Have You Received Tales From The Quarantine?
Another attempt to understand what is going on.
In November, I wrote about the heavily delayed Kickstarter project - Tales From The Quarantine.
In the article, I laid out some of the contributors, fans and charity concerns over the lack of progress, communication and *ahem* the actual comic.
Things have moved on from there…
Sort of.
In an update on the Kickstarter page (backers only), we were given a timeframe for the items to be posted:
28/11 -> 3/12 - Floppy time
3/12 - > 10/12 - Softcovers (also this week FULL DIGITAL COPY RELEASED)
8/11 -> 15/12 - Hardcovers
16/12 - 22/12 - / deluxe SPARE / CATCHUP / GRACE PERIOD
Although it was not only the Christmas period but also a series of strikes planned by the UK mail service, was this wishful thinking? Perhaps, but as long as they were being posted, they would gradually get to us.
Note: In this period of time, I received several comics backed on Kickstarter in the post
Nevertheless, there was the digital edition we could read, right?
We did receive something digitally, although it wasn’t what we expected. We received the “30 Page Floppy”, available as a lower tier or an add-on. It is also being promoted strongly on social media. This wasn’t what was ordered, and although the talent involved meant that the content was excellent, there was some confusion.
We were also informed that 100 posters had been sent out.
Along with the digital ‘floppy’1, we were given an update on posting. The depot had been delayed for the softcover collection, and they were expected on Thursday, 8th of December. The digital version of the full book was due by the end of that week - so let us say Sunday, 11th December, for argument's sake.
December 15th comes, and we have a new update! Here we get some slickly put-together videos and photos of the ‘softcover’, so the book does exist!2
We are told:
The floppy has been sent out, so please do take photos as they arrive. And please take photos of the softcover as they start to arrive too.
So they have gone, and even if it was wind, snow, strikes or anything else, they should be making their way into the wild. We are also told that the softcover has arrived, and they will be posted out. And even some news on the hardcover.
Note: Why the upset? Crowdunders can be delayed?
Well, yes, but this has a combination of factors.
The vague updates, promising updates and then not,
The grandiose social media posts - with pre-order links and shops
The fact that many professional people dedicated their time to this.
The charity aspect - many backed it to help
We got a mini-update on digital deliveries, with some odd photos worldwide.3
December 22nd, and I am out Christmas shopping. I get an alert and see that more is going out in the post-variants (more on those later) and softcovers. 160 have gone out the door.
CURRENTLY SHIPPING:
SOFTCOVERS JUST UNDER 160 OUT SO FAR.
As I write this, we are on the 20th of January. Nearly a month, yes, we’ve had strikes, bank holidays and COVID/Brexit/Anything Else, but I’m pretty sure that by this point, I would have seen at least one of these softcovers posted online. I have searches set up for keywords and have seen nothing - no comments on the Kickstarter page either. I find that really odd.
The news comes, and we get an update on the 3rd of January - ‘floppys’ are arriving. OK, great, but to who. We also get pictures of the many variants and a tease of an IP being included.
The IP ended up being the Toxic Avenger. Very cool, and I like to see it, but why not promote this in funding? This is a character that could make more.
This takes us up to the most recent flurry of updates - 19th of January - and the variants. The Instagram and TikTok pages have been filled with posts stating ‘fulfilled’
From the Kickstarter page, I can glean the following about these fulfilled pledges4.
Matt Ferguson - 3 backers
Standard/Rachel Stott - 14 backers
Chris Weston - 1 backer
Talia Skyles - 13 backers
So that’s 31 comics out there, somewhere…
We are also told:
U.K.: If you haven’t received your item in the U.K. by the end of this month (JANUARY), please do let us know. It will have likely gone astray at that point.
Let us give this two weeks.
And that is even without me mentioning the money that was supposed to be going to various charities - I would like to see more/confirmation on that.
In the meantime, please let me know in the comments if you have seen any physical copies of this comic - the ‘floppy’, the softcover, or anything else related to this project.
I hate that name, but for continuity…
At least one of them
Including a fake newspaper?
There may be more due to add-ons and backerkit pledges