Phillip Butehorn

Phillip Butehorn

@theilluminerdi.bsky.social

Wake up, be a dad, work 9-5, write stories and repeat. https://substack.com/@illuminerdi?r=4jcr&utm_medium=ios

647 Followers 850 Following 291 Posts Joined Jul 2023
3 weeks ago

Dear Up and Coming Comic Writer,

Stop comparing your struggles to everyone else's "highlight reel." Even the biggest names in the industry have faced rejection, creative blocks, and projects that bombed. Failure is the price of admission for a creative life.

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3 weeks ago

Dear Up and Coming Comic Writer,

Writing is a muscle. If it doesn't hurt a little, you aren't growing. A rejected pitch will make you mentally stronger for the next one. Keep swinging, keep missing, and eventually, you’ll start hitting.

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1 month ago

Thanks @jamesfergcomics.com!

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1 month ago

I'm so excited for everyone to read Daddy's Vengeful Little Girl.

The script is from 2022.

The lesson here is you never give up on a script.

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1 month ago

Dear Up and Coming Comic Writer,

If you want to transform from "writer" to writer, you need to stop thinking about the story and actually finish your script. No one is going to create an opportunity for you, you need to create your own.

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2 months ago

Good morning! What steps are you taking to turn your goals into accomplishments?

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2 months ago

It’s 2026, let's chat about leveling up.

Looking back at 2025, I would describe it as mid.

Word for 2026: redemption.

Here are my goals:

1. Get to 195 pounds
2. Hit 300 subs on Substack
3. Kickstart Dead Laughter

What are your goals?

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2 months ago

Remember not to compare your path to others accomplishments!

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2 months ago

Find your comic family: Search for other new creators looking to break in. Usually, these creators are interacting with the Pros and asking process questions.

Learn together: Use each other to motivate yourselves to finish your scripts and don’t be forget to share your ideas.

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2 months ago

New to writing comics? In order to survive creating comics, I recommend you build your comic family.

Do you want to learn how to build your comic family?

Start small: Write shorts. Start with an 1 page story.

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2 months ago

Hey! Anyone looking for a new comic short to read?

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2 months ago

What’s your theme for 2026?

I think my theme is redemption.

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4 months ago
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Ends 10/22 at 9am ET

Let’s get this thing over the line!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/wil...

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5 months ago
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remember that time when @jamesfergcomics.com and @mattmanbegins.bsky.social and @theilluminerdi.bsky.social and i wrote a comic where a certain president got mad at talk show hosts making fun of him and passed a stupid law banning pizza?

i didn’t realize we were writing history

art by dan buksa

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10 months ago

but thank you to everyone involved. for @jamesfergcomics.com for being the captain and to @mattmanbegins.bsky.social for bringing heart and for @theilluminerdi.bsky.social for being the frontman.

to @scottewen.bsky.social for lettering and @pacillustration.bsky.social for designing everything

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10 months ago

and all I wanted to do was to come home to NY and have pizza. Hope you’ll join myself, Dan Buksa, @pacillustration.bsky.social, @jamesfergcomics.com, @theothermarioc.com, and @theilluminerdi.bsky.social at 4th World Comics for it!

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10 months ago
Slice(s) of Life

James Ferguson, Matt Summo, Mario Candelaria, Pete Collins, Dan Buksa

Was so happy to get Slice(s) of Life in the mail this week! Love the concept behind this one

Huge shoutout to the creative guys behind this awesome comic @jamesfergcomics.com @theothermarioc.com @mattmanbegins.bsky.social @theilluminerdi.bsky.social @pacillustration.bsky.social

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10 months ago
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I have a variant cover on the new issue of Holiday Spirits homaging "Thor Ages of Thunder" cover by Marko Djurdjevic ( @sixmorevodkastudio.bsky.social )
NOW on Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ora...
Thanks to @jayboy495.bsky.social @travisgibb.bsky.social and @theilluminerdi.bsky.social

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10 months ago
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For a long time, I dreamed of having my local comic book shop advertise my name for their Free Comic Book Day event.

Guess what I unlocked?

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10 months ago
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10 months ago
Me staring at a carousel’s puffin seat.

I asked this penguin how it feels to be tariffed and they said “what’s a tariff? Also I’m a puffin.”

They also didn’t know what a comic was, but Rise of the Flightless is still accepting submissions!

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

💙📚👀
#writingcommunity #comics

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10 months ago

I want to thank @travisgibb.bsky.social for giving me and Dan the opportunity to create Agent Peppermint Fudgesparkle and tell his stories.

We have 4 stories in HOLIDAY SPIRITS: CHRISTMAS IN JULY Vol 4. Now on Kickstarter!

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10 months ago
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When a team of great creators collaborate on an original idea, you get tremendous results.

10/10 concept, design, execution.
Just look at that death of Superman bag design. 💋💯

Great work @jamesfergcomics.com @theothermarioc.com @theilluminerdi.bsky.social @pacillustration.bsky.social & team!

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10 months ago

Thank you so much!!!!

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10 months ago
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I’m excited to share that my Agent Peppermint Fudgesparkle stories with Dan Buska are now on Kickstarter! Also, our character is getting his own cover by Ignacio DiMeglio.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/ora...

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10 months ago

Don't be a “writer” and invest in yourself.

Your time is valuable.

Your talent deserves nurturing.

Your dreams are worth fighting for.

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10 months ago
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Writers invest time in creating a writing family

“Writers” think about their stories and never actually finish a script.

Writers want to tell bold stories.

“Writers” chase distractions.

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11 months ago
The cover for Slice(s) of Life, a comic book anthology set in a world where pizza has been outlawed. It features a chef, like the one on a pizza box and a pizza delivery boy in the vein of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Slice(s) of Life has officially gone to print! This comic is a labor of love and it's taken a long time to get to this point, but I am so happy with what we've put together with friends. @theothermarioc.com, @mattmanbegins.bsky.social, @theilluminerdi.bsky.social and I are pumped! In Pizza We Trust

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1 year ago

Dear Up and Coming Comic Writer,

Today is a good day to write! If you're having issues with starting, I recommend using a puke draft:

One page, one sentence.

Then do one page, one sentence per panel.

You will find a piece of gold in your pile of garbage.

You got this!

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1 year ago

TIL Max Kellerman hosted Around the Horn...

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