I know. I need to do a full update on this site. Especially for my video game and CGI stuff. Okay, so you probably didn't notice, but it's still nagging on my mind, just too busy to find the time right now...maybe over the holidays...

Hey, if you’ve been waiting for Trumpocalypse Now  chapter 5 that was supposed to drop Nov. 1st (a Story where the political scooby-gang goes to Russia), don’t worry. I haven’t been assasinated by one of the world politicians featured in the story...yet.

But anyway, this delay is actually a rare circumstance where delays are good news! I’ve entered into a partnership with a publisher who will be taking over the sales, marketing and distribution of all things Trumpocalypse Now related.

I’m not allowed to announce who yet, but will soon.

So, chapter 5 and the remaining chapters have been delayed as the business end of things changes hands, but I’ll be the first to post the new release schedule of remaining chapters and other new media adaptations of the story, so stay tuned. 

Thanks to all of those who have been supportive, and looking forward to focusing on completing the creation of this series and possibly even getting it done faster because I’ll have a reputable partner handling the business end of things, allowing me to focus on the creative process.

- Mike

The title explains it all. I’m living the creative person stereo type. Life seems pointless and I don’t care about anything. Okay maybe that sounds extreme. I’m not looking for attention or a flood of support, that’s why I’m venting here and not Facebook. 

Long story short, my anxiety meds aren’t working any more. For a long time I said weed helped more than my meds anyway, but now that’s not working either. So I’m pretty much going through withdrawal, even though I’m still taking my meds.

I’m so tired of the bullshit I’m faced with daily in the world. 

We live in a world that doesn’t give a fuck about us and the institutions in charge don’t give a fuck. Maybe they are waiting for us to die off. 

They stigmatize mental health, then encourage people suffering to get help and when you try to get help it takes forever on waiting lists or you can’t get help consistently and reliably, so your stress and frustration is increased even more. 

That’s just one thing.

I’ve always had a purpose, but don’t feel like I have one now. It’s the same pattern over and over.

I make Trumpocalypse Now, and Facebook censors it, media refuses to cover it, I get targeted by hackers and deal with nothing but stress and frustration. I don’t promote these things because I want people to actually read it because it’s good, not because of potential scandal. 

Comics seem to have gone to shit. Mainstream companies just retread new versions of every crossover they did in the 80s and they sell simply because there’s a superhero on the cover while I actually try to make stories that make people think and try to improve people’s lives and they get unanimously dismissed or ignored.

I’m so sick of it. Thanks to mob mentality on the web, I feel like half the people that know I exist have negative opinions of me as a person, because people make bullshit claims and no one takes the time to verify instead of jumping on the band wagon. Colleagues and ppl I once respected believe unfounded nonsense said about me.

It’s at the point now that teaching, one of the last things that gave me enjoyment doesn’t any more. I don’t feel like I’m helping any ,ore or improving anyone’s life. I feel insecure about my abilities to teach. 

I feel pointless.

I don’t trust the world and I don’t believe there is any security or guarantee for anything in the future.

I’ve been working my ass off for 20 years with nothing to show for it and I’m sad and angry.

People say they want to support and help ppl that feel like me, but I know just writing this will spur someone to claim I’m looking for attention, which I’m not. I know I’ll eventually be mocked by someone for writing this.

Or someone will say it’s a stunt. If you are reading this now and thinking this, go outside and fuck yourself.

I tried to reach out to my family by text this morning, and somehow, typically, the texts won’t send.

Nothing is reliable any more. 

I know that it is supposed to be my anxiety causing these feelings, but I’m at the point I don’t care any more. I can’t get excited about anything.

Just tired of all the unnecessary bullshit.

I feel like I’m going to end up like the guy at the end of 1984 and become a human robot for the system.

Long story short, over the last couple days I’ve been targeted by a very aggressive cyber attack.

I never thought I’d say that. I know it sounds crazy.

I’m going to do my best to explain without dwelling, because I keep thinking of the words of Dirk Manning, comic creator and respected FB friend. He said something like “promote the positive, not the negative.”

I think he’s right.

I hate to speculate but it’s hard not to consider my current work as a possible reason for targeting. Especially since I’ve already gotten death threats and been censored for same project.

I knew going into it that Trumpocalypse Now would be  controversial. I expected push back, but I never wanted to sell the project based on controversy. I want people to buy it because it’s good and it’s funny.

Anyway, I wish the title of this entry was more facetitious than it was. I’d normally say that the idea that any world leader would be so vain as to even have my work catch their notice and retaliate is crazy, but we also live in a crazy world. I’m sort of forced to accept that my spoofing of world politicians may have made me a target of cyber attack.

It could be coincidental, but shortly after I announced that the next issue of the visual novel series would be free, and that I had found a publisher for the graphic novel adaptation, I started to get notifications from my personal online accounts about failed login attempts.

In the last 48 hours the activity has aggressively ramped up, hacking my Facebook, steam, Amazon, email and other accounts.

One of the email based attacks was sending emails from my account to fake addresses, filling my inbox with bounce back messages continuously in order to fill my inbox to the limit and replace them if deleted, in an attempt to keep me from using my email and getting my real emails. Part of the code and server gibberish clearly contains characters and messages in Russian.

With the exception of steam, which seems to have been the deepest compromise and is therefore taking longer to resolve as I wait for an admin to personally investigate my account, my accounts seem to have been recovered and secured. 

I imagine whatever the reason, someone expected this to really impact my workflow or discourage me. It was mildly annoying, it made me a little behind on work, but I’m already catching up. 

Accounts fixed, desktop de-virused, new passwords etc. 

I’ll even finish the first chapter of the Trumpocalypse Now graphic novel adaptation today, as planned.

Could it be related to Trump? Did he have his Russian friends target me? Is it purely coincidence that the next issue of the visual novel, featuring Vladimir Putin joining the series, is scheduled to release for free in November? Maybe. Maybe not.

To be honest I had thought about just focusing on the comic and delaying issue 5 of the visual novel (since the game is being so heavily blocked and censored anyway), but now I want to try to put it out just out of spite. Some of my software is affected until I get steam sorted out, so I don’t know if this will affect the scheduled release and cause a delay just yet, but if it does, I’ll still release it some time in November anyway.

If I have been targeted, it’s just surreal to think that someone out there has an ego that is so fragile, especially to a political satire that spoofs literally all world leaders. All I can say is if someone has targeted me, they’ve made a mistake in their choice of enemy. I’m literally the worst target to choose. I’m crazy and I’ve got nothing to lose, so there’s no way I’m not finishing this project.

I said that like people were reading this. Ha!

Well, for those that are, thanks!

- Mike

In the ongoing saga of getting boned by the media and world for daring to do a political satire, there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

I've found a publisher that wants to work with me in producing Trumpocalypse Now. Literally the only one with balls enough to do it. 

Can't make any announcements yet, but watch for more details in the near future. 

Just to update all as quick as I can, super busy and a ton of work to do.

Not that I’m certain anyone is reading this or gives a shit anyway.

Pissed and disappointed for all the cowardly resistance I’m getting about Trumpocalypse Now.

With Facebook blocking and censoring ads. Journalists, reviewers and publishers all saying they love the story, but can’t risk being associated with it for fear of some kind of retribution.

Even trying to use money from sales to donate to charity and worthwhile causes has brought hurdles, sabotage and self-appointed gatekeepers.

Certain people seem to think that no one should be allowed to create political satire any more.

Getting lots of resistance from a number of sales channels too.

That’s fine. If the only thing keeping people from actually being able to read it is money, I’ll make the series for free. Crazy? Maybe. But there’s no way I’ll allow myself to be backed down and set a precedent that I can be pressured or intimidated into silence. Especially when the most basic type of humour and satire is being suppressed.

So I’ll be releasing the issues for free, it’s going to involve a lot of work and it won’t happen over night, but by the time issue 5 comes out, the series will be available for free.

- Mike

I knew going into this project, that there was going to be resistance. A visual novel called Trumpocalypse Now is going to bring out those online critics who shit on things they never read from both sides of the major political supporters.

I’m truly surprised how much effort is being put in to make sure it’s suppressed. I was shocked when social media ads for the project were banned in the U.S.

Then I started getting responses from publishers who said “It’s great, you should put it out, but we can’t touch it.” 

“It’s business.” I thought. “They have to protect their bottom line.”

Then I heard from journalists. “It’s great what you are doing,  it our editorial department won’t let me cover it.”

I knew that was crazy. Clearly there has been a chilling effect in the U.S. media if they are afraid to even cover the existence of a satirical game called “Trumpocalypse Now”.

I thought “I get it. They fear retribution and need to protect their careers.”

Then I decided to use the revenue made from the visual novel to a charity that would help American citizens, and I was still being told by journalism contacts they couldn’t cover it, for fear of retribution.

