Those who used to read this comic probably wonder what became of it, as the last update was in February 2011. In truth the plan was to have the comic going again by April 2011, but things didn't work out and that didn't happen. However, I didn't abandon it; I simply didn't get it going again.
Over the past year, I've had a fair amount of time to reflect on the history of the comic. In all honesty, when I started it in 2008 I was expecting it to fizzle out and die before 30 strips were completed, so reaching 279 comics was something of an unplanned surprise.
It hasn't been a smooth ride. In quite a number of cases I was running without a buffer (ie, the last comic that went up was the last comic drawn). This was especially bad in 2010, as things in real life required me to be away from my computer for large portions of time. Throughout most of its run, I managed only one comic a day on average. This meant that both writing the scripts and drawing the comics happened the week before they were scheduled to be published. If you know what to look for, you can spot a number of errors that resulted. Simply put, the quality of the comic suffered. Additionally, I often ran out of time to deal with other projects.
The real reason the comic stopped the way it did was because I had paused to look over the current arc and noticed that it was showing tell-tale signs of what's known as "seasonal rot", a serious warning sign of jumping the shark or worse. If nothing else, the writing needed attention quickly. Real life issues were still the primary thing being focused on, so the comic's repairs were largely delayed.
When those issues were finally resolved at the end of spring, there might have been some hope for the comic getting focus again. However, I ended up in a month-long depression and lacked the energy or focus to do much of anything. Not entirely unexpected, but it certainly didn't help get anything done.
As the slump ended in mid summer I attempted to do some fan-fiction writing. This ended up proving educational as my first draft, while looking fine to me, was rejected hard by my favorite fansite. The second draft took into account their criticisms and advice, but was also rejected within hours. A third attempt was made, once again building on their advice. This round took about a week before it was rejected; this time the remarks expressed some hope that it will work out one day and some suggestions for writing tutorials. Instead of trying a fourth time, I shelved the story and did some studying. After reading several tutorials and guides, I learned quite a bit about what I was doing wrong, and wrote a new, simpler story. This time the story was not only accepted, but it's held a 4.3 out of 5 star rating on two fansites and scores of favorites on Deviant Art. While I still received some criticism and need to address these flaws in my writing style, I learned some valuable lessons.
Which brings me back to the comic. Many of the flaws that resulted in the first draft of the first story being rejected are very visible in the comic's writing and design. Additionally, I've had more feedback about the comic and this highlighted the problems even more.
On the plus side, part of the summer was spent reading books on my favorite drawing programs. As a result I learned a number of tricks and techniques that never before occurred to me. So now I have both an improved writing and an improved drawing skill set, and am ready to get the comic in top shape again.
However, I fear there's no way to gracefully fix what has already gone wrong. Instead, the best option is to simply start over -- a complete reboot of the comic. A number of things will change to make it easier for people to follow, so it will be slightly different. One way it will change is that the new version will be designed to be story-driven from the outset. Another will be the way the panels are laid out, and a third will be the schedule.
Originally the comic's design was based on a popular type of Japanese comics. Yes, that's kind of tacky and cliched, but I tend to enjoy those comics and naturally wanted to mimic what I liked. The problem crept in when the comic shifted to stories. That comic design is really suited only for short, self-contained gag strips. While that's what my comic was originally meant to be, this format became restrictive and cumbersome.
The change to the schedule is for both the good of the comic and myself. Instead of attempting to stay to a strict schedule, new comics will only go live when they are ready. This works for many webcomics and is a lot more sane than the uphill race I ended up facing in 2010.
So here's to a new, better comic in 2012.