State of the Bug Q1
Things are looking good
Hello, friends! Mike Tener here with a long-overdue State of the Bug update. While I know many of you are more excited about what’s coming next than what’s already happened, a quick look back doesn’t hurt! But before I get into all of that, you may want to take advantage of this week’s offer on our website before it’s gone.
I’m excited to share the progress we’ve made in fulfillment.
Streamlining Shipping Operations
We’ve brought the majority of our shipping operations in-house at Bad Bug HQ. However, titles from Jason Pell and Garrett Gunn (Flickering Lights, Monster Girl Beach Party, Bear Skin, Fangers, Jabberjaw) will continue shipping directly from them, as they’ve long been set up for fulfillment.
Improved Fulfillment Accuracy
Our fulfillment accuracy is now at an impressive 99.4%, and our damaged product ratio has improved to 99.6%. These improvements are thanks to better training for our in-house shipping team, the use of bubble wrap sleeves for all orders, and more thorough inspections prior to shipping.
Enhanced Fulfillment Tracking
Inspired by some of our peers, we’ve implemented a fulfillment tracker to increase transparency and keep you updated on our progress across all projects. You’ll find the tracker linked at the bottom of every newsletter and Kickstarter campaign. For reference, I’m also including it here so you know what to look for.
Order Volume Milestones
Last month alone, we shipped 2,700 orders across various projects! While the number fluctuates month to month, we’re consistently shipping over 1,000 packages per month—a significant increase from this time last year.
Project Updates
We’ve had some major Bad Bug Midnight launches to kick off the year, including Death Nell 5, HyperGeist 5, Vanya 8, and Fangers 2. Here’s where things stand with each of them:
Fangers 2 is complete and will be ready to print and ship soon.
Death Nell 5 and HyperGeist 5 are expected to be finished by June. The Death Nell statues will ship in August at the latest.
Vanya 8—a massive undertaking in scale, detail, and page count—will likely be ready by the end of May.
We’re incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made so far and appreciate your continued support as we work to deliver these projects to you. Stay tuned for more updates, and thank you for being part of this journey!
Q2 RELEASE SCHEDULE
As we say goodbye to series like Death Nell, HyperGeist, and AstroWitch (which are all wrapping up with their final issues), we’re thrilled with the new titles on the horizon: Charlotte and the Clockwork Heart, Murder Mary, and Junk World. You can expect a nice expose on all three of those very soon.
A life-sized mechanical doll, brought to life by a magical clockwork heart, lives under the control of her cruel inventor. but when she hears tales of a fabled utopian city—a haven of hedonism and pleasure—her hope is ignited. Defiant, she sets out on a daring quest to forge her own destiny. • Created and written by Saskia Kelly, illustrated by Daniel Mainé, colored by CF Lum, and lettered by Dave Lentz. PRE-LAUNCH SIGNUP IS HERE.
The star of this wild new series is an interdimensional being who’s totally over annoying people, dragging us along on a murderous rampage through the colorful chaos of the Bad Bug universe. • Created by Mike Tener and Scott Wilke, written by Scott Wilke, illustrated by Marcos Almeida, colored by Marco Brakko, and lettered by Dave Lentz.
Join a daring courier and her grouchy toybot companion on a high-octane chase across a planet that serves as a dumping ground for the universe’s trash and its most heinous degenerates. • Created by Mike Tener, Scott Wilke, and Vinz el Tabanas, written by Scott Wilke, illustrated by Vinz el Tabanas, and lettered by Dave Lentz.
NEW PRODUCTS
While we continue to prioritize making comics, we also can’t help ourselves from working in different mediums. We are called Bad Bug MEDIA after all. Here are some product lines you can expect to see from us this year (some of which you may have already seen):
Themed tarot card sets featuring legacy Bad Bug artists
More artbooks (including cosplay)
Statues and figurines (including purchasable STL files)
More POGS (we love them and so should you)
Metal trading card sets (with very rare chase variants)
Thank you for the years of support and helping make Bad Bug grow. As cliche as it sounds, we really can’t do this without your support.
Bugs and Kisses,
Mike and the Bad Bug crew
