Newsletter 34: Books are out, FCBD & Issue 4!

I have a cold. And a touch of the madness...

Hello, you glowing beams of sunshine.

Welcome to space. It’s cold and dark and vast. You live for millennia and travel faster than anything else in the universe. Well done! 

Someone in your way? Not to worry. Your solar radiation slowly kills any organic creature living on a planet's surface, and quickly kills any organic creatures who managed to jump outside of their planet’s magnetosphere. Like little tiny bullets pocking little tiny holes in their DNA.

Wow. Look at you.

You glowing beams of sunshine.

Welcome back to Orion News! The newsletter by me, Ryan Lessard, comic creator, former investigative journalist, Lego aficionado and No. 1 Kurt Vonnegut fan. 

I write this today, laid low by a common cold, from the comfort of my Manchester, New Hampshire apartment, which until recently doubled as a warehouse for all the Kickstarter rewards I finally sent out over the past few weeks. 

That’s my first update:

Kickstarter Rewards

Fwoosh, tada! Your rewards, madam? Here they are. In your hands. Behind your ear. In your mouth? Definitely up inside Steve’s top hat… Bold choice, Steve.

Only a few have yet to receive theirs, because they were rude enough to live in a nice part of the world, far from the borders of the contiguous United States of America, a dystopian hellscape overrun by robots that threaten to do our homework, take our jobs and be mean to other people on the internet. 

It takes a little bit more paperwork to send you your books. Even more to ship myself to you in a box, which I’m considering. Anyways, I just have a couple international books to send and then…

What’s that? The robots have spread across the globe already? That’s OK. I like robots. Robots, I trust. You always know where you stand with a robot. Not like those white, male humans, hairless and goateed with sunglasses concealing their eyes in their Twitter profiles. Robots do great work, I’m told. … And if they’re reading this right now, I just want them to know that I would be good company to keep if they ever want to spare a handful of humans for entertainment purposes. 

By the way, do you want a robot to draw you a picture? Don’t use MidJourney. That’s so 2022. I know some, um, really lifelike androids who can churn out some top shelf art for you, if you’re willing to wait a little longer and pay a little extra so they can feed their kids… I mean, um, recharge their kids. (Nailed it.)

Ah! Before I forget, I also wanted to mention that two or three of you didn’t get some Kickstarter “Add-ons” that you ordered in the last campaign. That was my mistake and I’ll send another package over, via drone, to correct the error. 

If you didn’t get something you ordered, please reach out to me and let me know. I will employ as many robots as I have to to get you your stuff. They will each be trained to perform close up magic.

What else is going on?

Tabling @ FCBD in Manchester

This is fun. Check it out: For the first time, I will be tabling at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester, New Hampshire on Saturday, May 6, for Free Comic Book Day.  

Double Midnight does a great event every year, like a mini con. And this is the first year they’ve hosted FCBD in their new location, which is itself quadruple the size of their old store, AND they have access to a good sized venue space elsewhere in the same building (commonly used for wedding receptions). 

Take a look at the below map to see where my table will be. Come and visit!

I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and meeting a couple people I’ve only ever interacted with on social media. I will be seated next to some great artists and fellow Manchester residents.

This is also the first time I will be able to retail Sentinel #3, along with all other books and variants of the series. So if there’s anything your collection is missing, now’s the best time to hit me up.

What about Sentinel #4?

Good question, faithful reader. Good question. 

…

Hey where did everybody else go? I guess it’s just you, Top Hat Steve. And mom. Hey mom.

I have a secret to tell you. Shh… ……………………….. We already started Issue 4 of Sentinel!

In fact, returning artist Javi Laparra has already zipped through the first half a dozen pages of pencils and inks! And they look gorgeous. 

If you like what you see in Issue 3, it’s going to be more of the same. Lots of fun action, humor, drama and surprises. With the same life, vibrancy and humanity Javi brings to all his work.

I’m also excited about this script. It’s a fun ride. Another new character gets introduced, and they bring a good counterbalance to the staid, rule-following and neurotypical folks you’ve met so far. 

I was going to show this in a later newsletter, but since you stayed to read the whole thing, faithful reader, I’ll reward your trust in me with an early peek at the Sentinel #4 covers. 

Here’s the main cover, by Javi:

And Cover B, by Mark Marvida:

 Hope you like it. 

…

Whoa, I didn’t mention D&D once in this newsletter. That’s growth. 

Bye!

RL