So, from this point forward, if you contact me and tell me you’d love to cover the game with an article, but you can’t or aren’t allowed to, I am going to out you publicly. I will make sure that anyone who follows my social media or visits my website knows that you or your media company will not cover Trumpocalypse Now because you fear retribution of the state or some form of government body. I’m pretty sure that qualifies as yellow journalism. 

This blog post, that you probably won’t read, is your only warning.

Also, I’ve decided to extend my charity giving to my share of sales on ALL of my books and merch and extend to Oct. 5th and retroactively back to Sept. 30.

Mike

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

St. Catharines, ON, Canada, Tues. Oct. 1st 2019 – When issue 4 of Mike Gagnon's independent visual novel series, Trumpocalypse Now, drops on October 1st, the creator will donate his share of sales to the Flint Water Fund.

The visual novel series debuted in August of 2019, with a new chapter being released each month. Like a video game combined with a graphic novel, a visual novel is a digital comic that is "playable". In the case of Trumpocalypse Now, readers determine what happens in the story line by making survival and mission choices for Donald Trump.

The story is an obvious political satire that blends elements of comics, horror, science fiction, and world events. The plot centers around a motley crew of political leaders who have survived America's nuclear apocalypse. Their mysterious enemy plans to finish off what is left of the once mighty nation, so Donald Trump and Barack Obama, along with Bill and Hillary Clinton, must put their differences aside to embark on a worldwide mission to save America.  

“I always knew that this series was going to be a vehicle to help others that are suffering with real issues.” said Gagnon, in a recent interview. “We touched on the Flint Michigan Water Crisis in issue 3, but I knew that wasn't enough. It's a real issue that many people have forgotten or were never aware of. It's beyond unacceptable that there is a city is the most powerful country in the world that has been struggling to provide clean drinking water to its citizens since 2014”
 

Gagnon has pledged his share of one-day sales royalties for all 4 issues of the series that have been released on October 1st, the day that the fourth issue will be released. The series is scheduled for 10 issues, expected to conclude in April of 2020.

“It can be difficult for comic and game fans to risk their hard earned money on an unknown creator or project, so we've made issue #4 double-sized with a price of $1.99, to help remove the barrier to entry as much as possible for new readers” says Gagnon. “The whole point of the series is to emphasize putting our differences aside and helping people with real issues."

In issue #4 the cast arrives in Canada on their way to Russia and meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premiere Doug Ford. Canadian himself, Gagnon promises that no satirical punches will be pulled in favor of his fellow canucks. 

The Flint Michigan Water Crisis began in early 2014, after the city changed the water source for their water system from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Due to improper water treatment, lead began leaching from the pipes in the cities water system causing severe illness in thousands of residents, several death and nearly 100 people diagnosed with Legionnaires Disease due to lead poisoning. The city has been working to fix the issue since 2016, but today there are still thousands of people without access to safe water in their homes and many lead pipes still exist in the water system.

“There's no way in good conscience that I could touch on the subject and remind people that this issue still exists, without doing something to help.” said Gagnon.

The satirical series has not shied away from controversial subjects in it's first four issues, tackling issues such as the mistreatment of Native Americans, legalization of the sex industry, The Flint Water Crisis and the legalization of Marijuana. Gagnon promises that the series will continue to take an unflinching look at real social issues through the filter of over-the-top humor, similar in spirit to Team America or South Park.
 

You can support the Flint Water Fund directly by donating online at https://www.unitedwaygenesee.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=5

Trumpocalypse Now #4, the Canada issue, will be released on October 1st, 2019. Readers and the curious can download their own copy for just $1.99 at www.mikegagnon.ca, www.drivethrucomics.com, www.itch.io, and www.gamejolt.com with 100% of the creators royalties being donated to the Flint Water Fund.

For more details, image or interview requests, please contact:

Mike Gagnon, Comic Creator, mike@mikegagnon.ca, www.mikegagnon.ca

Well, if you're not part of my exclusive insider newsletter (Join Here) you haven't seen the cover for Trumpocalypse Now #4, so here it is!

In case you aren't aware, the story is heading to Canada and adding a few new cast members! Issue 4 will launch on October 1st and features Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premiere Doug Ford. Trust me when I say no punches are pulled and people will be offended. This issue is also more than double sized! Lots of zany, over-the-top political satire fun.

Available October 1st from mikegagnon.ca, itch.io, Game Jolt, artstation.com, and more!