And by “remakes,” I don’t mean movies.
Okay, so, Friday’s comic post got me thinking about just how much the comic has evolved in its short run. I mean, just compare this early comic (“Charts”) with a more recent one (“Writers and Drunkards”).
It’s like night and day, right? It’s hard to tell they’re the same character. The only way to know that they’re the same character is to have followed the comic from the beginning. Hell, even Dell has changed since then! Really, the only one who has basically remained the same is Ash, and even she’s changed a little. Take the evolution of the group photo:
Year One – Version One
Year One – Version Two
Year Two
I don’t think any other evidence needs to be submitted for just how much change has occurred over the past year and a half. It’s quite striking, in my opinion. Almost glaring. But I read those old strips, and I absolutely LOVE them. The style is rough, but charming. The only problem is that rough style is so incredibly different from the current style of the comic.
Dan Shive’s El Goonish Shive has a similar issue, as does Danielle Corsetto’s Girls With Slingshots, but their stylistic evolutions occurred much more gradually and over a much longer period of time than mine. I’m sure there are many more examples of this, as it’s a natural development in creativity. The more you do something creative and try new methods and ideas, the better you become and the more you settle into a style that best fits you.
But still, those rough, early strips linger, worrying me that they might push away an interested new reader who might otherwise enjoy where the story has gone. I had this very fear when I started the comic up on Tapastic. The first comics are so rough, I was actually a little worried it might turn some people off. Now that I’m considering starting it up on Line Webtoon as well, I’m seriously considering doing some remakes.
Now, I’m not talking about doing anything too crazy here. If I do this, I’m going to keep the same characters in each scene, as well as the dialogue and setups. All I’d be doing is sprucing up the characters and backgrounds. Nothing major. But I’m not completely sold on doing this yet.
I keep going back Ian Malcolm’s wise words from Jurassic Park: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.” I know that I can make these changes, but should I?
And I guess that’s the question I’m here to pose to you today: Should I do some remakes for continuity’s sake? I’m leaning towards “yes”, maybe do one strip per week (along with the regularly scheduled new strips) until I’m satisfied that everything flows better. I know there’s still some charm in the original strips, and I’m by no means suggesting I scrub them from the site entirely. (I’ll keep them on the same posts with the replacement strips for comparison.)
But what do you think? Should I remake some of these old ones? Lemme know your thoughts!
-The Retail Explorer
KEYHOLDERS 
I like the year 1 version 2. Version 1 seems too bland for me. And Yes, they have grown so much in a year. I think your idea doing remake on the old ones, but keeping them on the same post with the replacement for comparison will work great.
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Awesome! Thanks for the input! I completely agree
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I agree. I like the year 1 version 2 also.
I never really noticed how much comic strips have changed. I know Family Circus and For Better or For Worse have changed, but never noticed anything else. I will be on the lookout for that. Also I have Web Toons downloaded on my phone and I love it!! Please put your comic strips on there so that I can get hooked on another comic strip series lol.
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Actually, I was planning to launch on there sometime this month. I’ll let you know when I get that started. I’ve currently also got it running on Tapastic.
You’d be amazed how much almost all comics change over time. Check out Garfield and Peanuts from Day 1 to now. It’s interesting. Even webcomics, like Girls With Slingshots and El Goonish Shive, go through remarkable transformations. Mine just feels like it’s been a little more accelerated to the point of it feeling jarring from Day 1 to now.
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I think you should leave them so you can see your progression over time. It is hard to see the progress from week to week, but when you look back over a longer period of time, wow!
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Yeah, that’s true. That’s why I keep waffling on the idea.
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I’ve had so much fun and feel so special to have had the opportunity to watch your characters rapidly take on life throughout this past year! Excited to see what 2018 holds! Thanks comrade for being such a great bloggy bud over the past year give or take…
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And thank you for being an awesome blog buddy and friend, too, comrade! I’m so glad you’ve been along for the ride with me! I’m really excited for this new year’s storylines!
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I tend to agree with Molly’s comment, it shows your growth over time. Good work 🙂
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Thanks so much! I appreciate the input!
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This is all so very cool, keep it up! It reminds me of when I was in junior high and tried to do a comic. Of course my attention span was working against me
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Thanks, Trudy! Haha I know what you mean about the short attention span. I’ve started to vary mine more as a result. What was yours about?
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I barely remember because it was so long ago, I was into graffiti at the time as well. So any art was fair game. I didn’t foster the talent and it wasn’t really encouraged so I feel like I “lost” it. Maybe that’s why I blog? A different way to stay creative.
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That’s too bad. Mine was encouraged, but I ended up losing the fire for it and going exclusively to writing. Only within the last two or three years did I return to art. Creativity is like life in that it finds a way out into the world one way or another. Creatives gotta create. I think it’s healing and therapeutic for us.
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I agree with you about creatives.
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