Post by Jeff on May 21, 2006 17:20:00 GMT -5
Hey folks,
If you're actually reading this, then "wow!" It's amazing me that ACT is still attracting new readers so long after it's ended. According to the site tracker on ACT's mainpage, at least two new visitors stop by to discover ACT for the first time each day, and I'm very glad to see that.
There's one thing I've always meant to say to my readers, though the words didn't come as easily back then. ACT ended in a very strange way. The tone had changed abruptly, the story had grown too complex, and way too many things were left unresolved. The fact was that, starting with the "ACT: A Space Odyssey" story arc, I'd begun planning to take ACT to a new level, with more intricate plots, better photo quality and set design, and a generally more complex and rewarding storyline. Unfortunately, very shortly into this new direction, I recieved word that my father was dying of terminal cancer.
I did my best to keep up the quality of the comic and update as often as I could (as I recall, I did something like ten episodes in one very long night before driving to NY to see my father, where I knew I wouldn't have the time to update). But the story arc got a lot more serious, focusing on death and loss, during this time period. Only in hindsight do moments like the one in which Dark Grapple's eyes glow as he proclaims "there shall be no more death," seem like obvious extensions of what I was feeling in my own life at the time.
When ACT ended, it did so because I just didn't have the energy to keep making it after my father had passed on. I didn't feel funny or creative anymore. I just felt loss. The plan had always been to go back and either restart ACT under a new title (free of the copyrighted names and characters that had formerly caused me legal trouble with Hasbro), or to start an entirely new series, but I just never found the energy to pick up and come back to toy-based web-comicing. As simple as it looks, it is a very difficult genre to do on a weekly basis. The sets, shots, and special effects all require a tremendous amount of work and patience. Once removed from that weekly chore, I couldn't find the energy to go back to it. This is not to say that I'll never come back and restart ACT (or another toy-based web comic), but rather that I have no immediate plans to do so.
Looking back, I can now see ACT for the long, strange trip it was. ACT wasn't a perfect comic. In the earlier strips, the photo quality was poor and the special effects were cheesy. In later strips, I still hadn't mastered lighting and (one could easily argue) the strip had begun to loose direction. ACT certainly wasn't the first toy-based web-comic, and it wasn't the funniest comic ever to appear on the web, but I think it had several qualities that made it very special. For one, of all the toy-based web comics I've seen. ACT had some of the most intricate sets and best done special effects/action sequences. ACT also had a relatively complex continuity, strengthened by a wide ensemble of characters. What began as a simple Transformers parody grew into something very different and quite special.
So ACT wasn't perfect. Far from it, in fact. But ACT was unique, and I am quite proud of much of what I accomplished here. I hope you'll continue to enjoy reading through these episodes. Keep checking back. Who knows when you'll see an announcement on the mainpage that ACT is finally coming back?
Thanks for stopping in, and all the best!
Jeff
If you're actually reading this, then "wow!" It's amazing me that ACT is still attracting new readers so long after it's ended. According to the site tracker on ACT's mainpage, at least two new visitors stop by to discover ACT for the first time each day, and I'm very glad to see that.
There's one thing I've always meant to say to my readers, though the words didn't come as easily back then. ACT ended in a very strange way. The tone had changed abruptly, the story had grown too complex, and way too many things were left unresolved. The fact was that, starting with the "ACT: A Space Odyssey" story arc, I'd begun planning to take ACT to a new level, with more intricate plots, better photo quality and set design, and a generally more complex and rewarding storyline. Unfortunately, very shortly into this new direction, I recieved word that my father was dying of terminal cancer.
I did my best to keep up the quality of the comic and update as often as I could (as I recall, I did something like ten episodes in one very long night before driving to NY to see my father, where I knew I wouldn't have the time to update). But the story arc got a lot more serious, focusing on death and loss, during this time period. Only in hindsight do moments like the one in which Dark Grapple's eyes glow as he proclaims "there shall be no more death," seem like obvious extensions of what I was feeling in my own life at the time.
When ACT ended, it did so because I just didn't have the energy to keep making it after my father had passed on. I didn't feel funny or creative anymore. I just felt loss. The plan had always been to go back and either restart ACT under a new title (free of the copyrighted names and characters that had formerly caused me legal trouble with Hasbro), or to start an entirely new series, but I just never found the energy to pick up and come back to toy-based web-comicing. As simple as it looks, it is a very difficult genre to do on a weekly basis. The sets, shots, and special effects all require a tremendous amount of work and patience. Once removed from that weekly chore, I couldn't find the energy to go back to it. This is not to say that I'll never come back and restart ACT (or another toy-based web comic), but rather that I have no immediate plans to do so.
Looking back, I can now see ACT for the long, strange trip it was. ACT wasn't a perfect comic. In the earlier strips, the photo quality was poor and the special effects were cheesy. In later strips, I still hadn't mastered lighting and (one could easily argue) the strip had begun to loose direction. ACT certainly wasn't the first toy-based web-comic, and it wasn't the funniest comic ever to appear on the web, but I think it had several qualities that made it very special. For one, of all the toy-based web comics I've seen. ACT had some of the most intricate sets and best done special effects/action sequences. ACT also had a relatively complex continuity, strengthened by a wide ensemble of characters. What began as a simple Transformers parody grew into something very different and quite special.
So ACT wasn't perfect. Far from it, in fact. But ACT was unique, and I am quite proud of much of what I accomplished here. I hope you'll continue to enjoy reading through these episodes. Keep checking back. Who knows when you'll see an announcement on the mainpage that ACT is finally coming back?
Thanks for stopping in, and all the best!
Jeff
