COFFEE TIME COMICS NEWS

1/15/07

OG Coffee Time

The comic you will be reading that starts today and ends next Monday is the result of Tobias and I first trying to get it together. I say the comic is from 2003, but it may possibly be from the end of 2002. I forget these details. This was to be out first episode, and we started it out exactly the same way as we ended up doing 2 years later: with the interview. The characters featured aren't really in the Coffee Time you know. Well, kind of, but very different versions. Who are they?

Ted the Head - He was to be our main character, very lovingly based on our cafe supervisor at the time. Ted was going to be a complete ne'er-do-well stoner type of character. Just a complete mess who was always getting himeself into trouble. I'm happy we didn't keep him as our main character though. I think in the end he might have felt very one-dimensional, and I think the whole stoner thing can get old very fast.

He sort of morphed into Stoner Boy Floyd, who has become one of Coffee Time's more prominent side characters, and will safely remain that way...I think. you never know with Coffee Time.

The Boss - This is obviously a very early version of Vince. An early and over-the-top version. The whole ganagster thing isn't very subtle, and by the end isn't even close to subtle. I think it's actually pretty funny what happens just because it is over-the-top. You'll see.

So we obviously kept this character, but thankfully toned him down a bit.

If you can't figure out what is going on, Ted was coming in for his interview, and the boss thought he was somebody else and knocked him out. It starts when ted is waking up. I guess we didn't really go into too much detail about that.

I hope you guys enjoy this little bit of Coffee Time history. There's more random stuff to come after this, so stay tuned.

Not much to update about the progress on the comic. It's coming along, and the web design is looking pretty decent. I'm no coding genius, but it's going to look a little nicer than what we got right now.

Talk to you all next week.

John

1/1/07

Here we are...

Today was the orginal date for the new site to be up, but of course, as shit will happen, shit did happen. That's not what I'm concentrating on though. 2006 was a good year. Tobias and I took the plunge into webcomics, and we kept up a steady update. I'm proud of that. The year had a lot of hardships with money and family and relationships and a whole slew of different things that wanted to keep us down, but we made it to the other side in one piece. The end of the year I think gave us our biggest trials, but everything smoothed out, and I'm personally looking to a hell of a new year. I don't think I have to go into why, but the most important are the new trials Tobi and I will go through in webcomicland. We think we know what were doing this time around...but do we really?

Happy New Year everyone. I hope everyone is keeping a positive outlook on everything and are looking forward to the same things we are. I better get out of here though. We're having a party over here in a bit and I still have to hook the music up.

BTW, before I go, if anybody may be wondering, my dad made it through his surgery okay. Better than okay. I can look forward to many more years of having a great dad. He should be going home from the hospital tomorrow morning. Thanks to all who kept him in your thoughts.

John

12/18/06

The End is Near!

So here it is. Monday and Wednesday will be the final two pages of Coffee Time Volume 1. I really can't believe it's here. Tobias and I started this project, or I should say got serious about this project almost two years ago. It really started about 4 years ago when Tobias and I first met. Right away we thought we should work together. Of course we didn't, it took some time, but thank god it did. We've had a lot of personal & artistic growth within the last few years and it's all very crucial to where Coffee Time will be going within the next year. I know there a lot of webcomics that have been around a lot longer than we have, but knowing that we have 8 months of comics under our belts feels pretty good. It also feels good to know that we are progressive in our efforts. I think the difference will be felt in February. Art, story, characters, and website: It's all falling into one vision, and will work on a more consistent level. Not only that, but the universe has expanded with the new comic, Across the Way, and if the dream that exists only in my wee brain comes true, there will be more of that expansion in 2008. But that is looking a little too far ahead. Let's look at something a little more relevant...

You. Thank you so much whoever the hell you exactly are. I know who some of you are, but not the bulk of you. I read the numbers, but don't know exactly what they mean. We get a fair amount of hits, but in the scheme of things, pretty low compared to a lot of bigger webcomics. It doesn't matter in the long run how many of you there are, I'm just glad there is somebody, and hopefully you all enjoy it. I guess if you didn't, you wouldn't stick around. So thank you very much for coming by and reading our comic. And please, once February comes, if you have the time, drop by our forums or send an email our way. We always like to hear input, whether it's a critique or you just want to say "Hey, cool comic." Tobias and I are both pretty grateful for whatever we get and we don't get much. So even a "Screw you" would be nice. Well...maybe not unless it was a constructive "Screw you."

