Maq #041 » Blog

Quick Note About Computer

Kim Samson — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:52:04 +0000

Well, the day has finally arrived. All the parts (sans RAM, which I will try and pick up today) are assembled. Tomorrow, my friend’s computer guru will be assisting me in installing the parts! With luck, tomorrow evening I’ll be streaming once more! If for some reason I can’t I will let you all know here. Wish us luck!

Thank you!!

Kim Samson — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:00:37 +0000

Well, due to some very generous last-moment contributors, we’ve reached (and surpassed by a bit) the $300 fund-raising goal! Wow! I honestly…It’s hard to express my emotions right now. I’m just touched. Really. You guys are wonderful. With what we raised, I’ll have a new shiny processor and graphics card to install soon. And it’s all thanks to you guys.

Those of you still waiting for commissions, I apologize for the delay. I’ll work on them as much as I can while I’m away at Tekkoshocon, but without access to my scanner and computer, I can’t color them until I return. I promise finishing the commissions will be my top priority, so hopefully you’ll receive them by the end of this month. As far as the chibis and the 5-page comic extra, I’ll be contacting each of you to ask which 041 or Fantastibad character you would like, along with the comic extra itself.

For those of you going to Tekkoshocon, stop by the booth I’ll be sharing with Moon Bunny Imports in the Dealers Room for free hugs and friendship!

And again, thank all of you for your continued support. You’re wonderful. Each and every one of you!

Donation Drive: Update!

Kim Samson — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 02:32:50 +0000

Alrighty! There’s only a few days left to get commissions/donations in for the special extras! The deadline is the 20th of March, so if you’re still interested, make sure to get those in soon!

Right now, we’ve raised a grand total of $130 in commissions and $50 in donations, bringing to total to $180!

Very close to getting that 5-page exclusive comic (only for those who donate/commission!). Either way, I’m so happy! Because of you guys, you’ve helped us during a financially drained time in our lives and kept me working! I’ll be ordering the graphics card and processor when I return from Tekkoshocon at the end of the month. So by April, I will hopefully have a fully-functional, non-crashing computer once more!

Thank you all for your help and support. I appreciate it.

Commissions Open!

Kim Samson — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 23:30:36 +0000

Alrighty, I’m in a little bind here right now. Normally, when something breaks, my hubby and I move quickly to replace it or fix it. Then our cars broke. Both of them. At the same time. So we got them fixed since it’s still cheaper then getting a new car. And immediately after spending what money we had to get them fixed, I learned my processor AND my graphics card are on their way out.

So! At this point, I could use any help in getting these parts taken care. As such, for a time, I’m going to open up commissions. Normally, the art by itself is reward enough for what you pay. Since I need to raise a certain amount (about $300), I decided to add rewards as an extra incentive!

- If I raise $100 by March 20th, I’ll draw a free chibi of your choice from 041 or Fantastibad for each contributor. You pick the character, the clothing, the pose; everything!

- If I raise $200, I’ll post an extra 5-page comic for the contributors eyes ONLY.

- If I raise the full $300, you’ll not only get what is listed above… I will increase updates for Maq #041, from now until the end of Chapter 15. That’s right. Instead of just updating twice a week, I’ll update a third page EVERY WEEK until Chapter 15 is finished.

If you can’t afford a commission, I’d appreciate it if you could spread the message. And of course, all money raised (including anything extra) will go towards getting my computer in working order.

—————————————-

Commission Info!

Please let me know the following before you send payment!
– Your Name
– Your E-mail
– What kind of commission you want
– Any reference art
– Any details you wish to include (poses, backgrounds, etc)

PRICES:

Chibis: $2.00 Inked; $5.00 Full color

Sketches: Waist Up $3.00; Full Body $6.00

Inked: Waist Up $8.00; Full Body $12.00

Full Color: Waist Up $20.00; Full Body $30.00

Happy Valentines Day!

Kim Samson — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:59:10 +0000

Here is your yearly half-nude Xion! Hope you all like it!

Design an M.A.Q. Agent Contest Results!

Kim Samson — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:52:12 +0000

We had so many good entries, Craig and I had a hard time choosing just one entry. Many of you had very original and wild ideas for what these girls could do. In the end though, we picked the one that we not only loved, but fit into the story seamlessly.

Meet #25, aka ‘Silja’! Designed by reader Rick, I’ll simply post his winning entry:

Description:
Silja has a plump build and cream colored skin, with medium-length wavy brown hair. She has bright, almost creepily illuminated, hazel eyes when opened. She wears tight-fitting blouses and skirts, but favors comfortable footwear and hates high-heeled shoes of any kind. She doesn’t wear makeup or jewelry, although she’d like to; but her low self-worth makes her unable to look in the mirror long enough to apply makeup or fashion accessories.

Abilities:
Silja seems blind, always with her eyes closed. But in truth she can see perfectly fine and can even project a powerful visually-controlled psychokinetic aura from her eyes. She can use this power by looking into another person’s eyes. When she makes eye contact with a person she has the power to halt all their motor functions.

