… It ends.
At least for now. On April 3rd, 2010, the first page of Greyhawk and the Starbucklers: Universe on Fire went up. Now, almost three years later, the story is finished. Before that, for a little less than a year, we had run the first adventure of our space pirate and crew, Greyhawk and the Starbucklers of the Caribbean (published about 10 years before as a graphic novel). It was not, however, a rousing financial success, life happened, and future Greyhawk stories remained in our minds.
The idea for a second Greyhawk story began when I visited Largent in August of 2009. We were working on The Wannabe Pirates together, and Largent wanted to start using his 3-D skills on the artwork; therefore, my role as artist on the strip was going to cease. I thought this might be an opportunity to visit Greyhawk again, suggested it and Largent was agreeable. Over the next several days, we hammered out the story.
We decided to keep the horizontal format of the first book, still thinking it gave more of a cinematic feel to the story. The big change was color. Since the first book was printed, it was black and white for economic reason. As an online webcomic, we were no longer under such limitations. Coloring the book was something I really enjoyed.
There were several goals we set for the story. Since Greyhawk and the Starbucklers of the Caribbean was set primarily on earth, we wanted this book to be set in space. Second, we wanted Universe on Fire to be big– to see a lot of places in Greyhawk’s universe. Finally, we knew we wanted to make it personal, and we settled on the idea of Greyhawk struggling to save his first officer, Randarr, while trying to stop a tyrant intent on starting an intergalactic war. We liked the idea that our hero in the end stops the war because he was first of all saving his friend.
How successful were we? Who knows. We’re really happy with how it turned out. In the end, we finished the story. We’re even working on a trade paperback that should be available within the next few weeks, with a print edition only addendum that finishes the story on an even more adventurous note.
Will there be another story? Again, who knows. Website hits weren’t amazing—in fact, they were pretty uneventful—so, it never found a place with a wider audience. That was disappointing. But, that’s the way these things go. Only someone who does this knows the amount of time that goes into a labor of love like this. Quite frankly, I’m savoring that time used in other private endeavors for a while. Maybe in a few years you’ll remember the website, visit and be pleasantly surprised to see a new, grand story taking place. Largent and I have talked about it. There is a whole universe Greyhawk lives in; we see it. We just aren’t making any promises.
So, if you read the story and enjoyed it, found it mildly entertaining—hey, we’re happy. Please consider checking back in a few weeks and ordering the trade paperback. Regardless, thanks for spending some time in a universe we love!
McCrary
