After 3 million years, I have boxes for the BICP hardcover box sets!

It’s…a tight squeeze. Extremely tight. You take out the books to read them, and I’m not 100% guaranteeing you’re gonna get them back in again.

But the books technically fit, so I’m calling it a win. Let the shipping begin.

And yeah, my living room is a mess of piles once more. In theory I start crowdfunding for the next Leif & Thorn volume in September — so the goal is to have all the BICP in the mail by then.

The slipcases came!

The books fit inside them and everything!

I’m finally going to clear out this heap of boxes in my living room!

I’m going to ship out all the preorders (or maybe most of them, if there are a few unreasonable headaches in the mix) before letting the rest of you buy the paperback BICP Master’s Edition in the general shop, so it’s not listed yet. Just wanted to share the progress. Watch this space for updates.

Note, this is just the paperbacks — the hardcover slipcases are still in production. More on those later. (Honestly, it’s probably a good thing if they only arrive after I ship a bunch of paperbacks…otherwise, I won’t have anywhere to put them.)

Background: Your artist has a Patreon, where anyone who likes But I’m A Cat Person can throw me a few dollars. Either as a one-time payment, or as a regular contribution that can run for as long as you want.

Maybe you join for the exclusive bonus content. Maybe you join because you want to support the ongoing costs of BICP (even though the comic is finished, online hosting isn’t free!), or to support the development of whatever comic(s) I make next. Maybe you just like BICP and want a quick way to show your appreciation.

(You could also buy some BICP ebooks? But maybe you aren’t an ebook person. If so, no worries, that’s what Patreon is here for.)

If you’re one of the readers who’s holding out for bonus content — here are the latest BICP-themed wallpapers. Patrons get high-res versions, in a range of different sizes to fit all your screens.

March – Who Are These Masked Men?

A long-delayed coda to the earlier “BICP characters in animal masks” wallpaper from last May.

Not sure I’ll ever draw all the Masters with their corresponding animal masks…but I always wanted to do Bennett and Cohen, on top of the five characters in that first wallpaper. They just didn’t all fit in one image.

April – JoJo Poses

A commenter pointed out that Joshua Ben Joseph (BICP) is a JoJo, and bam, suddenly I had an Easter-themed wallpaper for April.

Poses modeled by Maria, Josh, and Saxon. Anybody want to suggest what their Stands would be called…?

All the volumes of the BICP Master’s Edition have been printed and delivered!

Paperbacks and hardcovers. The full 3-book set. No last-minute horrible disasters on the latest delivery. All the boxes are finally here.

RIP having any space in my living room.

The only thing left to finish production is the slipcases. Since this is supposed to be a box set, and that only works if it comes in a box.

I, uh, definitely underestimated how much of a pain these things would be.

Their future is…a little bit in doubt, at this point. Watch the campaign updates for more details, and to keep up with the latest news.

If you just want to know when you can get the books, because you didn’t preorder them during the campaign — watch this space!

I do have a limited supply of extra Master’s Edition sets. Once the preorders start shipping, I’ll put the rest up for sale to anybody else who wants one, and post here to let you know.

• Want the Master’s Edition omnibus boxset, but ebooks? Get the Master’s Edition Omnibus
• Want the digital-only supplement full of information I didn’t print? Get the Being Q&A
• Want the digital-only artbook full of pictures I didn’t print? Get the BICP Art Collection — all proceeds go to the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
• Already bought the original trade-paperback ebooks? Get just the new stuff

As we wrap up the edits for the But I’m A Cat Person omnibus, it’s time to thank everyone who backed the campaign. Without your preorders and other support, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to print it in the first place.

✨ marks the backers who got fancy bundles and Early Bird discounts!

ALL THE THINGS

Jonnie Irvine ✨
Alienea ✨
Mom and Dad Ptah ✨

Hardcover Bundles

Rosie With A Touch Of Whimsy
Robin Hill
Katrani Merack
jael redloh
Clara Danao
Alexis Walker

Softcover Bundles

Julie L Spradley
Sailor-Cresselia
Beth C
Katherina
Kalia

Hardcover Omnibus

Victoria C. ✨
TheGoodDrawer ✨
Robert F Hedden ✨
Kaldra ✨
Katherine R ✨
Kindra Coates ✨
Albert Cua ✨
Sydney Savoy ✨
Triss ✨
Vincent Lemay ✨
Hela
JM

Softcover Omnibus

Cathy Green ✨
Nikki W. ✨
Liz the Lucky ✨
Kyle Hart ✨
Lydean Kenzall ✨
NekoNomi ✨
cogitoErgoSam ✨
Simone Pietro Spinozzi ✨
TM ✨
Tim Sauke ✨
dani, the geek
Erynn Q
Fir McGrevy-Gilmore
Izzy “Strontium” Hall
Joel Singer
BashMeNot
Xanthipe
Grandpa
Lenora Rose
Alice Zinselmeyer
Otrell McDaniel
Reginald NeoWilliams
Rob Wagner
LettuceKitteh
Emily McGirr
^-^

Digital Omnibus

Andrew Webster ✨
Lyren Flarewind ✨
Alaina
AndyXJenkins
AnnaDaEllie
Anthony Albert
BOOM! Studios
Brandon Eaker
Candle Maker Knight
Chickadee
Cae
Clem Siemer
Cristov Russell
David
Eric Müller
Eva S.
James Post
Jay Lofstead
Jens Bejer Pedersen
Joann Koch
Joce K
John Edingfield II
KendallPB
Lisa Watson
maileguy
Michaela Barrett
Valerie Winter
Natalie S. Wainwright
J. K. Colón
Todd Hangos

Just Happy to Be Here

M. Sorcier
Ryan Kroboth

If you’ve been following the BICP annotated re-release, you’ve seen a few comments along the lines of “why didn’t I do X in the art here? If I was going to re-remaster it, I would do X.”

Well, it happened so many times that I decided, you know what — every time I have this thought, I’m going to open up the master files and actually do X.

You can get a first look by supporting BICP on Patreon. Sneak peeks from Omnibus 1 (don’t mind the automated warning, the whole post is worksafe):

And the next round, from Omnibus 2:

Go give them a look!

As of this writing of this post, annotations are queued through June 2024. That covers everything through BICP chapter 22, which wrapped up Volume 6 in the original trade-paperback release. We’re 75% of the way through.

At some point I’ll go back through the re-release and replace all the updated pages. For now, I’m just making sure the new versions get in the Master’s Edition.

(This is why we’re a little behind the projected Kickstarter timeline, by the way. The art updates themselves are pretty minor! But the fact that I’m doing them alongside writing hundreds of annotations? That’s a Process. The slow-and-steady kind.)

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:

(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*)

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?