Jason Pearson’s BODY BAGS: Artist's Edition

The Latest
about 1 year ago – Tue, Mar 25, 2025 at 07:38:08 AM

Hi everyone! Here's a little update on where things stand:

As you may remember from the last update, the main Artist's Edition and Sketchbook were done and at the printer; at that time we were working on the Artist's Edition+ and design on some of the miscellaneous add-ons. Unfortunately, Scott realized that a large chunk of the material for the Artist's Edition+ book had not yet been scanned, and as that is a very time consuming process, and with all the other work on his plate while launching his new company, we got a little behind schedule.

The good news is that everything has now been scanned, and Scott and I finalized all the material for the Artist's Edition+ over the weekend. Even better news (for those that are getting the Artist's Edition+) is that there's so much good stuff we've decided to add another 8 pages to the book, expanding it to whopping 88 pages! On top of that, we've also had the completed pages from 'Don't Die Until I Kill You' lettered by Michael Heisler (Jason's long time letterer). Only 6 pages were retrieved from one of Jason's backup hard drives, but it at least gives you a taste of what he was cooking up.

My plan is to have another update for you very soon, once I have a firm shipping date from the printer. I'll also share screenshots of some final Artist's Edition+ pages for everyone at that time as well. Until then, check out the scan below...does anyone remember the 'Body Bags Babies' that Jason drew for the Diamond Comics Previews catalog back when Father's Day issue #1 was solicited to retailers? These drawings were sprinkled throughout the catalogue in the Dark Horse section, helping promote books like Hellboy and Star Wars alongside BODY BAGS #1. Kind of wild when you think about it now. In all there were 15 character drawings created for that promo, and they will all be included in the Artist's Edition+ alongside multiple illustrations that have never been seen before.

Thank you all for your patience-- it will be worth the wait! 

Update
about 1 year ago – Thu, Jan 16, 2025 at 08:38:53 AM

Hi everyone! I'd like to start by letting all of our Los Angeles-area backers know that we hope you and your loved ones are safe from the fires. What a tragic situation, and our hearts go out to all those who have been impacted by this disaster. 

Turning to happier news, the project continues to move along as expected. As mentioned in the last update, the print files for the Artist's Edition were turned in back in December. Serban (our book designer) has been plugging away on everything else, and the files for the Sketchbook and the Artist's Edition+ will be getting turned in soon. We're still expecting to have the books delivered from the printer in April, and will turn them around to you ASAP once we have them. 

Regarding the surveys, due to the complicated logistics of integrating the 2015 backers who used their credit on this campaign, we decided to bite the bullet and go with Backerkit to handle the addresses and digital downloads. I've just started building out the surveys and will let you know when they are close to going out. 

I'll leave you with a look at some spreads from the sketchbook that was finished up a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

Thanks again for you support, and I'll be back with another update soon!

-Keven

Off to the printer + a cool surprise!
over 1 year ago – Sun, Dec 08, 2024 at 04:46:38 PM

It's been a busy few weeks since the campaign ended, but I am glad to be back with some great updates. First, Serban has been plugging away at the book design for the Artist's Edition, and I'm happy to report that Scott and I just finished proofing all the text, so the interior files for the book will head to the printer Monday (tomorrow). What a relief! Serban will be finalizing the cover design next, before turning his attention to the design on the LOCKED & LOADED Sketchbook, and then the ARTIST'S EDITION+ (Scott and I are still digging through all the material for those two books and trying to figure out what will make the final cut, but it will all be done in the next few weeks). 

Now, for the exciting surprise! Many of you know that legendary artist, Michael Golden (The Micronauts, The 'Nam, Doctor Strange, G.I. Joe, co-creator of The Uncanny X-Men's Rogue with Chris Claremont, and so much more) was both a huge inspiration and a mentor to Jason. I spoke to Michael a while back about the possibility of including his covers from the original BODY BAGS mini-series in the Artist's Edition, and he said he'd be happy to get them scanned for us, but they were stored in a different state, so it was going to take a little time to make it happen. Obviously, we couldn't tease this because we weren't sure if we'd get them before our print deadline, but Michael and his manager, Renee Witterstaetter, made it happen! We now have the missing piece of our final Stretch Goal-- scans of the original covers that will be included in the book, adding an extra 4 pages to the hardcover (a whopping 248 pages!). I can't tell you all how thrilled this would make Jason, as he thought the world of Michael and loved those covers so much. 

I've attached a couple of screenshots below, as I'm proofing the book a few more times tonight before Scott turns it over to the printer:

Finally, as inquiries about the book are still coming in from backers of the 2015 campaign and others that just learned of the book, we are allowing Late Pledges on Kickstarter for a little while longer before we finalize our print run. If you know of anyone that was bummed because they missed out for whatever reason, let them know that they can still reserve a copy. 

Thanks, and more updates to come!

-Keven

THANK YOU, THANK YOU! What a great campaign!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Nov 21, 2024 at 09:49:58 PM

Whew. What a ride this month has been! Running a campaign is always a marathon, but with the extra layer of making sure the Legacy backers could get their credit, this one was really a whirlwind (so many emails! Ha). Around half of the 2015 backers claimed their credit, which is a really strong number, and as it was one of the main reasons we did this campaign, what a great feeling.

And a heartfelt THANK YOU goes out to everyone who pledged, shared the campaign, and helped get us funded. I also want to acknowledge the Legacy backers I communicated with who shared their personal stories about Jason, how much they loved his work and why BODY BAGS had become one of their favorite books. I really don't think Jason had any idea how many fans he had or how much his art meant to so many people, and I have to admit it was eye-opening even to me. 

