Urban Underbrush Will End… Sort Of

My dear readers, Urban Underbrush is coming to an end in 2016. But this is not a goodbye – most of the characters and stories will move on to a new comic.

Here’s the Plan: Urban Underbrush will conclude with Chapter 18. Yes, that’s the current chapter, but don’t worry, it will be a long chapter. I expect it to run until this summer.

Next, I want to take a short break and let us cleanse our pallets for the new comic. During this time, I hope to update Draconis Wicked more often.

The new comic will include most of the Urban Underbrush characters, but it will take place in a different universe – a completely different canon from the original story.

It will be better than the current comic.

I’ve anticipated some questions and will answer them below:

So, why start a new story if you’re just going reuse the same characters and stuff?

I’ve written myself into a corner with Urban Underbrush. The characters and their stories are not reaching their full potential. Each time I write a strip, I find myself thinking, “If I had started this comic today, I never would have written this [character/idea/plot] into it, but now I’m stuck with it.” That’s a bad sign for any comic, especially one that’s as young as Urban Underbrush.

I’ve tried to change things around within the story, and that’s helped a little, but most of the things that need to change are so deeply rooted in the story structure that it would be impossible to alter them without resetting the world.

I think I was in a more restricted place when I started my first comic – both professionally and emotionally – and that’s had an effect on my work. Now, it will be much easier to start a comic that’s more free and expressive.

I don’t think any of your current ideas are bad ideas. Why do you want to change them?

Usually, the enemy of good writing is not bad ideas. It’s good ideas that don’t fit together with your other good ideas. I need to remove, replace or alter some story elements so better elements have room to grow.

Now I’m worried that my favorite character/story/place/thing won’t come back in the next comic.

A lot of the story will stay the same. You’ll have to trust that the few things that do go away are being replaced by something better.

But more importantly, if a character or thing doesn’t return in the new comic, then that means I have completely run out of ideas for that character or thing. It’s not that I’m withholding it from you. There’s just nothing left.

Wait, is this a business decision?

Of course it is. That doesn’t mean it’s not also a creative decision.

Urban Underbrush just turned six years old. If it were going to attract thousands of readers, it would have done so already.

True, I don’t need thousands of readers to keep me going, but a little more support would make some things easier.

Okay, even if I want to get behind this idea, I know a lot of cartoonists have tried to reboot their comics, then ended up quitting. How do I know this won’t happen here?

Well, for one thing, I’ll still be drawing Draconis, so I won’t exactly grow cold to cartooning.

I’ve also been working steadily on ideas for the new comic. I’ve written a solid premise and I’ve outlined the first chapter.

Beyond that, I guess I’m asking you to trust me.

Can you tell me anything about the new comic?

It will be better than Urban Underbrush. It will accomplish many of the goals I was unable to achieve with Urban Underbrush.

Will you tell me anything else about the new comic?

Nope.

That’s about it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment section. I’ll answer them as best as I can.

And please enjoy Chapter 18. You are in for a heck of a ride.

-Marj