greatures tournament arc memorial post

Hello. As always, thank you for reading. When I get too into my own comics, I start thinking way too big. Greatures and its Tournament Arc was not the first time this has happened; This dog loves going in circles. And when some work of mine gets a little bigger and longer, it starts to feel like it’s not mine, anymore. Suddenly, I am a one-man-production team and trying to stay afloat of the demands of some nebulous “Boss” or “schedule”. I don’t even really keep an update schedule for Greatures, but having done webcomics for as long as I have, you develop a work ethic, and the residual guilt associated with not meeting those invisible-to-everyone-else standards can weigh one down.

I tried not to let those get me down when making this story. I had to tell myself that it is a free comic I am putting online and everyone is chill about it! There’s no rush, man. Which makes me further ask myself: Why did I do this in the first place? Why did I put so much work on my own plate like this? Who am I doing this for again?

I started Greatures with a simple goal: To let MYSELF have fun with comics again. Set some arbitrary rules and play within them. Once I got more comfortable with the characters, I relax the rules. Break ‘em or enforce them more when it was funny to do so, etc. It was a re-learning experience in why I started drawing as a kid in the first place. I fell in love again! with comics.

But the old webcomics head in me loomed large and wanted to make it bigger. Prove something to… someone. It all falls a part when I prod that desire. It feels so big, looming in my chest, but all it means is I’m pushing 40 and drawing a semi-serious story about some twink who gets high too much and the monsters that don’t care.

I did have fun writing it. I tried to remember what I did w/ “He is a Good Boy” and just LEAN INTO what I thought might be a little embarrassing or cringe (crange). I kept that with the Greatures Tournament Arc and do recall having some great “ah-ha” moments during the fights and coming up with the winners, losers, and all that in-between. While having The Owner sort of fight what I was fighting at the same time while making it: why take any of this seriously?

While I can’t promise another story about another character won’t happen someday (got something spinning for the Stranger, currently), it won’t be another tournament arc. All that work, damn. No wonder manga artists had assistants AND stick to black and white, heh.

No, I want to stick to the basics. Go back to a strip, do some rule-setting, break them again. We can have story arcs that don’t cause an entire format change. That’s doable, I say to my reflection in the mirror, as a giant Joint looms behind me.

I’ll shut the hell up now. Greatures will take a break for a bit, but not too long. I do have some great gags already written in my notebook I want to finalize and draw. Go back to the building blocks of Greatures. Probably go back to paper and pencil and ink. Let myself have fun with it again. Just gotta reset myself back to one. Talk to ya soon, bye bye bye.

-kc