Putting this high-profile indy comic on the web would certainly give this comic some well-deserved publicity and also resolve some of the tension that’s been made from faithful followers wanting to see a definite conclusion, even it’s only for the current arc. It’d certainly give some people some peace of mind. I can’t even begin to imagine the level of frustration of having to wait over six years for the next part. My sister compared it to waiting for the next volume of Nana.

If people started liking his continuation, he could have some kind of PayPal provider for his audience to give “whatever funds they deem necessary”. Of course, there’s still the inheirent danger that he’ll grow sick of his project again as he’s done so in the past, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

To me, the reasoning almost doesn’t matter, as it still lessens my confidence in certain creators. It’s no longer solely a small press problem, as we see this from bigger titles, like Batman: Odyssey and Daredevil Father.

If you can cite Infinite Vacation, I figured I could cite Stray Bullets. After all, we haven’t really gotten an explanation from Spencer, either…

Are you sure that’s what happened in Lapham’s case? I seem to remember that Stray Bullets wasn’t selling well enough for him to continue and be able to pay the bills, so he pursued work from the big two, hoping that he could return to it. But I haven’t seen any statement from him on Stray Bullets’ status in a looong while. That’s another series I’d love to see return.

I used to be a small press brand manager for Diamond, and we used to insist that an indy creator have the first 3 issues ready to go at the time we listed the first issue, so that there weren’t any delays in the release schedule. Over time, we got a little lax on that, and realized that the small press creator (especially one with a full time job and a family) didn’t understand the realities of a comic publishing cycle. This led to a LOT of unfinished books.

Plus, it was saddening to me to see creators, like David Lapham, just drop their indy darlings when the work starting coming in from the Big 2. At this point, I only trust small press books in collected form, as it’s the best bet I have of ever getting a complete story.

And that’s especially true with something like Infinite Vacation that had a true story rather than a central premise for the series that allowed the creators to tell stand alone stories.

I’ve got a longbox at home full of partially completed minis and it just isn’t as rewarding to read them in dribs and drabs.

Is it frustrating that something great like Steve Bissette’s Tyrant never got finished? Sure. But I still treasure the issues of Tyrant that I have. And admittedly, that may not be the best example, as each issue was satisfying on its own while being a part of a larger narrative, whereas something like Infinite Vacation promises an answer to a mystery. But I’m still OK with the $7 I spent on the two issues of Infinite Vacation that have come out. I have faith that it will get completed.

That being said, if a creator burns me consistently in not finishing the story he or she set out to tell, I could see becoming a trade waiter for their work.

But I’m still going to err on the side of just buying the comics if they sound good, especially when my support might mean more of the comics I enjoy. And there’s always hope that a creator will come back to finish the book. I began buying one of my favorite GNs, Hicksville, back when Dylan Horrocks was publishing it serially in the comic book Pickle. Pickle dies, but years later, Horrocks published the complete story as a TPB. And I was happy to have it.

Dunno about Andi Watson, but I saw Chynna Clugston’s name in the credits of one of DC’s comics, checked online, and yeah, she’s now an assistant editor at DC.

[...] Comics | “There is no good reason for me to buy an independent comic issue any more unless it is a complete story in itself”: Johanna Draper Carlson bemoans the tendency of indy comics to start strong but never finish and concludes that print serialization is not working for small publishers. She sees online releases as the way to build an audience nowadays, although that may not solve the problem of the near-infinite wait between issues of Infinite Vacation. [Comics Worth Reading] [...]

I’m sure he would be fine with x% of my order being pre-paid, and I believe that was what he first requested if I wanted to keep going with him but frankly that’s just more headache for me. I pay him once when I order, and then just pick up stuff when it comes in. So I do have a couple of months pre-paid but once I got over the initial hump I was back to the same rough monthly cost.

And yes, if something just plain old hasn’t shipped then we take it off and he credits me the difference. Before I had a bunch of books on the pull list, but I didn’t religiously read Previews. So now I have fine control as each month I decide exactly what comics to pick up/axe from my reading list, and I pay more attention to these contentious indies and keep an eye out for good material for my daughter. My retailer used to have a huge backlog of comics from guys who had their pull list with him but only came in every few months or maybe stiffed him in the end. Now everyone pays at least some up front and hopefully he can make a go.

If I switched to strictly graphic novels, I think it would be cheaper to just go via Amazon, although I don’t know as you could order there at the time Previews comes out.

On the other hand, indie project do not make a lot of money and thus can’t usually support an artist on their own, so to be marking down indie books on the basis that they aren’t ‘fast’ is to rate the whole field on a slanted basis that favours big business.

But it’s a roll of the dice as to which creator will be working on it from issue to issue.

Given that I don’t shop at a comic shop, the Indy comic scene has pretty much dried up for me. I have only found one new creator whose work I like in the past 3 years or so. It was Faith Erin Hicks and I only found her work through Twitter pointing towards her work on her site.

Even creators whose work I know and like seem to have vanished. I haven’t seen or heard about a new book by Andi Watson in years, Chynna Clugston did one issue of Blue Monday and then it was scrapped for it to be a GN instead (if I recall correctly) and it has never appeared.

I’m picking up a few Indy titles either in TPB form, Love & Capes or through the new ap for my IPad like All Nighter from David Hahn. ($1.99 is decent)

Yet other than those, and Scott Pilgrim I haven’t seen anything new in years. (though Craig Thompson’s Habibi looks interesting so that’s a positive step) And its no use saying go to the shop mine don’t have good records of getting indy titles & I’m not doing mail order where I have to prepay.

Which is kind of a shame really, I was reading manga but lost interest in the majority of what’s out in it these days. So I have room for something different, but not a lot available.

Basque, if you’re confident that the series you follow will eventually conclude, then you’ve had better luck than I have. As far back as Hepcats, 20 years ago, I’ve been following great comics that never finished, and I know that the best intentions don’t mean a creator can overcome the market forces set against them. I support indie comics, but I want to treat them as a business, not a charity.