, when Renee gets out from under the crunch, but in the meantime we’re going to start running what we have of the next chapter, Hotel, starting tomorrow.
The beautiful chapter cover, Hotel 00, was drawn by the incomparable Der-shing Helmer of The Meek and Mare Internum fame. If you haven’t already read both of those fantastic comics, go do, and then become her Patron!
The first story page, Hotel 01, should go up next Thursday.
-Jon
State of Alpha Flag, June 2016
With the completion of Golf last week with page 10, we’ll be running the remaining pages of The Only Thing I’m Really Afraid of is the Thought of Dying Here Alone and Forgotten for the next five weeks, starting with today’s Alone and Forgotten 10. If you need a refresher on the short story, you can start here. While Alpha Flag turns into the Renee show for a month, I’ll be hard at work getting ahead on the next chapter: Hotel.
Speaking of which, we’ve got a really exciting guest cover artist lined up for Hotel 00, which we’ll be posting on July 7th! Which means Hotel 01 will be uploaded the following Thursday, July 14th. Change of plans! I need an extra week to pull some things together, so Hotel 00 will be posted (as scheduled) on July 14th, now, and Hotel 01 will post the following Thursday.
In other news, I’m currently building a Jon Cairns Patreon that’ll launch alongside the new chapter next month, and I’d love your input on what you’d like to see from me for that. The first milestone will be ensuring that Alpha Flag can keep updating 4 times a month, like it has been since our return. After that, what kind of content would you like to see from me (more Untitled SF, Terminal Hair, Shorts, or just more Alpha Flag)? What kind of rewards would interest you? I’m open to all suggestions! I’ve got a pile of my own ideas, but I want to make sure that it represents what you guys want to see, so we can work together to get cool stuff in front of your eyeballs and in your hands.
– Jon
Beyond in the Store
I’ve added the last few copies of the Beyond anthology that I have on hand to the store, as well as a motivational poster that my friends have been bugging me to print for literally years (the drawing is from 2010–the last thing I inked with a Pentel Color Brush before switching to Kolinsky sable brushes), and a bundle of all of the current Alpha Flag and Untitled SF issues (at a discount with an added bonus sketch).
✨ http://alphaflag.storenvy.com ✨
If you’re interested in those, I’ll be selling them for the next two or so weeks (or while supplies last on the Beyonds) to lighten my suitcase for my trip back the Europe. If you’re over on the Old Continent, give it a month or so and I can get you some better shipping rates.
-Jon