This is it! You've come to the right place.

This is the page where you will find out what we're all about, what we are doing, and how it may be beneficial to you.

That's right. When it comes down to it, this is ALL ABOUT YOU.

What do I mean by that? Well, in order to really answer that question, it's necessary to fill you in on a little history.

I've been writing and drawing comicbooks as far back as I can remember. I sent my first submissions for work to Marvel and DC when I was in my mid teens.

It was evident to me early on that I wanted to create my own characters, and though I also enjoy working on some of the major characters at DC and Marvel, I enjoy creating my own characters far more.

Unfortunately, if you want to create your own characters and do your own thing, the big publishers may not be the best place for you. Whatever you create, while working for them, becomes theirs. They own the trademark and control the revenue stream of whatever money is generated by not only the work that you do on what you've created, but everyone else who works on your creation after you.

You also lose the creative control of what you create, the worst part. And while Marvel and DC have given in, under much pressure, to giving credit to the people who create their characters, the money they pay you to use what you've created is still less than impressive.

So it was really no surprise that my first submissions to the big publishers were rejected. Besides, unless you are Frank Frazetta, there aren't a lot of artists in their mid teens talented enough to work in the comic book industry.

I was also rejected by Vantage Press around that time. Vantage Press is one of the few publishers in the country that charges you the production costs to publish your book. So, while they weren't familiar with comicbook production and distribution, it was still a real slap in the face to be turned down by a publisher that requires you to pay for the production of your own material.

I decided then and there that I would publish my own comicbooks.

Five or Six years later I published my first comicbook under the banner of Excel Graphics. It was an anthology, featuring stories by several different artists and writers.

I learned from this experience that it wasn't all about me. I enjoyed helping other people see their dreams realized and brought to life just as much as my own. In some cases, even more than my own.

I didn't make any money on the venture, so it was several years before I had the money saved up, and credit card limits high enough to publish a whole line of comics. I was able to put out six different titles before the money ran out and I found myself swimming in a pool of debt I didn't know how to get out of.

I took a little time off from comics after that, as I felt it was taking far more away from me than it was giving back, at the time.

Once you've caught the comic bug though, it's rare you'll ever find a cure for it.

I've met dozens of like minded people who have published their own comics, and lines of comics, who have had nearly the same experience as I had. I've even warned people, before they go into debt themselves, and had them ignore my warning. I can understand. I don't think anyone could have talked me out of it either... Before.

Having lived with the experience though, the idea of doing it over and over again seems foolish. My favorite definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

In the late 80's and early 90's, anyone who published a reasonably professional looking comicbook could make some money. Back then it wasn't uncommon for a popular Marvel or DC title to sell around half a million copies a month. In fact, most titles selling under 75,000 copies a month were canceled.

In today's market, anything selling even close to 75,000 copies a month is considered a hot title. Most popular titles are lucky to sell between 30,000 to 40,000 copies a month. That's the two biggest publishers, Marvel and DC Comics.

For independent and small publishers, it's not uncommon to sell less than 500 copies. Most of the time, the profits from a print run that small wont even cover the cost of printing. Especially if you put money into advertising or production equipment. Most small publishers have to do all the prepress and layout work themselves, which means they have to purchase the equipment to do so.

In the early 90's even unknown publishers would frequently sell between 2,000 to 5,000 copies of each title they published, so as long as you were careful with your expenditures, you could usually come out a little ahead. In today's market, that simply is no longer the case.

So I could have kept running up the credit card bills, but to me, that would be insane.

I briefly tried CD Rom Comics, but those have never really taken off. And several publishers much larger than I have tried it. I believe I was on the right track with CD Rom Comics, but just didn't take the concept far enough.

We live in a media world right now. Everything you could possibly want is accessible, and right at your finger tips on your home computer.

Most of us multi task between a MySpace account, while toggling MP3s on our iPod, checking our e-mail, and Tivoing the ball game or TV show we were to busy to watch when it aired.

The problem with comics, is that they haven't kept up with the times. In a world of e-mail, pod casts, and downloadable books in PDF form right off your home computer, comicbooks are still in basically the same form they've been in for decades.

I don't believe the demand for comicbooks would be any less than it's ever been, if the comic form would change to keep up with the times.

For example, music has always been popular. And since it's been possible to reproduce and sell music, it has gone through several forms. Starting with several types of vinyl records of various sizes and recording speeds, as well as reels of tape. We went from 8 track, to cassette tapes, to CDs. And now, MP3s are the newest popular format to record your music library on.

It all comes down to ease of use, convenience, and price.

You no longer have to waste the money to buy a whole album just to own 1 or 2 songs you like, just download them in a few seconds, for less than a dollar a piece, move hundreds of your favorite songs from your computer to your iPod, and off you go.

Comics need to change with the times as well. The cover price for a comicbook these days is far too high. The market is flooded with garbage that no one wants to buy, and the books people get to choose from are chosen for them by a handful of corporations more intent on making a profit than fulfilling a need. Much of what people would like to read could never make it into their hands... until now.

And that brings me to the WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU PART.

What if you could pick and choose which comicbooks you would like to see produced instead of the big corporations that publish and distribute comicbooks choosing for you?

What if you could read a copy of a comicbook you choose, whenever you choose, without it ever selling out?

What if you could choose to read a copy of your favorite comicbook three months after it was first released, or read each page of it the day the artists finish it?

What if you could read your comics for FREE? That's right, FREE!

Sound to good to be true? Wondering what the catch is? That's the best part. There is no catch 22.