She keeps her eyes closed, acting like a blind person, because she cannot control her power. Anyone she looks at will become powerless and unable to move. Walking around with her eyes open would immobilize her own allies. She has full mobility while using her power, but if she looks away or blinks her power is broken until she can make eye contact with her opponent again.

She enjoys dark places, because she can work efficiently in a blind environment and her illuminated cat-like eyes attract a person’s gaze in dim light (such as moonlight).

Her biggest weakness is her crippling self-image; because of her plumper body figure she cannot stand to look at her own reflection (the other girls made fun of her a lot). Seeing her own reflection makes her instinctively look away or close her eyes, giving her opponents the chance to take advantage of her weakness.

This weakness also limits her fashion sense, resulting in her unable to apply makeup or wear clothing that fits properly on her figure. At home she likes to wear baggy clothes, but when she goes out she always adorns herself in tight-fitting clothes that show a bit of her voluptuous skin.

Secretly she just wants a close friend, as she’s usually on the receiving end of gossip, bullying, and taunting; but she holds true to the belief that if she can prove herself valuable the others will respect her; regardless of her physical ‘faults’. Because of the lifetime of abuse, she finds it hard to trust anyone as well. Anyone except Dr. Mathews who gave her the wondrous power of her eyes. The power that allows her to be, if even only temporarily, stronger than anyone.

Personality and Background:
Deep down she’s just an insecure young woman with a bad body image, not willing to see her beauty for what its worth because of years of taunting and an abusive upbringing. Her mother was a Finnish pageant queen who loathed Silja for, as she perceived it, destroying her chances to ever be in the Miss Universe pageant. She decided, instead, to become a pageant mother, but Silja’s stocky build made her a poor choice for beauty pageants which favored unnatural, Barbie doll-proportioned girls.

Silja quietly took all of her mother’s verbal, emotional, and in some cases physical abuses in stride, developing a stone-like interior. It all culminated in a snap in sanity for the both of them when Silja was 11.

Silja’s mother decided that if her daughter wasn’t born beautiful, she wasn’t worth keeping around. For a relatively nominal price, she sold the girl to a European slave marketer who wound up selling her to Dr. Mathews in a group purchase.

It was then that her visual capabilities manifested with Dr. Mathews’ genetic treatments.

She’s quiet and shy, but secretly yearns to be part of the group, any group. When she’s given a mission, though, she delights in using her powers on people as it is the only time in her life when she feels stronger and better than anyone else.

I’d like to thank everyone who entered. This was a lot of fun for Craig and I, and I hope it was fun for all of you who entered as well. Hopefully we’ll be able to have another contest soon. See y’all on Tuesday for our Valentine’s Day update!

Contest Update and New Poll

Kim Samson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:06:20 +0000

Alrighty! I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who entered the contest! Craig and I will be going over the entries to pick our favorite this week, and we’ll let you know who the winner is! I’ve gotta say, it’ll be tough. I glanced at a few of the entries as they arrived, and you guys have some amazing ideas! We will most likely do another contest like this again soon.

In other news, I’ve been gearing up to get all the other chapters of the comic into a printed form. But I wanted to get everyone’s opinions before I proceeded with the actual printing. Mostly, I just want to know if you’d prefer a single book, with lots of chapters, or small individual comics for each chapter. The smaller chapter comics would come out faster and more frequently, but would ultimately cost more to collect (since they’d be about $5 each, plus shipping). A larger book, however, would only come out after so many chapters were complete, but would be cheaper in the long run. So feel free to be completely honest. Your choices will dictate which direction I go.

Stop SOPA / PIPA

Kim Samson — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:32:48 +0000

As I’m sure you’ve already seen, quite a bit of the internet has been ‘blacked out’ today, in protest to two bills being proposed to American congress. If this were a perfect country, and nobody abused their power, we would not be so afraid, since on the surface the bills seem to want to protect the internet and it’s usage. However, the reality is that these bills can easily be abused. If you trust the American government, or just don’t care either way, then please ignore this message. If you want to actually do something, then please, Click Here to let your representatives know that you are opposed to the bill.

Contest Update

Kim Samson — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:03:06 +0000

Okay, looks like the Design a M.A.Q. contest is well underway! Already, we’ve received some really great entries, and I can’t wait to see what else you all turn out! However, something I forgot to mention, was naming/numbering the agent. It wasn’t until after I had received a few entries that asked about what to number them or name them, that I thought I’d clear things up.

The agent in question will be given the brand #025. If you wish to give her a name (from before she became an agent or a nickname people gave her later), please feel free to.

I hope this clears up any confusion. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Original Post with Rules.

Chapter 13 Update – Sick

Kim Samson — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:10:25 +0000

So, it looks as though my once a year socializing has paid off. I went up north for two weeks to spend with family and friends, and the day after I return home, ready to get back to work, I’m sick.

Happy 2012, everyone.

Chapter 13 will start up next Thursday. Tomorrow, I’ll be hosting a live stream at 3pm to work on the cover. Feel free to stop on by!