Written & Lettered by Clifford VanMeter. Artwork by Joe Querio

Bertrand Russell, philosopher and citizen of earth: One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.

I’m not a whiner, nor usually a beggar, but I figure best be honest about what’s going on and hope. Like a lot of comics guys getting their own thing rolling, I’ve been self-funding Arctos Comics from my day job as a web and graphic designer. I live in Michigan, those of you who pay attention to the ecomnomic updates coming from Michigan may see where this is going.

I got laid off today.

The biggest casualty of this layoff is going to be Belter, which is almost ready to launch. That will be postponed indefinitely. I plan to take the five penciled and inked pages I have as well as the 20 pages of script and offer them around to see if I can come up with a publisher. Wish me luck on that. Karl and I are both willing to jump back in and finish this work if we can find an alternate funding source.

As for Orion, again, I need help. I don’t want to ask Joe to go without payment for all the hard work he puts in. I’m already paying him far less than he’s worth. He’s far too professional in both ability and attitude for me to ask that of him. I’ve been there. Wanting it so bad, loving what you do so much, that you are willing to let yourself be taken advantage of. I won’t be the kind of publisher that does that. I’d rather be a Wal-Mart greeter.

So I’ve added a donate button to the site. Hopefully some of you will feel inclined to help keep us going. Not to pay me, or pay for my time. God knows I’ll have enough of that on my hands for the foreseeable future. Every penny will go to the site and to paying the artists. On that you have my guarantee.

Same thing for advertisers. Our ads keep us going, click a few and you’re helping support what we do. Same for Digging, Tweeting, FaceBooking and Stumbling. Those buttons help bring us new fans. Spread the word if you like what we are doing.

So click an ad, buy a t-shirt, tweet, Stumble or Digg this article or the comic, or use that donate button to throw us a couple of bucks.

Thank you for sticking with us. I hope to have better info soon.

So in effect we have not gotten much outside our “neighborhood” of space at this point in history.

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Written & Lettered by Clifford VanMeter. Artwork by Joe Querio

From “The Hammonds of Ore City: Deconstructing a Dynasty” by Cyril Linkus, Stanford University Press – Despite everything the Hammonds were, in some circles much admired, even revered for the way they kept the mines open and kept the town running.  A lot of Ore City people got rich riding the coat-tails of the Hammonds during the war and turned a blind eye to their excesses.

Written & Lettered by Clifford VanMeter. Artwork by Joe Querio

Personal Journal of Felisia Lauden: The Hammonds are an easy family to dislike. Bullies and thieves, but at least you can always see’em coming. Yep, Subtle as an enema that bunch.

Written & Lettered by Clifford VanMeter. Artwork by Joe Querio

From “The Hammonds of Ore City: Deconstructing a Dynasty” by Cyril Linkus, Stanford University Press – There is little doubt that the Hammonds saved the mines from closure and saved the livelihoods of thousands of Ore City citizens. That they did this with ruthlessness, brutality, torture and slavery is equally unquestioned.

Great artwork by Joe Querio and you can get it signed by Joe and I for free if you’d like.

The digital editions will be $1 and will be available directly on our website in PDF, PSP compatible, and CBZ formats.

The Orion the Hunter digital editions will be the first, but Belter will also be collected into high resolution digital editions as each chapter is completed. There are also currently plans to release a flip book print edition with chapters of Orion the Hunter on one side and Belter on the other plus additional material such as the aforementioned pinups.
We will also soon be announcing our new partnership to produce $1 chapters for distribution to iPhones and the entire iPhamily (iPod and iPad).

Thanks to all who are helping make Orion the Hunter such a success.

Written, Colored & Lettered by Clifford VanMeter. Penciled & Inked by Joe Querio

Personal Journal of Felicia Lauden, Chief Constable of Ore City: Simply put, whoever said honesty is the best policy, obviously never worked in Ore City.

Written, Colored & Lettered by Clifford VanMeter. Penciled & Inked by Joe Querio

From the Chronicles of Sa’dish, Historian to Va’namir VII, Emperor of the Tir’a People: 20 Terrachian years. They crave ritual, these hoo-manz. They turn mourning into festival.  We, in seeking to understand them… to share in their culture… have allowed the anniversary of their atrocity to become a cause of celebration.