Remember, Remember,

the Fifth of February

I know I reiterate the same stuff a lot, but we're a small operation and there isn't always "news". I want you guys to remember that Coffee Time will be pretty much on hiatus until February 5th when Volume 2 starts. We will have stuff going up on the site on a regular basis though. Character profiles is a definite, maybe some character concept art that nobody has seen, maybe some old school pictures that Tobias has done, and maybe some guest art too. It's going to be pretty random. The profiles will run until mid-January, then we will have 9 update days open. We'll figure something out. So come on by and check us out even though we won't have any official Coffee Time comics going. Man, I really wish we could find our original comic that we did within months of meeting each other. That'd be so weird to look at.

Okay, so the last half of this news was written before I went to work, and upon arriving home, Tobias has found our first try at a comic together. We'll definitely be posting that after the profiles. And he also found the first official appearance of "Coffee Time", and it predates me even knowing him. Cool.

Check This Out.

That's my old comics collection. I took the picture while visiting my parents. I ended up having them send a bunch to me in the mail. A bunch of Silver Surfer, Milk & Cheese, The Freak Brothers, Ghost Rider, and some Disney comics that I'm going to use as a reinforcer on one of the kids I work with. I'm going to write a comic that he will draw in exchange for comics. Hopefully it works so I can eventually post it online.

This one was my Dad's idea. This might help anybody who knows me understand me better. I've retained a lot of my old man's humor and kept it for myself. While I was there we were watching some old home movies together and I realize why I'm good with kids. I'm the same clown that my dad was for me, but I can also rule with the iron fist of mom. Not that they didn't fill the other shoes for each other, they did, but there were certain skills that they were better at. My dad had the computer games, and my mom had the math worksheets. That's just how it was, and I've been able to balance it for myself in my work. Thanks guys.

This week is my father's big surgery. It ain't going to be the most fun Christmas he ever had, but it's going to be a great new year. Good Luck Dad.

Well, that's what's going on around here this week. Next monday is Christmas, but that ain't gonna stop me from posting news. It'll be up there sometime that day. Until then, enjoy the end of Coffee Time Volume 1, have a wonderful holiday, and Tobias and I thank you again for reading us.

John

12/11/06

Here's the Deal...

Didn't I talk about game plans changing a few weeks ago? Well ain't that the truth.

So here is what's going on.

1. Across the Way was originally supposed to have a sneak preview at the end of the month. I don't think that's happening now. There's a lot going on and we'd rather save our pages for the week starting February 5th. We plan to have Across the Way be from a different characters POV each volume we do, and so it is important to the story to be read all together. It may have episodes, but it isn't episodic. So no sneak preview. Webcomics are spread out enough. How about an image? Sure...

If you want to know more about the characters, you'll have to wait until January. We'll be showing character profiles for each character. I will tell you that the guy in the hoodie is the heart of the first story.

2. The update schedule will be changing.

Coffee Time - Monday & Wednesday

Across the Way - Tuesday & Thursday

Originally, we were going to keep CT's regular schedule and only do ATW on Tuesdays, but come on, who's going to pay attention to one page a week. I hope you Coffee Time readers don't mind one less page a week, but 5 updates a week is tough. 4 is seriously pushing it, but I think Tobi and I have it in us.

I hope you all enjoy the new comic enough where it doesn't matter.

3. The month of January...hmmm. This website is really going to be on and off during that month. We have 10 profiles that we will be posting as updates, but honestly, I have no idea what will be going up the rest of the time. Maybe I'll write something up for a friend to draw while Tobi works on the comics.

Or maybe somebody out there would like to do some guest comics for us. Honestly, I have no idea who reads this stuff, so if you're reading this and are interested in helping us out, we'd appreciate it big time.

Otherwise, we really hope nobody loses interest because of some downtime. Tobias and I are very excited about the future of Coffee Time Comics.

A Request

I rewrote this section like 5 times trying to come up with some real life affirming words. And I kept erasing it because I really only want to say one thing. My dad is a really important guy to me so I'd appreciate it if you all would keep him in your thoughts and prayers for the next month. He's going in for some major surgery on the 21st. It's going to be a tough day for me and my family waiting around for the good words from the doctor. So if you can, remember him next time you're kneeling at the side of your bed before you go to sleep.

Thanks.

John Kratky