What about them? When you tune into your favorite Television show or Radio station, unless it's cable or satellite, it's free. Just like reading the comicbooks on our website. We still have to pay our bills though, just like on Television or the Radio. The advertisers are simply our sponsors who help pay our bills. Just think of them as television commercials, only less annoying, as they will not interrupt your entertainment.

You don't have to wait till the commercial is over or get Tivo to tune back into your comicbook reading.

Besides, if you see an add for something you want to buy on TV, you usually have to go somewhere to buy it. If you see an add on our site for something you need, you can point and click, and have it shipped right to your home. Without getting out of your chair or taking more than a couple of minutes from your entertainment.

Again, it's all about ease and convenience, and we're all about ease and convenience. We're all about you.

What if you didn't have to risk thousands of dollars that you may or may not even have, to produce your comicbooks?

What if you could have thousands of people reading your comicbooks every month, rather than the few hundred you would have from self publishing?

What if you could join an online community of fellow comic creators that would help you build a creative team for your comicbook?

What if you could bypass the whole corrupt corporate system and take your creative work right to the public?

What if you could maintain complete control of every character you ever create, and no one could ever take them away from you?

Sound too good to be true? In fact, every word of it is true.

is a place you can park your creative properties, find an audience for them, and then... do whatever you want to with them. YOU are in control.

It's also a place where you can work with other creative teams, on their characters or your own.

Comicbooks are visual, like movies, but there is something special about holding a physical comicbook in your hands. One of the easiest ways to sell your comicbooks at a guaranteed profit is to create an audience for them online. One of my associates has a website that features much of his work. Whenever he has enough material ready, he offers a graphic novel sized comicbook for sale on his website.

He makes money doing this because it's cheaper to produce a small print run of something that has a lot more pages than a standard comicbook, because you can charge a little more for it. And your fans like it, because they don't have to worry about missing one issue of a story arch, or it selling out. They can get the whole story in one volume all at once. So you don't have to sell a lot of copies to make a profit.

Many of the Manga style books are produced this way as well. It's a good format, that works well.

Plus my associate simply waits until he has enough orders to go to press before he does. With Diamond Comics Distributors, if you aren't going to sell enough copies to make money, you have to cancel the orders. You still get charged some service fees, and if you do this enough, Diamond will drop you.

I know of one person who self publishes his own comicbooks. He does all the art, writing, computer work, etc. And all by himself, he generates between 10,000 to 40,000 hits on his website each month.

That means his little website featuring black and white artwork from his independent comicbook generates as many hits in a month as a hot selling title at Marvel or DC Comics does in sales in a month.

I don't see any other way that a small publisher can achieve an audience that size without working for one of the two largest publishers.

Imagine how many hits dozens of creative teams could generate, working together under one umbrella. Imagine what hundreds of creative teams could do.

This is where the bigger picture begins to come into play.

OH, BUT THERE'S MORE.

We wont be choosing all of the creators who get to appear on our website, the viewers will.

This won't be like any other publishing or distribution network. We're putting the power back in the hands of the people, and taking it back from the corrupt corporate structure that has been sucking the life out of the comic industry for so long.

We plan to slowly, one by one, give the comic medium back to those who truly love it, to those it really belongs to. THE FANS. And even the people who create comics, especially the people who create comics, can count themselves among them.

All submissions of reasonable professional quality will be placed on a submissions page where our viewers will vote for what comicbooks they would like to see produced on Terrible Lizard. You can not vote for yourself, but your friends can vote for you.

Every viewer is allowed just one vote per comicbook proposal. But they can cast their votes for multiple titles they would like to read.

Because there is no cost to read comicbooks produced on Terrible Lizard Comics, there is no reason to believe that viewers can't keep up with their reading of multiple titles in an unlimited time frame.

We currently accept submissions only by standard mail, as e-mailing them can easily clog up a server.

Send all submissions to:

CD Rom submissions can be formatted to standard comicbook size, 6.625 x 10.25 or 6.75 x 10.5 for bleeds, or they may be formatted to more accurately fit a computer screen.

You may send either Xerox copies of your artwork and stories, or CD and DVD Rom discs. Just make sure art files are saved in jpeg or tiff format. Stories can be in text files, Appleworks, or Microsoft Word format. Please do not send original art. If we need original art for reproduction, we will request it.

If you need your files or copies back, please included a self addressed stamped envelope or folder of sufficient size and postage to return your work. Otherwise we will keep them on file. Please include © copyright and ™ trademark information with your package, so that we can clearly mark your work as owned by you alone.

It is assumed that by sending a submission you are also consenting to having your work published online at Terrible Lizard Comics.

Though copyright and control of your creative properties rests solely with you, and you may have your work removed from our website simply by sending or e-mailing us a request to do so, at any time.

While no monetary financial gain is promised or inferred by Terrible Lizard Comics, it's not out of the question or impossible either.

This is a new site and a totally new concept in comics.

So while we would like to say that at some point we will generate enough advertising revenue to offer all of the comic creators featured on our site a percentage and a cut of the profits they helped to generate, I can't promise there will be enough revenue generated to do so.

What I can promise the people who choose to be featured on this site is a home for their creative properties, where their comics and characters will always remain their own. A place where you will have a voice and an audience to entertain, for as long as you choose to.

There is a storm coming, and you can be part of the storm.

Come along for the ride of your lives @ Terrible Lizard Comics.

Let's do great things together!

John Warren - Creator of Terrible Lizard Comics