THE TRIALS OF GARY BEGIN!

2009-09-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

Friends! A new day is upon us! The Trials of Gary, a serial epic cartoon, begins on January 18th, 2010!

YOU: "Uh, I mean I'm totally psyched, but...what is that?"

I’ll be writing and drawing a weekly comic strip over the course of the next year. The strip will chronicle the adventures of a young wizard called Gary at a crucial time in his training. This is the year in which he must discover and overcome The Four Trials which stand between him and The Secret of The Hundred Ringed Realms.

As the weeks progress our hero will come ever closer to meeting his Trials and summoning the means to persevere. Each Trial that Gary must face will translate into a real life "Art Trial" for me.

You: "Art Trial? What's that?!"

That's a really great question. For each of the the four Trials that Gary faces this year, I will create a challenge that corresponds to Gary's plight. For example, if Gary is charged with making peace between the 40 Warring Bird Tribes in the forests beyond Allen’s Gulp, I would be forced to, over the course of 12 hours, create full-color renderings of the representatives from each tribe so that they may perch at The Tainted Forum and settle their differences once and for all. Each Trial shall be completed at a live event with games, prizes and live music so that all may rejoice in Gary’s Triumph! Huzzah!

YOU: "Fantastic! What's it going to be like?"

The first installment is the right hand corner of this post. Click it for a taste of what's to come.

What I can promise: The Trials of Gary will be updated weekly and will never be plotted out more than four weeks in advance, so you'll be getting the freshies. The epic tale will be spun over the course of a year, and, while each installment will contribute to the larger plot, the goal is that every piece will be able to, in some way, stand on its own. I will explore different mediums and combinations of mediums throughout the series in order to keep things visually interesting (my preferred medium at the moment seems to be colored pencil and ball point pen, but I doubt this will last...).

What I can't promise: I can't promise that The Trials of Gary will always be G-Rated. It's not my intention to shock anyone here, but some of the characters involved might need to swear or get naked on occasion and I'm really in no position to stop them.

YOU: "Alright, I'm in. How do I get it?"

Subscription to The Trials of Gary costs a mere 4 dollars per month -- which means each weekly installment will run you less than a cup of coffee. If you prefer to buy in bulk, you can get an annual subscription for just 40 dollars for the year (that's two months and eight installments free!).

The benefits of membership include:

A new installment of the comic strip in your email inbox each week
Free entry to all four of the Trials of Gary events
Entry into monthly drawings for original art and Trials of Gary T-shirts, coffee mugs and other delights
Members will also have the opportunity to change the course of Gary's journey through interactive games and contests!

After you subscribe, email me at trialsofgary@gmail.com to confirm. You will receive the first installment in you email inbox immediately, the second on January 18th, and a new episode in your inbox weekly.

If you don't do Paypal, email me about alternate methods of payment.

Of course, I don't want to exclude anyone for financial reasons. So, if you're excited about the project, but, just can't swing it, email me to discuss it.

I'm super excited to dive into this thing and see what comes up. Hope you'll come along for the ride. Just click on one of the buttons below to get started.

Cheers,
Scott Alden