Alright… As those of you who aren’t new may have noticed, I’ve been somewhat remiss in my postings of late… And I’m afraid it will only get worse. You see, I’m letting everyone know that Jetpacks and Time Machines is going back to the drawing board. I’m not remaking it per say… But there will be some changes, and further development of the concept for a while. That is the whole purpose of my hitting the internet with it after all.
Basically, right now I have a number of goals:
- Further evolve the art direction.
- Get more experience writing jokes. (I plan on writing three jokes for every one I produce for a little while.)
- Streamline the production process.
- Figure out what the heck I’m doing.
Don’t get me wrong, there will be more comic strips… But currently, I’ll only be doing one a week for sure, and posting it on The Panel Mammals.
I don’t know what my goal is going to be though. I’m toying with a couple of options. If I can increase my production speed enough, I’ll consider a submission. If I decide to push the art farther, I’m going to aim to produce a book. If I don’t do either… I don’t know.
Of course, this plan is not set in stone, so if anyone has an opinion, feel free to speak it.
Well, Jim, I started to feel angry for your delays but I absolutely accept your explanation. I think you approach your strip in a very responsible and professional way. Respect to you and good luck with the development!
I think it is a great idea to develop the strip to your liking, on your schedule. This is your website. That being said, I expect a book from you. Your art style is amazing, so I feel you need the largest canvas possible. Your writing really seems to lend it’s self to longer narratives and extended story arcs. The few short strips with quick humorous jabs have been good, but that doesn’t seem to be your natural style. I look forward to seeing how the development process goes.
Thanks guys.
@mischo: I’m sure you aren’t alone in those feelings. I was getting angry at myself as well, and terribly frustrated too. I also didn’t like the quality level of my last few strips, and I became concerned that I was losing the thread of what I was trying to do with JP&TM… I came to the conclusion that I have to consciously implement certain changes one way or another, or risk the whole thing going down in flames, which is something I don’t want to see happen.
@Kevin: Thanks kevin. I tend to put a lot of effort and thought into the development process, so hopefully I’ll be able to post some sketch book blogs that can really track the process I go through and make it interesting.
I like the fact that you’ve never confined JP&TM into a set format. I could totally see this as a serial comic book of sorts rather than your everyday comic strip. Plus, with the world you’re developing it would give you the freedom to just really stretch out.
yeah, technically I’ve only constrained it by a certain width (13 or 14 inches), because any wider and the text reduces poorly on-site.
I would buy a JP&TM comic title, that would be cool. I feel that you would be able to produce a great comic book with your talent. Just a thought. I’ll read JP&TM in whatever formats you decide is best for you though.
Jim, sorry to see regular JP&TM go, but I wish you the best on your journey to figure it out better. Your support and friendship to Boxcar Astronaut has been greatly appreciated. Hope to run into you at a con one of these days. Good luck!
Hey Jeff, don’t worry, there will still be at least one fresh JP&TM strip appearing each week on the The Panel Mammals, so you can still get a weekly fix… and to be honest, I really can’t say when I might go back to posting strips here… I’ve got a bunch of ideas bouncing around the noggin for how I might want to do this… I just have to decide what to do yet.
1) Is there really a market for a book of comics from an unpublished artist? (I don’t buy comics of any sort, so I have no idea.)
2)I’m sure that the people here would be happy to be your beta testers. That is, if you had two or more competing ideas that you weren’t sure which you liked best, you could throw them up here for some feedback on what was funnier/cooler and why.
It’s not going to be a comic book… I mean, it will have comics in it, but I doubt It’ll be comic book sized, and it will probably be sort of expensive. I doubt there will be much of a market for it, but I don’t care. I’m going to make it because I’ve always really wanted to put out a book.
As for the beta testers, don’t worry, I’m going to be posting as much as I can that shows the development process, and people will be invited to weigh in as always.