So, here it is. This is the artwork I was threatening to do a week ago. A nice little cast portrait to commemorate my Iron Man 2 storyline. Apologies for the lack of color, but I think it looks better in black and white.
Yeah, I know it kind of ended with a thud. But I’m really proud of about 95% of it and thought it was worth celebrating. Goodness knows I burned up a lot of midnight oil putting it together for you guys.
As a special treat, I filmed myself drawing the artwork last night and sped it up for you in this delightful little YouTube video:
If you find that exciting, then I have even BETTER news for you!
I have decided to auction off the original inked illustration you see in the video on eBay. You can find it here. It’s on a 9 x 12″ sheet of Bristol board with a 1″ border (so you can frame it if you want to!) I will make sure to mail it flat.
Bidding starts now and the auction will remain open for the next 5 days. I don’t sell original artwork all that often, so if you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind piece from yours truly, now is the time to snap it up!
Now if I can get serious for a moment…
I went to this extra effort with the video and the auction because I’m afraid I have some bad news and I wanted to let you guys down gently. There isn’t a good way to say it other than to just come right out and say it…
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, I WILL BE SCALING BACK PRODUCTION OF THEATER HOPPER TO ONE DAY A WEEK.
This decision was a hard one for me but, ultimately, necessary. With the end of the Iron Man 2 story line, now seemed like the best time to make a change.
The primary motivation behind this cutback is actually very positive. A year after having been laid off, I have finally found full-time employment again! I start work in June and am very much looking forward to the opportunity.
But, as such, I recognize that I cannot continue to dedicate myself to Theater Hopper on a thrice-weekly schedule. The late nights spent staying up past midnight working on the comic have caught up with me. I don’t bounce back like I used to when I was 24 years-old and just starting the comic. Add to the mix two children with irregular sleeping schedules and, well, the end result is that I’m not 100% like I should be.
There’s been a lot that I’ve sacrificed for Theater Hopper. Primarily sleep. But my health, my attitude and my availability to my family have all suffered as a consequence. I don’t blame anyone by myself for these choices. But, at some point, one has to recognize when enough is enough. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to be effective in all the areas I need to be effective in.
Part of me wondered if it was better to end the comic completely. But I didn’t want to do a disservice to you, the fans, for supporting me. Nor did I want to perform a disservice to myself and the investment that I’ve made over the last 8 years.
Eventually, Theater Hopper will have to end – as all things do. But when it does, I want to make sure it goes out on a high note with a story that satisfies the long-term readers and appreciates them for their kindness and encouragement.
Until then, it will be business as usual content-wise. I’ll continue to make fun of the latest releases, just not as often. I’ll probably be playing around with the format a little until I strike the right balance. But from now on, you can expect a new comic here every Monday morning.
To aid the transition, I encourage you to follow Theater Hopper’s RSS feed. I also encourage to to follow Theater Hopper on Facebook and my personal account on Twitter. They will be the best places for you to receive news and updates as well as links to the most recent comics.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them either here in the comments section or in the THorum. If you’re not comfortable with that, e-mails are okay, too.
This is a large adjustment for me, as I’m sure it will be for you. I will miss updating the comic three times a week. But, in the end, I know that this is the decision that will benefit me and my family most. At this point, it’s all about realigning my priorities. I will always enjoy producing the comic and interacting with the fans. But my family, my livelihood and my personal health must come first.
As the excellent, supportive and understanding audience you have always been, I know you will appreciate my reasons.
Again, I thank you. You have been much more kind to me than I deserve.
Sir, don’t feel like you have to be apologetic for putting your own family and your health first!
Congrats on the new job! No need to apologize for the scaling back of the new comics, you need to put yourself first. I will be here every monday to see the new comic 🙂 Sure I’m sad to see it scale back, but that’s tough beans on my part. I love this comic enough that I’ll be over it in 5…4…3…2…1…over it
“You have been much more kind to me than I deserve.”
What do you mean? You entertain us ALL THE TIME. Plus: we’re, just, kind people. :p I’m happy for you getting the job, Tom. I’m glad you did this poster. 🙂 Keep on hopping.
Congrats on the new job! Yes we’ll miss our thrice-weekly doses of your work, but once a week is still better than nothing. Thanks for not stopping entirely.
Best of luck with your new endeavor.
Congratulations and good luck with the job!
