I really enjoyed it. With the new issue, Bobby (and Todd Purse) reach deep into what I would call the "Illuminatus! mythos," drawing from the Historical Illuminatus books and from Masks of the Illuminati. It seemed to me like a really vivid trip that made full use of what comics can do. I will re-read it soon.
Bobby is busy taking care of the people who backed the project on Kickstarter, so I look forward to getting the rest of my goodies, too.
Here is Bobby Campbell's update for the Tales of Illumnatus comic book project. For your convenience, I'll just reproduce the announcement here:
Hey everyone!
Quick update just to confirm that everything is proceeding as planned :)))
Todd and I will be finishing up our pages over the next couple of weeks and fulfillment will begin before the end of the month.
The KS campaign is officially concluded and we will not be taking any further orders.
You should have received a notification to confirm your shipping address, if applicable:
Just a quick reminder of our fulfillment schedule, so you know what to expect and when:
Summer shipments:
Issues 1, 2, and 3 (Print and Digital)
Music Collections (Digital)
Video Game (Digital)
Poster (Print)
Fall shipments:
The First Trip - Collection (Print and Digital)
Skeleton Key Zine (Print and Digital)
Jukebox Musical Cassette Tape (Physical)
Thank you so much for your support, I can't wait for you to see what we've built!
<3<3<3
bc
Bobby Campbell released a newsletter over the weekend. I have covered much of his news here, but you should read the whole thing; it's not a long issue.
A couple of things I want to highlight: Maybe Day is Thursday, and again, all of you who can make it are invited to Bobby's pop-up art show. Details above.
Also, I want to note this update on Tales of Illuminatus No. 3:
The KS ended strong, passing the 100 supporter milestone I was hoping for, and with another few weeks of late pledges available, we may yet surpass the first issue total :)))
Also, not entirely impossible we hit our stretch goal of $5K, at which point I'll add in the "Killing of the King Ritual / 1,000 Points of Light" storyline into The First Trip Trade Paperback.
GET IN ON THE ACTION! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bobbycampbell/tales-of-illuminatus-3-opus-chao
I'm about 70% finished with my pages for issue #3, with most of the heavy lifting completed, and everything starting to come together so super nicely.
The current plan is to cut off orders on the last of the dog days of Summer, August 11th, and start fulfillment on August 23rd!
I want to take a moment to remind everyone that the Kickstarter for the Bobby Campbell-Todd Purse comic book opus Tales of Illuminatus #3 will end on June 22. Bobby says, "The Kickstarter campaign officially ends on June 22nd, at which point the discounted pre-order prices will no longer be available, but we'll take late pledges right up until the book goes to press in the Summer :)))"
So yeah, you can still buy it after the Kickstarter campaign ends, but the bargain packages will be gone. For example, the $42 "MGMT SPECIAL!" I opted for provides the comic book, a trade paperback of the first three issues, a Michael Johnson zine discussing the series, three separate music releases, a video game and a PDF of Michael's zine. (If $42 is too much, packages and offers start at $3).
There's a really good new interview out of Bobby Campbell at Critical Hit Parader, a Substack newsletter written by Matt Thompson, a fellow Maybe Logic Academy alum of Bobby's.
Bobby refers to Robert Anton Wilson as "the Velvet Underground of writers," riffing on the old joke that only 100 people bought the first Velvets album, but they all went out and started a band. I often think about this analogy, too. Did I come up with it independently or did Bobby put in my brain?
In the interview, Bobby goes into a lot of interesting detail about his Tales of Illuminatus project, so if you recently pledged to the Kickstarter you'll want to read that. (It's not too late to pledge and get your own goodies.)
But my favorite part of the interview is toward the beginning, when Bobby talks about the kinds of people who like to read RAW, the readers who can deal with "this zen koan quality that requires imaginative speculation and interpretation," and with "the info-density, this embarrassment of memetic richness in his work." Bobby also talks about RAW's relationship with Discordianism and similar groups and "the context within which many people find themselves discovering RAW, which typically tends to be at some sort of crisis or transformation point." A really good discussion.
I think maybe I fall more into the first group, the ones who can deal with relatively difficult prose and lots of information. I discovered Illuminatus! when I was in college, reading mainstream writers such as Vladimir Nabokov and the more challenging, interesting science fiction writers such as Roger Zelazny and Brian Aldiss. I thought Illuminatus! was one of the best novels I had ever run across.
Critical Hit Parader is "focused on the intersection of rock music and tabletop roleplaying games."
The Kickstarter for Tales of Illuminatus #3 launched on Thursday as scheduled.
