i actually dreamt of my comic idea
its been two years and its still in my head everyday so if not for my readers... then for me i would really like to develop the world and the characters because i do love them a lot. There's no 'definite' message like 'be kind to others, friendship saves all, love conquers all ie though
Well for me, it's really a way to indirectly deal with feelings and thoughts I don't like to confront but I have to as part of treatment (my comic revolves around mental illness, focusing more on depression). I also wrote this as a way to maybe hopefully help others by showing them that they are not alone in their struggles and that recovery is possible. I also wrote this to help give some insight to people who don't understand mental illness that well of what it is like to be in a such a place and why its so difficult to get help. I also wrote this story to honor a friend of mine who has another very stigmatized physical illness (HIV/AIDs). So its really a comic to show overcoming of struggles, destigmatizing and fostering understanding for certain illnesses, showing that people are not fully defined by their illness and that there is someone out there who cares for you and is willing to support you.
Whew, I started this thread, so I may as well participate:
Long story short, Project SHaDe2 first started roughly 6 years ago as a comedy comic featuring my friends as the characters - as life progressed, some came and left, as my own interests also shifted. Now it's deviated quite far from its origins and has become quite spooky in nature.
I'm still unsure of the outcome of this project, but what I do know is that, in essence, I'm pouring my heart and soul into this story. Upon further contemplation, I realise that there are 2 very important facets of Project SHaDe:
A case study on loneliness:
I wanted to portray a character/characters that were completely alone in their journeys. One thing I had noticed in the manga and media I consumed is that many of them have so much support for their adventures - thus, I wondered how a person would fare when facing impossible odds. A part of me may also be driving me to explore this part of the human condition - maybe to reconcile with little parts of myself.Guilt and human perseverance:
A common notion I've found has developed within the characters is a focus on the concept of guilt. I'm not sure how this will turn out, but I want to hit home the message that you must not be crushed by your guilt - if you are to move forward, you have to carry your suffering and continue trudging forward.
Honestly, as long as one person finds meaning in this comic upon its completion, I'll be happy when I eventually go and die. I think in essence, that's why I'm working on this - it's kind of like an emergency 'last words before I die' letter, just in case I get isekai'd.
I've been working on my comic universe for YEARS now. I began working on the first part of my story 5 years ago and I just finished it off this past December. Unfortunately a lot of folks didnt like the comic because the art in the beginning pages weren't as good as the art in the final pages. But I'm still trucking along with its sequel because unlike some folks, I really believe in the content that I'm creating. I just want more folks to pay attention.
Renisha + Cjay is a sequel to the comic I talked about above. And if things go well with it in the future then I will release the other comic on here.
I was actually considering this question a couple days ago so I'm glad to see it being asked. The belief I used to hold deepest was that the written word is a powerful tool that can entertain and educate, and that it's the duty of a writer to convey a message to the reader.
I was much younger then. It was a pretentious viewpoint. Now I create because I need to. Some people might be fine going their wholes lives by simply existing, maybe creating children to continue their lineage, but that's not what I want. I have this overpowering drive to create new worlds and characters that I find compelling.
Anyway, here's my main series if anyone's interested. It might be new to you but I've spent the last ten years developing the characters and world.
Because I'd be doing 11-year old me a disservance if I ever stopped. Lemme backtrack with a story, grandchildren.
It's the 6th-grade, and I took on the job of creating an entire fancomic Saga with Pucca, Yin Yang Yo, Hello Kitty, my own OCs and The PowerPuff Girls. It was four arcs long, each with more than 10 chapters, and all drawn on notebook paper -- which was then stuffed into a bunky, flimsy binder with envelope tabs, like so:
I was proud of it. I carried it with me everywhere. Even showed all of the story, and I mean ALL of it, to my best friend (who had the patience of a Saint, I tell you). I wrote that Saga for one year and never once thought about how hard it was or how much work it was going to be. I just wanted to write that story.
So if 11-year old me could write and draw a story she adored, and keep writing and drawing it despite how unbelievable long it got, I can too. She is my inspiration to keep going with my stories and see that I finish them.
Initially it was because I was unemployed and depressed and I made it a goal to just shittly draw comics just to get something done and have a reason to get up every day, however arbitrary.
I still use it as an outlet to focus on producing something instead of lying around and thinking about death in my spare time.
My secret hidden agenda within the comic was also to just have trans and queer characters in there where their trans and/or queerness wasn't the whole focus so that I could help sneakily normalize it in our overall culture. Shh.
To stretch my creative muscles
To put my ideas to good use instead of keeping them trapped in my mind
To inspire others to have confidence and start creating their own stories
And, (might get flack for this) I really don't like the direction a lot of mainstream comics like Marvel and DC are going (nor am I a fan of these past convoluted reboots/rebirths/crisis/ etc that make these comics pretty hard to get in to and just really just adds to the exclusivity of the comic industry) and I want to contribute to the indie webcomic scene to, hopefully, do better.
I started it, because it was always a dream of mine to do a comic. The point of the story was simple. To tell the backstory of one of my characters. I had used her in big and small RPGs before and had grown quite fond of her. Buuut since her backstory picks up a lot of relevant political issues I tend to ask myself, if that's really the only point. I could tell any story, if it was just about creating and finally doing a comic, right? So why a comic about an oppressive racist system, violent rebellions and extremism? Am I just that pretentious?!
Well, maybe. But that's not all! I guess I use my comic to explore how extreme circumstances can form otherwise pretty normal individuals (my individuals!) and how they and their goals evolve through the world they inhabit. Do I have anything to say to my readers? Heck if I know. I started this thing for myself and am lucky enough to have some people join me for the ride.
The story I write is at best morally ambiguous, so the most important thing for me is for my readers to come to their own conclusions about the actions of my protagonists and the people they encounter. And I hope that they have a good time doing that!
I've always come up with stories and drawn, it's a coping mechanism for me, so I've never not done it.
More specifically The Changeling's Sister is part self therapy and introspection, part a love for fairytales. The story developed at a time I was fresh out of a horrible depression that left me without emotions for half a year, and a developing general angxiety, and some years of heavy daily stress, and I guess I just want a story that shows all that emotional mess, and that hopefully, you can get out the other side of it.
Honestly, my story's a big "I love you" note to my siblings.
My family's gone through some pretty rough times, and my brothers and sister and I have done some things, particularly to each other, that didn't need to happen. But our experiences had us grow into the adults we are today. We had to fight through the crud in order to call each other best friends by the end of it. The thing is, during all that time, I was in the middle of building a fantasy world.
So what basically resulted is a horrifying fantasy world full of monsters and ghouls, with the main characters being imperfect siblings trying their best to right their wrongs. Hopefully my novel will make it in this upcoming Writer's Camp. But I honestly don't care if it makes it big or not.
Write for your love for others, not for the numbers.