Hey, the Comic’s Bigger! What’s Up With That?

(Originally posted Nov. 12, 2010)

Starting today, there will to be some changes to Urban Underbrush. No, this isn’t going to be one of those webcomics that starts over or does a complete redesign as soon as the artist gets some new ideas. Everything we’ve done so far will still be here. But there will be more of it.

Let me start by explaining why Urban Underbrush needed to change. I have been drawing this comic for a little less than a year. I really enjoy making them and I have been pleased with everything that’s gone up. Sure, there are some jokes and drawings that I like more than others, but that’s to be expected. In summary, I really like Urban Underbrush. I just don’t love it. Or at least I’m not as in love with it as I could be. And if I’m not madly in love with the things I create, then I can’t expect anyone else to love them either.

I do love the characters though, but then, I know them better than you do. The characters in Urban Underbrush were all created for various other stories I wrote over the course of the last eighteen years. Dynamite and Detonator were originally drawn in 1993. Slasher and Scatter were added a year later. Cassidy, Maxwell, Vincent, Clayton, and Blair were created in the summer of 1997. Clive was drawn in the fall of 1998. I have had years to consider how these characters think and act. All of them have deep and complex personalities (except maybe Blair). Yet when I put them in this comic, I feel like only a small part of that is coming through.

So the comic is not meeting it’s potential. How do I fix that? A couple of people suggested that I draw bigger comics with more panels. That way, I’d have more room for story and character development. I never felt limited by the old format, but when I tried adapting my scripts to the bigger size…wow. I never realized how much was getting left out before I gave myself more room to move around.

I also want to start telling some deeper stories. This new story is going to be different. It tells how the Grass Roots House got started. It will be a long story and Dynamite and Detonator will hardly be in it. But if you don’t read it, then you will never get to understand this world and its rules. And then you will never like it as much as you could. Also, I can safely say that it is the best Urban Underbrush story yet.

So stick around. If you like the comic so far, you’ll love what comes next.

-Marj