Two years ago next month, I brought my Ethan and Lucas storyline to a close. At the time, I wrote at great length about why I chose to do that, but in summary, I decided I’d said all I had to say with those characters, in that particular incarnation.

That’s not necessarily to say that I was done with those characters, though. In fact, quite the opposite. I just felt that if I had the opportunity to start all over, I could take what I’d learned and do it better.

Originally I’d expected to have my reboot launched within six months. That was a little naive of me. Not only was I simply not ready to dive back in that soon, my life was not ready for me to dive back in that soon. I had a very busy year, my son was born, etc… I just had other priorities for a while. And during that time, the first issue of the reboot was re-written twice.

First it was a comic book, then it was a prose/comic book hybrid (I did the Evil Within storyline to test the format, if you’ll recall), and finally I decided to go back to full comic book style.

At any rate, it’s been a couple of years. I’m making this newspost now because I can finally announce thatthe reboot will be launching towards the end of the month. And I’m telling you this now because we need to discuss exactly what that means.

There are naturally going to be a lot of preconceived notions and expectations going into this reboot, despite the length of time that’s passed. I did not end the original series just so that I could come back and do the exact same thing. The new series will be a big change from what was. I know I can’t expect everyone to like that, and some people will only be happy with what they became familiar with. I accept that. All I can ask is that, at the very least, you approach the new series with an open mind.

And as part of facilitating that, I want to make sure everyone is on the same page going in.

• The new series will be written and produced in the same fashion as a comic book. Each “issue” will be completed in its entirety before it is released. When I release an issue, I will post one page every day for the entirety of the issue. Alternatively, if you wish to simply read the whole thing at once, a digital copy of the issue will be made available for purchase from the start.
• The reboot is a completely fresh start. Call it an alternate universe or what have you, but as far as this new series is concerned, the previous series never happened. We are not picking up where we left off, and while some elements will be familiar, much will be different.
• The new series is not going to retread old stories. I’m thrilled that so many of you love the original series so much, and it isn’t going anywhere. It will always be there for you to read through. But the new series is just that. New.
• The new series is not a ‘two-guys-sitting-on-a-couch-making-fun-of-video-games’ endeavor. It is video-game-centric, but is not topical. These issues are written months before they’re released, and therefore can not deal with current events If I want to make comics about whatever video game just came out, I have the Players/Sillies for that.
• The new series is not a gag-a-day format. The Ethan and Lucas series is, 100%, focused on story, and as mentioned above, written in comic book form (22+ pages per issue). Again, I have other outlets for gag-a-day/one-shots.
• Ethan and Lucas are returning (obviously). While it’s possible that other familiar faces from the old series will show up later, the relationships and connections may end up entirely different than how they played out the first time. In otherwords, it’s not safe to assume that anything from the original series dictates what happens in 2.0.
• My goal will be to alternate issues of the new Ethan and Lucas series with issues of The Starcaster Chronicles. After Issue #1 of the new series is out, we’ll start Issue #2 of The Starcaster Chronicles. Ihope to be able to produce 3-4 issues of each per year going forward.

As I said above, everything is currently on track to begin releasing the first issue by the end of the month. If something explodes, maybe the first week of November at the latest. Once the issue is out, I’ll be able to make another post, answer questions, and talk more about my overall vision for these characters going forward.

I’m excited to once again be working with these characters that have meant so much to me for so many years, and finally be able to share them with you again.