Surprise! Four Secret Comics by JM DeMatteis (DeMultiverse)

DeVOTING has ended! Read this update to find out what's next for THE DeMULTIVERSE!
11 months ago – Fri, Jun 09, 2023 at 09:19:58 AM

The moment we've all been waiting for is upon us!

The polls have closed and--with a not-too-shabby 333 votes cast--we have a winner!

And that winner is…going to be revealed at the end of this post.

But first let’s talk about our 4th place finisher, revealed yesterday, WISDOM (green)

We knew going in that WISDOM would have a tough hill to climb. Westerns just aren’t popular. We’d hoped that combining the powerhouse team of JM DeMatteis & Tom Mandrake would overcome that, but alas it wasn’t enough.

I also want to mention, as the publisher & EIC of these 4 titles, that I know where they’re all going, and WISDOM was the one I was most excited for long term. So seeing it get the least love was a bitter pill.

That said, there are three other spectacular titles to discuss!

Finishing 3rd was GODSEND (red). Godsend had a true rollercoaster of a ride. Through the first half of voting, GODSEND stood alone in 1st! But, unfortunately, in the second half, it got left at the altar.

GODSEND’s opening remains my favorite scene of the entire DeMultiverse, and I was really looking forward to seeing where the series was going (and to seeing more of Matthew Dow Smith's perfectly paired art). But we knew going in, there could only be one…

So now we’re down to LAYLA IN THE LANDS OF AFTER & ANYMAN...

Orange, which finished 2nd, put up a nice fight for a long while, at one point climbing from a distant 3rd to a vote or two behind 1st. It just couldn’t stick the landing.

So which title is orange?

For starters, it’s the one that appears to have the most fervent following. I've received more comments and DMs about this title than any other. (Speaking of comments, I plan to showcase many of the optional comments received during voting in the days to come.)

It's also the one that surprised me the most. It seemed like an impossible task to ask an all-ages fantasy book to beat out the others, but it almost did! So yes, orange, our 2nd place finisher, is LAYLA.

Maybe its success is a testament to Shawn McManus's astounding art, or all the Abadazad fans JM has amassed over the decades, but LAYLA most definitely earned an Honorable Mention. Unfortunately, though, we may never know if Layla makes it back to the land of the living because…

Our first ever DeMultiverse winner is… ANYMAN!

Congrats to the AnyFans(TM) and to David Baldeon for guaranteeing yourselves more exciting adventures to enjoy! Assuming David enjoys drawing, that is. We certainly enjoy seeing his drawings. Like this one. Cheer up, Anyman, there'll be more of you!

I said from the start that Anyman was the one I thought could most easily be adapted to a TV show, and it seems about 1/3 of the DeMu backers agreed. Now we’ll all get our way in the form of more ANYMAN! 

Just maybe not THIS Anyman.

As for the other titles, who knows what their future holds.

That is...

if we ignore this little pie chart...

Whoa! See that giant purple section that’s just shy of 50%? That’s how many of you said if you had your druthers, you’d rather have a chapter 2 for all 4 titles than multiple issues of just one. That's way more votes than any one title received.

Plus there were so many comments mentioning how agonizing choosing a favorite was that it got me thinking… maybe we should spare you any further agony...

WHAT DO YOU GUYS SAY WE DO A DeMULTIVERSE VOL. 2 FEATURING ALL FOUR CHAPTER 2s?!?!

I’ve already reached out to the artists & JM, and they’re all up for it! In fact, JM thinks he could have two of the books plotted by the end of this month. Heck, there’s even a chance we could get a campaign up before the end of the year!

This feels exciting! Is this exciting?!

If you're wondering about THE EDWARD GLOOM MYSTERIES, I'll address that in a separate post over the next few days, along w/ some other things. But for today, let's just enjoy the end of OUR chapter 1.

Less than 8 months from campaign to now. Four amazing new books by 4 fantastic artists & one of the greatest comics writers of all-time. A gobsmacking turnout from some of the best fans of the medium in the WORLD. (Truly the world. Books were shipped to roughly 25 countries!)

A heartfelt THANK YOU, GRACIAS, MERCI, GRAZIE, DANKE, OBRIGADO, ARIGATOU, SALAMAT (& any other Demu-backer languages I missed) to you all!

And please stay tuned. It turns out, we're just getting started...

1 Week Left to GET OUT DeVOTE!
11 months ago – Tue, May 30, 2023 at 02:00:05 PM

With just ONE WEEK TO GO IN OUR DeMULTIVERSE VOTE, this is where we stand. 

