Another update! Things are coming along at least, and as promised, I took (hopefully) all the questions from the last thread you had for me and answered them as best as I can! If you’ve anything else to ask, let me know and I’ll see if I can’t throw a couple more in today
Q&A
from @AJJ
I have a question, what did you think about your journey on making this comic?
It had its ups and downs throughout the years, and since the comic has crept past its 4th year running, one thing I always think about is how the art style has changed over the years, looking at Juniper from the first episode and looking at her many episodes later almost feels like looking at an entirely different character. Maybe when the comic is complete, I might remaster the first chapters or so if I feel like it, might be a fun pasttime to reframe everything.
from @spammy
“how much of the plot has been original to the webcomic, such as the ag blacksite arc?”
The base story of the original AA left a lot to interpretation and the creativity of the players/artists who really wanted to see their character grow to become The Peacekeeper at the end. While I certainly had help along the way with original mini plots like The Blacksite arc from Tech, it can be said that it’s really just original to the comic. As for other things, with Angel in AA being as much as a vague concept as characters like Aurielle Salore in WoM for example, her whole character and dynamic with Juniper was original as well.
From what I remember, after Theos dying, the Peacekeeper in base AA didn’t really have many close interactions with other characters and being seen more as a tool to further other’s ends before facing against Durza. While if you look at it in a certain way, Juniper isn’t too far from that concept, I definitely wanted to give her a lot more personality to make her a lot more of a unique Peacekeeper. Someone who’d have her own morals and purpose scrutinized which was my goal with the Blacksite Arc (Allegiance, ethics and methods), Freedrock’s training sessions (The will to carry out her purpose), and her dynamic with Angel (Straining personal relationships for the sake of living up to Theos’ name)
from @B_WDaredevil
“What happens after you complete the Arcane Adventures Webcomic?”
*There are multiple paths for me to go down if I wanted to continue keeping busy with comic work. For one, I don’t see myself doing an AO Webcomic, as unlike AA’s story which was largely left behind, it is currently ongoing and it is not my story to tell. If I wanted to continue with AA however, I could do some things:
- An expanded post-AA story of Juniper’s quest beyond the Seven Seas as The Peacekeeper, exploring and expanding on all things related to Hades and Durza’s legacy.
- Smaller spinoff chapters to explore side-stories of characters during the events of and/or before Arcane Adventures, either following Juniper during timeskips or other characters such as Trigno’s pursuit of Rupin, Sage’s conquest to become the wealthiest pirate, or even Angel’s origin story decades prior to AA.
- Branch off into my own project I’ve been keeping aside for a while now with an original story involving my character Maple in her own universe(es)
There’s a lot that I could do, these are just a handful of choices. There’s still some left to do in AA’s main storyline so we’ll cross that road when we get there.
from @Goopman
Since the beginning little over 4 years ago, I’ve used Adobe Flash CS6 to make the comic, so it’s really just a smorgasbord of glow effects and layers on loose effects I draw. I’ve recently started delving into Clip Studio Paint, though a full transition to that style would be pretty jarring
from @Huan711
“How did the webcomic come to be?”
Years ago the webcomic started in the AA remake community, Arcane Reborn. At the time from what I remember, I was given the greenlight for a webcomic after talking with tech to explore the story that AA was no longer able to tell, in my own way. With his help and even vetex to fill in some details the lore doc didn’t include. Despite wanting to keep a lot of things loyal to the original even as a non-canon webcomic, I was often encouraged to do whatever I wanted. Which turned out to be great, with this ‘AR Webcomic’ brought a lot of eyes back to the AA universe, as we began to gravitate back to the main community once the concept of World of Magic came out, even being invited as a tester to help out. It’s been a long journey of ups and downs, and I hope to continue providing something nice to look back on every now and then.
from @PrettyMinty
“Does vetex just give you the rest of the arcane story, or do you make it up as you go using the lore document vetex provided?”
I base all of the major events in the comic off of the lore document, since that is meant to be the baseline for what NEEDS to happen. Since the webcomic is non-canon, I’ve a lot of freedom to run whatever I want so long as Juniper’s journey to becoming The Peacekeeper is correct. Beyond character and specific details vetex and tech helped out with in the past (Especially regarding Mainland and the Fifth Sea), the info available to me is whatever I pull from the official lore doc
