I’m just going to say right now, we have something pretty cool planned for next week. Not just a song, but something else. Something we have never done before. Patreon members got a sneak peek today.
If you follow my Bearmageddon page on Facebook, you may have seen the recent influx of bear memes. Or you may have seen them elsewhere, they are sort of exploding right now. I put some more bear related stuff up in the store.
Also, I may have already mentioned it, but we are converting Bearmageddon to mobile format for Tapas, Tabulit and Webtoon. Download the app or click the links below. If you have never read Bearmageddon, now is a great time to start. This is a great format and really fun to read this way. You can also find Axe Cop comics on Tabulit. We plan on converting Axe Cop to this format eventually as well.
This week I had an amazing lunch with the amazing David Sandberg of Kung Fury.
There was a lot of mutual admiration in the air. I think both of us were wondering why we’d not connected sooner. I posted a little video message from the two of us to my Patreon page and I’ll talk more about the meeting in my next Patreon Pipe n’ Type on Friday.
Sale on commissions is live until May 12th, my anniversary. Your commission money will go towards a gift I’d like to get my wife, but we’re on a tight budget right now so I’m trying to generate some extra cashflow. I’m also be doing a limited number of digital commissions each month. If you’ve ever wanted me to draw you something, now’s the time! And if you are one of my Patreon subscribers, be sure to get a discount code based on your pledge level from me first!
Have you ever read my other comic, Bearmageddon? I’ve been reformatting it for Tapastic and Webtoons. Click those links to read the comic in a very mobile-friendly format. It’s a fun, cinematic way to read because each panel is hidden until you scroll down.
Also, if you enjoy Bearmageddon, please give it a vote on Top Webcomics. I’m working on getting Axe Cop on there as well, but one thing at a time.
That’s all for this week! Thanks for joining, see you next time.
Ethan
The Songster isn’t afraid to genre-jump midset. He is, afterall, the Songster, not the rockster or the R&Bster.
Funfact: in today’s song the banjo solo is played by me. I recorded it on my phone and sent it to Parry. My wife got me a banjo for Christmas so I have been playing it for a few months. This is my first time playing, or recording publicly. I love playing banjo and it is coming a lot more naturally to me than expected, though I have a long way to go. I’m no Scruggs.
In other news… I think I am going to stop producing Ask Axe Cop episodes, at least until I finish this story. I am doing too much right now. Doing so many different projects I am not finishing any of them. Songster pages will keep coming out on Thursdays and Bearmageddon always comes out on Wednesdays.
I’m headed off on a trip to Oregon for about two weeks here, so I will be skipping a week after next week. If any of you want to send me a guest comic, I might be inclined to post it during that time. Email me if you are interested: ethan@axecop.com.
The Songster prints are here! These are hand screen printed, 16×20. I hand-detail each one. See the video below. Because I am doing work on every print, I am lowering the availability of these to 50. I have already sold a good amount but if you want yours, get them while they last!
If you are anywhere near the small town of Coos Bay, Oregon on the 16th of March, stop by the Egyptian Theater. This is my home town and I will be having Axe Cop Night, where I will do a little presentation about creating Axe Cop and showing 6-8 of my favorite episodes.
Huge thanks to Parry Gripp for making such sweet music for this project. I can’t wait until it is all done and we have the coolest comic/album ever.
Read next week’s page and see this one in super high resolution when you join me on Patreon. Here is some recent Patreon bonus content for $5-10/month:
Also, there is a private Facebook group where I check in every week, have a pipe and a chat about what’s been going on, answer questions and generally get to know you guys.
Try it for $5/month and see if you find it worth it. If you do a month and didn’t enjoy it, send me an email and I will refund your money.
All right, song 2! I feel like PT makes this feel like Axe Cop’s “Temple of Doom” story. I don’t know. Thanks Parry for giving us more beats to get down to. Part two comes next week, or you can get the full origin on Patreon.
Check out this blog about the details and exclusive items for my trip to Seattle for ECCC. Here are a couple things I’ll have available…
Limited Edition Print
Coloring Kit
New Stickers!
(Based on art from the first-ever Axe Cop screen print!)
Perhaps one notable difference is now that Malachai is older, he knows who some of these celebrities are. I am pretty sure his main knowledge of Morgan Freeman is from the narration impression meme videos that are out there.
UPDATE: Good ol’ Dave DeAndrea, the man behind Axe Cop’s voice in the old motion comics sent me this video after he saw this episode. If you want an enhanced reading experience, allow him to read it to you…
I bring you another loosely scheduled installment of UNCHOPPED. The cotton balls used in the last scene made their way into this one in the form of a bad guy who bombs you with extra fluffy cotton balls, the Cotton Bomber. What I love most though is this storyline about Wexter returning to 4th grade with his dad so he can finish school. This was the element that made me love this story. Our dad dropped out of highschool and ended up going back and finishing later in life. I assume that inspired this idea in Malachai’s head at the time.
Speaking of Malachai, he is 12 years old as of yesterday, so happy birthday little brother. He is singularly obsessed with video games now, just as I was at that age. We chatted and were fantasizing about an Axe Cop video game. It really would be the greatest game ever made if done right.
Thanks for reading, and if you know any game companies who want to make the greatest video game ever, send me a message.
Ethan
I had a busy Wednesday and Thursday this week, so I decided to post on Friday. Surprise!
The next mission Wexter and his dad go on is here. They fight Codack’s room mate, the Minder. This whole story was pretty much made up during one very fast paced play time while we were working on Axe Cop: President of the World. I was spending a month with Malachai to work on that story and he kept wanting to go off on tangents and side stories. One of my favorites was this whole series of events with Wexter and his dad. So you will see things like the last bad guy was based on a Kodak camera and the Minder can be stopped by cotton balls. There was a bag of cotton balls laying around at the time and they became integral to the story. As you will see next time, there is even a bad guy called the Cotton Bomber. But my favorite part of the story is yet to come.
If you enjoy new Axe Cop content and want to help keep it coming, please become a Patreon supporter. Every little bit helps. Thanks for reading!
This part of the story was highly inspired by two things. The new Kodak camera I had bought for recording our creative sessions, and our old dad.
The camera became the inspiration for Codack’s name, his address and the fact that he must be killed by being placed in 3 meters of water. This was a small sports camera I had bought. One of the cheaper ones in the store, just to have running while we played. We also wrote a lot of this one while in the car, so we had the GPS there as well.
The moment when we find out that Wexter’s dad never finished T Rex school is one of my favorites. It figures in later on as well, as you’ll see. This is inspired by having a dad who was born right at the end of the Great Depression into a very poor family. He dropped out of school at a young age as many did back then. He eventually finished school and went to college as well.
I started a Patreon page for Axe Cop, if you feel like supporting the comic. Thanks to all those who already have!
That’s all for now. Next week, Wexter and his Dad go on another mission on their little father and son outing. This time they will take on “the Minder”. See you then!
Ethan