Blue has jumped out to a 15 vote lead over 2nd place Orange & an astounding 34 vote lead over last place Green. Red, which had been in 1st for the first 175 votes, is now in 3rd only 7 votes from last.

There are still over 400 ballots yet to be cast, so it is possible we could see another swing, but I gotta be honest, I think we've found our final order. (Though I'd find it very enjoyable to be proven wrong!)

If you haven't voted yet, please do! If you didn't receive your ballot (and are eligible), check your spam folder! If it's not there, email me at [email protected] and I will send it to you.

Talk soon...

David

VOTING UPDATE!
11 months ago – Tue, May 23, 2023 at 12:08:27 PM

231 of you have already cast your ballots in our first ever GET OUT DeVOTE campaign. Which is great! But that also leaves roughly 500 eligible voters who haven't voted yet. (Eligible voters purchased either the TPB or bought all four single issues.) If you're one of those 500, what the heck are you waiting for? Your vote matters! 

Here are the latest voting totals:

Only 6 votes separate 1st from 2nd and only 19 separate 1st from 4th. 19 may seem like a lot, but "orange" was double-digits behind, in 3rd place, for 3/4 of the voting before it vaulted into 2nd place, at one point only a vote or two behind first. So there are still plenty of voters out there who could swing this race. Plus, you know, it's just fun. 

As revealed on social media yesterday, the polls will close at midnight Pacific time on the evening of Tuesday 6/6. So that's two more weeks from tonight. That should give you plenty of time to read all four DeMu books and cast your ballots.

If you still haven't received your books, please email me at [email protected] so we can figure it out. 

Until next time...

David

Spellbinder-in-Chief

PS - Less than two days left to support DeMultiverse Campaign Manager Keith Champagne's latest Kickstarter. Here's the link: bit.ly/Daybreak3 They just smashed through a cool stretch goal that unlocked an Official-Handbook-of-the-Marvel-Universe-esque bonus page and are almost halfway to the next one!

The update you've all been waiting for...
11 months ago – Wed, May 17, 2023 at 11:19:47 AM

The voting has begun! Mere minutes ago, the final batch of eligible* backers were sent the ballot to vote for WHICH DeMULTIVERSE TITLE YOU WANT TO SEE CONTINUE TO SERIES FIRST. (*Eligible backers bought either the TPB or all four DeMu single issues.) That's about 750 of you. If you feel you should have received the ballot and did not, please check your spam folder, and if it's not there, send me an email at [email protected], and we'll get it sorted out.

So far, over 70 of you have already responded and the results are changing on an almost minute-to-minute basis. LOTS of surprises (for me, anyway). I'm going to leave voting open for at least two weeks, and then I'll announce the results both here and on social media. And then we'll get cranking!

If you don't already follow us on social, please do:

Twitter: @spellboundcomic (singular)

Instagram: @spellboundcomics (plural)

Facebook: Spellbound Comics (public group)

And finally, we've still got 23 backers who paid for books and shirts and original art, but didn't complete their survey. If this is you, please go into BackerKit and complete it or send me an email. I WANT to get you your stuff, but can't without an address.

Until next time...

David

Spellbinder-in-Chief

If you paid for books you haven't received, please read this! Also read for updates on T-shirts and VOTING!
11 months ago – Thu, May 11, 2023 at 09:27:40 PM

Hello fellow Spellbinders,

Great news! All T-shirts from orders that completed their BackerKit survey have been printed and are on their way.

Speaking of incomplete orders, at last count there were 25 of you who ordered books/shirts and paid for them on Kickstarter, but didn't complete the BackerKit survey. Completion of the survey is needed for two reasons: One, to collect the $9.99 shipping fee for printed books ($23+ for international orders). And two, to collect your (current) address. Of the 25 people, the vast majority simply need to pay the $9.99 shipping to release their orders. 

If you paid for books and have not received them, please send an email to [email protected] so we can get to the bottom of it.

As you may have seen on social media, most or all of our international backers have received their books. That means, it's almost TIME TO VOTE!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Early next week, I am going to send out the official GET OUT DeVOTE ballot! If you haven't read your books yet, this weekend would be a great time to do so. But don't worry, I'll leave the voting open for at least two weeks. At which point, we'll finally determine which of our four heavy-hitters will emerge victorious in this head-to-head-to-head-to-head battle!

Talk to you next week!

Sincerely,

David

Spellbinder-in-Chief

PS - T-shirts (and books!) can still be ordered at SpellboundComics.com.