2012
- Writer Wes Locher comes up with idea for Unit 44 after watching an episode of “Storage Wars”. He thinks, “What if instead of finding junk, someone bought a storage unit and found a bunch of government secrets inside?”
- He then goes around telling his friends the idea, and in response, they tell Wes that it’s a terrible idea.
- Because Wes is stubborn, he doesn’t listen to his friends. He scripts the first issue of the fledgling miniseries and sets out to find an artist.
- Writer Wes Locher comes up with idea for Unit 44 after watching an episode of “Storage Wars”. He thinks, “What if instead of finding junk, someone bought a storage unit and found a bunch of government secrets inside?”
2013
- Wes’s search for an artist leads him to Ed Jimenez, whom he finds on Twitter.
- Wes uses his patented method of attaching artists to his comic ideas (a combination of begging and sobbing) and Ed joins the team.
- Together, Wes and Ed take to Kickstarter in August to fund the first issue of the sci-fi/comedy series.
- The crowdfunding campaign raises $2,753 to bring the first issue to life. Ed draws and colors while Wes writes and letters, making the birth of Unit 44 a true superhero team-up.
- Wes’s search for an artist leads him to Ed Jimenez, whom he finds on Twitter.
2014
- Having received positive feedback on the first issue of Unit 44 (“It was okay” – the internet), Wes and Ed return to Kickstarter in July of 2014 to the funds needed to produce issues 2-4 of the series.
- Just hours prior to launch to the launch of the campaign, Wes and Ed are invited to publish their ridiculous series under the Alterna Comics banner.
- Wes was already a fan of Alterna Comics, so he was pretty stoked.
- The crowdfunding campaign raises an additional $2,800 and Wes and Ed are able to complete their irreverent series about aliens and Area 51, or whatever.
2015
- Unit 44 receives an official release from Alterna Comics.
- The 4-issue series is published digitally on the ComiXology platform.
2016
- Wes doesn’t remember 2016 very well.
2017
- In an effort to make comics affordable to everyone, Alterna Comics announces its newsprint initiative. The publisher’s monthly titles are printed on newsprint, allowing cover prices to fall between $0.99-$1.25.
- The publisher asks Wes if he’d like to re-release Unit 44 into comic shops in the new newsprint format, but Wes secretly thinks, “that’s never going to take off.”
- Instead, Wes and Ed return to Kickstarter in May to fund the printing of the Unit 44 graphic novel.
- They raise $2,621 via crowdfunding and a sexy-looking graphic novel is released to comic shops worldwide. They have now coaxed backers into buying Unit 44 on three separate occasions. Wes loses some sleep over this.
2018
- Wes spends the year hoping he’ll never have to run another Kickstarter campaign ever again.
- Meanwhile, Alterna Comic’s newsprint initiative takes off, breaking all the rules of the comic book industry and getting lots of attention for making comics affordable to almost everyone. Wes feels like an idiot.
2019
- The publisher of Alterna Comics takes pity on Wes and offers to serialize Unit 44 in newsprint format.
- The issues are released bi-monthly to comic shops worldwide between January through July.
- This exposes Unit 44 to its largest audience yet.
- Most people think the comic is okay.
- Wes and Ed also release the Unit 44 tie-in short comic “Memory Lapse” in the pages of the Alterna Comics anthology comic It Came Out on a Wednesday #7.
2020
- Like most people, we’re still trying to forget 2020.
2021
- During the Covid-19 pandemic, Wes realizes that he needs more laughter in his life. He starts thinking about new story ideas for Unit 44 and begins writing new scripts.
- While Ed would like to continue the series, his art career has taken off (which Wes is super happy about) leaving him little time for comics.
- Wes pitches Alterna Comics publisher on a new format for the series, wherein each issue of Unit 44 will be a self-contained story *(or “Case File”) and feature a different artist.
- Wes is given the green light to bring Unit 44 back from the dead at Alterna and begins sourcing new artists to work with.
- During this time, Wes connects with Aleksandar Jovic, the artist of the Alterna Comics titles Mr. Crypt, Baron Rat, Baron Rat & Mr. Crypt, and every variation thereof.
- Aleks comes aboard to draw an issue of the series, and soon Wes realizes that the artist is the perfect person to take over art duties on the book full time.
2022
- The new year sees the first new issue of Unit 44 since 2019! Wes, Aleksandar, and colorist Andrew Pate produce the first new standalone story, “Follow the Leader.”
- Ed is a total sweetheart and contributes a cover as a “hand-off.”
- At the same time, Alterna Comics releases the Unit 44 Volume 1 GIANT, which collects the first 4 issues of the series as a 96-page saddle-stitched newsprint comic.
- 2022 also sees the release of issue #6, “Lost in Surreality,” which sends inept Area 51 agents hurtling through the multiverse. It’s hilarious.
What if the X-Files was a sitcom?
Unit 44 