“I just wanted to say, Hello.”
“Change is only good when it’s good.”
I don’t know where I heard that, but I certainly agree with it.
Since Drowemos made his announcement I’ve been thinking about this first post. Many of you left really great comments on his post, some along the lines of; please don’t leave! the comic won’t be the same! who the Hell is this Dan guy?
All of which I agree with.
It’s always hard when a creator leaves. There’s always the little nag in the back of your mind going “Is this what Drowemos would have done?”
The history of literature, film, television, and graphic novels is littered with the corpses of things left unfinished for lack of time, money, or other resources. And it’s piled with half-assed sequel projects and follow-ups from people just wanting to make a buck or force something that wasn’t meant to be.
But it is also filled with the projects of those creators who didn’t want to do them and phoned it in. I almost find that to be a worse fate.
But there are also many examples of projects passed on to other creative teams that turned out really great. I enjoy the original SAVAGE SHE-HULK, and without it we wouldn’t have Dan Slott’s amazing SINGLE GREEN FEMALE She-Hulk run.
The 9th/10th/11th Doctors have been a blast!
And I’d never try to argue which is better; ALIEN or ALIENS.
They’re all amazing follow-ups to amazing original material.
So that’s my job; to help make sure that this follow up to something amazing is amazing. I’m not the writer, but it will be up to me to make sure that the creative focus is on keeping Exiern to its roots in what makes it amazing and unique, while making sure we move forward with story and characters on a natural course.
Things will change; they have to, or there is no story. But I’m focused on making sure that it evolves into the next logical thing for Exiern, and not turn into something it isn’t.
But who the Hell is it that’s promising all this? Who is Dan Standing?
Well, I’m terribly good at showing up, Drowemos was right about that. If you want to see a publish date next to my name somewhere go over to the BE Story club…my first work in erotic fiction was published in 2007, a novella called THE CHEST. Transformations and magic are my specialties. Since then I wrote a standalone comic called SPRITELY and five issues of a comic called T&A – which I’m trying to fund independently now under the banner TIME AND AGAIN (special thanks to Drowemos for putting up that ad/link). My website, www.danstanding.com, has updated daily since it launched this year (see me in a year and then that may be an achievement) and I’ve also been working with Jaycee over on Bloomin’ Faeries. I’ve self-published a 149 page illustrated book called BAR BELLES and you can go over to the ESCarchive and read my short story MOUSETRAP.
Sorry, I don’t get to blow my own horn very often.
The point of that blurb of ego is I have a little experience. I started helping Drowemos at the beginning of the year, and since February Compete.com says the website traffic have increased 91%. I’m here to keep Exiern going and keep it good.
Drowemos is still in charge right now, and until papers are signed and the income fully switched to me Exiern is still fully his, and even after that his voice will always be listened to. And it can always become fully his again – at any minute, actually. But if you want to know what I have planned, just consider it the era of THE EXIERN STRIKES BACK.
Now I just have to live up to all of that…
For interested writers I/we will be posting up submission information soon. I want to be certain of what I can offer before I offer it.
~Dan
P.S. One bad change is that when we switched all the ads over to my account they reset. If you had a Project Wonderful ad I’m sorry but you’ll need to go search again for Exiern (you’ll see my company listed with it) and rebid. Sorry for the inconvenience – but thanks so much for the support!
Discussion ¬
I whit ye, it looks to be A good transfer to me!
Real glad to see Exiern in your hand’s, we all have seen what can happen to nifty Comics that the creator loses intrest in.
Thay run down to one A month then every two to three months then one A year if that finely even the rabid fans who buy the books and tee shirts drop off and it dies A stifeling slow death!
Verry glad that wont happen hear more power to you and yours for saving A fine and fun storie line as this!
Peace Love Happiness & Blessed Be
😉 🙂 {*v*} 😛 😀 I.R. Happy
I love Blooming Faeries. Wish it was updated more often. So I’m not worried about Exiern being in your hands Dan.
Lots of luck.
I’ll be watching. But in a good way. Change is inevitable but I think this will be good!
You know, Dan, I’ll admit I was a little worried about Drowemos leaving. I really enjoyed it. I _loved_ the way he wrote; how sexuality, transgenderism, transformation, and so forth are treated with maturity, but playfulness.
However, I believed he knew what he was doing. He’s a good creator; I trusted him to _remain_ a good creator, even in the act of handing the reins over to someone else.
Now that you’ve posted, and I’ve read your words, and the way you think about all this… without seeing a single page written under your guidance, I think I can set my mind at ease.
I’m not familiar with the work you’ve done before, but I definitely look forward to seeing what’ll come next, here on this site.
Mmmm… She-Hulk! :drool: *ahem*
Looking forward to the further adventures of Tiffany. 🙂
What are you looking for, writing wise? Will keep an eye out for that.
I envision a good future ahead for all. “Don’t worry, be happy!”
Thanks for the support, everyone! I really appreciate it.
Writer info will be up as soon as we feel we’re ready. I don’t want to ask for, or promise anything, that we can’t see through. Until I feel that point has been reached please be patient…but already having written out some ideas and plans to refine/revise on your own never hurt any! 🙂
As a reader from the beginning, and a long-time writer and fiction creator myself I can only say one thing:
‘Is this what Drowemos would do?’ is a damn good thought to be having ^^ It’s not that you should do everything that the original creator was doing before, it’s to think about what you’re going to do, and think about whether the original might have done it if given the chance. Is it natural evolution of the characters, the humour, the world? Is it in keeping with the comic?
Those are the thoughts that all new owners should have. As bad examples, look at the complete farce that happened with Dragonball Evolution, or the current a!s-tardery with the casting for the live-action Akira (in case anybody doesn’t know the sitch, last I heard this was happening http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-urgent-questions-about-live-action-akira-remake/ let’s take the article with a pinch of salt to tone down the outrage, and yet still find ourselves asking the same questions…)
We’re a nice bunch here, so settle in and think of the comic, that’s all you really have to do to succeed with it. Look forward to seeing what you can do, not to mention to see Drowemos smiling at what you’ve done, that’s the real measure of success in this case.
Will be interesting to see a webcomic go through multiple writers like a DC or Marvel one. Hmm, wonder if I should have a go at doing a submission when they’re open.
Are we likely to see a resurrection for the sister site to Exiern, Dark Reflections?
If it’s dead I’d be happy with a few pages of prose just to tie it all off.
Dark Reflections is not dead, but I’m not able to elaborate beyond that at this time. My concentration is on the main comic first.
Hey Dan,
You can dooo eeet!
I love hearing about the submission for writers. Sign me up and count me in! To everyone else, join up with Team Nixia!!!! lol Nixia as Writer for Exiern in 2011!!!! That sounds ovah!!
I’m glad to hear that Exiern:Dark Reflections is not dead because I’ve been a big fan since the beginning and I really enjoy the series.
Thank You Dan
Thanks for the info Dan. I appreciate that you can’t say any specifics but it is nice to know there is still movement on the strip.
You mention that the new writer has had some work over at Breast Expansion Archive (which I know of, being a Big Boob fan myself ^_^).
I had always thought of this comic as a type of ‘Transformation Fetish’ comic, particularly after the ‘episode’ where all the male clerics were transformed into hot chicks 🙂
Also, truth to tell, there are some reviews of it out there that come right out and say it is.
Although I’m not much into this particular fetish, at least its a bit clearer now that that is a focus of the comic (maybe, I’m not sure where the new writer is going with it).
If the story gets more ‘serious’ I wouldn’t mind, as long as from time to time it acknowledges its ‘roots’ (comedy, and some T&A [and yes, transformation for those who like it I suppose ^_^]).