Hello once again, Lifers.

Beginnings and endings that’s what we have here.  As Murphy’s Law ends with the beginning of Locke’s career, there are now more beginnings and endings in store.

I promised that the ending of this arc would bring big changes to Reckless Life and while the changes coming are not what I originally had planned, big changes are coming nonetheless. 

Here’s one for you.  You have just read the last page of Reckless Life.

DON’T FREAK OUT! because it is not the last page of this comic. Not really.  Let me explain:

I started Reckless Life as we know it about six years ago.  I was still in college and while my comics had nibbled at the fringes of the independent scene prior they had never seen the light of day.  I had a lot to learn, and so I have.

In this time one of things I’ve learned is what this comic does well and where it’s not as strong, and it’s helped me to decide where to take things next. Meanwhile, the last year has been a whirlwind for me in the other parts of my career, in that I accepted editorial positions with both Graphic Smash and Clickwheel and quit my day job to pursue a career as a freelance editor/comicer/artist.  The latter is a dream come true. It is a lot of work though.  Add to this a few new comic projects I’m involved in and all of the sudden doing a continuously updating webcomic without missing deadlines, or worse, phoning in pages just isn’t something I’m going to be able to do anymore, at least not for 52 weeks a year.

What I am going to do is complete an arc first and then update it on a weekly schedule with multiple pages at a time.  So while there will be time between ‘seasons’ when a new story starts it will update with a coherent piece of story every week for a set period of time, not a piecemeal page or two every week.  The result, I hope, is a much more coherent reading experience.  I also plan to periodically release short arcs to whet your collective appetites in-between major stories.

Knowing this was the way I was going to go schedule-wise I decided if I was going to make changes, then I should take the opportunity to see what I can improve about the comic across the board.

The result is a new comic called Bustout Odds.

Bustout Odds is in some ways, a relunach of Reckless Life, in some ways, it’s not.  It takes place in a ghost town that used to be Las Vegas, and it stars the same cast of characters you know and love in some form or another.  And there will be ninjas.

But there’s gonna be changes too.

So yes, Reckless Life IS ending, but I promise you that everything you like about this comic will be found in Bustout Odds.

The first Bustout odds arc will drop in early 2008, but I can’t say when just yet.  Though in today’s age of RSS feeds and email updaters all you have to do is click a link and you’ll know the second I have new comics for you and I’ve provided both options for you at bustoutodds.com, via the black magic of Joey Manley and webcomicsnation.

Between then and now I will be updating the production blog at BustoutOdds.com with further details on just what these changes are and why I’m making them, sketches, and eventually in-progress pages of Bustout Odds and other schickeys so while it will be several months before you see new work from me you can still watch this comic being born and contribute to the genesis by commenting on the posts just like you can on this site.  (You guys know I read ‘em!)  These extras will not appear on Graphic Smash as this site is not about blogging or sketches, it’s about professional grade comics and I will not allow myself to be an exception to my own rule.  (Reckless Life, however will remain in the permanent Graphic Smash archives and will always be there for you to enjoy.)

So do visit BustoutOdds.com and have a look.  You’ll find this same post and an archived preview post I wrote last month for the Chicago convention including your first glimpse at Bustout Odds.

Thank you for reading all of this, and I don’t mean just this lengthy monologue, but every single RL pageview I’ve gotten on Graphic Smash in the three plus years I’ve been with the site.  This has been the highpoint of my creative career and I appreciate each and every one of you, especially those of you goodly enough to comment here on Graphic Smash and on the forum.  Your encouragement keeps me going and I can never say enough how much I appreciate that.

So there you have it, endings and beginnings and just like we all know the real fun starts after Locke puts on those shades, I assure this next chapter in my creative process is going to be a wild ride that you’re going to love.

I hope to see you there.

The Odds-Maker, Tim Demeter