Happy New Year! What better way to start off 2010, than with a new comic? Girls in Space has been in planning for over a year and it gives me enormous pleasure to share it. So stand by for science fiction action, fun and frolics, the girls are on the launchpad, counting down to take off!
This first post is as much for ‘future me’ as it is for you, dear reader. I wanted to set out my aims right from the start so that when I look back at this post over the coming months, it will remind me why I’m I doing this and what I hope to get out of it.
5. The Story
I love telling stories with surprises. You can’t beat planting a seed at the start of the story that grows throughout the tale and ultimately blossoms, but not necessarily into the plant you were expecting. My first aim, therefore, is to tell a enjoyable, surprising and engaging story.
Girls in Space will consist of a number of self-contained stories. The first story “One for One”, introduces the main characters and sets up the premise upon which subsequent stories will be based.
4. Artwork
My previous webcomics have been about cute animals (specifically sheep, aardvarks and cats) so this is going to be a new venture for me, creating a story about people. With Dr Sheep and the Aardvark and The Cat Comic I found that my artistic style changed over time as I drew the same things over and over again. One of my aims with this project is to improve my drawing style (especially when it comes to drawing people) and my cartooning abilities in general. This may mean that the first few stories might not look quite like later ones, but hopefully any changes will be for the better.
3. The Characters
I don’t want to reveal too much about the characters at this early stage, but unlike Dr Sheep and the Aardvark which had just two main characters and a handful of supporting characters, Girls in Space has a bigger cast (space is a big place after all) but some stories may not include all the characters.
2. Format
That ol’ strip Dr Sheep and the Aardvark was presented in a newspaper format like Garfield. However, I found it quite restrictive as I couldn’t include elaborate, action-packed or tall images and I often struggled for space. So, as you will see, Girls in Space is not presented in this style. I wanted the whole story to be more like a graphic novel (albeit with smaller pages than a regular graphic novel), but keeping the idea that each strip/page would have a punchline.
If the story was to be put into a book, I have created the pages to the same dimensions as an A5 page (the same size as my book Silly Beggar). I also decided to make it colour as, frankly, it will look exciting.
1. Releasing my Inner Geek
As my long-suffering wife Tiffany will tell you, I have a bit of a Doctor Who obsession. Not just the glossy 21st Century version of the show, but the classic show complete with rubber monsters, screaming companions and endless corridors. Yes, even through the years when the show was off-air, I was one of those sad people buying books, audio adventures, comics and indeed anything related to my favourite Timelord. Yes, I should probably try to get out more but the reason I mention it is that I want to share my love of science fiction with you, dear reader.
The site will not just be about my girls in space but will be about spacegirls in general and I’ll begin by, each Wednesday, posting a light-hearted take on classic episodes of science fiction shows (starting with the original series of Star Trek). My Trek reviews poke fun at the show, but in an affectionate way that very much comes from a place of respect. I hope you like them, especially as I have ten months worth of Trek material all written, scheduled and waiting to go. There’s no going back now!
So have a great 2010. I hope you’ll come back and enjoy the adventures of the Girls in Space throughout the year. I now declare this comic open…
We have ignition…
