Where is The Atomic Thunderbolt?

Where is The Atomic Thunderbolt?

This is a question that has plagued me for two years, honestly. After I finished The Atomic Thunderbolt #3, I put the series on hold for what was supposed to be a short period of time while I focused on Patriot-1: Conviction. I also had a plan to re-strategize the way I presented The Atomic Thunderbolt. Rather than doing a Kickstarter for each single issue, I was planning to do one final campaign for the last 3 issues AND the entire collected edition.

The best laid plans, as they say.

So where is The Atomic Thunderbolt #4, #5 and #6 as well as the collected edition? It’s still coming. In fact, #4 is finished. #5’s line art is finished and #6 is nearly done.

What happened, you dare ask? Well, aside from the obvious shift in priority to Patriot-1: Conviction, the pandemic put a damper on a lot of things. After I finished Conviction, I fulfilled the Kickstarter, got ready to market it and shift focus back to The Atomic Thunderbolt and suddenly everything came to a screeching halt. I’ve alluded to it on Twitter, and while I won’t go into details, essentially my personal life literally flipped upside down. That has led to the most incredibly difficult 6 months (so far) of my life.

Everyone is healthy, which is the important thing… it’s just been something that has killed my motivation in between balancing inconsistent freelance gigs.

Making comics is hard to begin with – often a labor of love – especially at the small press and independent level. Capital and resources are limited and that can limit what can be done.

The Atomic Thunderbolt is a project I love and have taken great care in creating. I hate that it’s taken me so long to wrap it up and move on, but extenuating circumstances are certainly an understatement, though I hope to finally have it wrapped up and released as a total package by this time next year.

Thanks for your patience! In the meantime, the first three issues are available at the TJ Comics Shop!

Kevin