007 - Here's to GAF
Ok this is what a regular, non-arc comic is like. They're usually much shorter but this idea needed to be completely fleshed out. This is also more along the lines of what kind of humor Replay Value has. The Space arc was insanely tame compared to some of the other things I've made in the past and have planned for the future.
Anyways, the story behind this is that it's only half mine. I was browsing GAF and someone posted a comic they'd started about three little girls who wanted to go to the mall but they couldn't, so they were going to take pictures of themselves instead. The comic ended there and a part 2 was promised, but I thought, "You know how
I'D end that?" and that's how this comic came to be.
The sultry pictures of the three girls were thrown in there simply to make everyone uncomfortable. I actually felt a little uneasy drawing them - and this is coming from a guy who animated a girl giving a dog a blowjob and didn't even flinch.
Update: Oh Jesus. I just realised what I named the girls. Gwen and Stacy? I wasn't even thinking. I'm so sorry, Peter.
Space - Part 6 - Epilogue
And here's the REAL ending to the arc. It's a sideways answer as to how Garrett survived, but it of course opens up a whole slew of new questions. Mainly, "What the fuck?" In due time, my children. In due time.
I've also changed how I title the comics. Now arcs will have names to keep them seperate from the regular gag strips (the first of which is coming Wednesday!). I've retrofitted this to the last five comics, as well as adding in the sound effects to panel 1 in Part 4 like I said I would.
Hope you've enjoyed the first arc! I had ALOT of fun making it. So much, infact, that I'm tempted to start updating five days a week... my day just feels empty when I'm not working on a new comic. But then, the extra time does give me a chance to work on the RPV animated shorts. We'll see.
Update: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Holy shit - COLOR?! Don't get used to it just yet folks. I like black and white the best, so I only intend to use color when the story calls for it.
Space - Part 5
And here's the finale to my first arc.
Now, there's something I'd like to address about how plot points work in Replay Value. Everything has an explaination behind it. This comic is kinda like LOST in that way, lots and lots of foreshadowing and sideways hints at future events. You may be wondering,
How did Garrett get lost in the jungle? How did he find his way out?
Who is Beth?
Who or what is the Confetti Penis?
What happened to Garrett's car?
Who are Daniel and Matt? (Besides Garrett's roommates)
Where did Garrett get the Ice Cream?
Why am I mentioning Bryce in this sentance? Who is he?
How the fuck did Garrett survive re-entry through Earth's atmosphere after being hit by a meteorite?
These are all things that actually have answers. I pride myself in fleshing out the world that I work with and in the future you'll all see that. There are hints set up in Monday's epilogue that tease the answer to that last question.
Also, Replay Value is something that spans mediums. Right now it's a simple black-and-white comic but from its inception seven years ago I've imagined it as a comic/cartoon duo. Some stories are just better told in an animated medium, y'know? So maybe we'll find out how Garrett got lost in the jungle when the Replay Value Animated Series starts?
Anyways, thanks to everyone (all, what, five of you?) that enjoyed the first arc. You're almost home free of this story!
Space - Part 4
Ha ha ha, talk about a cliffhanger huh? Bet you weren't expecting that to happen.
I'll tell you, having a webcomic with story-arcs is hard work. Not the drawing part, no, that's cake. Even the writing comes pretty naturally. It's keeping future comics a secret that's fucking impossible. Sure I could tell Daniel how it ends because he lives accross the hall from me, but I have to wait until Monday before I can disscuss the ending of this story. (Yes, the story ends on Friday but there's a neat little epilogue on Monday.) Fuck, see what I mean?
Space - Part 3
Now things are getting interesting!
Irony hit me tonight. This arc is about Garrett trying to get some Space Icre-Cream, and he can't. Tonight I went to Ralphs for the express purpose of buying cookies to eat while working on this strip, and they had the cookie aisle blocked off so they could mop it. Luckily I got my fucking cookies but what's in store for our hero? Find out on Wednesday!
As for the site updates, either blogspot isn't as easy to configure as they say, or I just really suck at HTML, and I think it's both. Makes waiting until November seem like forever, eh? Oh, wait...
Update: Ah, shit. Just re-read the comic and I noticed I forgot the "SCREEEEEEEE!" sound effect in the first panel. It's 5am though so cut me some slack. I'll fix it when I wake up.
Space - Part 2
The adventure continues! ...Or, begins, I suppose. I had a little trouble with the word bubbles but it'll be fixed in Monday's comic. Expect to see more updates to the actual site between now and then.
Choices
I had a choice to make last night. I could either work on the website or work on today's comic. I chose to work on the website and what I made is really fucking rad. Just my luck, though, that I can't seem to upload what I made to my Photobucket account. Groovy. So there's something really awesome waiting in the wings, and there's a comic on the way today too. I just need to get some sleep since I spent the last three hours anima--oops, almost said too much.
IT STARTS! Space - Part 1
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the first ever published Replay-Value comic.
Let me explain how this is going to work, so people don't think I'm VGCats. Fist off, the comic will come in two flavors: Arcs, and One-Shots. Arcs will be stories that span several days and are built like pages from a comic book. One-Shots will just be simple three or four-panel gag strips. The comic above is the first part in an Arc, which will wrap next Friday. Which brings me to the schedule:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
"But Garrett," you say in a timid, squeaky voice, "It's Tuesday today."
Yes, it is Tuesday today. The reason I'm going to update Tuesday and Thursday this week is because I like the number 15 and I wanted to start off on it.
You might also notice that the page design is somewhat lacking. This is because my HTML skills are also somewhat lacking, and while I have all the graphics ready I don't yet have them all in place. This will be fixed soon, I fucking hope.
And of course, a little bit about the comic. I was at work the other day when I got a craving for Spaceman Ice-cream, but nobody there knew what it was. Alone in my desire, I turned to the internet, because I know I'm not the only 9-year-old who ate that shit. I had no idea where that desire would lead me...
Update - Oh Jesus, it's fucked. Why oh why does this happen.
Update 2 - Comic is down until I can get rid of that fucking sidebar. Good news is the Confetti Penis shows up in the address bar now. Small victory. Daniel's helping me with the html. Hopefully this'll be fixed soon.
Update 3: That's what I'm talking about! Looks like I'll have to thumbnail everything but Daniel saved my website with his l33t skillz. Yay Daniel!
