Monday, February 2, 2015

Punching... The End?

I guess I'll just address the elephant in the room and get this out of the way: the final strip of Punching the Clock posts this week.

The Hell, You Say? 

Sadly, it is no joke... but maybe I should explain what that means. It means... the last strip. On the web. For now.

"But Rob, you just said that it was the last one, right?"

Yeah... About That. Allow Me To Clarify.


It's more like an extended break. Jeff Manley and I officially reached the end of our initial work agreement for Punching the Clock this past November. After much discussion, we both agreed on the following things:

-It's better to go out when it's still good.
-Both of our plates were beginning to pile up with other comics work (not a bad thing).
-Both of our personal lives had been... challenging... for the past year.
-The weekly deadline was really beginning to take a toll on Jeff.
-If it's not fun, we shouldn't be doing it.
-We needed to stay good to our word and finish delivering the last few unfulfilled Kickstarter rewards.

Jeff graciously allowed me to wrap the story by working past our original timeframe, which allowed me to really give each character their own sendoff as well as some closure for the series. I've always looked at Punching the Clock as a snapshot into the lives of these characters- we're only really seeing them for the brief time in all of their lives in which their particular existences cross paths and occupy the same space as the other characters in the series. Call it Season One, if that makes it easier.

So, What Now?

We work. Volume Three has been a work in progress for too long, so that's first and foremost. With that, the last of the Kickstarter rewards- guest strips, drawn in rewards, etc.- will be buttoned up. Then, Volume 4- which will bring us up through this week's strip. Then we hit the reset button. Discuss the future. See where we go.

Worried about your weekly PTC fix? I've got you covered. There will continue to be updates to the website every Tuesday for the foreseeable future- we've got a cache of pin-up and guest artist work to showcase- and there may even be a guest penned/drawn bonus strip thrown into the mix here and there. So please, continue to check the website!

The Future: Will We Ever See NEW Punching the Clock strips?

Jeff is on board for a standalone book or two in the future, but he will be unable to return to a weekly posting schedule should I decide to bring it back to the web. That said, he has given his blessing should I choose to approach another artist to pick up and run with the strip on the web.

The ending to this chapter was written specifically to close out the "Buy Lots" era, but left in a way that I could pick up with most of the characters (if you've been reading, you already know what they're up to post-Buy Lots!) and begin the next chapter in their lives- Season 2, if you will. I already have a jumping-on point plotted out, so rest assured that I've thought this through.

I'm pretty certain that you can expect new adventures in the future.

Damn You, For Dropping This On Us. Right In The Feels.

I've been struggling with how to approach this for weeks. This comic has meant the world to me, since day one- and your love and support of our little corner of a much larger webcomic world continues to floor me every single day. I have made so many good friends through Punching the Clock, and will do my best to honor those friendships and continue to make comics that mean something. I am truly, truly lucky to have been afforded the opportunity to have been touched by so many of you, and am humbled at just how many people have read my words each week for the last three years. We truly have had the most dedicated and loyal following; the BEST fans that comics has to offer. I hope that you will continue to enjoy our work for years to come, and will be excited when new content is ready to go. I cannot even begin to show my appreciation for your constant and very vocal support.

To close, I will leave you with this- every Punching the Clock that Jeff Manley and I worked on together, all in one place:


Your Friend In Webcomics,
Rob

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