We’re getting very near the end, and not to be outdone, this week we see the brilliant and masterful work of Matt FItzwater, the co-creator and artist of Made In USA. I’ve mentioned his work before, and let me tell you that not a single one of the intervening weeks has diminished my enthusiasm for his work in the slightest. Made In USA presents a story that readers of 6-Commando might find familiar, but in a time and place radically different: in the trenches with the American doughboys of the First World War. I really don’t want to say anything else about it for fear I’ll wreck it for you, so I’ll just say that I give it the most enthusiastic endorsement possible and leave you to click over and read it through – you will not regret it!
For my part, I kind of had a freak-out session this week, brought on by a very busy few days in the studio (the professional architectural studio where I work, not, alas, the comic studio where I live). I was going to reserve this for next week when the whole guest comic wrapped up, but t’s been driving me just positively crazy and so I figured why wait, and so I’m just going to lay it out for you right now. I hope you’ll excuse me for this, but I want you to know that this has really been distracting me and that the questions I’m discussing here have really mounted in my mind over the past few weeks, and that this comes from the heart.
Basically, I’ve gotten a very long way this summer with the revisions to 6-Commando, but not nearly as far as I wanted to, or thought I would. In essence, I’ve ended up re-drawing practically every line of the first chapter, which is not really an effective or efficient use of time, however satisfying the whole thing has been for me as an artistic exercise. So I came to the crisis this week, and began to seriously consider rebooting the whole comic and starting from Chapter 1 all over again.
I’ve been feeling a bit down about my prospects in comic bookery lately. None of you are responsible for this, mind you – everyone who has been posting here and following this comic over the past three years has been seriously and consistently supportive as I’ve been going through the throes of taking this from what was, in the beginning, kind of an experiment about whether I could even get far enough into a project like this to commit to doing it every week. Then, before I knew it, I had readers, and then I passed the 100-page mark, and then people began emailing me about “how to get started in comics,” which really, I have to tell you, still confuses me because the Almighty alone knows how I got started in this in the first place.
But on the other hand, I’m not really any closer to my secondary goal of printing a book that’s actually worth printing, and I have been feeling, recently, whether this is justified or not, that my work is just not going to be taken seriously unless I put it in print, in a form that in some way measures up to the “going rate” of comic art. I’ve had some rather sharp critics refer to my work as “weird-looking” and “not worth bothering with,” and I have also had a string of consecutive disappointments geting into conventions and other public shows, which have really gotten me down. I admit that, it got me down. I’m generally a really optimistic and upbeat person, and it takes an awful lot to get me down, but this time it just did, and it made me have some very serious doubts about the whole thing. I know I’m not supposed to seek approval, and that “we artists” should do this just for ourselves, but anyone who’s honest with themselves will tell you that that’s bollocks, and that it does matter. A lot. Writing a book is a huge undertaking, and you don’t do it to put it under the proverbial bushel basket, you do it to have your work seen and appreciated, and when it seems like people who “matter” don’t think you’re worth the time, well, it gets you down, simple as that.
To some extent I know this is the trap of self-criticism and comparison to others; but in my heart of hearts I don’t feel like the first chapter and a half really measure up to what I want them to be in terms of the artwork, and that I can make them much better. To do that would require me to really seriously get into the excruciating minutiae of every singe artistic decision I’ve made so far with this story, and as I work about 12 hours a day on my best days, there’s really only time in the week for me to do one, maybe one and a half pages each week. I’ve tried it every way I can, and that’s really just my limit. So it’s essentially a choice between going for the “real thing” and starting the whole story over, or banking what I’ve got and forging ahead for the sake of the story, and the readers I already have.
I’ve been vacillating wildly on this over the past few weeks. One minute I lean towards wiping the slate clean and starting over, the next I feel like that’s just foolish and wasteful. On the one hand I feel like I’ve come so far I shouldn’t turn back, the next I think my only chance of ever really being taken seriously (whatever that means) is to go back to square one and do it “right.” This may seem like a really silly thing to obsess over, but I’ve committed an awful lot of time and effort to drawing this comic, and every time I sit down to it I really make my best effort to make that page, that I’m working on at the moment, the best page I possibly know how to draw. And if I take this to print, I want, also, to know that what I’m sending to the press is absolutely the best that I know how to make.
