Hey everyone, We hope that you’ve enjoyed Issue 2! We're very excited to announce that as part of the build being released on Monday, we'll have the Russian translations for Issue 2 available! We also want to take this time to share some more updates on our end, most notably about Issue 3 progress. But first, some extra things we’ve been working on...

New Website

I’ve redesigned our website to be considerably more than a landing page. We’re going to start using it to open up our production process in the form of blog posts. These will be on everything from creating comics, to the Half-Life universe itself, to the nature of storytelling, and anything else we feel like. Perhaps even topics suggested by readers! We’re launching with 3: “Why a Half-Life Comic”, “On Hiring and Style”, and "A New Kind of Protagonist". We'll be writing and posting more over time, so let us know what you think of them! Additionally, the website has a newsletter that you can sign up for if you’d like more regular updates from us. The newsletter will be sort of an added bonus for those interested. It is not quite the frequent and small updates of twitter and not quite the large announcements of the Steam page. The idea is to release one every month that goes more into detail about how things are progressing, as well as what things Ross and I are reading or watching to draw inspiration from. It may include behind the scenes looks as well! If you’re interested, you can see our blog posts and sign up for the newsletter at http://www.aplaceinthewest.net/.

Soundtrack

Also launching on Monday will be an official A Place in the West soundtrack. This DLC will feature 6 tracks created specifically for us by Chris Jolley. He’s the only person aside from Ross and myself who knows what’s coming in future issues, and he has used that knowledge to create some very compelling and exciting music. Chris has been doing audio work for us for a while, and created both the Ubdisha sounds and music you can hear in the background of the application. If you like his stuff and want to support him, give it a buy!

Issue 2 Commentary Track

During the second week of May we’ll be recording our Commentary Track for Issue 2! If you haven’t checked out the Commentary Track for Issue 1, I’d recommend it. It’s sort of a “Director’s Commentary” from myself and Ross about where A Place in the West came from, and the creation of Issue 1. It includes a behind the scenes look with some WIP artwork and script pages, and we talk pretty candidly about some of what we did wrong. For Issue 2’s commentary we’re doing something a little different, and the entire art team will also be involved! As with Issue 1’s commentary, this will be released as separate and free DLC - an extra for those who are interested in the process. As part of this, we’ll be doing a Q&A segment, so if you have questions for the team, please do send them our way, either here on the Steam post, on Twitter, or via email. They don’t have to be just directed at myself and Ross - feel free to ask anyone on the art team about their process or inspirations or anything you’d like! The video itself will take some time to cut together, but I’m hoping to release it sometime in early June.

Issue 3 Status

And now for what you’re most interested in, this week we’re starting with production on Issue 3! In fact, by the time you read this, we’ll have already begun. Our previous penciler, Heath, has had to step off the project and finding a talented replacement took longer than we’d hoped, but it was worth it. We’re pleased to announce that our new penciler is Kristian Rossi. Kristian has worked in the comics industry for years, as the sole artist on Trespasser and as the colourist on Moonshine, published by Image Comics. We’re incredibly happy to have him joining us, and think you will be, too. Issue 3 is still slated to be released in late Summer!