Author: Jean

It’s 2022 already and this comic is back with a vengeance. We’ve got the first issue pretty much in the bag already and have the scripts for two more. Lucien has a great story and I can’t wait for him to share it with you.

You probably have questions. I’m here to answer them.

Why did you stop the original comic?

Our business model was to get the comic crowdfunded, but hardly anyone showed up. In the words of the Wise Man, first you need the crowd, then you can have the funding. With no one to finance the production of the art, it pretty much came out of our pockets and we just couldn’t sustain the comic that way.

What’s different now?

First off, we’re not going to be weekly but bi-weekly (every other week), so it’s easier on the wallet. And we’re not going to rely on crowdfunding for the time being. We’re going to give the comic entirely free for as long as it takes to gather a sufficiently large audience, then we’ll start a Patreon page to back it up. Maybe. Let’s just focus on making a great comic first, see what happens. If you want to help, please share it with your friends. Tell people about it.

Why not continue the Chain-Spider story instead?

There were several issues with the original format, as Lucien will tell anyone (Lucien, please tell people, pretty please?). But it’s the same world where Chain-Spider lives, so I’d bet good money that she might make a cameo from time to time.

Can we still read the old comics?

They’re still on the site at the time of this writing, but they’ll be removed shortly and made available through an online shop (that still remains to be set up).

So what’s this new format you keep talking about?

Oh, I’m so glad you asked! We’re very excited about it. First, this is all very nugget sized, as I mentioned earlier. We’re working in “chapters” (or issues, if you prefer) and will be releasing one chapter per quarter (the first one being Winter 2022). Each chapter will have six pages that are kind of like a short self-contained scene. At a bi-weekly rate, that means 4 chapters a year. We plan on packaging those chapters into digital issues that people can purchase at a very cheap price to help support the comic. These issues will contain production sketches and some notes from Lucien that won’t be published anywhere else. And since we’re nerds and geeks, there might be gaming stats somewhere in there, we’ll see (no promise).

A’ight, that’s all I got for you at the moment. I hope you’ll stick around and tell everyone about this great comic. I couldn’t be more excited about 2022 and what it has in store.

Oh yeah, and fuck covid.

JC

So the funding campaign ended a few days ago, and while it wasn’t fully successful (we got $392), we’re still immensely grateful for the support we got. Lucien and I have decided to keep forging ahead anyway, hoping downloadable sales will help fill that gap over time. We love doing this comic and we’re not letting little details like *MONEY* stop us. So we’ll have to stop drinking overpriced coffee from Starbucks for a little while–so what? (They really DO add up, you know?)

But I digress.

Over the next few days, those who bought Insider & First Reader Rewards will be invited to private rooms on Upwork (where the comic is being produced) and will start getting insight into what’s coming up in #2.1. Be sure to check your spam filters in case the invite gets trapped in there (you never know). If you haven’t received anything by Friday, please let us know, we’ll look into it. It’s important to us you get your rewards (plus, we can’t wait to hear your comments about what’s happening in the next issue).

Thanks!

JC & LS

Hey everyone,

Thank you again for following Chain-Spider’s adventures so diligently during Year One. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading the comic as much as we have making it.

And now it’s official, we’re launching the crowdfunding campaign for Year Two. We have tons of stories to tell and can’t wait to get started (and by “we” I mean Lucien–I’m just the website monkey). Over the course of the next 30 days, we’ll send backers some previews and updates on how the comic is going (including scripts and sketches whenever available).

Please visit THIS SITE and see if there are any rewards that strike your fancy.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Lucien & Jean

What’s this, guys? Who’s this Nazi-Kicker character? Where’s my weekly Heroes Without Borders comic?

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, we’re done with Year One of the comic. We’re about to get started with the crowdfunding campaign–which we hope you’ll contribute to. Come back here on Thursday for the official launch of the campaign.

What about Nazi-Kicker? Well, he’s part of the world of Heroes Without Borders (I’ll let Lucien introduce him). He’s a hilarious character, so much so that Lucien and Osiris were inspired to do a few strips for your entertainment. So while we work on the next issue of Year Two (#2.1), due late October if all goes well, we’ll entertain you every week with a Nazi-Kicker strip. It has NOTHING to do with the main storyline of this comic, but we’re hoping you’ll enjoy the twisted humor and great art nonetheless.