In the end, though, I have had to admit to myself and to everyone else here that my first duty has to be to the story and to the readers. You have all been very patient and very supportive, and you are what has made it possible for me to sit in my studio for hours on end every week, to say “no” to so many opportunities in order to have the time and space to work on this project instead. And to go back to page one, however much it might satisfy my urge for perfection, would mean a negation of all that effort so far, and would in a sense also mean throwing out all that effort you’ve made so far to support and comment and help shape my view of my own work. I’m not, at this point, willing to delay the whole story for another year (my current estimate of what a full revision would require), just to stroke my own conscience about how good I think I’ve gotten at drawing since 2009, or to impress people who “matter.” The only people who really matter are the people who WANT to read this story every week, and me.
So with that in mind, I am, with vast reluctance, bringing my experiment in revising this story to an end, and postponing the printing of 6-Commando indefinitely. Instead, I’m spending the remainder of my hiatus working on preparation for the launch of Chapter 4, which will begin on Monday, October 1, 2012.
I don’t think the past few weeks have been wasted at all. It has been excellent practice, and has really gotten all my work sharp and on mark, and I feel ready to tackle Chapter 4. I think that you’re going to like Season II of this story, as well – in fact, I think that if you liked Season I at all, then Season II will knock your socks off. So that’s my decision.
I really appreciate everyone sticking with this comic through my little crisis here, and I thank you all for your comments and words of encouragement. A good audience is of the first importance to a writer, especially in this relatively new medium of webcomics that I’m experimenting with here. You are all really the ones who make it possible for me to do this, and I think it would be very hard for me to overestimate your importance to my work.
So with that I say thank you, see you next week for the conclusion of “No Good Deed,” and then, I’ll see you in October for the start of Season II!
Long time reader, first time commenter.
As I was reading through your blog post about the revise vs. forge ahead dilemma, I had a crazy thought: Why not do BOTH?
You could do alternate weeks where one week you post a new story page, and the next, a revised older one.
There may be a number of practical or personal reasons why you might not want to do that, but I just wanted to put the idea out there. After all, the way to have your cake and eat it too, is to eat half and save the rest.
This idea could also be the “worst of both worlds” where updates are too infrequent, and your focus is constantly split.
Regardless, I enjoy reading your comic.
I appreciate the comment, and thanks for joining in the discussion! My real fear about an alternating schedule is that it would slow down both the story and the revision to a real crawl. I also draw two pages at a time, even though the only post singly. Maybe it would work, but I’m afraid to really divide my time that way so structurally. I don’t know, at the moment I think I’m better off, and you are all best served, by my just focussing on the next chapter. But I will probably reserve the right to take “revision breaks” in between from time to time.
–M
I need to remember to get that picture taken. and email it to you.
>>> I always wondered if MIKE has a dedicated anti-personell weapon. Like a coaxial cannon or machine gun. Using his main gun against a single person would be kind of overkill and a waste of ammunition. MIKE only has a limited amount of rounds, wasting one on just people might not be worth it.
Whoa whoa whoa: he wasted THREE not one. 🙂 I wondered that same wuestion for a while, pondered it a bit, and got my answer.
All I can think is, in MIKE’s mind, when it comes to protecting the Major (or, mayhaps any ‘friendly’) it’d be worth the ammo: Mike’s friends aren’t ‘just people’ to him: they’re worth saving at huge costs!
(…Didn’t he go nuts early on to save Major Bronniford…?)
He does, but he can also fire flechettes from his main gun. I dunno, for story purposes it works pretty well either way.
–M
The “revise while moving forward” model has been done before: look at Girl and Her Fed, for example.
I have tried that in the past and it’s really beyond my capacity. I get focussed on what I’m doing, and I have so little time to spare as it is.
–M
perhaps something like current progress every week like it has been up till now, and whenever you have the spare time (and interest) you work on revising pages, which you simply release whenever they are done
I personally have little experience in planning, but I think this might be an idea
At present, I think the best thing to do is just move forward. Though I’ll probably reserve the right to take a week here and there to revise a page now and then. Setting an every-other-week schedule would slow an already low update schedule down to a snail’s pace, and I’m not really in the right headspace to make that happen.
–M
This page is really great.
I wish I had some advice to give you, but no one knows more about what you’re capable of and what’s right for you than you do. I love 6-Commando’s story and the artwork has improved by leaps and bounds. It’s one of my favorite comics on the web and I would love to see it in print one day. I wish you the best of luck, no matter which direction you ultimately go in.
Thanks, man. Like everyone I work with, admitting that there are limits on my ability to do something like this is a bitter pill to swallow. But I’m already up to my ankles in Chapter 4 now, so I suppose I made the right choice. Or at least, I made A choice, nevermind the right or wrong.
