BIG NEWS!!! Yes, it’s been too long but The Black Coat is making a comeback! In one week, we’ll begin publishing the entire Black Coat catalog online as a webcomic. Read it again. Read it for the first time. SHARE it with friends! Issue 1 starts in 7 days!

Check it out, then be sure to order your copy from your local comic retailer. ORDER NUMBER: SEP13 0866  

For all non-kickstarter backers (or backers looking for extra copies), the new crowdfunded graphic novel will be made available through comic shops and can be pre-ordered NOW through Diamond’s Previews catalog.  The book is still scheduled to make it out to Kickstarter backers in October or early November. It should hit stores later in November or early December. The entire team is thrilled to have had the chance to put this book together. We want to thank all of the people that made it possible and we hope that all of our fans will enjoy it. If you’re looking for a copy, be sure to tell your local comic shop that you want one! Here’s the info:   ============================= Pre-order number SEP13 0866 Written By: Ben Lichius Art By: Dean Kotz Colors By: Diego Rodriguez Letters By: Deron Bennett 66 Pages List Price: $12.99 US The Black Coat returns in an all-new tale of action, adventure, espionage, and monsters! It’s 1776 and war has begun. While attempting to protect George Washington and his army stationed in New York City, The Black Coat discovers that the secret society of evil known as ‘The League’ has resurfaced. But will he succeed in stopping their twisted scheme or will America’s first superspy instead be forced to sacrifice Washington’s troops and betray his closest allies? Chocked full of swashbuckling action, this new graphic novel picks up where the last series left off, but is a great place for new readers to jump on board as well.

  Thursday May 16, 2013 For Immediate Release: The Black Coat Goes Independent (Again) with Custom Comic App America’s first superspy, the Colonial swashbuckler known as ‘The Black Coat’ has been featured in print comics since 2006 but the entire collection of Black Coat comics has gone digital in a newly released custom app that went live this week. “I think this is the next step for independent comic creators.” said series co-creator Ben Lichius. “I’ve been looking at ways to make the Black Coat available digitally for a few years now, but distribution through a digital comic store has its drawbacks. A custom app like this allows Black Coat fans to have a tailored reading experience and allows me greater control and, hopefully, more profit from sales of the books.” Ben is also Vice President of Spark Plug Games in Cary, NC who developed the technology for the custom app. It was built specifically for reading comics but designed for use in their other products as well. “The basic mechanics lend themselves well to things like game cinematics or document readers in serious game applications.” said SPG President John O’Neill. “It’s a versatile tool that we hope to build on and hope will open new marketing opportunities for other independent creators like Ben.” “I like the control.” added Lichius. “People that download the app will obviously get to read all of the comics and view custom menus, but if I want to I’m also able add music, extra content, links to other sites, video, animation, 3D models, almost anything…” There are advantages and disadvantages to cutting out the middle man, but there’s one financial benefit that Lichius sees right away: “When you sell print comics and distribute through Diamond, they take a rather large percentage of your profits right off the top. Digital distributors aren’t much better. Comixology takes 50% per book -and that’s after Google and Apple collect their fees. A custom app takes some time and investment to set up, and the app costs money to build, but the payoff is that the profits on the back end are higher because I don’t need to pay a distributor. I look at it as the digital equivalent of printing my own comics and selling them at conventions – but in this case, anyone in the world can download the app.” The new Black Coat app is free to download and includes the entire first issue, “A Call to Arms” #1. Ten other issues are already available for purchase ranging in price from $.99 to $2.49. The upcoming trade paperback “The Blackest Dye,” now in production thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, will also be sold through the app later this year. The app is available for Android devices and will be available soon for iOS and Kindle. It can be downloaded here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.benlichiusmedia.theblackcoat   For More Information: Web: https://the-black-coat.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/TheBlackCoat Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheBlackCoat   About Spark Plug Games Spark Plug Games is an awesome independent games developer focused on creating interactive products for social, mobile, tablet and console markets. The team embraces the slogan “We ignite fun!” which expresses a desire to create high quality products with strong entertainment value and a passion for game development. Founded in 2008 and based out of Cary, North Carolina, the SPG team has already built over 50 products and continues to develop new brands while working with leading industry partners. For more information, please visit www.sparkpluggames.com.

It happened! You, the fans, came through and decided that you wanted to see more Black Coat comics in 2013 and so that’s just what we’re going to do! We want to say THANK YOU to everyone that participated either by pledging or spreading the word. We could not have done it without you and we’re incredibly excited to kick this thing off and share the process with all of our backers! What a great way to ring in the new year! For everyone that backed the project, be sure to swing by the Kickstarter page for details on how to get your FREE 14-page digital comic. It’s available now. More digital content for backers will be made available later this month! So stay tuned!