Brawl in the Family Ultimate Edition + Dededoll!

January update: Sample Panels, Smash Art, and a Quality Boost for the Playing Cards!
22 days ago – Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 06:39:14 AM

Hi everyone, it’s an end-of-the-month update!

First of all, thanks again for such a great campaign! Two weeks ago it ended at the very Nintendo-y number of $256k, and it only went higher after that thanks to the late pledges! Late pledges will still be open through Kickstarter for a while yet, and BackerKit orders are now open too in case you know someone who wants some of this stuff but doesn’t have a Kickstarter account. 

In fact, I plan on taking preorders up through the release in November so you should have plenty of time to add things or tell buddies who are interested. My goal is to have everyone's stuff in their homes before Christmas which means I need to send everything out at the beginning of November!

The Smash Ultimate art was my biggest priority this month, something I could sit and illustrate and get back in the BitF mindset. I completed it but made it extra tiny here so as not to spoil it, but you can at least see that I’ve been busy! Enjoy this postage stamp.

I’ve also written and drawn a couple of the new comics. It’ll have 24 new ones, meaning a grand total of 650 when all is said and done, and there’s even a four-part storyline to wrap it all up. Don’t expect something as crazy-huge as the original ending, but I’m happy with how it’s turning out. It’s called “Sweet Adeleine” and it’s largely inspired by me doing this campaign and hearing from fans who grew up with BitF. You can see a little of that story right at the top of this post. I also have a nugget of an idea for the epilogue story, tentatively called “Brawl in the Family Reunion.” And I've made a couple one-offs as well. Here's a panel!

This month, I’ll work on my least-favorite, most-dreaded part of this whole process: getting the existing trilogy cleaned up and ready. Man oh man, what was 2012 Matthew doing!? This PDF is held together with Elmer’s glue and duct tape! But it’s time to rip this band-aid off and get this cleaned up so I can get back to drawing the new stuff.

Onto non-Ultimate Edition news—backers who pledged for the Waluigi PDF and the Gamemaster Classified PDF should be receiving their digital books sometime in February through BackerKit, so be on the lookout for that.

Also, good news, everyone! The playing cards are coming along nicely and are even going to get a quality bump! They’ll be made of a sturdier card stock than before, plus the outer box will now have a delightful “soft touch” for extra pleasantry during poker night.

That’s all for now! Look forward to updates here at least every month until the book’s release.

-Matthew

It's the final countdown for Brawl in the Family!
about 1 month ago – Mon, Jan 13, 2025 at 11:15:23 AM

We hit 200k (and then some) which means new comics are on their way in the book! I'm not sure exactly how many yet, but with the included "Back in the Family" comics, we're already at 627, so I think an even 650 is both feasible to get done in time, and a nice round number!

I'll be putting a lot of work into the next several months to get everything ready, and as such here's a sneak peek at some of the character art I've been drawing up for the Smash Ultimate page:

(composition etc not final, of course)

Thank you all so much for going above and beyond with this campaign and helping to make the book something truly special. I'll be able to get some fun, final numbers to you all within the upcoming months (final page counts, dimensions, new things, etc). Now let's do one last push for BitF!

-Matthew
 

Final Week and Final Stretch Goal: New Comics!
about 1 month ago – Wed, Jan 08, 2025 at 08:33:53 AM

This is is, everyone! The last few days of the BitF: Ultimate Edition KS, and I've made a video to celebrate and sum up our great stretch goal journey:

The manic-sounding disembodied voice there tells the truth--the last stretch goal is indeed new comics!

LEVEL 9: 200k+ - NEW BRAWL IN THE FAMILY COMICS!

It's been a hot minute, but I'm thinking still have a few new BitF comics left in me, especially since there've been three Smash game releases (among others) since the comic ended! The "Back in the Family" comics from the Waluigi book total 27, so we'll see how many more I can put together before the deadline. That's right, there's no limit to this one, hence the "200k+"! The higher the KS campaign goes during this last mad dash, the more extra comics you get in the book!

So as always, let your buddies and favorite game journalists know during these exciting final days!

There's a new tier as well for those asking for it: a simple one with just the playing cards. And I've begun working on the book's extra features and have a month-by-month plan to ensure I can send them out before December. I'll be keeping you posted on the progress, so until next time, thanks again!

-Matthew

140k goal met! New stretch goals and Add-On coming!
about 2 months ago – Mon, Dec 30, 2024 at 08:14:22 AM

We're halfway through the campaign now and it's been going great! With 140k reached, there'll now be a BitMusical chapter included in the book, so let's take a look at what's next...

LEVEL 7: 160k - WALUIGI SONGS FOR ALL BACKERS + WALUIGI SINGS SECTION OF THE BOOK!

Waluigi's definitely carved out his own little niche of BitF history, so this stretch goal will make sure everyone gets plenty of the purple weirdo's contributions. Most of the Waluigi Sings songs actually came about after the end of the comic, so I'll be adding a section to the book that contains art from each song. Of course, you'll get the full Waluigi Sings experience in MP3 format as well--all fifteen songs in gloriously nasal harmony!

LEVEL 8: 180k - NINTENDO FORCE COMICS SECTION!

I was thinking about how to put any BitF-adjacent material in the book as bonuses, and some of you asked about my full-page, full-color comic contributions to NF Magazine. Now, I can't feasibly put every one of the 60+ comics I've done in this book, but I will pick a selection of the most BitF-esque ones! Several of these are jokes about various newcomers in Smash that were added after BitF ended, and there's even a comic where Dedede and Kirby are discussing Satoru Iwata. I'm thinking maybe 8 pages total or so for this section so you can see some of the stuff I've been up to since BitF wrapped.

Lastly, I've gone ahead and added another Add-On for anyone interested: the digital version of Gamemaster Classified! This is a book I illustrated and co-wrote with Nintendo's own Howard Phillips, with plenty of stories about working at NOA in the 1980s. Contains lots of illustrations, reviews, and comics too! Sadly, we don't have any physical copies of this one left, but we have plenty of PDFs!

That's all for now! Don't forget to keep letting your buddies know about this campaign!

-Matthew

All backers getting BitF song/video pack!
2 months ago – Mon, Dec 23, 2024 at 06:59:26 AM

Wahay, the next Stretch Goal has been conquered giving digital freebies to all! These songs and videos will make the perfect companion to the book and doll. Let's see what's next:

LEVEL 6: 140k - BITMUSICAL CHAPTER!

More pages coming our way! I just wrapped up work on BitMusical, the BitF spinoff where every entry was a musical comic. You can see the entirety of this series on YouTube, including remakes of BitF comics 200 (Ode to Minions) & 400 (The History of Nintendo).

This stretch goal will add a dozen or so more pages to the Ultimate Edition, with each one featuring art and a description of a different BitMusical song. While it's not technically Brawl in the Family, it's close enough for me to consider it valid content for the book, and will fit nicely in the comprehensive BitF timeline that's already going to be part of it.

Thanks again for all the support, and remember to keep letting people know about this KS. I anticipate this week will be particularly slow due to all the festivities, so until next time, Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

-Matthew