Yummy yeast...

My "wet" hop beer turned out fine, but the hops aroma was not much more than using traditional dried hops. In the end, it was not worth the effort. All of my beers have had great hops aroma, probably due to the my typical hops schedule. I use a bittering hop at the start, a flavoring hop anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes before the end, and then a finishing hop at the end of boil.

In regards to my digitally coloring and releasing as ebooks all of my work, here's where things currently stand...

- I have 18 books left to do (not including the 3D issue)
- Volume 3, #2 will release within a week
- Volume 5, #1 and #6 are done but not released yet
- Volume 5, #2 is only four pages away from completion
- Volume 3, #18 is started with four pages done so far

The remaining 13 books are of course the hardest and will take time to finished. I don't have the original art for the 3D book, so that probably won't ever be done. Altogether, I've released 39 books. That's not bad, so shut up!

Here's a quick way to get lotsa Snart (not my offer).

Still waiting for my wet hop beer to finish fermenting. This is my first, so we'll see if this wet hop thing is all it's cracked up to be. Cold conditioning starts on Tuesday through Sunday, which basically consists of dropping the temp from 60F to 40F.

Currently working on coloring RSA Volume 3 Issue 1 for digital release. Issues 1-9 will have both the Volume 2 and the Volume 3 covers.

Lost a handful of hops in a hail storm. These babies are almost ready to go – probably only 5-7 more days then we brew. Dang! Gettin' excited! Har.

Beer #28 rapidly approaching. It'll use fresh hops I'm growing, so as soon as it's harvest time, it's beer brewing time. About a week away yet before they're ready.

Ralph Snart Volume 6 should probably be explained.

After ten years (give or take) of not drawing Ralph Snart or ANYTHING at all, I began a new chapter of Ralph Snart Adventures. In 2003, a few things happened, I contacted Tony Caputo, the original publisher of NOW Comics, to see what the "status" was with him, NOW and Ralph Snart. I also contacted, Sgt. Yuck, the owner of ralphsnart.com, to see what the status was with that domain and his site dedicated to the worshiping of the Snart.

Basically, nobody in particular had the rights to RSA, and the domain was quickly, easily and eagerly given to me. After filing for the Ralph Snart trademark, I began to think about what to do with this new found wealth. Tony wanted to start another iteration of NOW and reprint the old RSA material along with his own books, which I agreed to (might as well). The next couple of years was spent doing that until the NOW "3.0" reboot ended.

After that, I was on my own to do whatever, so from 2003 through 2005, I did RSA Volume 6 as an online web comic -- 16, ten page monthly issues. The story picks up where Volume 5 left off in 1993. Or so I thought... When I started this series, I had totally forgotten about the unpublished issues #6 and #7 from Volume 5. So, instead of picking up the story from Volume 5 Issue 7, I picked up the story for Volume 6 from Volume 5 Issue 5. Craziness!

The other thing that needs explaining is the obvious quality issue with the beginning of Volume 6, which wasn't up to my usual standards, but after coming off such a long layoff, I guess understandable. Both with the writing and art, I was struggling to get my sea legs again (I don't think until the Holy Beer Run begins do things start to get better). By the time I get to the final issue of Volume 6, my confidence is back, so if anything, Volume 6 offers a glimpse at this type of transition.

Anyhow, the first issue of Volume 6 will be on comiXology beginning this Wednesday, July 8.

UPDATED: It should probably be noted that I turned those 16, 10 pagers into 8, 20 pagers.

There is a difference in the ebooks that I'm offering on my store site and those offered through comiXology.

Basically, they're both the same, but only in appearance. Each ebook starts from an uncompressed TIFF file generated from an Illustrator file for each page.

For comiXology, these TIFF page files are combined, still uncompressed, into a PDF file, and that file is uploaded to comiXology (this file is usually about 100Mb for a typical comic). What you receive when you read the ebook in their app is a compressed JPEG of each page. If you download their PDF file, each page is a compressed JPEG (this file will be about 50Mb in size). Note, I've seen these PDFs on pirate sites soon after release (thanks for the support, jackasses).

For my ebook version, these uncompressed TIFF files are resaved as 256-bit PNG files. Actually, sometimes lower -- sometimes 64 or 128-bit. This change in file format does not lower the quality because of the flat digital coloring I use. I then run each PNG through a script I wrote, which deletes any unnecessary data from the file and to further optimize the color palette. After that, each PNG is optimized using a variety of PNG optimizers, like OptiPNG. These PNG files then are combined into a PDF, and, on average, are only 14Mb in size.

Because my PDF files are so much smaller, they'll take up far less disk space and will display much faster. You should be aware however, that each PDF is digitally stamped, 256-bit encrypted and restricted from changing and printing. The stamp will hopefully reduce pirating. Because it's 256-bit encrypted, you'll need an app that can read it (almost all do on all platforms since it's 2008 technology). The restriction of printing should make sense since I don't want individuals printing and distributing my books. Also, the PDFs are only 276 dpi, which is far below what would be required to print something with quality anyway.

The first issue of Doctor Gorpon is available in the Snart Store. I hope to have the other two issues done by the end of this month. All newly colored. The comiXology versions will be available after approval (probably in a month or two).

[Updated: Vol 4 No 3 will release on comiXology February 18]

Had to revise page 22 of Ralph Snart Vol 4 No 3 to change the first panel for comiXology acceptance. First panel shows the original (from 1992) with "Homey Simpson". Second shows my revision that will be in the edition available on my online store, and the third panel shows my revision for comiXology. To their credit, they accepted the revision in a matter of hours.

I changed "Homey Simpson" to "Homer Johnson" because it's enough to safely fall under the parody banner. I further changed the drawing of the character for comiXology, not because they requested it, but just to avoid anymore rejections.