NOT the Actron I'm working on
As 2006 marks the 20th anniversary of publication of the very first issue of Actron, I have elected to begin work on issue #242. That would be roughly, chronologically accurate -- where I would be at -- if I'd actually been putting the book out monthly since 1986. Of course, I haven't been putting the book out monthly since 1986. In fact, I haven't even completed a full Actron story since sometime in 1990.
It's exceedingly unlikely that I'll go back and fill in all the missing issues leading up to #242.
And no, these are not examples of the current work in progress.
I expect this new issue will be about thirty pages long, including fake advertisements and character biographical information in the back. The script is mostly laid out, but I'm still plugging pages into the middle.
There is a possibility the whole thing will be colored by silenceinspades, if we can pry our lawyers off of each other long enough to let us sign the damned paperwork. (Our lawyers are in love.)
Rupert Murdoch and MySpace.com will hold no interest in the finished intellectual property.
Pictured at right is the cover to the 1990 reboot of Actron. That was volume 3, and it lasted for six issues (only one of which -- the first -- survives). As you can see, my pen ran out of ink partway through finishing up the logo. Since chances to photocopy my work were few and far between in those days, I had to paste up the cover and reproduce it as-is (as-was?).
Come to think of it, a lot of my old projects ended up that way, circulated in an unfinished state.
As usual, none of the other people named on the cover actually contributed any work to the issue.
I've located what appears to be a fairly decent print-on-demand operation that specializes in comic books. In a few months time, this 20th anniversary commemorative farse wil probably be available for purchase.
Here is a sample of the first page, in progress:
