Labyrinth:
Ohhh. I can't wait to see the cameos, and in that line of thought, how is my ego going to be portrayed? I'm curious.

I'm not entirely sure myself.

Also, this comic is still made of win. You should personify Chatspeak into something ghastly and horrible, then have the characters pitch battle upon it.

Oh absolutely, I don't want to give away everything before I do it, but I have plans for defeating the disgrace to the english language known as Chatspeak.

Any plans to make any escapists permanent cast members? or will it just be a monster/buddy of the week type thing?

jim_doki:
Any plans to make any escapists permanent cast members? or will it just be a monster/buddy of the week type thing?

There will be a permanent group of people that builds up, so Cameos is probably not the right word.
In fact at some point I hope to remove the Iron Ninja from some of the comics and focus on one of the other members.
I also might split members into different groups and focus on them for a whole comic.
I don't want to list the definite cast members here, as:

1) I don't want other people to feel left out

2) I'm not entirely sure if I have decided on everyone yet

3) It will ruin the surprise.

But there are certain escapists which will undoubtedly make an appearance, and the inclusion of them will probably surprise no-one.

your answer satisfies me.

also, are you gonna host it anywhere other than here?

jim_doki:
your answer satisfies me.

also, are you gonna host it anywhere other than here?

Would you like me to? I don't really have anywhere other than here to put it.

I hope there is an antagonist who wants to eat Gerald!!! Can't wait to read the next chapter. :)

The Iron Ninja:
I'm not entirely sure myself.

You could have a character who's shadow is a) unusually enormous and b) shaped like some sort of artistic tool.

The Iron Ninja:

jim_doki:
your answer satisfies me.

also, are you gonna host it anywhere other than here?

Would you like me to? I don't really have anywhere other than here to put it.

Deviantart.

many a thumbs up.

Labyrinth:

The Iron Ninja:

jim_doki:
your answer satisfies me.

also, are you gonna host it anywhere other than here?

Would you like me to? I don't really have anywhere other than here to put it.

Deviantart.

Deviantart annoys me. Mainly because of the excessive and annoying ads, and the fact that my ex is obsessed with it.

But there are some good things that come out of it. For starters; my Avatar. And this guy:

http://jollyjack.deviantart.com/

I mean, some of his anthropomorphic artworks are downright wierd, but the are all extremely well made. Does this guy get paid for his works?

Oh, and read his 'How to Play' series. It's one of the few webcomics I enjoy, and they're worth the read.

I have come to the conclusion that Deviantart scares me.
However once I have made a few more comics I may overcome my fear and put them there as well.

The Iron Ninja:
I have come to the conclusion that Deviantart scares me.
However once I have made a few more comics I may overcome my fear and put them there as well.

Of course, any non-escapist who sees it will be thinking, "What the hell?"

rottenbutter:

The Iron Ninja:
I have come to the conclusion that Deviantart scares me.
However once I have made a few more comics I may overcome my fear and put them there as well.

Of course, any non-escapist who sees it will be thinking, "What the hell?"

But then they'll have to join the escapist to enjoy them thus creating more members for this board.

dalek sec:

rottenbutter:

The Iron Ninja:
I have come to the conclusion that Deviantart scares me.
However once I have made a few more comics I may overcome my fear and put them there as well.

Of course, any non-escapist who sees it will be thinking, "What the hell?"

But then they'll have to join the escapist to enjoy them thus creating more members for this board.

An interesting concept, but it might attract more... undesirable elements of the Internet.

Nothing that the Mods can't handle, though.

Also, in this fashion, it makes me feel exclusive. A V.I.P., if you may.

DA is like the internet in miniature. A pyramid of quality. At the bottom you have a bunch of 11 year old naruto fans who cannot draw beyond shitty sketches on writing paper. At the top you have some of the most talented people I have ever seen, from many different mediums and the like.

Here are a few examples of that top slice:

So yeah. Seriously? Get one. It's an easier thing to backlog than a thread too, and the comment system is more convenient.

Labyrinth:
DA is like the internet in miniature. A pyramid of quality. At the bottom you have a bunch of 11 year old naruto fans who cannot draw beyond shitty sketches on writing paper. At the top you have some of the most talented people I have ever seen, from many different mediums and the like.

(top slice)

So yeah. Seriously? Get one. It's an easier thing to backlog than a thread too, and the comment system is more convenient.

The problem is that it wouldn't make any sense to Deviant art people, they wouldn't get any of the references to the inner workings of our forum, they wouldn't know about people like PurpleRain or Ultrajoe so appearances by them would also have much less of an effect.

