While you wait for THE FURTHER TRAVELS OF WYATT EARP (coming soon), don’t forget to pick up DEADPOOL #7 illustrated by WYATT EARP artist SCOTT KOBLISH, on sale TODAY at your local comic shop or on your Marvel & Comixology apps!

And if you’re in California, you can meet Scott and DEADPOOL writer Gerry Duggan at THE COMIC BUG in Manhattan Beach from 5-8 PM. More details can be found on The Bug’s website at www.TheComicBug.com.

Don’t forget to tell Scott that you got your mustache on! If you don’t have one of your own, print and cut out the one provided below!

The legendary lawman was born 165 years ago today! In honor of his birthday, here’s a special never-before-seen page of art from THE FURTHER TRAVELS OF WYATT EARP #1 by artist Scott Koblish and colorist Andrew Edge!

We’re hard at work putting the books together, and we’ll have some more updates in the near future on the status of the book and Kickstarter rewards. In the meantime, keep an eye on my Twitter feed for a sneak peek at some of the Kickstarter reward sketches that will be sent out!

Thanks so much for your support and GET YOUR MUSTACHE ON!

Thanks to you, the FURTHER TRAVELS OF WYATT EARP will become a reality! Thank you for your hard-earned dollars, but also for spreading the word to your friends and followers on social media. And thank you for the words of support that kept me going during this really stressful time.

When I first started this campaign 31 days ago, many of you said not to worry, that this thing was in the bag – and we got off to a huge start – but I knew the road ahead was long and bumpy. I always believed in the project because I know how much love and hard work the creative team is pouring into it, but I wasn’t sure if anyone else would feel the same way. An independent comic book is a hard sell, especially in these tough economic times. A western indie comic is an even harder sell. A digital western indie comic is…well, you get the idea. I was prepared to wring my hands over this for a month. What I wasn’t prepared for was the incredible wave of support that we received from all of you. I knew many of you would help if asked, but it turns out that I didn’t really have to ask. Even when Hurricane Sandy came along and flat-lined our donations (understandably, since people were/are without homes and still need our help) you wouldn’t let me quit. And not only did we reach our goal, but we did it with three days to spare – quite an achievement here on Kickstarter!

The biggest of thank-you of all goes to my Wyatt Earp team of artist Scott Koblish, colorist Andrew Edge, designer Melissa Horvath-Plyman, and editor Nate Cosby. Now that you’ve done your part, it’s time for US to get OUR mustaches on and production on THE FURTHER TRAVELS OF WYATT EARP will begin in earnest. I’ll keep you updated on our progress along the way. See you on the trail! 

 P.S. As backers of my Kickstarter, you are eligible for a bonus steam punk western preview PDF if you also back the GIRLS NIGHT OUT Kickstarter by the talented Amy Chu and co.! Follow the link to pledge today! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amychu/girls-night-out-tales-of-new-york 

Also check out MEATSPACE by Wyatt Earp backer Josh Gorfain at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1929717344/meatspace-issue-2 

 And most importantly, please click the link for information on how to help, volunteer and donate to the victims of Hurricane Sandy: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/hurricane-sandy-how-to-help-volunteer-donate_n_2118889.html

Thanks to you, we are over 70% funded with just 5 days left to go! Saturday and Sunday was our best two-day period since the first two days of this campaign, and our goal is in sight! Click the link to pledge TODAY!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/876636882/the-further-travels-of-wyatt-earp

As one final incentive, I’ve added a new pledge level reward. For a pledge of $120, you will now also receive a signed and numbered print of “THE FUTURE TRAVELS OF WYATT EARP” robot tribute cover by Robotic Madness artist Jason May (jimmycakes.com)! If you’d like to adjust your pledge to add this to your reward, be sure to do it before all ten of them are claimed. Thanks for getting your mustache on, and I’ll see you at the finish line!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/876636882/the-further-travels-of-wyatt-earp

See where our man WYATT EARP ranks, and then get YOUR mustache on by pledging to THE FURTHER TRAVELS OF WYATT EARP on KICKSTARTER!

http://www.flavorwire.com/343252/the-10-greatest-moustaches-in-history

And the Kickstarter link:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/876636882/the-further-travels-of-wyatt-earp

