Absolute Magnitude, the webcomic Martin Morazzo and I do for DC Comics' online imprint Zuda Comics is rolling along, and I thought it might be of interest to folks 'round these parts (DC pays us to create it, but it's completely free to read). The initial spark of what kind of story I wanted to tell -- beyond doing something in the space opera genre -- was to test the Star Trek notion (also on display in Firefly, Stargate, BSG, etc.) that the crew of a starship is somehow more like a family than a group of random professionals working together. I figured I'd establish a plucky group of space pirates, put them in a really tough situation, and watch them crack... only they never seemed to crack the way I wanted them to. People in a tough situation, who have to rely on each other in order to survive, will believably rely on -- and therefore care for -- each other. The experiment is ongoing, but so far the crew in Absolute Magnitude seems to be sticking together. Have a peek if you can, and let me know what you think. Our first "season" will be 60 pages, and we update every Friday.
Yeah, we should get a print collection once we hit 180 pages, which is three years worth of updates. So far DC has collected the Zuda comics Bayou, High Moon, and The Night Owls. I hope AM can join them one day!
Still updating steadily, and losing a few characters on the way. So far, we've lost Rigg (in space), Lung (on the island), and Leria (in the temple). A bit more on the "Murder Your Darlings" philosophy at the Zuda blog.
Does anyone check this thread out? I definitely don't want to be annoying or spammy... on the other hand, it seems like a few people are relying on it for a reminder of when Absolute Magnitude updates (which we did today).