This was designed as a comic of the escapist forums themselves (it may not look that much like it at the moment, but it will get there), So although this may find it's way onto Deviant Art eventually, my plan is to keep it here for the most part.

Woah just noticed this.

I hope to make a cameo, due to our long standing e-friendship. The comics are looking awesome as is, which is more than I can say for most webcomics.

If you do choose to include me, feel free to either go with my new fallout avatar or old Kevin Bacon one.

The Iron Ninja:
The problem is that it wouldn't make any sense to Deviant art people, they wouldn't get any of the references to the inner workings of our forum, they wouldn't know about people like PurpleRain or Ultrajoe so appearances by them would also have much less of an effect.

This was designed as a comic of the escapist forums themselves (it may not look that much like it at the moment, but it will get there), So although this may find it's way onto Deviant Art eventually, my plan is to keep it here for the most part.

Which is why so much of DA is taken up by niche work.

I say we should keep the comic here for the time being. I'm sure that the Escapist would be confused if someone posted a comic based on the Deviant Art community with famous faces such as "UltraJohn" and "BlueRain" (I was going to go Yellow, Yellow being complementary of Purple but no...) and the very awesome "Water Angel" (Actually s/he could exist on Deviant Art). It wouldn't make sense to have it there.

But Deviant Art is a great website. Some things are kind of suspect and probably best suited for /h/ while some (such as Labyrinths examples) are really good. Everyone should check it out.

Aries_Split:
Woah just noticed this.

I hope to make a cameo, due to our long standing e-friendship. The comics are looking awesome as is, which is more than I can say for most webcomics.

If you do choose to include me, feel free to either go with my new fallout avatar or old Kevin Bacon one.

I was wondering how you could be represented.
I thought that you and Ares Tyr being the same person with a split personality (and I know that's not what the "split" stands for) would work rather well, with the character looking somewhere halfway between a shirtless Kevin Bacon and a shirtless Bob Ross.

Fire Daemon:
I say we should keep the comic here for the time being. I'm sure that the Escapist would be confused if someone posted a comic based on the Deviant Art community with famous faces such as "UltraJohn" and "BlueRain" (I was going to go Yellow, Yellow being complementary of Purple but no...) and the very awesome "Water Angel" (Actually s/he could exist on Deviant Art). It wouldn't make sense to have it there.

But Deviant Art is a great website. Some things are kind of suspect and probably best suited for /h/ while some (such as Labyrinths examples) are really good. Everyone should check it out.

I can see there is some good stuff there, and I will stand by your (and Labyrinth's) recommendations of how good it can be.

But for now, I'm going to keep it here (for the reasons you stated)

I'm off for a good sleep now, so no one be offended if I don't answer your inquiries while I'm gone. Or do be offended, whatever makes you happy I guess.

Awesome, I love it.

When I first found this and saw that it was at 4 pages already I was kicking myself for not finding it sooner but then I saw that it was only started yesterday so that wasn't that long, it's just at 4 pages because it's so popular. Still, this proves how every time I try to spend some less time on the Escapist I find a reason to get even more involved in it.

I won't bother you with any more generic congratulations and praise for your comic, but I assure you it's there, I just respect you too much to type it.

To add another question to the list at the end though:

Where are they going?

I suppose we'll find that out soon enough.

EDIT: After reading the comic a second time, I noticed that it could potentially be offensive that you were talking about why men have to shave while there's a very unshaved man right next to you. Were you passivly-aggressivly insulting Larry? I think you've just started a conflict between two characters that may very well end in a surprising betrayal in a future comic.

can us lesser known escapsists be represented as generic dudes w/ question mark faces so we can all pretend you know of us enough to put us in the comic? or the default face thing... i already forgot what it was.

ElephantGuts:
EDIT: After reading the comic a second time, I noticed that it could potentially be offensive that you were talking about why men have to shave while there's a very unshaved man right next to you. Were you passivly-aggressivly insulting Larry? I think you've just started a conflict between two characters that may very well end in a surprising betrayal in a future comic.

I've got plans for Larry, but I'm not revealing them yet.

However I will offer you a bone in saying that it may well have something to do with the forum game I made about him a while back.

awsome comic, I can't wait for the next one.

p.s. although im not one of the better known escapist, if i'm used in the comic I would like to be a teenage pyromaniac with too much time on his hands *laughs insanely while the fuse on the m-80 he is holding burns away*.

Zomni42:
can us lesser known escapsists be represented as generic dudes w/ question mark faces so we can all pretend you know of us enough to put us in the comic? or the default face thing... i already forgot what it was.

