State of the Comic Address

[RiESC]

Okay folks, so here's what's going on with me and my comic:

i've been running into more and more difficulties working on the comic since about November of 2006. A lot of it ha to do with my general mental state (clinical depression), some of it has to do with the fact that i've had to spend more and more time at work earning money so i can pay rent, bills, etc. and some of it has to do with the fact that after eleven years of making Deathworld, i'm getting a little burnt-out.
One of the things i promised myself for 2007 is that i would make an effort to publish an actual, honest-to-goodness book, and not just another ashcan mini-comic. i also wanted this to be done before my birthday in October (also the month of a large local convention i'd like to debut it at). However, i have been unable to get any headway done for it, due to some of the previously mentioned reasons.
After thinking about it these last couple of weeks, i've come to a decision about the future of the webcomic. i'd still like to continue with it, but i really don't see any way i can produce pages for both the book and the web simultaneously, as i'm already having difficulty enough with just the one. However, i've come up with a solution of sorts.

Here's what's going to happen. After the end of the current webcomic story (about a week after posting this), i will work solely on book pages. i will post these pages in lieu of the "standard" webcomics (hopefully at a schedule of twice a week), however, these book pages will not be permanently added to the web-archive. i'll keep them up on the site for about a month before removing them, so as not to impact sales of the book once it's released (yes, i know other comics like Megatokyo, Earthsong, the Devil's Panties, Aoi House and such do just fine with leaving their book material up - but let's face it, i don't have nearly the fan-base they do). These pages won't be colored like the usual webcomics are, nor will they follow the same continuity that the webcomics do. However, they will be uniquely Deathworld, and that'll have to do. 

Then, after October rolls past, i'll have a better idea whether or not i wish to continue making book material or come back to the "original" continuity. i've still gots lots of stories to tell, so in some form or another the comic will continue.

[darakat]

Well I shall be  here, If that means anything to ya.

[Swashbunny]

Cool, glad to hear you've got a plan - I really hope everything goes well with the book, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
The most important thing is that you enjoy yourself while you're writing and drawing the comic - hopefully, concentrating on the one

Heh, I still remember when I first came across the comic, when you'd posted a link to the first R'lyeh strip on the old Darkest of the Hillside Thickets list to see what people thought. That in itself was enough to get me to read the backstory, and I've been following the comic ever since. So yes, you may not have the fan base of something like Megatokyo (not something I've ever got into) but I like to think that we more than make up for it in quality and dedication   Hell, I've stopped reading quite a few webcomics recently (including some pretty big ones I just got tired with) and I'm still checking Deathworld out every week, and I've seen other webcomic artists flunking out on regular updates when they were getting a fair bit of funding from their comics. Deathworld is the longest running one I know of (eleven years... dude!), and you should be proud of yourself. I know I'll keep reading, and as I said, I'll look forward to seeing what else you come up with next (you're also one of the relatively few comic artists I read who seems to really challenge themselves every now and then).

Stay frosty, buddy

[rantinan]

Sounds like fun. I'll be here for the ride :0

[Kazaaar]

I'm a dedicated reader and friend for you, Rudi. I do what I can to pull more readers in, and keep them coming.
As for the book, it's probably occured to you, ut why not just compile the strips from the web into books. Just taking so many for each one. Four or five to a page, have so many pages per book. you could have a great deal of books made right of the bat. If you need to, you can go back and remake the oldies. Add colour, update the artistic style. And then knock them together. It would work. But it's up to you. You are our God. We follow your word.

[felneymike]

Just bung the book on Lulu or ComiXpress so people outside of your town can actually buy the thing, even if it does cost more XD (the comic  want to sell for no more than £1 would be about £4 on lulu, but it would be available, which is the main thing XD)

[RiESC]

true, but i already have trouble enough getting folks to buy the "basic" comics and i really don't want to deal with the "inflation" that ComiXpress et al would add in.

However, due to various happenstances and such (real life can be such a pain, ya know?) it doesn't look like i'm going to make my deadline. So, i'm shooting for another self-published mini-comic, but i'll be doing full color covers and increase the page count to 32 (at least). We'll see how that does.

i could go into the reasons why i'm doing this, but it may just depress you... and me.

