Today is the one year anniversary of when I launched my comic!
I remember the day very well and the time leading up to it. I was actually ready to launch back in January of 2018, but I had to wait for the copyright protection to be finalized. I had no idea how long that would take, so as soon as I got the certificate back from the Library of Congress I launched the book.
Some of my ideas didn't go the way I thought, for one when I launched the color was distorted, something I hadn't planned on. There is something that happens with a drawn book when you convert it to video and put it on YouTube, the artwork darkens and it gets a little less clear. Of course I wasn't prepared for that, so I had to go in and edit it, but to edit the color took about 5 hours and then there was the problem with the speed. The first issued was playing too fast and no one could read it. I was able to edit that too, but that took 12 hours. What a headache (but only for issue 1)! I live and learn though!
I originally thought I'd have animation in every issue, but I gave that up after issue 2, it was fun to see, but to animate one panel took about a week for about a 6 second playback and with working a full-time job in addition to doing the comic, well that just wasn't going to work out.
I also struggled with digital artwork, something I'm still not comfortable with and it shows in the early issues as not everything was uniform, but I've since given up on digital artwork and draw and ink on paper then just scan it in and color it digitally.
The biggest problem could come though from something I couldn't control. After a few months in, YouTube took away the ability to adjust the color and every issue has been darker and less clear since then, no one is seeing the bright vibrant colors I am using and it's reflected in the readership - while not a lot of people were reading it, the first 4 issues after the color changed dropped down to one reader per issue, but it is slowly coming back up.
A nice surprise along the way was my cousin, John Allerton, allowing me to sample some of the music he creates for the comic! The first few issues didn't have any music, but it got added in later on. I don't think he sees this blog, but thanks again John!
Celebration!
To celebrate the one year mark, I've started a photo hosting site on Fotki.com for the comic. The link is on the blog and I'll include it here as well. Photo Hosting Site What's on there? All of the issues, in order, in the original bright colors I created them in. A picture of every character (which I'm still working on getting in there), original character designs, a cover gallery and a few other things. If I ever get any fan art, I'll create a folder for that too. In fact, when I do publish a new issue it actually goes on Fotki about 20 minutes before it goes on YouTube.
What does the Future hold?
A couple of things - first is the start of a new random series-within-a-series I'm calling Ultra-Elite Interludes, they are stand alone issues that will introduce new concepts and/or characters that will play a role in the main series eventually. They will be random and the next issue out will be the first one.
A more robust representation on Fotki as I'm creating mostly new art to represent each character place card there, as time permits - I'm also including first appearance information with them as well.
Origins - we will get the origins of the characters in a few months! Finally!
Lastly, and most important is by the end of June I'm going to be putting the comic up on web-based comic platforms and hopefully reach a much larger audience. In time I may stop putting it on YouTube all together, depending on how it all works out with the other platforms.
Looking back...
The last year has been an incredible learning experience for me - I've learned how to make a monthly comic and my art has been evolving to match the format. I had hoped it would have have gotten a much bigger audience by now, but I'm grateful for the 18 subscribers I have on YouTube and we'll see what the next year brings! Onward and upward!
Thank you everyone!