The whole cardboard Iron Man storyline was a very cool achievement, and I think it will be even better in retrospect.
Glad to hear that you found a new job, and no worries about the decrease in update schedule – I’ve been contemplating doing that my own self. And I don’t have two kids as a reason.
Congrats on the new job. I’ve been thinking for a while now that you should shift to a once -a -week schedule.
I’m so happy for you, Tom. Best of luck at your new job. =)
While I’ll miss this strip appearing new three days a week, it’s more than understandable why you’d scale back now. Incidentally, kudos on the new job, really hope that works out for you 🙂
Who in the heck do you think you are? Scaling back? If anything you should do more! 5 times a week! 10! lol
Just kidding good sir, like everyone else said, no need to worry. I’ve been reading this comic a long time and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Congrats on the new job!
Congrats on the new job! Glad to hear things are lining up for your life. I’ve been reading for several years and always enjoy it when it gets updated. Though, I understand all good things must come to an end at somepoint. For now, I look forward to your once weekly updates! Congrats again!
Glad to hear that you’ve found a new job, and I have to admire you for even keeping up with once a week with 2 kids. I’ve been working on getting my own comic blog up and running, and I’m LUCKY to get one up every other week. Ever since we had our second, it’s been closer to monthly. So if you can keep up with once a week, you’re doing pretty darn well in my book.
The most important thing is your happiness and ultimately, maintaining strong bonds with your family and retaining a sense of personal satisfication in your employment will make you much happier. For anyone to think otherwise is absurd and therefore, I think, it’s safe to say that no one blames you. In fact, I’m sure it can only take theater hopper to new heights! You’ll now have a full week to work on your punch lines, a full week to fine-tune your artistic expression, a full week to find material worth covering! And you’ll have more sleep to do it on (although… that’s not a certainty but those kids gotta take a fifteen minute breather at some point, right?) plus a happier mindset! These are all reasons why fans should be PLEASED that you’re scaling it back. Plus, I’m sure I’m not overstating when I say there’s more than just the comic that we come back to. We like you, genuinely, as a person. So we’re more than happy to let you not drive yourself crazy over us. 🙂
And so much congratulations on the new job, Tom! I’m sure they don’t know what they’re getting into. Blow their socks off. 🙂
Congrats on the new job! I feel the same as everyone else who has commented here, grateful for all the time and effort you have put into this comic thus far, and especially grateful that it will be still be continuing. 🙂 All the best for the new job!
Tom, you’re putting your professional and family life ahead of the free comic and APOLOGISING for it?
…
Folks, we need to keep this man! Spread the word and get everyone to buy his merchandise! We must convert him to a full-time cartoonist to keep this wonderful author!
P.S. Monday updates are still cool with me. Keep it treal, Tom!
A new job is scary and exciting all at the same time. I always have massive butterflies during the first few weeks so if you’re anything like me, I wish you good luck in getting over them as soon as can be. I don’t mind the one update per week schedule. It makes it even that more special. Again, congrats and good luck with the new job.
Happy for you landing the job. That’s awesome.
On a slightly whiny/entitled note… does this mean now that we can get rid of the ad that pops up and starts talking?
I haven’t seen that ad, but if it’s on the site, I want to remove it as soon as possible. I hate talking ads as well.
Did you catch the name of the company running the ad so I can block them? Thanks.
Ditto to what everyone else said. There is this saying about projects that says “you can only two of these: Good, Fast, and Cheap” You were picking Good and Fast before, but it was expensive to your time and attention, and it sounds like you are transitioning to good and “cheap”, so we dont get updates as often, but they are still good, and aren’t as expensive to your time and attention.
I think you made a good decision.
Congrats on the job. I can fully emphasize with needing to cut back, between family and all the other commitments; once a week it is, then.
Congratulations on the new job! Good for you!
gratz on the job.
I have a suggestion for the format. Maybe you could do the comic for the friday before the weekend, and then come back on monday or tueday with your review of a film, and/or reaction to the box office, or hell even a DVD review like you used to do sometimes.
I hpoe you can find that healthy balance you are looking for!
Long time reader, first time poster from The Netherland just wanting to say that i love your comic but family always comes first! As a father of 2 (comming on 3) I had to make a simular descision between hobby, work and my family. family should always come first 😉
And you can always make more comics when you’re retired.
Tom, this whole series with Iron Man/Whiplash has been great. Really hilarious stuff!