Storycomic Weekly Newsletter: August 1st
ALWAYS POSTED A WEEK EARLIER ON PATREON
🚨 Storycomic Patreon Update for Creators 🚨
If you're an author, indie comic creator, game designer, or storyteller looking for more visibility, the Storycomic Patreon is one of the easiest ways to get your work in front of a growing audience.
For just $5 a month (about the price of a cup of coffee), you get some real promotional benefits:
🎙 Front-of-the-Line Recording Access
I’m often booking podcast interviews three months in advance, but Patreon members jump to the front of the line. This is especially helpful if you have a time-sensitive launch, Kickstarter, or new release coming up.
🔗 Permanent Show Notes Promotion
Your website or project link will be included in the show notes of all interviews as long as you’re a member.
📣 Social Media Promotion
We’ll regularly help promote your projects across Storycomic’s social media channels.
And remember, the Storycomic podcast has over 30,000 downloads, so it’s a great way to get your work discovered by readers and fellow creators.
For the cost of a coffee each month, you get promotion, visibility, and priority booking.
If you’re a creative looking to grow your audience, it’s a pretty great deal.
👉 Join us on Patreon and let’s share your story with the world.
Matt Stevens and Alex Robnett bring surveillance, mystery, and interactive comics to Panopticon
In my newest interview, I’m joined by Matt Stevens, creator of Panopticon, and Alex Robnett, his creative partner at DarkWeb Comics and author of Digital Pools.
Panopticon is a sci-fi mystery graphic novel set inside a timeless, single-chamber prison. A new inmate enters the facility and quickly realizes that no one truly understands the rules. The prisoners may be watched at any time — or maybe the fear of being watched is the point. As the story unfolds, he has to navigate prison codes, unreliable information, unseen wardens, and the chilling possibility that staying could be more dangerous than escape.
Matt’s site also adds an interactive layer: readers can go through Intake Processing, create their own inmate, and unlock classified files connected to the world of the comic.
In our conversation, Matt and Alex talk about mystery-box storytelling, audience engagement, launching stories through Macroverse, and how indie creators are finding new ways to turn readers into participants.
If you like sci-fi comics, surveillance stories, unreliable memory, and digital storytelling experiments, this is one to watch.
Project Update: A Quiet Week
For the first time in many weeks, I didn’t open up my project files at all. That means there isn’t really anything new to report this week.
Sometimes life gets busy, and sometimes a project simply needs to sit for a little while. I’m not worried about it. I’ll get back to Appliance when I’m ready and continue moving forward from there.
Book Review: The Vermont Ghost Guide by Joseph A. Citro, Illustrated by Robert Brunelle Jr.
I've had the pleasure of having both Joseph Citro and Robert Brunelle Jr. on my podcast numerous times over the years, and I've always enjoyed our conversations. Joseph is also a columnist for The Bridge Weekly, so I've had the opportunity to get to know his writing style beyond his books. That made finally sitting down with The Vermont Ghost Guide feel a little like catching up with old friends.
What I enjoyed most about this book was how accessible it is. Rather than one long narrative, it's made up of dozens of short entries featuring haunted locations, ghost stories, and local legends from across Vermont. That made it a perfect distraction after a busy day. I could pick it up, read a few stories, put it down, and come back later without ever feeling like I had lost my place.
Joseph has a wonderful way of blending history, folklore, and mystery. Whether you believe in ghosts or simply enjoy a good story, the book offers a fascinating glimpse into Vermont's rich traditions and the tales that have been passed down for generations. His writing is engaging without ever taking itself too seriously, allowing readers to decide for themselves what they believe.
Robert Brunelle Jr.'s illustrations are the perfect complement to the stories. They capture the eerie atmosphere of Vermont's back roads, old buildings, and forgotten places while still maintaining a welcoming charm that makes the book enjoyable for readers of all ages.
As someone who spends a great deal of time thinking about Vermont through my work with the newspaper, radio station, and podcasts, I appreciated how this book celebrates the state's unique character. It's as much about Vermont's history and communities as it is about ghost stories.
If you're looking for an easy, entertaining read that you can enjoy a few pages at a time, The Vermont Ghost Guide is an excellent choice. It's the kind of book that's just as enjoyable on a quiet evening at home as it is while planning your next road trip through the Green Mountains. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to revisiting many of its stories again.
Personal Update: Planning, Progress, and a Day at the Fair
This week, I spent some time working on plans for WYKR Classic internet radio, along with ideas for celebrating the 60th anniversary of the paper next year. I received a little pushback on some of those plans, but I think that simply means I need to do a better job of explaining the ideas and making sure the team understands the direction I have in mind.
Sometimes resistance is not really a “no.” It is just a sign that more conversation and clarification are needed. I am still excited about both projects and what they could become.
The weather was also delightfully mild this week, which was a welcome change. I had a few small wins with eBay, and I spent much of my extra time cleaning and getting things organized. There always seems to be something else that needs to be sorted, moved, or put away, but at least I am making progress.
The highlight of the week was spending the day at the North Haverhill Fair with the family. It was a lot of fun watching the tractor pulls with my dad and seeing the kiddos enjoy themselves. There is something special about a summer fair—the food, the noise, the people, and the simple pleasure of spending time together.
Overall, it was a week of planning, cleaning, small victories, and good family memories.
Elizabeth and the animals
Iggy won a giant banana at the fair!