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#1035: Ten Years Ago

July 10, 2015

Notes from the Manager

I already posted a “Multiplex is ten years old this month” thing earlier this month, so I won’t rehash all of that again. But today (not the Fourth of July, despite the strip) is the exact ten year anniversary of Multiplex, and so for the first time in… ever (I think?), I decided to do a strip that could be read as an anniversary strip of sorts, flashing back to (just before) the early days of the comic strip.

Thank you again for reading, especially those of you who have been with me for many, many years — and doubly so those of you who have seen fit to help support the strip over the years, whether through the three Kickstarter projects to date, becoming a Patreon patron, buying books or sketches, or what-have-you. I used to say that my life’s goal was to have one book of comics with my name on it on my shelf. (I wanted to keep it plausible.) Now, I have two that I’m very proud of — and hopefully a third one is on the way. And I couldn’t have done that without you.

So… it’s no secret that Multiplex is ending in a couple of years(-ish). Book Eight is winding down in the next few months, and Book Nine will be the final book in the series. I don’t know yet if it will be relatively short or turn into some Harry Potter-esque thing where it’s three times as long as any of the previous books, but I fully intend to stick the landing, and to finish off the story that I started ten years ago.

But what I haven’t talked about a lot is what I hope to do after that. So here it is: more Multiplex. Not as a webcomic, and not sequels or continuations, but still — more Multiplex.

Book Three is a long way from getting funded at this point, but if it does, I want to make print editions of the remaining six books (one book at a time, of course). I’ll be sharing the bonus strips with my Patreon patrons and, of course, the Kickstarter backers for each book (after the strip ends, I’ll be able to churn them out much faster than these first three, I hope). All of the books will have some amount of new material in them.

I also want to do a series of standalone, hand-drawn, alternate universe type stories (under a sort-of new title: Multiplex 10) parodying various movie genres — much like the zombie movie in Book Six (which would be the first of them, but completed as a coherent “film”). These would also be serialized for Patreon but also be collected as digital comics (i.e. Comixology) and, maybe, a print book of its own, as well (a stealth Multiplex: Book Ten). You guys can pretend they're Kurt and Jason's future movies, if you like. But after ten years of a webcomic, I’m itching to tell different kinds of stories, with less of that nagging feeling that I’m publishing my first draft of the story one page at a time, twice a week.

I’d love to do more animated Multiplex, too. And I want to fit in some non-Multiplex-related projects somewhere or another, like more non-fiction comics.

It’s not up to me, though: it’s up to you. As long as you keep reading and supporting the comic, I’ll keep making more. Multiplex has been the most rewarding experience of my life. (Well…maybe except for my fiançee and my cat Punk, but you get the point.)

So there you have it. That’s the plan. And I hope you’ll help me see it all through.


Multiplex 10 is here!

Although Multiplex 10 has ended, an animated prequel/reboot called Multiplex 10 was funded through Kickstarter in 2017 and is NOW AVAILABLE for rent or purchase on Vimeo On Demand, Amazon Video, and elsewhere! And an all-new, irregularly-updated Multiplex 10 web series (set after the short film) recently launched on YouTube! Learn more about the web series on the official Multiplex 10 website!

Stay up to date on all things Multiplex, Multiplex 10 and me (a.k.a. Gordon McAlpin) by subscribing to my newsletter!

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