Archive for September 20th, 2006
2 items.
Apologies to my regular readers, but I have a take a little time-out to welcome all of the new readers that are coming to the site for the first time.
If you’re visiting Theater Hopper after reading the "What I’m Into" article in Juice this week, welcome to my site! I’m very honored that Juice would choose to profile my hobby and I hope you find something here that you like. We have a very large collection of over 600 comics, so I strongly encourage you to start from the begining. You can tell that the artwork wasn’t quite as refined in those early days, but it get’s better. I assure you!
Or you could always check out our archive. It has a hand search function that allows you to type in keywords and comics that match will be displayed for you! I always suggest typing in the name of your favorite movie or actor. After 4 years of doing this comic, I’ve made fun of nearly all of them!
There are actually a few comics in the archive that make some specific Central Iowa references. You can click on these links as a shortcut to them. You might find something you recognize!
If you like what you see but don’t want the boss to know that you’re goofing around, I produced my first book back in August – "Theater Hopper: Year One" – that collects the first 156 comics into one handy volume. Each of the comics comes with brand new commentary and I tried to thread a narrative through it that explained how I got started with the site, the mistakes that I made and all of the behind-the-scenes stuff. It’s been very popular and you can grab a copy for yourself for $18.95.
We’re also running a special right now where if you order the bundle package, you can get a copy of "Year One" and pre-order a copy of "Year Two" (to be released around the 1st of Novemeber, 2006) for only $6.00 more! It’s a real bargin!
So if you buy a copy of the book, you can read Theater Hopper anywhere! On the bus, at the dentist’s office… heck, even during a really boring movie (if you bring a book light!) So, c’mon! Support local artists!
Something wonderful that sprang from Juice’s profile of me is that Theater Hopper will now also be seen in publication. So Wednesday’s comic will be in print the same time it appears on the site. I will also be blogging on the Juice web site, sharing with their readers Monday’s and Friday’s comic as well. Those posts will go up a day after the comic has already appeared in this space. So Monday’s comic will appear Tuesday, Wednesday’s comic will appear Thursday and Friday’s comic will appear Saturday. So if you want the early scoop, be sure to come here first!
At any rate, I just want to thank Juice once again for covering Theater Hopper and putting the spotlight on young people in Des Moines who are doing something different. I really appreciate the opportunity you’ve given me by taking time out of your day to check out my work and I hope you find something here that will give you a good chuckle and make your day a little less difficult. If so, I encourage you to bookmark us and come back every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to see what we’re up to. You won’t be dissapointed!
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If you came to the site this morning and were a little confused by the above message, don’t worry. I have an explaination. Since the majority of you aren’t from Central Iowa, I figure I owe it to you.
If you recall, last Friday I announced that Theater Hopper would be profiled in the Iowa publication Juice. What is Juice? Excellent question!
Juice is a weekly magazine for readers age 25-34 here in Des Moines, Iowa. It’s available at more than 800 locations in the greater Des Moines area, and 40,000 copies are distributed each week. The publication launched on June 1,2005 at 72 pages. They’ve been as big as 136 pages. They are one of 10 young reader publications in the Gannett newspaper chain. Their web site is dmJuice.com. Incidentally, Juice is a sister publication to The Des Moines Register – the largest newspaper in Iowa.
For a guy like myself who has been trying to carve out a niche online for the last 4 years, the kind of exposure Juice provides is a real coup.
Of course, it’s not just about me taking traffic from Juice. They’ve given me the opportunity to add my voice to their publication and I’m humbled by their vote of confidence. I sincerely believe that we’re helping each other out. Because I am from the Greater Des Moines area and am familiar with the issues that face young people here, I feel good being a part of something as progressive as Juice. They really do a great job highlighting exactly what young people bring to our community. For a city like Des Moines that typically overlooks this demographic while young families flee toward larger cities, it’s great to be given this voice and to prove to others that we have a lot to contribute.
If you’re curious as to a different take on Theater Hopper, I strongly encourage you to check out the Juice blogs. I will be repeating the comics posted here on their site every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday with a brand new blog to accompany them. In many respects, it’s as if I’m starting fresh since I’m bringing Theater Hopper to a brand new audience. Also, there’s a comments section with every blog. So if you ever wanted the opportunity to leave me direct feedback, this will be your chance!
Thanks again to everyone for their support during this exciting new chapter in Theater Hopper’s history!
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