^{And this goes for what TMAN(number number number number) said as well}

I realise my selection of cameos will end up leaving a lot of people out, and I do apologise, but I don't know every single one of you as much as I know people like Jim Doki and Labyrinth (And even then I'm not sure if "Know" is the correct word, but hopefully you get what I mean)

If it helps, I will try and make some minor characters that represent all the lesser known escapists. When the comic's story gets to the massive battles (which it will) I will try and have these characters playing as much of a part as the more well known escapists.

LOOK EVERYONE I GOT QUOTED BY THE IRON NINJA I"M A SOMEBODY NOW!!11!! (hehe)

i ment that like.. the newbie face.. the default one you get when you make an account.. or is it just blank.. whatever i meant the extras in your comic would be like the neophyte escapists. that way we could at least pretend we're famous enough to be in the comic. in our own little.. sad anti-social minds.. /cry

found the default.. it was hanging out in the Yahtzee threads... it's just blank.. don't know what i was thinking about w/ the question marks. but blank face extras can let us think we're part of it.. i guess. or just random pics that you could say were avatars of lesser known escapists.. w/ no dialog or some thing like "HI Mom!" Oh yeah, question marks are for face books.. i feel better now that i remember where the idea came from.

If I end up making a cameo, how about having a silhouette hanging from a tree in the backround?

Spartan Bannana:
If I end up making a cameo, how about having a silhouette hanging from a tree in the backround?

Really I was struck with the idea of having you being eaten by Jim Lad , while covered in rotten butter . Of course , I'm not Iron Ninja.

BTW, I think it might be a great idea to have the wagon haunted , maybe even by some Phantom . Maybe even a Phantom with numbers at the end ...

Please hurry with the next installment, this is the funniest thing I have read all day, you kind sir have shined a glimmer of light into my craptastic day. Thank you.

I know I won't get a cameo cause I've been here for only a few months but I guess if I did have one it might just be a pile of dalek scraps in a blacksmith's shop or something.

Just wondering but do you think those little imp guys from ZP might show up or would that be some kind of legal problem?

dalek sec:
Just wondering but do you think those little imp guys from ZP might show up or would that be some kind of legal problem?

Well I don't hold Zero Punctuation in that high a regard, so I won't be using anything from them, and that includes imps.

reaper_2k9:
Please hurry with the next installment, this is the funniest thing I have read all day, you kind sir have shined a glimmer of light into my craptastic day. Thank you.

I'm a workin' on it, just hold on!

So then. Just read it, have some suggestions.

First of all, I must congratulate you on doing this with Paint. At first I thought it was an odd style, and too pixilated, but that can be forgiven because of the program you're using. You have crafted something absolutely amazing for MS Paint and a mouse.

Now that the congratulations are out of the way, time for the suggestions.

My biggest suggestion, and the one that is most expensive, is to get Photoshop CS3. If you're a student you can get it for about half-price from an educational supplier: I recommend this one because it's where I myself got Photoshop (and a bunch of other software).

Also, get a graphics tablet. You'll probably want one from Wacom. I got mine at Best Buy for a couple hundred dollars, and it has served me well.

I realize that both of those suggestions are really, really expensive. They will, however, improve the art no end, and possibly make it faster as well.

Now that I'm done with technology suggestions...

The writing is pretty good. It's quirky, a bit odd, and not really realistic. It does, however, have a very individual voice. It's different and funny. I don't really recommend any changes there: you'll get better as you do it more.

The art, as I mentioned, is very well done for MS Paint. My only suggestion would be to get another font.

As for the storyline, all I can say is avoid cliches except when you're making fun of them. Also, visit this site for inspiration. You'll find all sorts of tropes to subvert or use.

Let's see...have I covered everything yet?

Hosting. If you ever want to host it somewhere other than here, you might as well do it on Comic Genesis. I know from experience that their system works, and works well. I myself have a comic on there, a comic that I never direct anyone to because it has my real name on it. So I speak from experience with these suggestions. About a year's worth of experience, now that I think about it...

Anyway. The comic is pretty good, could be better, could definitely have been worse. Have fun with it. I'm not going to ask for a cameo, though I will certainly hope for one.

More advice, suggestions, and commentary will be forthcoming as I think of it or as requested.

Zemalac:
(all that stuff)

Apologies for the delayed response.

As of right now, I don't really feel the urge to spend money just for this, if it really takes off I might consider photoshop, but until then I kind of like the challenge of doing it in paint.

As for Comic Genesis, I may well end up putting it there at some point.

Mine only most humble request is a reference to cigars or Holy Avenger +16 's.

Or both.

I can't wait to see the next chapter and will there be a movie adaptation coming out soon?