The status of gentlemans beard monthly

So when I first started this comic, I was doing it solely for me. It was a way to get the ridiculous shit that's in my head, out of my head. Then it gained a little momentum (emphasis on little) so I started drawing slightly better quality comics and put more effort into them.

I've always made a point of trying to never miss a post. I haven't always succeeded, but I've always tried.

November will be the 4th year of this comic. Yeah. I almost shit myself as well.  4 years, roughly 600 of my stupid ideas turned into comics. So sometime during that 4 years, the comic changed from something I did in my spare time and had fun doing, to something that became a regular part of my daily schedule, like a job. It also became less fun because my decreasing lack of spare time meant I had less and less time to draw, and I feel the quality of my comics suffered from that. They also suffered from a lack of motivation as I didn't feel like spending the only hour a week I wasn't working on something to draw the comic.

The other thing is, once something morphs into something that feels like work, you start to expect equivalent results from your work. Don't get me wrong, the fans I have (you) are quite dedicated fans. The problem is, there are about 12 of you. At this point, I'm merely an improv comic performing in the garage at a house party.

I've watched countless other web comics start up around me that have become wildly successful in a very short amount of time. I feel my jokes are pretty much on par with most of them. My drawing is obviously not top notch. They're stick figures, sometimes well hung stick figures.. But there are plenty of comics out there that are actually lower quality than mine that are at a popularity level that I wouldn't meet for another 10 years. 

People have made comments to me telling me I could sell comic merch though my site and my internal response has always been a wild laugh. I picture a lemonade stand that makes a pretty decent cup of lemonade, except the stand is in someones fenced in back yard and only a few neighbors know it is there. Having things to sell isn't the issue. it's having people to sell the things to.

I've been struggling the last few months to find the motivation to keep working on this comic. I've hit some weird wall where no matter what I do, I can't seem to gain any traction at all at getting recognition. I've been struggling to find a way to make the comic fun again.

I don't want to stop drawing the comic. That's not what this message is. I still have complete nonsense flowing through my brain at all times and I do still enjoy putting it to digital ink to some extent. Being 4 years in, becoming popular to any extent doesn't seem to be something that's ever going to happen, so I've decided to stop giving a shit about anyone other than you 12 ever seeing my comic and from now on i'm going to draw just for you. YAY!.....

But, that doesn't change the fact that it still feels like work. So in order to get enjoyment out of my work again, I'm not longer going to be keeping a strict update schedule. I will try to update the comic as much as possible, but from now on I will only be drawing and posting when I feel like it. This will make me happier and it will also increase the quality of the comics as I'll have as much damn time as I want to draw a comic and make sure it's exactly how I envisioned for you.