JL8: A Webcomic @jl8comic - Tumblr Blog

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Hey all! I'm hard at work on new JL8, but I wanted to let you know I'll be returning to HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC next weekend! I hope to see you there!

Check the second pic for a handy map!

#heroescon

Back in February, we found out that my mom had been diagnosed with cancer. She’s fine now and the doctors are very optimistic that she’s fully in the clear, but having lost my dad to cancer barely two years ago, it knocked me for a pretty hard loop. Between the anxiety and the duty of driving my mom to doctors appointments, there was about a month and a half or so where I don’t think I ever managed more than a half-day of work, and some days was unable to work at all.

This naturally led to me falling behind, which left me feeling massively overwhelmed, and I found it difficult to know what to prioritize between comics, shop orders, and commissions. Working on comics would delay fulfilling orders and commissions, fulfilling orders would delay the comics and commissions, etc., so whatever I chose, it constantly felt like one step forward but two steps back. I’ve only managed to draw five new pages of JL8 so far, and most of that has only been in the last couple weeks. There are still orders from around the new year which need to be shipped, which I feel even worse about, but am working on rectifying.

Truthfully, I should’ve communicated all of this back in March, but frankly, I was afraid to. This kind of thing has happened so frequently the last few years that I’m not so much worried that folks are just going to leave, but whether or not they’ll even BELIEVE me. Either way, I’m finally feeling comfortable enough to share this update, so it is what it is.

I’m going to keep chugging along on Chapter Nine, and will start posting the new pages as soon as possible. In the meantime, maybe I’ll see some of you in Detroit for Motor City Comic-Con next weekend.

Thanks for reading, and take care.

-Yale

#jl8 #comics

Hello, again! This time I’d like to discuss the future of JL8!

As mentioned on Monday, the future of the strip is a little uncertain, but the sale has done well enough that I feel comfortable at least working on the next chapter of 270. However, it is significantly better for my mental health to start posting when I have some amount of buffer built up, which I’d prefer to be 5-10 pages. This means that while JL8 will be resuming production this week, it will not resume posting until probably late February or early March.

I sincerely apologize that it will take that long, but we’re getting into the most important parts of this story that has taken me so much time to tell, and I want to make sure it’s as good as I can make it.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to post commission work along with work-in-progress updates to let you all know how production is going, and hopefully provide a clearer, more specific date for when JL8 will resume posting.

I’ve got one more update I’d like to share with you all, but I’ll save that one for later this week.

Thank you so much, and talk to you soon!

Good afternoon, everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and is having a pleasant start to the new year!

I’m sorry I’ve been rather quiet lately, but it’s been due to being completely preoccupied with fulfilling orders from my sale. I cannot thank you all enough for how much support I’ve received. For those who don’t know, this past year, comics did not generate much income for me, and I’ve needed to take a long hard look at whether or not this career path continues to be viable for me going forward. As such, I’m currently offering large savings in my online store in an effort to raise funds to keep JL8 updating regularly. The sale was meant to end with 2025, but as I’m still not at my goal, I’ll be continuing the discounts until my birthday, January 18th. For those interested, the discounts are:

50% off all mass-produced items with code SAVE50

30% off all original art with code SAVE30

Commissions are available at ~20% off, single characters for $125 (normally $150), and two characters for $250 (normally $300)

You can find my store here.

I actually have a number of other updates I’m excited to tell you all about, but I’m going to save them for later this week so as not to make this post too bloated. Thanks so much for reading, and I’ll talk to you again soon!

-Yale

Happy Black Friday!

A reminder that I'm currently running a massive sale in my shop to help keep JL8 alive!

50% off all mass-produced items with code SAVE50

30% off all original art with code SAVE30

Visit yalestewart.bigcartel.com to purchase!

Good afternoon, everyone!

I’m currently running a massive sale in an attempt to drum up funds so that I can continue regularly producing JL8, and as promised, today I’m opening up discounted commissions! I’m offering single characters for $125USD (down from $150) and two characters for $250USD (down from $300), and on top of that, I’m guaranteeing Christmas delivery! Get a custom drawing at a discounted rate to help fund more of a comic you like? Seems like a win to me.

Beyond that, I’m still offering 50% off all mass produced items with code SAVE50 and 30% off original art with code SAVE30. Due to the already discounted prices in the listing, commissions are excluded from these codes.

You can place your order in my shop, and I’d deeply appreciate likes, comments and shares in an effort to get this post in front of as many folks as possible. Thank you so much for all of your support!

First off, I want to thank everyone who's chipped in with a purchase from the sale already, as well as everyone who's been commenting and sharing on my posts to help spread the word about the sale. It means the world.

A number of folks have reached out asking if there's a way to just contribute directly, and while I feel more comfortable actually selling you something, I need to get better about accepting the kindness of strangers and realize that they wouldn't be asking unless they wanted to.

If you'd like to make a direct donation to help me get back on my feet, you can do so via either of these options:

PayPal: paypal.me/YaleWStewart

Venmo: venmo.com/u/Yale-Stewart

As you may know (and if you haven't, see recent pinned posts) the future of JL8 is in doubt due to my financial situation, so I'm having a sale in hopes of raising funds to continue. Think of it like a PBS pledge-drive. This comic can continue with support from Readers Like You.

50% off all mass-produced items with code SAVE50

30% off all original art with code SAVE30

Visit yalestewart.bigcartel.com to purchase

The sale will be running through the end of 2025, so there's no rush, but the earlier you order, the better chance I can get it to you in time for the holidays.

Engagement is super appreciated, as it will help get this post in front of more folks.

#jl8

Yesterday I made a post that was very, very difficult for me to write, and I’m sure difficult for some of you to read.