As many of you know, I’m from New Jersey. I was born here, still live here, and, much to the surprise of those who don’t live here (and probably many of those who do) I don’t ever want to leave. Unless you’ve been living under a rock - which would have been smart of you considering the weather lately - my home state (and its surrounding areas) was devastated by Hurricane Sandy a week and a half ago. Not, like, Katrina -level devastation - that was a once-in-a-lifetime devastation - but it was the worst storm we’ve ever had here. Most people lost power, many people lost their homes, some lost their lives. I’m one of the lucky ones - My greatest challenge was trying to read Marvel’s THE ESSENTIAL WARLOCK by candlelight for two days. I got halfway through it, by the way, which is really good considering I had three bored kids and a wife who kept asking when the power was going to come back on. There’s only so many different ways to answer “I don’t know.”

On Sunday, I drove down to southern Jersey with my dad, where he and mom have a summer home. Amy and I bring the kids down a couple of times a year so they can spend their summers the way I did as a kid, catching crabs, skipping stones off the lagoon in the backyard, playing on the boat, etc. The Garden State Parkway didn’t look very different along the way, but when we got off at our exit and headed into town, it got ugly. Branches and leaves everywhere, piles of debris on every front lawn. In my parents’ backyard, other people’s personal items, including photo albums that we were able to fish out of the water with a net so we can track down its proper owners, bobbed up and down in the water.  And for the next couple of hours, we carried out just about everything that wasn’t on a high shelf, including dressers where we kept our clothes and the beds that we slept in many times, and made our own pile outside. The water where we catch crabs and skip stones on hot summer afternoons came up so high into the house during the storm that hardly anything was salvageable, down to the Scrabble and Monopoly boards.

But we were lucky. This is my parents’ summer home. A place they escape to on weekends. They have other beds to sleep in and tables to eat on. But those other people in town with piles on their lawns don’t. Those piles of debris were their lives.

As you can imagine, it’s been difficult for me to promote my Kickstarter after seeing what I’ve seen. I’m not giving up, but it’s very hard for me to ask people to pledge money to a comic book when there are so many people around me in need. Yeah, I know, people suffer every day all around the world, but this is personal for me. These are my neighbors. This is my home. That makes it a little bit harder to go on with business as usual when there are constant reminders. So if you know anyone who’d be interested in pledging to The Further Travels of Wyatt Earp, please encourage them to donate to Hurricane Sandy relief FIRST. I can always resubmit at another time if I have to, but my friends need help now.

This doesn’t mean The Further Travels of Wyatt Earp is going away. Not on your life! I love this project, I believe in this project and I’ve worked too hard on it to let anything take it away. And you’ve all shown too much love and support for me to let you down now that we’re nearly 50% funded. Like my home state, it’s going to make a comeback. Because this campaign - like my neighbors - is Jersey strong!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/876636882/the-further-travels-of-wyatt-earp

For those of you in the path of Hurricane Sandy, I hope you and yours are safe with minimal damage to your property. This is the worst shape I’ve ever seen my home state of New Jersey in, and I hope our beach communities come back better and stronger than ever. 

Thank you very much to those who kept the Kickstarter going while I was without power and internet! I was able to schedule some tweets before I lost power, and so far 98 of you have pledged 40% towards our goal with three weeks left! For many of us, myself included, the damage caused by Sandy makes this Kickstarter campaign unimportant in the grand scheme of things, and momentum has slowed. So while we’re cleaning up the mess out here I’ll need the rest of you to tell your friends and family about the project and to keep spreading the word!

Lastly, despite some complaints, thank you to PSE&G, local business owners who were able to welcome customers and non customers to charge their devices and use the internet, state and local emergency services and public works, Governor Christie and President Obama for their quick response and for keeping us well-informed throughout. For a state that doesn’t experience many natural disasters, I think we’re doing very well. Stay strong!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/876636882/the-further-travels-of-wyatt-earp/posts/340862

In our first 48 hours, 53 backers got their mustache on and pledged a total of $1,759! It’s a GREAT start, but we still have a loooooong 29 days to go! Please be sure to tell your friends to get their mustache on and get over to:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/876636882/the-further-travels-of-wyatt-earp?ref=live

To celebrate our great start, my buddy Jason May (@JasonMayArt on Twitter), creator of the web strip ROBOTIC MADNESS (read it for free at Jimmycakes.com) gave us this ROBOTIC tribute cover. A possible sequel?