Hi comic friends. Greg Tjosvold here. Thank you for dropping by to check out my shiny new substack. I have big plans to make this a truly unique information source for comic creators, especially writers and small publishers.

The TL;DR? I want to bring you value from the intersection of comics and technology.

But first, let me introduce myself. 

I am the writer and creator of the SciFi series, The Lump Sum Saga. “He is an emerging talent” is probably the kindest spin you can put on “this guy is new.” I still have so much to learn. If you have arrived here hoping to find writing tips, hop over to Scott Snyder’s Our Best Jackett or Brian Michael Bendis’ Jinxworld substacks instead and pay to join. You won’t be disappointed. I also can barely draw a stick figure, so if you are looking for art tips, this is not the substack you are looking for. I’ve really enjoyed reading Niko Henrichon’s take on his process in the “Comics Autopsy” series, a regular feature of BKV’s Exploding Giraffe substack. But I don’t know enough to recommend it beyond “I think it’s cool.”

So what can I offer you as a comic creator? What is the “Unique Value Proposition” of this feed? I am in a unique position to offer a candid discussion about the intersection of technology and the comic industry. I hold a double major in Biology and Computer Science that I earned way back when the Apple II microcomputer was the hot, new thing. I am also pathologically honest (don’t ask me how your jeans fit unless you want the real answer) and in the unique position of being able to leverage this often annoying character trait for good. I don’t think there is an archetype for my kind of human. 

So I am warning you in advance, at some point this substack will contain “takes” that may annoy you. I hope you’ll learn to love that as a feature, not a bug. 

In those moments of agitation, you’ll be forgiven for making assumptions about my views because of my age, faith, and skin colour. Just know that much of the time you’ll be wrong.  I am full of contradiction and change. I’ve been a teetotaller all my life, but I meet with a group of guys to talk about the meaning of life and to rate a new craft beer each week (I bring Kombucha or Diet Coke). I’ve run my own tech company, but I also spent years as a union man. My closest friends are women, but I am a white, heterosexual male. As a toddler, I lived for a time in a small trailer in middle-of-nowhere Alberta on the Canadian prairies. Now I live in an upper-middle-class home in the suburbs of Vancouver, Canada. There was a day when a new white t-shirt and jeans bought for the new school year were my new clothes for the year. Now, my wardrobe gets regular updates (albeit mostly from Chez Costco and outlet malls.). I am a parent of two amazing adult children and have been married for 39 years but many in my circle are childless, single and/or divorced. I am technically retired, but I am working as hard as ever. Most of my Canadian friends would likely describe my political views as being right-of-centre, but my Idaho relatives probably think I’m a communist. (For the record, I’m probably closest to being a centrist, Rawlsian capitalist).

I have also been shaped as a human being as a member of a very large extended family. Some of my uncles only made it to grade 10 but one is a Provincial Court Judge. Many of my relatives have worked in the oil patch; I drive an electric car.  I am related to people who have helped bring clean drinking water to villages in Africa and others who have spent time in jail for deplorable acts. Religious, agnostic, atheist; straight, gay, transgender. In my extended family, they are all there. 

I’ve seen a lot of the world. I’ve lived stuff.

The only reason I bring all this up is that I’m not your average bear. You can’t live nearly sixty years in such a diverse, swirling milieu of extended family, friends, and experience without developing nuanced and unique opinions. I am likely to zig when you think I will zag, and that puts an extra burden on you as a reader. This substack isn’t the land of comfortable confirmation bias. 

At some point, I guarantee you will emphatically disagree with me about something. At that moment, I ask that you carefully read what I actually said, not what you think a guy that looks like me would say. It can be hard not to overlay assumptions about motives and perceived privilege. And if, after reading my words, you still feel I am totally wrong, I want to learn from you. I want you to feel free to educate me with your vetted source material and lived experience. Educate me but absolutely do not berate me (or others). In particular, I want my paid subscribers to self-select as members of a community who want to grow from each other’s unique perspectives and speak from true expertise, not just social media “education” and peer pressure.

I am also in a unique position as a comic creator. I am new to comics and, at my age, my life will still feel complete if I never, ever write for the big two. My take on Nightcrawler will just go untold. And if I speak something from a place of sincere conviction that gets me “cancelled” from comics, I’ll be hurt but I’ll just move on to one of the 27 other creative projects I hope to finish before I’m nine feet under. Frankly, I am at the “so many projects, so little time” stage of life where some things just will never happen before my health fades. This is both disturbing and simultaneously very freeing. It gives me the freedom to say out loud the things that only get said behind closed doors. But please know that if I am bringing up a topic from a unique perspective, it will only be because I wish the best for you and your success in the world of comics.

“What the **** does any of this have to do with comics?!” I can hear some of you saying. The short answer is everything. The comics world is one of the closest and also, paradoxically, most fractious and opinionated niche communities I have ever encountered. Some days, being on Comics Twitter feels like being the guest of a dysfunctional family at a holiday dinner table. Throw in the intersection of world-changing technology and you have the perfect recipe for discussions that are - shall we say - a little intense. 

Don’t believe me? Have you downloaded your free PDF copy of my book, Comic NFTs - An Ethical Approach yet? It is a must-read for any independent comic creator. Be sure to read my hot take on improving Twitter where I describe the importance of paid subscriptions. It’s likely not for the reason you’d assume. And one day, I may show you how comic writers are perfectly trained to profit from AI writing tools.

Gut check. Who’s still with me? ;)

I have a lot planned for this substack. I love Scrivener, so I’ll be using this space to show you how I use this awesome writing tool as a comic writer. I am one of those twisted humans who loves creating spreadsheets, so I will send some your way that I hope will help your comic business. I’ll be exploring new technologies, apps and sites through the lens of their potential value to your comic career. And the best news is that you don’t have to pay to get any of the good stuff. Every subscriber, paid or not, will receive this content.

The only tech I won’t talk a lot about is software and hardware designed for artists. I can barely draw a stick figure, so you don’t need me to recommend what tech to use to create your art. However, guest posts by artists more knowledgeable than me? Possibly. A candid discussion about AI art? It’s already in the queue.

This substack offers a paid tier, but please do not view it as a usual, regular subscription. My existence is too scattered to realistically promise regular weekly or even monthly updates. Instead, I am reserving the paid level for things that can’t scale. Like a doctor at a dinner party being asked by person after person about their worrisome symptoms, technonauts like me get a lot of questions about tech. Add in controversial subject matter, and things could quickly get out of hand. So I’m going to limit comments to paid customers. I am still reachable on all my “socials” but I intend to do my best to prioritize responses to paid subscribers. There is no rush to subscribe until you feel the uncontrollable urge to ask me a “How do I… ?” question. If I can, I’ll answer your question for you and pass along the results to the free substack subscribers as well. It’s less of a subscription and more of a consulting fee with the potential for monthly instalments. There is no need to pay for a subscription for anything other than this. Questions that get asked by more than one paid subscriber will trickle to the top. Your questions and comments will guide me where I go. 

If you think this substack has the potential to be of value, please consider telling your friends too. Thank you for joining me on this adventure!

‘Best,

Greg

P.S. My first comic, “The Lump Sum Saga” is available to read for free at GlobalComix here: https://globalcomix.com/a/the-lump-sum-saga/comics

Subscribe to Tech for Comics

Tech for comic writers & publishers. Have Scrivener; will create. Here be spreadsheets & other scary things.

People

Creator of The Lump Sum Saga, a "Redwall meets The Martian" epic that is just getting started. Bleeding edge technonaut. Author of "Comic NFTs - An Ethical Approach." Old as dirt. I've lived stuff.