–M
My advice is to treat the current version of the comic as a writer would the draft of a novel. At this point finish the story improving anything you can as you go, but most importantly FINISH it. Once it is finished you can reboot the story by starting at the beginning retelling the story with improved art and story line edits. Use the rebooted comic the way a novelist would rewriting a novel after receiving an editor’s critique. Yes, this may still not result in the “finished” comic desired, but I am sure it will take it a hell of a long way toward it. Even your commenting on differences between the original and reboot versions as the reboot pages go up can help you work toward your desired end.
Right on. I’m basically having to do that at the moment. And though I’ve had advice both ways, it has by and large been strongly in favor of moving on and not revising right now. I do want to see that book, but I just don’t think I’m really there yet. Unless someone wants to pay me my regular salary to do THIS for a year.
Which I wouldn’t say no to.
–M
I love the comic just the way it is. Your vision for the story is very impressive, as is the time and effort you have put in. Any story has more than one way to be told. Trust your instincts that led you to each page design. If, and only if, you get finished and see something that needs tweaking, then do so. Otherwise, don’t waste your time on major revisions. We’re not reading because we’re waiting for changes, we are reading because we like what you are doing. Keep the faith, you are on the right track.
Thanks, man. I really appreciate that comment. It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing myself to other people, but all things considered I’m still pretty new to this, and it’s a better use of time, right now, to move forward instead of going back.
–M
Another high octane page! I love the many flavors artists are bringing. Like a nice tortilla soup.
I recommend you need to forge ahead the story comes first. The art comes second. Revisions can be made years later in a directors cut edition. Keep the faith brother in arms.
Amen, brother. I’m already off to the races on Chapter 4 so we’ll just see!
–M
Great work on this page, MFitzH2O!
Here’s how I look at the revision question: the artwork in The Simpsons and South Park’s first seasons are nowhere near the quality of their current work but they didn’t feel the need to reillustrate them for the dvd release.
As far as going back and redrawing after you have finished the story, the question that you have to ask yourself is; Is this your one great masterpiece or is this one of many stories that you want to produce? If this is your masterpiece then by all means keep going back and working on it, but if you have more stories in you then move on to the next story bringing with you everything you have learned while making 6-commando. I would publish it with the art as it originally appeared online.
By the way, what happens when you are at the end of volume two and see how much you’ve improved since the end of volume 1? You revise it all and then realize that you have improved even more during the revision process? You could end up chasing your tale forever as your work continually
I agree with all of the above, and I think it makes sense to keep going forward.
Or quit and do something else that might work out better. That’s what I do when I find myself going back and forth, because in my case it’s usually a sign that I’m not satisfied with the “forward” direction*. But I’m a quitter and not a winner, and certainly not a webcomic writer and artist. So while I can’t in good conscience hold others to a higher standard than I hold myself, I probably shouldn’t tell anyone that it’s all right to quit. Even if it is.
* I’m a slacker, so this mostly applies to computer games. Old games that I don’t finish re-playing. At least not for a long time.
I’ve quit too many times before, and that is one thing that is NOT on the table for me this time. But I am satisfied with the forward motion, just not entirely so with what went before. But that’s part of the game.
And Chris, if I recall, this was exactly what you warned me about earlier this summer. I guess I proved you right! I swore I wouldn’t fall into the trap and I did. Ah, well. It was still good practice for Chapter 4!
😀
–M
Aside from the “water painting” that brought us to this town the comics artwork has been very nicely done and you should feel proud of what you have produced.
“Well, I’m afraid I… Don’t quite… See what you’re getting at… Jack…”
Water painting?
But like, thanks, anyway! I’m glad to have people around who are entertained by this comic, and I’m already feeling better and more enthusiastic about everything now that I’m in on Chapter 4. It was a tough choice to make, but it’s made, and I’m in it full tilt, now!
Thanks for the support!
–M
I’ve enjoyed this comic, if you plan to create other works I would be very interested in following them.
I do plan to, but not just yet. I have another two to three series in the pipeline that’s totally different from this one, but I’m going to have to finish 6-Commando first!
Hope you can last another couple of years while I do so!
–M
Sometimes color can be all the difference in making a comic either great or “weird-looking”. I really liked your two tone “Which Way to Mogadishu?” drawing.
Maybe you could go back and strip out the color from the older pages and see what they look like in B&W, or try adding the two-tone look. Might be easier than re-drawing everything.
You know I’ve thought of that. But I feel that I’m too far into the full color to stop now. But then the colors have been drifting towards a darker, more washed-out palette over the last chapter – have to see where that goes.
–M