Comic #677: New Beginnings (Patreon)

I don't really have a character select screen full of rogues.

Whenever I come up with something that could be a comic idea, I jot it down in a list. These are usually small observations that I find funny but can't instantly turn into a comic without some thought. This was one of those ideas that was sitting in my idea list for quite a while.

I kept having more topical comic ideas come up (easter, 8.2, ban wave, etc), and given that this was one of those ideas that can work at any time, I kept pushing it back. Also, for whatever reason, I could never quite build the comic in my mind in a way that pleased me. It might seem like a pretty easy comic narrative, but my early versions had a ton of exposition, and the punchline didn't land in a way that satisfied me.

I kept having to reveal tons of narrative in the final panel which kind of detracts from the punchline. I want to familiarize the readers with all information present in the final panel (other than the punchline) before they actually get there.

For example, in panel 1 I show readers Keydar's UI. In panel 2 I tell readers he is making a new character. In panel 3 I show readers what the new character looks like. In panel 4 I show readers he is entering the game with that character. By the final panel the only new piece of information is the fucked up UI, and thus the joke.

My early versions did not show Keydar's initial UI, or the loading screen. Once I thought of those two things it finally worked for me. Plus I also remembered Keydar's Kiran Tul version from #671.