Death By Orphans

Here is the first page of my new web series. Click and zoom to enlarge. I hope to post regularly on Fridays. This is a longer run of my poetry comics. For more on what that means peek at In Defense of Poetry… Comics. Also, check back regularly as I plan to make more posts discussing the topic of poetry vis-à-vis comics. As always, if you have thoughts on or make poetry comics get yourself in touch.

Regarding Laika & Qubit, I doubt I will get back to it. As my first attempt at a web comic, it was, unfortunately, flawed in its inception. The strip format was restrictive to the world building and grand landscapes that I was hoping to include. I never got to where I liked the visual style, mostly because it lacked page texture, making my favorite of series the one I made with cut paper. Finally, by excluding a narrating voice Laika & Qubit’s plot was too difficult for me to move forward at the speed I wanted. This last shortcoming is more a personal limitation but a needlessly frustrating one.

Since it’s dead, I don’t mind saying the plan was that Laika & Qubit would pick up other sacrificed, dismissed or neglected characters from popular science history, much like the Wizard of Oz. With the triceratops they would meet the mars rover, Opportunity. Spirit would be an evil Wicked Witch-type. Marie Curie, with the powers of radiation, would arrive to explain more about their search for scientists, not unlike Glinda. At some point I planned for them to be joined by a massive Pluto. I also considedered throwing in some cryptozoological characters, mostly a chupacabra that would try to feast on the triceratops, thinking it was a goat. You get the idea. And.. you probably stopped reading a long time ago.

Have you ever had a failed idea? Did anyone lose an tooth because of it? Tell me about it in the comments.