These are the kinds of moments in the strip that I really enjoy, because it wasn’t written into my outline. (And that includes the previous strip, too.) When it came time, I knew that Ril had to have some reaction to all of this – especially because she’s always poking around trying to find out what the guys are doing. In essence, the characters demanded of me that this part of their story be told, so I did it. Other than that, I really had nothing to do with it.

For those of you who ordered posters, I made the order yesterday. Based on my proof orders with them, I would expect to have them within a week, which means I would be sending them out sometime next week. If anything changes, I will let you know. And thank you for ordering!

I don’t think Ril has ever seen anything that… graphic.

One of the issues I knew I would have to tackle in preparing the book is Bob’s design. My original idea had him having lots of angular, sharp edges and features and a different kind of chassis (wheels and support) than Asimov. Later I came to regret some of those things. First, the chassis design was difficult to portray correctly, and it really looked bad at smaller sizes. I also didn’t like how it worked with the overall design.

Probably the key issue though (and one likely about which I am the only one who cares) was that his design didn’t fit with the other Nanoganics robots. You have to remember that basically, Asimov and Bob are the same base model – a Series 7. (Hogan is a series 3, I believe.) So while there are supposed to be some differences, the basic construction should be similar in my mind. Frankly, the fact that they are more the same helps make Bob’s personality issues more apparent.

So if you look at the above picture, you can see how he will look in the book. He isn’t drastically different, of course, but to me he fits much better. So what changed?

I’m basically redrawing Bob everywhere he appears. He just wasn’t drawn well initially, and he happens to inhabit a stretch of strips (40-75) that are some of the worst, artwise (in my opinion) and much of it is getting redrawn to fit the early style anyway.

That’s the latest on the book. Last night I added another new strip (50.1) and I’ll be working on #52 next – another one that needs to be fully reworked. Details like this, and much more, will be in the “making of” e-book, available as one of the Kickstarter rewards.

Just a reminder that Friday is the last day to order your poster. Order yours now.

Also, Monday I posted about the ending of the strip and some stuff about the book.

A lot has been going on in the background here at Marooned, so I wanted to catch you up on this rainy Monday. First, do you recognize the guy up top in the Comic Star card? Only the most dedicated Marooned readers can tell me who he is… can you?

I’ve reached the 50% mark of Phase 1 of reworking the archive for print. So far I am really happy with how things are going. The look is so much better, the story is so much better – it just all fits together like it should. It reads and looks like a graphic novel, which is exactly what I wanted. But oh yes, Steve warned me – he warned me that going down this road was going to be trouble! Did I listen? Well no, but I honestly didn’t have a choice. This is a LOT of work. A lot. But it will be worth it in the end, because it will be something that even those of you here for the beginning haven’t seen. If I’m going to ask you to plunk down money for this book, it has to be worth it.

Why so much work? I hadn’t planned on redrawing so much, but what happened is that around strip 40 I began drawing more things, more characters, more backgrounds and making double strips. But the art was still very rusty – I still hadn’t got my hand back yet. And there’s some BAD stuff there. Stuff I can’t live with. Turns out in the latter 2/3rds of the first 100 strips is a big chunk of stuff that just cannot be fixed be reworking a few lines – even though many of the earlier strips could. Not much I can do but buckle down and get it done!

I think I can make it official now, too. The end of this story is in fact, the end of the Marooned for now. Note the “for now” at the end of that sentence. What do I mean by that? Well, it’s time for me to work on some other projects. I need to grow as both a writer and an artist, and I need to work on other things to do that. And as I said before, the end of this story is a very natural ending point (as you will see when it comes.) It’s just the right time to step away. How far away are we from that point? I can’t say exactly, but there’s roughly 40-50 strips left, so maybe sometime in the fall.

Before that time I will give you more information on what my next project will be. I can tell you that when (and if) Marooned returns, it probably won’t be a free online comic. It will either return as a comic book for sale or some kind of subscription based story. Hard to say at this point.

I put up the poll for the Kickstarter project rewards. There hasn’t been much voting (please vote if you haven’t). I’m surprised to see there’s interest in paintings of the characters and for some kind of plush. I didn’t include the Comic Star cards in the poll (I started them after) but they seem to tickle people’s fancy. They will probably be there, too.

I’m hoping to have an important book quote back from the printer this week. This should give me a decent idea of what the book might cost and how much money I will have to raise. I have found out that the book will not be quite as long as I had feared. I had originally thought it would be 300+ pages, but now that I am working on it, and seeing as how I am using a large format, it’s definitely going to be less. This will save on both the book cost and shipping. I think we’re more around the 250 page mark. It depends on how much extras I decide to put in (I can say there may not be much, unless people really want it).

I can say that James Anderson of Ellie from Planet X has agreed to do a short story involving Ril and Asimov. The story is already fleshed out and it’s really fun stuff. That will definitely be in there.

I’m currently working on the next strip. Kind of left you hanging there with, Asimov, eh?

Some ideas out of my own properties for cards that I haven’t done yet would include Bob, The Tallest Robot, Rag the Viking, alternate poses for John and Lian, other robots I’ve designed who haven’t appeared in the strip, the Geborga, the Dark Ones, and I have some ideas for a couple more characters from comics done by friends (assuming they let me!) If you have ideas, let me know! (Note: I can’t do copyrighted characters!)

Well, we’re in the home stretch, folks. Today’s strip essentially begins act 3 of this story. There’s something like 40-50 strips left (not sure, still tweaking things), bringing the end of the story somewhere very close to strip #400. I have decided that I will be taking a break from Marooned at that point. Of course, you all have the book to look forward to, on which I am working very hard.

The “Space Opera” Poster is Available!

If you missed it, the poster is now available for order. This limited edition, fine art Giclee print is only going to be available until next Friday, May 11th. Go to the order page to get in your order now!

Kickstarter intro and Reward Level Poll

I hate to bother you too much about these polls, but they are really crucial to help me understanding how to put this Kickstarter campaign together. So again let me ask you to please read the short introduction to Kickstarter, and then vote in the poll about the Reward Levels for the Marooned book. Your participation in these polls really helps me out.

There’s some pretty neat ideas on the Rewards (obviously the hardcover book is the main item!) The custom plush seems popular, as do the paintings, surprisingly. Many people seem to like the “Comic Stars” cards, too. I’m doing more of those because they are really fun. Soon I will share a compilation image of my progress.

As always, thanks for reading!

Kudos to anyone who knows what Zed is quoting

Please Check Out the Kickstarter Post/Poll!

Remember, I posted an introduction to Kickstarter, along with a poll about some rewards that might be included for the project. Please check it out and vote in the poll! I need your input

I’ll also drop the comic cards into that list.

Poster is Ready!

The adjusted proofs for the limited edition poster came back and looked great. This week I’ll be posting details on how you can order one. Remember, this will be a one-time only printing.

I hope you enjoyed the tale! Tune in next week to see why Zed told it, and how John reacts. In the meantime, as Zed so kindly reminded you above, I’ve posted an introduction to Kickstarter (the service I will use publish the book – essentially a way to preorder) and some ideas about Marooned Rewards for funding the project.

Please head over, give it a read and vote in the poll. I’m open to any ideas and comments. Thanks!