A Visible 2012

by kurtiswiebe

2011 was an amazing year.

I really can’t express it in any other words, but I look back on what has happened since January of last year and wonder how it all happened. I was pulling myself of a stupor, finally waking up to a life that had passion and true meaning. When I figured that out, I slammed on the gas pedal and went into overdrive.

Intrepids came out in March and, despite my nerve wracking fear that someone, possibly everyone, would hate it, it didn’t happen. The response was strong. Of course there were a few negative reviews here and there, and I’d already prepared myself for the worst, so what little criticism there was I was able to take it in stride. More importantly, I learned from those critiques.

Green Wake followed in April and I’m still spinning from the critical response. It was a deeply personal series for me and I’d decided long before it came out that it didn’t matter what the critics said, it was a story I had to write. It was my therapy. Even after the series came out and was upgraded to an ongoing status, I never lost sight of what Green Wake meant to me. It was a goodbye to a previous life and I’m very proud of what I accomplished with the series.

I started a podcast with two strangers who’ve become friends. The Process has become more important to me as time goes on, it’s my centering point every few weeks where I look back and talk about what I’ve achieved since the last recording. It holds me accountable to productivity and I’m grateful to Jeremy and Ryan for taking the adventure with me and to the fans for giving us an hour of their time every few weeks.

Lots of other things happened. I quit my day job and became a writer full time. I sacrificed security and a pension for a life of creativity. I had my first piece of work with Marvel and got to write one of my favourite characters, Wolverine. I met a wonderful woman who’s been supportive and a real inspiration and above all has contributed to my happiness more than she probably knows. I traveled to new cities, New York and Toronto, all in the name of my business, and met some amazing people and saw amazing things.

I have much to be thankful for.

2012 is gaining even more momentum and this blog is going to chronicle the journey. I plan to update this at least once a month, but the goal is once a week. I want to use it as a centering point to my progress and as a way to connect with people who enjoy the stories I write. I will be responsive to questions. I will be a visible part of the comic world and help anyone with interest to understand the independent comic world as best I can and, hopefully, make some more friends along the way.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Kurtis J. Wiebe