Thanks, and don’t forget to come back here on Thursday!

JC

Yes. Page 52 isn’t readable because it’s a landscape format.

Click HERE to get the full-resolution version.

Sorry about that. It looked like a good idea on paper, but we didn’t realize it wasn’t going to read well on the page. That’s entirely my bad. 🙁

JC

Hi everyone,

We’re coming on the first anniversary of the comic and it’s been a fantastic experience. We have finally found our stride, and finally settled on a great artist, Osiris Santos Junior (what a GREAT name, isn’t it?). The response and feedback have been great and we couldn’t be happier with how the comic is turning out.

Our first year was something of an experiment. We needed to figure out how to produce such a comic, how to raise awareness for it, and how to create a great story experience for our readers. It’s become very quickly apparent that reading a long-form comic week-to-week isn’t the best way to enjoy HWB. The story needs to unfold at a good pace and we can’t (or shouldn’t) create an environment where the story is compromised in order to bring people back every week. Long-form comics need to read like long-form comics, not weekly serials.

Another thing we discovered in the last year is that this was probably the worst time to start a long-form comic and rely on network advertisement. With the great and recent improvements in ad blockers, there’s just no financing left through “traditional” advertising.

So we’re going to do an experiment for Year Two: we’re going to turn to you, our readers. On September 1, we’ll be starting a 30-day crowdfunding campaign to help us produce the next chapters. We’re looking at producing an 8-page chapter every other month (so 48 pages a year), each financed by a small campaign. There’ll be rewards and stretch goals, and some of you may even be involved in the behind-the-scenes of how the comic gets produced. There’ll be stretch goals for additional pages and, who knows, maybe even color!

The comics produced through crowdfunding will be made available first to the backers, and eventually (3-6 months later?) make it onto the website for everyone to read (except for exclusive content that will be backers-only as part of the crowdfunding campaign).

So stay tuned and look forward to September 1, that’s when we’ll announce everything!

Lucien & Jean

One of my lifelong hobbies is organizing things and, when I can, helping people out. My earliest attempts at putting stuff together go as far back as my mid-twenties, when I organized 1-day gaming conventions using university classrooms; or when I created Mordred, a pen-and-paper Amateur Press Association; or when worked with the guys at Protoculture Addicts to create one of the first anime magazines in America; or… I’ve probably forgotten a bunch of things I’ve done along the road.

About 2 years ago, with Lucien and artist Ghislain Barbe, we attempted a weekly webcomic (Get Stuffed) which, unfortunately, did not last. Around the same time, I helped Normand Bilodeau (Henbe) put together Dungeon Sweet Dungeon (http://www.dungeonsweetdungeon.com), which is still running strong. And more recently, with Lucien, we put our resources together to create the comic you’re now reading–Heroes Without Borders. I can say I’m really proud of how it’s turning out and hope you’ll enjoy the art and stories that are ahead.

But Mozaik Comics isn’t just something I’m doing for Heroes Without Borders. I want this to be a place where aspiring comic creators can come and benefit from a hassle-free hosting service. There are a lot of hurdles when you want to create a webcomic: creating the site itself, setting up accounts & accesses for members (if required), interacting with the hosting service in case of trouble, managing backups (& restoring them when all goes wrong), setting up advertisement & revenue streams, promoting the comic, etc. Without tooting my own horn, I’m starting to know a bit more what it’s all about and I can help.

So if you or someone you know is in need of a hosting service, I can probably help you out. I’m already paying for a hosting service and I’m not using all of its resources, so if you want to start your own webcomic, contact me. I can help you make it happen. (I can’t help you with the content itself, that’s your job–but I can handle everything else.)

Just thought I’d put it out there. Mozaik Comics is there for you. Email me.

Jean C.

This project officially started a year ago when I returned from San Diego Comic Con, but it was something on Lucien’s mind for longer than that. I’ll let him tell the background at his convenience, but for my part, I wanted to see if we could get something mainstream started just for fun. Art is by Daniel Martins Oliveira, a talented Argentinian artist I met over the internet (ain’t the web a wonderful thing?).

So without further ado, enjoy HwoB. Leave comments, we live for that stuff!

Jean C.