Bobby Campbell's announcement at the Kickstarter site has details on the new issue. He's bringing in characters from other RAW novels, such as Sigismundo Celine from the Historical Illuminatus series (he's the guy at the piano). Bobby hopes to get the third issue out by July, but August is a more realistic goal. A trade paperback will be issued with the first three issues. A "skeleton key" zine with commentary by Michael Johnson is planned in the fall. There's a new poster that's going to be issued and there are related soundtrack albums that I've mentioned before in this space. And so on.
The pledges this time offer a dizzying array of options. Along with the various preset packages of rewards for backers, there is a pretty long list of available add-ons. I struggled with all of the options and Kickstater's clumsy system and finally took one of the packages when I pledged.
One point that seems important to me is that Bobby has put together pledge amounts that can meet any budget. Everyone can take part. And you don't have to feel any obligation to pledge more than you can afford; Bobby has already met the pledge goal of $777. The pledges already were more than $1,000 as I wrote this.
Bleeding Cool, a pop culture website, has an article up by Rich Johnston, "Grant Morrison Loves The Illuminatus! Trilogy Comic Book Adaptation," which previews the upcoming launch, on April 23, of the Kickstarter for the third issue of Bobby Campbell's ongoing series.
It's a nice, well-informed article, and Mr. Johnston has paid attention to the first two Kickstarters. "The prices on these Kickstarters are massively low for what you get, including shipping," he writes.
Bobby Campbell has sent out a newsletter to announce Tales of Illuminatus #3, providing basically the same details I provided yesterday (Kickstarter begins April 23), but also has a bunch of other news.
One of Bobby's announcements is that he's released a free Illuminatus! game, CTHULHUS WAKE.
"An arcane arcade adventure! Nine levels of mini game eldritch action!"
More news if you read the whole thing. You want to know who is "the best cartoonist in the world," don't you?
"
A new Kickstarter campaign is about to launch for Tales of Illuminatus #3, the sequel to Bobby Campbell's first two comic book adaptations of Illuminatus!
Bobby has put up a prelaunch page on Kickstarter. Bobby's message on the page says,
"The circus is back in town!
"More info coming soon with the official launch on April 23rd :)))
Until then stay tuned to the GLORIA DISCORDIA Newsletter
"<3<3<3"
More information soon.
In his latest newsletter, Bobby Campbell announces that Tales of Illuminatus No. 2 has now been released as a free webcomic, so that everyone can now read it. Print and digital copies remain available, as the free version likely won't be around forever.
"I'm super psyched to have this out in the wild, and hopefully catch more folks up on our illuminated tales as we ready the next installment," Bobby says.
Bobby has combined two separate newsletters, previously on Substack, and moved to a new platform, ghost.io, for a combined newsletter, Gloria Discordia. If you got the previous newsletters you should be getting the new one; otherwise, sign up here.
I'll have a separate post on some of Bobby's other news, as I don't want it to get lost in the Tales announcement. But you can go ahead and read all about it.
Bobby Campbell apparently is busier than ever. His latest newsletter has many news items.
One is this hint about a coming Tales of Illuminatus! announcement: "The next installment in our Tales of Illuminatus! series is developing very nicely, with announcements to follow in due course, though steady yourselves for something of a curve ball!"
Also, Bobby is finishing another comic book series: "I’m going to take some time for my somewhat neglected personal work, specifically Agnosis! #3, which will finally complete the OKEY-DOKEY graphic novel.
"Follow along with those developments here: Bobby Campbell’s STATE OF THE ART"
Much more news here, including some items I have covered and some that were new to me.
I made a Kickstarter pledge to back Tales of Illuminatus 2 and my comic book arrived on my porch Monday. So if you backed the project, too, and if you don't have your copy yet, I suspect that it will arrive Real Soon Now. Congratulations to Bobby for completing it! A job well done!
Latest newsletter from Tales of Illuminatus comic creator Bobby Campbell:
"Oh, frabjous day! Tales of Illuminatus! #2 “The Invisible Crown” is now available!(Digital version available now! • Print pre-orders are otw! • Kindle pre-orders deliver on the 23rd!)
"Buy links and preview pages all available here! https://talesofilluminatus.com/
"Join us for the pulse pounding conclusion to our first trip through the official comic book adaptation of the immortal Illuminatus! Trilogy :))) New mysteries! New realities! New conspiracies!"
More here. It sounds like paper copies will be arriving in the mail soon for Kickstarter supporters. If you were a Kickstarter participant, you should have received an email from Bobby with a download for a digital copy. I got my email for "digital delivery" on Oct. 18. I enjoyed the digital version, I am looking forward to getting my paper copy for the full comic book experience.