[felneymike]

Ahh but all the web fans would probably be willing to pay more to get thier hands on the unique storylines, as opposed to people who just wander into a comic shop but have never heard of Deathworld before. If not, well, i've always wanted to go to Canada one day anyway... after India though XD

[Kazaaar]

Yeah... Or we could bung that idea because there's no way I could convince the parentals to spend money online for anything, but if we happen to get to a comic shop, we won't have a problem. And obviously, I'm more important that any of you losers.
That was a joke, by the way.

[RiESC]

ummmm... hi! IS anyone still here? probably not, what with the lack of comic updates and all.
Just wanted to let ya know i'm still alive and kicking, and even though i haven't really been doing much lately, i've been doing some thinking about where i am in life and how it affects the comic. i would like to continue it, but i'm not very happy with how the story ended up - i didn't really want to kill off characters, much less end the universe the story is set in. But as i can't see any way out of it, i'm considering abandoning it, and restarting the comic. It's just a possibility right now, i haven't decided anything for sure. Just wanted to let y'all know.

[reverber]

tis nice your stayin' alive rudi *breaks in to disco dancing moves*
seriously though, im still here rudi i check in about every couple of weeks, im sure the other guys do too, the pics are awesome. maybe give up on a web comic and just draw new pics every couple of weeks maybe, use this as a showcase for your art ratherthen a comic. just a thought. any way dudes l8rs

[RiESC]

thanks! i'm glad you've been enjoying the pin-ups
Anyways, what i've been up to lately: mainly working on a comic story for a local comic anthology.
What's different about this is that it's not a Deathworld story, rather a journal comic about myself, my life, and my friends and co-workers.
i dunno if i'll ever post it, but i just wanted to let y'all know i'm still drawing (albeit slowly - i missed my deadline and got an extension that runs out today)

[Swashbunny]

Hey Rudi, more of us still checking in every now and then too!

If you did want to re-set the comic on track (or on a new track) how about getting the Overseer involved?  I'm pretty sure that he would have noticed that something odd was going on by this point, and you've already established that the Overseer can bring characters back from the dead (the first time Matt used the berserker suit).  You could maybe look at it as an opportunity to make any changes to the universe that you want to (for example, removing the Overseer from the picture), rejig it to something a bit different, even.  Lots of potential for fun, epic stuff.
Of course I will say, don't make a start again 'til you're really happy with what you want to do with it.

How did the journal comic go?  And did you receive the story I sent you?

[RiESC]

Yep, i got your story. I rather enjoyed it!
The journal comic went pretty good - i may post it here in the future (or maybe on my ComicSpace gallery, where i've posted other non-Deathworld comics)

i'm still not entirely sure what i plan to do about the comic (or rather, my seeming unwillingness to make comics).
However, for the short-term - i plan to use this year's 24HR Comic day to finish off the "World Death" story i've left hanging.
After that - i'm not sure. A "reboot" may be in order, if only to get pages reformatted for use in a book.

Still - it's nice to know there are some out there like me, who check in periodically on favorite webcomics that've stopped updating.

[RiESC]

Damn... 2010 already? I don't think anyone has even touched the forum in over a year (myself included)...
So, i'm pretty sure it's apparent by now the changes that occurred during 2009, what with the name change, format change, and most importantly, the stylistic changes to the comic. I decided upon the more "cartoony" versions of the characters because they're slightly faster to draw (i don't need to worry so much about "proper" anatomy and posing). I've been alternating between new material (usually thought up during one of the comic challenges my place of employment holds twice annually) and reworking older material (either from the strips or the original ashcan comix) - and while it doesn't really follow the same storyline continuity of the "old" comic, it's still the same universe and gang of characters. As for why the name of the comic changed, well, that was mainly due to the ever-present "mistaken identity" issues involving the Harry Harrison version of Deathworld - and seeing as how i was changing the style and format of the comic, it seemed the right time to change it's name as well.
I know some of the regular readers were not all that happy with the changes, but i know there were plenty more who have remained supportive, so it can't have been that bad of a decision (you can't please all of the people all of the time!).