(Originally posted June 23, 2011)

“So let me get this straight, you actually won something off the internet?” This was my father’s response when I told him I had won a free comic book from Brock Heasley’s SuperFogeys 2011 Teaser contest. Dad’s pretty cautious about scam contests and internet ne’er-do-wells, but I was able to convince him that this one was legit. I entered the contest, which ran in late March/early April and I was one of two winners who walked off with an autographed copy of SuperFogeys Volume One. (The book actually arrived several weeks ago, but I haven’t had time to give it a decent write-up until now.)

Here’s me with my book. I’m making my best Captain Spectacular face.

There’s an obvious question that follows webcartoonists who want to print their work: “Why would anyone pay for a book of comics that they can read them for free on the internet?” I can promise you that Brock rises to meet this marketing challenge. For starters, he’s got the basics covered. SuperFogeys is a nice full-color book full of clear, high resolution art work. But the book is also full of fantastic extras that you can’t find anywhere else. There are concept sketches, new original stories, artist commentary on every page, and even a little flipbook in the page corners. It’s a book that you can feel good about holding in your hands.

But my book is special. Brock took the time to hand-draw a character sketch on the inside cover and he did not slack off on it.

Brock’s sketch of the villainous Dr. Rocket with Harvey the Science Rabbit.

It’s a good book and a good example of how webcomics can successfully make the jump from digital to print.

And by the way, don’t let me say that I never win at anything.

-Marj