Short answer: Chapter 2 is being worked on, but very slowly because life is in the way. Stay tuned!

Long answer: Read ahead!

It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry to all of you folks who have been waiting for anything Dawn City-related all this time. We took a break for the holidays on the way out of 2023 and into 2024, though ever since late February we've been at it again working on Chapter 2. So far, so good! It'll still be a bit until we can get the full second chapter in your hands - we'd rather get a full, finished, and polished product in your hands rather than bite-sized chunks over time that vary in quality.

Late into Chapter 1 on ComicFury (I think I did here on NG too?), I mentioned there'd be an in-between Q&A comic to answer a few burning questions about DCCA going forward. The shit here today's that I got good news and bad news about it. The bad news is that a little bit into the comic's hiatus, we decided to just go full steam ahead on Ch. 2, and the Q&A will likely not be going forward as expected. It'd probably be better if we just tried our best to keep refining our workflow and finding a good rhythm in releasing these chapters, especially with the idea of more cool things that we could make further down the line. Proper scheduling's a big one we've got to work on behind the scenes; our current work ethic's all over the place, like a kid hyped up on Ritalin. Ironically, that lack of organization makes us take increasingly longer on things like these.

The good news, however, is that I can share some of these Q&A questions right now, featuring unfinished sketches from the Q&A comic by Ethan, to hopefully offer some insight into what to expect from the future, as well as offer some signs of life to show we're not dead.

Q1: So… who works on Dawn City, CA, exactly?

A: Right now, the team is comprised of…

• Mahou/Bitterpunk (director & lead writer)
• EthanDoesaThing (lead artist)
• Kahuk (writer & editor)
• DrifterBlitz (writer & FX artist)
• Hemlocke (background artist, starting with Ch. 2)

There'll be a couple more faces showing up in the DCCA team later down the line. We're currently in the process of writing more chapter scripts, and we've got a few more writers at bat.

Q2: Is Studio Sunset looking for anyone else to join the DCCA team?

A: Not at the moment, though we're not opposed to collaborating with other artists or writers at some point further down the line. Our team's a group of long-time friends, and we'd like to keep it closed off for now as we slowly get our feet wet with public stuff like this and build a stable foundation. The goal's to eventually grow into a bigger collective and do bigger things, but that's a long-term aspiration and we're pretty comfortable as we are now.

If an opportunity to collaborate ever presents itself, we'll be the first to reach out and let you know.

Q3: What about the wait in between chapters?! I need my silly robots!

A: The idea's to release small, in-between gag comics during the wait between chapters. Right now, Chapter 2 is taking up most of our time, so we'll likely have to push back these shorts to post-Chapter 2. Keep in mind that they'll be on the more sparse side and be in varying art styles.

Q4: Is there anywhere I can support you guys?

A: Not at the moment outside of DCCA’s sites and our personal socials, though we do intend to open a Patreon at some point later down the line. Right now we're still getting our bearings straight, though if we're going to do anything more ambitious with DCCA (see Q9) or any Cool New Things™, we're gonna need your support! I'll probably talk more about this later when the time is right.

Q5: Can I stalk you guys?

A: I'm filing the restraining order as we speak. We'll have a Discord server at some point where you can get updates on DCCA, though not quite yet.

Q6: Why does Mynn look so different?

A: I covered this in a blog on ComicFury! I designed Mynn back in high school and he was long overdue for a touch-up, especially considering his stupid doo-doo hardlight pixel afro was difficult to draw consistently throughout Ch. 1. His new design feels a lot better, and it'll be used for Chapter 2 and beyond. Major thanks to Ethan for the redesign.

Q7: Why does Mynn look so stupid?

A: He's Martian, cut him some slack.

Q8: Where else can I find Dawn City, CA? Is it on any other websites?

A: If you'd like to support DCCA in more places than just this one, feel free to check us out on:

• Newgrounds (YOU ARE HERE!)
• ComicFury
• Webtoon
• GlobalComix
• Tapas (legacy; will no longer receive updates from Ch. 2 onward)

Q9: Do you have anything else in mind for Dawn City, CA outside of comics?

A: We've thrown around the idea of a dubbed motion comic behind closed doors, potentially to get a few more eyes on DCCA through uploads here on Newgrounds, YouTube, and the like. It's quite possibly the most doable and least ambitious thing we could do right now, though there's some cost involved with regards to casting calls and acquiring better equipment for ourselves if we're willing to voice act. Whatever will turn out of the comic dub idea will likely not be anytime this year, but it's something we're pretty eager to tackle and it'll likely end up happening at some point soon-ish.

Much like with Q2, if we're looking, we'll let you know.

That's pretty much all she wrote. The next time you hear from me, it'll likely be with good news about Chapter 2, if it's not already releasing. Keep your eyes peeled and very much glued to this website and our others so you can catch the first release of Ch. 2 when it's done! No set release window yet - it'll be done when it's done, and we'll let you know!

For now, though, take care! And of course... stay tuned!

~ Punk