Starside November Update
Hello readers! Hope everyone has been well!
Before I start the update, I'd like to extend a warm welcome to the new readers we met at Rhode Island Comic Con and Philcon! Thank you so much for stopping by our table and talking with us! Also, quick shout out to all of the familiar faces we saw at Rhode Island Comic Con this year! It was awesome to see you all again! It's very humbling to know that even after a year, you're still interested in this little story of ours. <3
Update time! And this one is all about issue 3. Potential spoiler warning for anyone that hasn't read issues 1 and 2!
I like to think of issues 1 and 2 as a drive through a tunnel. They serve as a narrow passageway to the greater view of the story and issue 3 is where we come out with the world opening up. Visually, the way issue 2 ends was a way of conveying that metaphor; Jack running through the tight woods of an extraterrestrial moon only to break out to see a sprawling landscape that's brimming with story possibilities. I'm sure I speak for Lane and Jordan when I say that we were all excited to get to work on issue 3 so we can finally demonstrate our world building for the Starside universe. Not that the first two issues didn't do any world building, it's just that issue 3 finally breaks away from the familiar environment of Earth in favor of a new locale: Aven market.
I know we shared this image before, but now I can give it more context.
This bustling place is Aven market, located on Fulos, a moon orbiting the gas giant, Mirr.* Settled in a lawless region of the known universe, Aven is a hub for outlaws, smugglers, and traders. One of the cooler features of the market is that it's set up in a wrecked capitol ship from a past conflict. From the outside, we really wanted to convey a place that's consistently alive and restless but for the inside, we wanted a smokey, seedy bazaar that felt dangerous.
*Editor's note from 2022: Sometimes things change when you're building a whole universe! The planet that Fulos orbits is no longer called Mirr, as we've repurposed that name for a different planet ;)
Concept sketch for the main bazaar of Aven.
The art above shows a concept for the main floor of the marketplace which is located under the big dome of the capitol ship. It's a place where you can pick up some provisions for a long trip, stock up on weapons and ammo, find some parts for your ships, as well as recruit someone to watch your back. Jordan PACKED this issue with a ton of small details in every panel. We hope you all take your time to look through all the pages when it's released!
In writing this update, I found myself writing too much about issue 3 that it basically spilled into spoiler territory, so apologies for not being as in-depth as I originally planned. I really just wanted to leave you all with a taste of what you can expect without giving a ton away for the issue. Personally, it's hard to hold back information since I want to discuss it all, but at the same time, I do like keeping much of Starside a mystery, so in that vein, I'll leave you with a tease of a new character that will be introduced in issue 3!
Before I wrap up, Lane and I are beginning to plan out our convention schedule for 2020 and the first con for the year will be Pow! Con in Brooklyn, NY on January 25th & 26th. That about wraps it up for this update. As always, thank you all SO much for your continued support and we'll see you in the next one! -Dylan