Operation Flashback is in full force this weekend as I have a little bit of time to revisit some of our old issues. I want to get Issue #2 of the Media Elite out of the way this weekend and figure out where to place the old specials in the new order. As I’ve mentioned before, the two smaller ones are no longer going to be stand alone and the two bigger ones will be promoted to full issues. I wanted to get rid of the election one, but I forgot that it directly ties in to issue three so umm, yeah. Quandary. I have to figure out if I’m going with the old humor or I’m changing it to something new.
Right now I’m getting my ducks in a row and working on the “new” lettering for all the old issues of @insanity before moving back into Operation Flashback. I also have three issues of @insanity to finish in the new Adobe Indesign format. While I’m doing the changes I am taking the time to make things look right. If I need to do reshoots or changes to the layout to make things work, I’m going to do it. I guess one of the advantages to being a web-based comic with such a small following is that most people don’t obsess over the story. I can make changes to the story to fit how I want things to go and there won’t be a lot of bitching or complaining (though the COMMENTS section on each issue DOES work you know! Just sayin’…).
I’ve also purposely decided to make some minor continuity changes to make the whole thing flow a bit better. I’m changing some of the old sets in the Media Elite to match the current styles and if you’ve read the revised Media Elite #16 (slash #18), you’ll have seen where we are going with the character models for the revision. If I don’t have the rights to use the old head or I can’t make the old head model work, I’ll go with a look alike or a revision of the character that will be seen throughout all of the series.
One of the most major changes is that of Mae Neva. Simply put, the person who provided the original head no longer wanted to be featured in the comic and another friend loved the name so I made the name change in Universe way back when. Now I’m going a step further by taking out the old model of Mae in the Media Elite (that character is now slowly but slowly being replaced by Wanda) and the character of Mae is now the same across all of the series.
The Angels also got a major revamp. The new Caylie model is being used for everything now and the other two got make-overs to look as closely as the old models as I could get them. Tee Tee is now the same model as the new Princess who is the same model as Bailey and will be someone new once I get to adding her in @insanity. I’m using a brand new head model with elements of the previous models and it’s going to require an enormous amount of reshooting (yes, Universe and Starshine Downs are getting the Operation Flashback treatment eventually), but I think, when I’m done, it’s going to look great and help the reader follow the story.
I’m trying to keep the page counts as close to the same as I can when I do the revamps in Operation Flashback. Obviously I’m adding our new style “previously” page to everything and the thank you page at the end, so counts may be a little off. I absolutely have no clue how I’m going to get through the Media Elite issue #25 (now #27). It’s ginormous and I can’t really cut it because so much comes together and sets the stage for everything else. But anything new (and yes, there will probably be a handful of new issues of Universe and Starshine Downs to make things work), will be the standard “new style” 23 pages. Anything expanded means delays and delays are bad bad bad when I’m finally back on a schedule around here.
After Operation Flashback is done… Operation Revival. Yeah, the sacred cow. The TechTV series. I’m proud of what I did. It’s going to kill me forever that I can’t feature it any more. You’ve seen my rants about it in the past, you know why it’s not up (FULB!!!), and you know it’s eating me inside that so much of my life can’t be read. So if I can make the SpaceTV characters work in their cameos in the main series, they may work in a bigger setting. There are old stories that are dying to be shared again and a few new ones as well. So maybe, just maybe, some of the magic will return.
And yes, I am @insane.
With that, I’m outta here.
Happy FREE COMIC BOOK DAY ’11 and support your local comic book retailer!
Jim