If you’ve not read it, I recommend doing so, but the general idea is that I just don’t know if I can continue producing JL8 unless I’m able to improve my financial situation, so I’m going to be holding a sale in an attempt to drum up funds to support the continued creation of the strip, similar to a PBS/NPR pledge drive. I AM continuing work on JL8 in the meantime. However, I’m going to be prioritizing any immediate work that brings in funds, so it likely won’t be receiving 30+ hours/week of my attention, so I’m unsure when I’ll actually have new pages ready to start posting. I wanted to make sure I clarified that, as I don’t think that came across in the previous post.

Now for today, two things:

First, so many of you have already been unbelievably supportive. From amazingly kind comments to incredibly generous financial support, this is a massive first step well beyond what I could’ve expected prior to even having the sale and I simply cannot thank you enough.

Unfortunately, this is still just a first step, and there’s still a ways to go, so the second thing I wanted to discuss was the sale itself so you might have an idea of what to expect.

Without a doubt, the absolute best option is still Patreon support. The predictability of it takes a huge mental load off of my shoulders, and it largely being support simply for what I’m already doing also means I can strictly focus on making comics, which means more comics more frequently. A bunch of you joined within the last 24 hours, and I cannot thank you enough.

Beyond Patreon, next week I’ll be having a sale in my online store, with 50% all prints, and 30% off all original artwork. I’m planning to kick that off on Wednesday, November 12th, so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

Finally, I’ll be offering discounted commissions, and I plan on making those available starting Monday, November 24th. I bring this up last because while focusing so hard on getting JL8 back on track, I’ve fallen behind on commissions and I want to clear as much of that queue as possible before accepting new ones, and secondly, commissions are the option that most impact my ability to produce comics. They can be incredibly time intensive, and while they bring in great funds, they tend to have the biggest adverse impact on JL8’s update schedule. I’ll be offering single character for $125 (down from $150) and two characters for $250 (down from $300). Both of these quotes are for 9”x12” pieces. More elaborate pieces can be accommodated, but you’ll need to contact me directly to work out the details of those.

I can’t help but apologize that I have to come to you all asking for help like this, but I am eternally grateful that so many of you have been so kind in your understanding and support. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it many more times, but I cannot thank you enough.

-Yale

#comics #jl8

The future of JL8 is uncertain.

This is an incredibly difficult post to make for a plethora of reasons, not least of which is that there are a great many people here in the States having much more difficult times, but please know that I’ve been putting this off until the last possible moment, and that moment feels like it’s finally arrived.

It’s no secret that JL8 has been largely inactive for years until very recently. I want to clarify that the lack of updates was never due to a lack of interest or desire to produce the comic, but because of a myriad of health issues—that I’d prefer to keep personal—that I’ve been struggling with since late 2018 that have been preventing me from working on the series with any degree or regularity. As I’m sure anyone can surmise, not working on a comic regularly is not a great way to find success when you’re trying to live as a cartoonist. So much so that at the beginning of this year, my wife and I had a serious discussion about whether it was time for me to accept that I’m no longer capable of making this my living, and that I need to move on.

With the writing so clearly on the wall, and with a LOT of help from support networks, I threw myself into the work in a way I haven’t in years. So far in 2025, I’ve produced and posted more pages of JL8 than I had in the past four—nearly five—years COMBINED, even with occasional spates where my health prevented me from working as regularly as I’d liked. I was, and am, determined to save this project that I love so much, but the reality is that it may be too little, too late. Nine months into this return, and the needle doesn’t feel like it’s moved much.

To be clear, this is a financial problem. I wish that we lived in a world where that didn’t matter, and people could make art for the sake of it without having to worry about how they’ll put food on the table, but that’s not the world we live in. As it stands, it requires about 30+ hours of work per week to maintain the current JL8 output, and that’s only if I have other things—commissions, shop orders—to also work on. If I don’t have those extra obligations, JL8 gets a full 40+ hours per week. A full-time workload.

I try to monetize my work via convention appearances, commission work, online sales, and Patreon. Conventions are sporadic in occurrence and becoming increasingly difficult to get into, Of the five conventions I’ve done in the last 12 months, only one has been truly profitable with three actively losing me money, which is by FAR my worst showing since becoming a professional. Commissions are great but they take a lot of time away from working on comics, and because they’re expensive, fewer people can afford them. Online sales are good, but it becomes difficult when you don’t have time to produce new merchandise, or worse, produce new merchandise that no one cares to buy. Couple that with how hostile social media platforms have become to sharing links to other websites, and they’ve become very unreliable. That leaves Patreon, which is far and away the steadiest stream of income I have, as I receive a payout every month. However, my Patreon pledge total sits at just a bit over $700—seven hundred—a month, and only manages to grow by 4-5 $1 pledges per month. I am eternally grateful to the Patrons who have been supporting me, but unfortunately that amount isn’t enough to live off of.

I’ve never set out to get rich making comics, but I do need to be able to at least pay the bills, and I’m just not sure if producing JL8 can meet that need. Having a number of emergency home and car repairs in the last year have only exacerbated that reality.

As such, starting next week, I’ll be kicking off some massive sales on prints, commissions, original art, everything in an attempt to drum up funds to keep this thing going. You’re also welcome to join the Patreon at any time. But the truth is that if these sales fall flat, I may not be able to continue working on JL8. Please, PLEASE believe me when I say that I’m just trying to be honest about my situation.

I am not entitled to a career as a cartoonist. That decision has always been in the hands of the readers. If you decide my time has passed, then it’s passed, and I thank you for these many years of support. But if you decide to keep me around, believe me when I say I’ve still got plenty of stories to tell.

-Yale

#comics #jl8