Hey, my Squids!
Stopping in to give you guys a little information about an upcoming change to Taliah’s third chapter. I like keeping you guys up in the know about developing this webcomic, the whys, whats, and hows of decisions I make, and when to expect them! This one doesn’t affect the story or even how you will experience the plot but it does change the natural “reset” point for Chapter 3.
I’ll cut to the chase: I’m splitting Chapter 3 into two parts. Subtitle will be the same but there will be a Part 1 and Part 2 appended to it. Part 1 ends with the last page Leira and Saul are together in her apartment. It will also have a new cover, depicting Leira and Saul, not unlike the header picture for this post. Part 2 picks up on the next page and retains the current Chapter 3 cover. It ends with Chapter 3’s current ending (unreleased at the time of this posting but if you’re reading in the future, you’ll know what it is). That’s the what.
Now I’ll explain the why! In total, Chapter 3 clocks in at 53 pages. When I upload the new cover and officially split the chapter, I’ll add a story blurb at the front of Part 2 and change the page numbers so that Part 2 begins at page 1 like any other chapter. Since it’s such a hefty chapter that does a lot of future plot set up, instead of overloading readers with all 53 pages at once, they’ll appear as more “bite-sized” morsels. Also, they’ll be cheaper to print.
When I originally wrote the script and chapters, chapter 1 ended with Leira jumping off the roof after meeting D’enath. Chapter 2 ended where Chapter 3 ends now. The flashback that’s at the beginning of Chapter 3 was part of Chapter 2, leading into Chapter 3. Entire parts of the current chapters existed in later chapters, notably Xavier and Bourne’s sections and any flashbacks to Leira’s family or home life, while some parts didn’t yet exist, specifically Cleo and everything having to do with Abarogue. The chapters were far shorter back then. However, my drawing speed and quality was… not what it is now. I switched from comic book to webcomic format, moved a bunch of plot forward to hopefully keep readers coming back more regularly, and developed some characters in the meantime like Xavier, Saul, and Bourne, while coming up with new ones like Cleo. The chapters expanded.
Thing is… I’m going to be printing physicals and each page costs a certain amount. Splitting Chapter 3 allows me to keep physical costs down while also preventing the chapter from feeling insurmountable when reading. It also has a natural breakpoint with Leira and Saul’s last night together, while the second half speeds us into the chapter climax and sets us up for the explosive events of Chapters 4 and 5.
All of that said, Chapter 3 is still the same chapter that was planned, it’ll just have a new cover for the first half with Part 1 and Part 2 appended to the title. When it’s time to print, I’ll let you know, as I’m very excited to finally start putting up physical copies of the comic.
Anyway, take care, my Squids and happy reading!