Two ordinary graduates accidentally adopt a magical shapeshifting battle monster.
Complete! And rerunning in full with Director's Commentary.
Annotated Chapter 4 Page 3
May11
on May 11, 2021
at 12:01 AM
Chapter: Annotated Chapter 4
Characters: Bianca Washington, Brother Alvah, Cub, Karen Park, Patrick, Reseda, Sparrow Applebaum, St. Lily
Pretty sure CLAMP’s X was the first place I encountered the “convenient magical pocket dimension where you can have dramatic battles and not destroy anything IRL” concept. It was definitely the inspiration for how I do it in BICP.
The general worldbuilding of this universe was already decided by the time Madoka Magica dropped in early 2011 (using the same idea, but compounded by an extra layer of surreal Dadaism). Maybe I should’ve included “what if they’re witch barriers” as one of the Being-related theories, alongside “what if they’re Cylons.”
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We did it! We funded the But I’m A Cat Person omnibus! The Cat is very proud of you all.
Just look at all this pride:
Aww, yeah.
Here’s the rundown on what happens next…
1) Backer surveys will start going out in the next week-ish. Next to the actual transfer of funds, survey responses are the most important thing I need to get the books finished.
2) The mini-print poll is closed, and the winner is…
…the constant front-runner! No surprises there.
I know I said the size would be 6×8″, and I’d adjust the artwork to fit. But in this case, the cropping would’ve taken off so much, I decided to go ahead and make the prints 6×9″. (Hope none of you already ordered a custom frame.)
3) Gonna draw at least a few bonus pages. I’ll post backer-only advance looks to Kickstarter. Everyone else will just have to wait in suspense.
Nobody sprang for the “custom mini-arc” tier, so when it comes to the plot and the characters, I’ll just be drawing Whatever I Want. And hey, given that the whole comic was built on Whatever I Want, I think you’ll like the results.
4) I’m also making some final updates to the art in the main story. Not major revisions like I did for the trade-paperback release, just “fixing little things that still bug me.”
Because if not now, when? And: this is the Master’s Edition, not the Good-Enough Edition.
5) The online Annotated Re-Release is still going!
So any time you need an extra hit of BICP content in between official Kickstarter updates, don’t worry: it’ll be here, serving 5 new pages a week.
With 3 weeks left, the Kickstarter to fund the BICP Master’s Edition is going swimmingly!
That said, we might not make enough to print extra stock. Which means, if you miss the campaign and then want to buy the books later on, there’s a good chance there won’t be any left. The only way to make sure you get your own boxset is to back now.
Plus: as usual, Kickstarter backers also get a bonus mini-print with their books. And these are exclusives, which means they absolutely won’t be for sale later.
Which art are you getting on the print? Well…
I went through 10 years’ worth of chapter covers, wallpapers, anniversary art, and other bonus illustrations, and narrowed it down to these 10 candidates:
Chapter 1 – Puppy Dog Eyes 
Chapter 18 – Snow Night 
Pride looks wallpaper 
Chapter 20 – This Never Got Discussed At The Career Center 
Anniversary swing 
Chapter 28 – Let’s Go Steal A Shapeshifter 
Wedding wallpaper 
Favorite characters 
Chapter 29 – REVELATION 
Final page
(The actual print will be clean art, no title text or word balloons. Don’t worry about the exact dimensions, either — whichever one wins, I’ll make a version of the art that fits perfectly onto the print.)
And here’s a poll! Pick up to 3 favorite illustrations from the set above, and we’ll find out which one is…top dog. (*rimshot*)
Which illustration do you want on the mini-print with the BICP Master's Edition? (Print will be just the art, text-free. Pick your top 3!) ©
- Chapter 20 - This Never Got Discussed At The Career Center 19%, 17 votes17 votes 19%17 votes - 19% of all votes
- Pride looks wallpaper 11%, 10 votes10 votes 11%10 votes - 11% of all votes
- Anniversary swing 11%, 10 votes10 votes 11%10 votes - 11% of all votes
- Chapter 18 - Snow Night 10%, 9 votes9 votes 10%9 votes - 10% of all votes
- Chapter 28 - Let's Go Steal A Shapeshifter 10%, 9 votes9 votes 10%9 votes - 10% of all votes
- Wedding wallpaper 10%, 9 votes9 votes 10%9 votes - 10% of all votes
- Favorite characters 8%, 7 votes7 votes 8%7 votes - 8% of all votes
- Final page 7%, 6 votes6 votes 7%6 votes - 7% of all votes
- Chapter 29 - REVELATION 7%, 6 votes6 votes 7%6 votes - 7% of all votes
- Chapter 1 - Puppy Dog Eyes 7%, 6 votes6 votes 7%6 votes - 7% of all votes
Total Votes: 89
Voters: 36
March 3, 2021
- March 28, 2021
Voting is closed
Cover concepts for the BICP Master’s Edition!
Playing around with different accents, scales, and “how hardcore minimalist do I want to get.”
Favorites? Suggestions? Ideas?
All print volumes of But I’m A Cat Person are on sale for 20% off! So if you only got the first few copies and haven’t been able to round out the set…now would be a great time.
Just use the coupon code “ITSHERE” at checkout. And don’t put it off too long, because the sale ends May 8 at 11:59 PM. (Possibly earlier, depending on your time zone…)
In other news, the BICP Art Collection has done a great round of sales since it was launched — enough that I decided to send TLDEF the first $70 contribution this afternoon. (With a little add-on of my own to cover the transaction fee.)
If you didn’t get the artbook during the opening-weekend rush, don’t worry! It’s still available — and I’ll make more donations every so often as the proceeds add up, so whatever you pay will be bundled with the next one.
Good news first: I’m doing an omnibus release of But I’m A Cat Person — still pondering what to do with the covers, but I know it’ll be a three-volume set — and the interior files are almost done!
Basically, it’s all over but the bonus material. And yeah, that’s a significant “but”, considering that’s the part that needs the most new drawing. Still good progress.
I decided to lay out the book interiors from scratch in Scribus, a freeware alternative to Adobe InDesign. Wanted to see how well it handles all the functions I find myself needing in the course of a real, active project.
Long story short, it works great. Minor differences, but I’ve found everything I needed, and the program has not once crashed while exporting a PDF. (Which you might think should go without saying…unless you’ve used InDesign.)
Less-good news: I’m not setting a firm date for the Kickstarter yet. Partly because of the global economic chaos, partly because the Post Office is so busy delivering everyone’s groceries and toilet paper that they don’t have a lot of time for books right now.
A couple months ago, I had a vague idea of doing it in May? But now…yeah, I’m definitely not doing it in May. (I’m not even billing my supporters on Patreon in May.)
Better news: I’ve been working on a little digital somethin’ somethin’ in the meantime, and that will be ready to drop next week.
See, BICP has built up a huge catalog of ancillary material over the past decade. More than I’d realistically be able to print, even in the Master’s Edition.
But a PDF artbook? I can make that as loooong as I want, forget about conserving space and make everything full-page as often as I want, and still afford to give it a “pay as much as you want” release.
So I’m gonna. Proceeds will go to a good cause. Stay tuned.
