Blue Milk Special

It’s been a hell of a week for both Leanne and myself. Our day jobs can be pretty rough. In my case humiliating. In the past three days there have been several times I’ve thought about quitting. This economy and my lovely wife keep me clinging on. It’s not healthy though, and I know it. As of writing, I still have to make it through Friday. I just cannot wait for the weekend.

There is a bright point in the last few weeks, however. I want to thank our readers for the ongoing support of this quirky alternate Star Wars thing we have going here. But I want to especially thank those of you who have given a little bit (in some cases, a lot!) of support by donation. No, this isn’t another pledge drive, it’s just an honest thank you. I mean it. I know a lot of you guys who have donated. You’ve been with us for a long time, whether it’s leaving comments, tweeting us through Twitter, talking to us on our Facebook fan page, or meeting us at shows. Sometimes I’m not sure we deserve the support, but I know we owe you guys so much.

Making donations an option on this site took nearly three years consideration. When we were finally pushed in favor of asking, it had been prompted by circumstances. What we do here is pretty crazy when you think about it. A fan webcomic over which we pour hours and hours for a single strip. Sometimes I tell Leanne that this latest strip is the end; that our lives and our goals can’t afford the interruption of a fan webcomic. The trouble is, we are basically fans and it’s hard to turn away from a project inspired by something we both love.

Is BMS some sad addiction? Is that because it’s easy? Smaller in scale than an original idea? A self-published book? Maybe in some ways. But I do know that even the cheesiest strips, the ones that were most rushed or cringeworthy, are a part of a project which — for some reason — gives me a lot of pride. I mean it, even as corny as that sounds. BMS is a way for us, and perhaps for me especially, to escape reality for a while and play in a universe that has meant something to me (and so many others) since my childhood.

Yes, BMS is done on the cheap, but BMS by no means lacks ambition. We’ve made over 350 strips so far and in a couple more months we will be near our third anniversary! There are strips that still make me crack a smile or even chuckle to this day. The coolest thing is knowing that there are people out there that like this nonsense, and us, enough to donate their own hard earned money.

One of the main reasons I bring this up at all, is that one very very kind reader made a donation, not once, but twice! It’s hard to get my mind around that! And no, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t an error on their part. LOL. 😉 I feel honored by that vote of belief in BMS, and by association, the belief in us. The support is something we have to endeavor to live up to. BMS must keep marching on. We obviously reach a lot of people and knowing people care is an incentive in itself. We are currently returning to our 2010 peak, with 4000-5000 unique visits a day and 19,000 page loads (conservative statistical estimates). We are also finally starting to get competitive in the Top Web Comics ranking thanks to your support. You guys might even have been mentioned on the Star Wars Blu Rays (Episode 4 Deleted Scenes/Tatooine section: Disk 8 ) as the Blue Milk fan following! So there you go. Pat yourselves on the back! Although we can not predict the future, October, at least, looks like another fun-filled month for the strip. 🙂

In just one more week you can share in a milestone for BMS. We will not only be at the half way point of the trilogy (accounting for our diversions into the Holiday Special and Splinter), but you will be meeting our take on Yoda. As of writing, Leanne has finalized Yoda’s BMS look. I love it! 😉