As far as next steps, Serban, the book designer, is working away on the Artist's Edition. We will have that book turned in to the printer in the next few weeks. After that, Serban will get started on the design for the other two books, the bookmarks, and the trading cards and prints. Once we get back from the holidays, Scott should have a better idea of when everything will go to print, but things are moving right along on on that front.

In the meantime, I'll begin working on the surveys. Due to the Legacy backer orders needing to be manually entered into the system, I may go ahead and use Backerkit to streamline the process. It costs us some money to use their platform so I was trying to work around it, but in the end they may make the most sense. For you, using Backerkit adds some perks, as it will allow you to go in and change your address at any time before we start shipping, you can also add items to your order later if FOMO takes over, and it also stores your digital downloads in case you delete a file by accident, or something of that nature. I'll update you on that as soon as we make a final decision, but just wanted to let you know that might happen.

Regarding the final stretch goal reward, we decided to do something a little out of left field and focus on the trading card set. This 50 card set (+ the exclusive Chase Cards for the MACK DADDY backers) is going to have some late-90's vibes, so why not add some foil stamping to the cards? If you were a fan of card collecting back when BODY BAGS was released, comic book based card sets were all the rage, and we're going to do this one up right with the foil stamp addition. But that's not all-- although I can't give specifics because we haven't finalized the design of the two ancillary books, I expect to add more pages to the digital versions of both the LOCKED & LOADED sketchbook and the Artist's Edition+ book. No matter what, you'll be getting more pages than what we've promised. 

One last note on, I'm going to try and take a day or two to catch my breath, but I will respond to every inquiry that comes in, so don't worry if you don't hear back from me immediately. 

I want to close by giving a shout out to our entire team. Erika Schnatz did such a great job with the campaign design (and always has such a great attitude about my annoying notes!), Kevin Taylor did a masterful job with our campaign video (as always-- he's done all 4 of my campaign videos and they are just the best), Serban Cristescu is busy killing it on book design, and I can never say enough about the great Scott Dunbier! Scott offered up his time, skills, and vast knowledge of this industry to help will this campaign into existence. I only knew Scott in passing before we started down this road to honor Jason's memory, and I just can't stress enough how wonderful working with him has been. The comic industry can often seem like it's filled with people who enjoy putting up roadblocks, but Scott is the opposite of that in every way. Be on the lookout for the all the new offerings coming from Act 4 Publishing in 2025 and beyond, because the lineup is insane! I may have to do an addition to my house to make room for all of the books he's got cooking! And the last shout out goes to Jason's mother (she's not really a public figure, so I don't throw her name around) but she put a lot of trust in Scott and I to get this project done the right way, and I'm so happy phase one has gone so well. And she's so happy to see this kind of support, so thank all of you for that. 

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention the guy that truly made this happen, and that is the creative force that brought us all to this point, the late Jason Pearson. Love him or hate him, if you knew him you talked about him. Jason was human, and like all of us, he had his faults. But he was my friend, he was Scott's friend, and he was a friend to so many who backed this campaign. We all miss him dearly, even today. But time passes and it's easier to see some things a little more clearly; one of those things was the joy that Jason brought to the world through Clownface and Panda. He put a lot of himself into those two-- in many ways they were both a part of him more than most could ever know. Those characters, despite all the wildness that can only happen in a comic book, were just two people trying to find their way in this world; trying to find a way to survive in the worst of conditions, while at the same time, trying to connect with each other. Trying to be loved, even when they considered that a weakness. And that's why BODY BAGS still resonates today. 

Jason, all of this is for you. Love you and miss you, old friend (yes, I know you would have laughed in my face for saying that). 

-Keven

Stretch Goal Note + 13th Dimension's Exclusive Preview of Jason's Pages
over 1 year ago – Mon, Nov 18, 2024 at 06:47:37 AM

Sorry for the flurry of updates, but it was brought to my attention that the info on the Stretch Goal graphic did not match up to the text I sent out yesterday. The graphic in the update was correct, as is the graphic on the campaign page; I just screwed up and pasted the text into the update incorrectly (all the rewards are the same, I just had one out of order). Here's the correct information:

$105k: The Body Bags soundtrack By Scott Thrill (this will be an MP3 audio file DOWNLOAD, free to all backers of the campaign). A side note on the soundtrack; if you watch the campaign video you will hear my favorite track from Scott. This is a soundtrack that Jason supported and CD's were even sold by Jason and Scott at San Diego Comic-Con back in the day.  

$110k: 4 more pages added to the BODY BAGS: Artist’s Edition (244 total pages— we are officially maxed out!) + Spot-UV added to the LOCKED & LOADED Sketchbook cover.

$115k: 16 pages added to LOCKED & LOADED Sketchbook (80 pages total). 

$120k: 12-Gauge Digital COMIC BOOK Sampler (the PDF will include 2 short stories drawn by Jason Pearson + a GALLERY of all his 12-GAUGE covers. 100 pages minimum, FREE to all backers). I'm still curating the list of comics, but it will include both issues of The RIde that Jason illustrated, as well as every cover he did for me over the years. This book will be the equivalent of a full graphic novel in page count. 

$125k: TBD

Sorry again for the mix up, but that did allow me the opportunity to share the feature that went live on 13th Dimension yesterday after I posted the update! 13 pages, many that you haven't seen yet, along with some commentary on each. One of the pages is below, but click the link to see them all: 

Dig This EXCLUSIVE INSIDE LOOK at JASON PEARSON’S BODY BAGS ARTIST’S EDITION

It looks like we just passed $105k, so keep spreading the word! More soon!

-Keven