funny, scary, touching, genre-mergingly, eye-gougingly, face-meltingly good comic books

Aesthetigeist, or AG Comics, is more than story, more than art - it is passion. Comic books made by people who love comic books, and infused with everything else we love. Also, there's a podcast.

We have finally launched our FREE webcomic, which we plan to keep ongoing throughout all of our other projects. Second, we're doing a related, but different digital mini-series for Comixology. And lastly, we are publishing a print series, which will be a multi-year story. Our desire is that the third series is what locks us into the comic industry as a career, because who wants to work retail forever?

Following is a brief synopsis of all three of our main projects. 

This, the flagship series, follows two unlikely partners in paranormal investigating as they track down the strange and supernatural. Like all good storytelling and art, Investigators is a lovingly-crafted amalgamation of all of the great pop-culture and literature we have indulged in and loved over the years. Paranormal, comedy, horror, drama... You'll get it all in this comic!

The meek shall inherit the earth. This was a bit of an accident... As you other creatives can attest, sometimes new ideas rudely push in and you have to rearrange. The Inheritors is the comical story of a couple of dudes running a convenience store in post-apocalyptic America. It's part Clerks and part Mad Max, but in a comic strip style on comic book-sized pages. Just check it out.

The third series we are working on is a prequel series and a back-door origin story for a main character in Investigators. It takes place in the 80's and is set in a fictionalized version of our hometown, called Devil's Valley. This series will retain some of the comedy but will embrace the horror elements a bit more. We see it as an homage to The Lost Boys, but we're using werewolves. Trust us, it's not your average werewolf story. This is the mini-series we plan to release through Comixology Submit.

We can't tell you much about this series yet. What we can tell you is that it's a 60+ issue series. We keep saying it's a mixture of Breaking Bad and Batman, and although that micro-pitch doesn't come close to communicating the scope of the story, it's as good as we can do without ruining anything for you. This is the first series we plan to publish in print for retail. That's not to say that we wouldn't do Investigators or Beasts in print if the opportunity (and financing) arose, but we'll have to wait and see.


So, when will there be some art to look at?
Now. The first five pages of The Inheritors are up. There's also some bonus art and a soon-to-be recolored first page of Investigators. Right now, I say! Go look!

What's the frequency of release for the web comic?
While we were originally going for the one-page-per-day model, we have settled on a less frequent posting schedule, but with more pages per post. So, rather than a single page we will be posting the comics one scene at a time. We're hoping for weekly or twice a month, but we'll get back to you on it.

When will issue one start being released? 
Were you not paying attention in a previous question? Right now.

How much money do you guys want, anyway?
It's not really a matter of how much we want. We need a better computer, art software, and Wacom tablet to be able to get the art, inking, and coloring done well and timely, as well as a flatbed scanner. We also need some funds to print a small number of issues for conventions and for sending out to the comic publishers. You can imagine that's a lot of money to ask for up front, before the project is finished, and with no built-in fan-base like other creators who already have published work, so we're skipping a huge Kickstarter campaign and are instead asking you all to pledge whatever you want on a monthly basis. We will prioritize and allocate funds as they come in, and piece together the equipment, then get the printing done.

What kind of people are you? I mean, are you like weirdos or something?
Yes. We are weirdos. We are weirdos who have great stories to tell. We're two family guys, married, kids, dogs, cats, beer-bellies and all that. We're virtual remakes of Married With Children. We do have day jobs, but we were meant to make comics, not those other things. Ask us about how this all came together sometime and we'll tell you.

How did this all come together?
Seriously? We didn't think you were going to ask so soon... We know we promised to tell you but this thing is getting long, and we're getting tired, so how about some other time? We could get a beer and maybe some cheese fries. How's that sound? 

That sounds okay, I guess... But can you at least tell me why I should believe your comics will not be pure garbage that will make me puke, shoot myself, or otherwise regret I read them, much less donating my hard-earned money so they could be made?
Well, when it comes down to it, a certain measure of trust will be required. That said, Craig is an accomplished graphic designer and a gifted painter who has sold many pieces and is the co-founder of a prominent San Diego-based art collective called Aesthetigeist. He loves art more than most other things, including his dogs, but let's face it, his dogs are pretty freaking irritating... What? It's not like we're kicking them or anything, buddy, so just lay off. Anyway, trust me, his art will fix anything the writing messes up.

Speaking of writing, James is the next great undiscovered writer, the likes of which the world has never seen, nor will it ever see again once he is gone. Not really, but he can tell a story, and make you laugh along the way. He's had articles on gaming and pop culture published, as well as some not-as-interesting topics. His personal blog gets tens of views per week! His writing has made at least 3 people laugh out loud (yes, he excluded himself). 

Most recently we have added Josh to out team as colorist and possible future penciler. Josh just recently finished working on a new indie video game called Paperbound. It's on Steam and the Playstation Network, so go check it out. 

If we do it right, and we think we are, then the mixture of great influence and imagination will emerge as compelling, entertaining, and sometimes terrifying storytelling. We believe that comic books are the greatest form of storytelling and our desire is to join the ranks of the industry greats who are already out there providing the world with great stories.

Maybe there will be a podcast. Just maybe..

Look for a video soon, as well as updates on everything we're doing.