Bobby has picked up some nice endorsements for his comic:
“I loved Tales of Illuminatus!”
– Grant Morrison
“This is the yarn that presaged everything we are experiencing today, lovingly translated to a medium through which it can inoculate anyone from the mind virus of certainty. Reality is up for grabs, and you, too, can join the grand conspiracy.”
– Douglas Rushkoff
“Tales of Illuminatus keeps the lasagna flying and playfully rap-tap-taps on your head like the medium has a message for you. If you love your RAW you will love your Bobby Campbell.”
– R.U. Sirius
More news is promised soon.
Bobby Campbell's ongoing adaptation of the Illuminatus! trilogy in comic book form has taken another step forward with the release of the second issue.
An email sent to Kickstarter backers announces the release of Tales of Illuminatus! #2 "The Invisible Crown" and provides a link for downloading the PDF. The mailing out of print editions will begin soon, Bobby reports.
Bobby Campbell reports that the second issue of his Tales of Illuminatus! comic book series will be out soon:
"I'm very happy to announce that we are in the final stages of production on Tales of Illuminatus! #2!
"Specifically, I only have 5 pages left to draw :)))
"We didn't win a lottery spot to exhibit at the Small Press Expo this year, so our hard deadline got a little softer, but the end is still very much nigh!
"I'll be shutting down late Kickstarter pledges next Friday (9/19) and begin the process of collecting addresses for shipping out our pre-orders.
"I'm not quite ready to nail down a specific date yet, as circumstances remain variable, and I'm leaning towards quality over speed, so I hope you will accept an amorphous, yet incandescent, 'SOON'."
More details at the Substack, which you can subscribe to.
Bobby Campbell reports a good turnout for his Wilmington Comic Fest, an event he held to on Maybe Day, July 23 (I boldfaced some news):
"The Wilmington Comic Fest was an absolute blast! We actually had a ton of people come out, (on a Wednesday night no less!) all the artists had a great time, and it looks like we're going to do it again in the Fall :)))
"Here's a link to an IG post that has all of the featured artists linked.
"There's also livestream videos from WiseSpag who went around and talked to the artists:
https://kick.com/wisespag/videos/d4b1b5cb-cd0a-4068-8895-b60cdcf50222
https://kick.com/wisespag/videos/140b12cd-2484-45e4-9403-fd1336a99f86
As for Tales of Illuminatus, the second comic book of the series, Bobby reports, "TOI goes very well indeed! 28 pages down and 15 or so left to go."
While the Kickstarter funded, please note that you can still do a preorder to reserve your copy.
Need a copy of the first issue? Please see Bobby's Weirdoverse Gift Shop on Etsy.
Yesterday, covering Bobby Campbell's latest Substack newsletter, I highlighted the fact that the Kickstarter for Tales of Illuminatus! No. 2 ended today. I also managed to get the cover artist wrong for the new alternate cover for the first issue, so please note that and I apologize to Leosaysays. I had a long day away from the computer Friday, out and about with my sister visiting from Oklahoma, and I was away from the computer, so I'm sorry I didn't fix that earlier.
Update an onward, I hope.
Bobby also had something else interesting I wanted to call attention to:
"I’ve been working on a lot of the big picture, heavy lifting, world building for TOI lately, and entirely delighted with the way the dots are connecting. Super psyched to share my discoveries, but also taking to heart the feedback from issue #1, which suggested folks would rather just enjoy the comic as a finished piece, rather than a constant drip of serialization.
"I’ve got two weeks of teaching left and then we’re off to the races!"
Thinking about it, I think that's how I feel, too, about the "constant drip of serialization"; I want the experience of holding the new comic book in my hands and experiencing it as largely new.
That apparently doesn't preclude Bobby posting bits to show us what's in the works; above is a "quick sneak peak to hold you over for a spell" from Todd Purse's work for the second issue.
Lots of news from Bobby Campbell in the latest Tales of Illuminatus newsletter, including a reminder that the Kickstarter drive for issue No. 2 ends Saturday. Here's Bobby:
"Speaking of our Kickstarter Campaign! We are in the final few days of our pre-order campaign, which ends this upcoming Saturday! We are just short of hitting 200% of our funding goal. Not a bad showing for our scrappy indie production :)))
"We will indeed be accepting late pledges after the campaign ends, right up until we need final numbers to go to press, but the price will jump up a bit.
"So if you want to lock in those pre-order prices, order now!"
Above is Leosaysays's alternate cover for the first issue. This is a correction, see the comments from Bobby and Spookah. Sorry about that!
"Folks ordering Tales of Illuminatus! #1 from our current KS campaign for issue #2 will receive this wonderfully wild new edition :)))," Bobby says.
