LCS will be coming to an end. I’ve made the decision to end this comic quite a while ago. Page 568: Gassed, was the last script James ever sent me. Since then I have not heard a word from him. I have no idea what happened, I assumed he got disinterested and/or very busy and quit because his frequency of writing became less and less reliable. The Llama arc was the first one fully written by me and I resolved that if he didn’t get back to me by page 600 then it would mean I was on my own. It was that point it became clear to me not if this webcomic would end, but when. Working a 9-5 with a long commute was tough when I was just drawing the comic, but having to write it too put it on the verge to being too much. I struggled to come up with plots, reduced out 4 panel layout to 3 to draw it quicker, and this comic went from being something fun to do to being a chore. I’ve thought about straight quitting once or twice. Fortunately the past year has been better, my current job offers a lot of flexibility which is nice.
I decided to start a webcomic over 10 years ago. All I had was the concept of me working at a comic shop, the image of the first page, and the opening of the Llama arc. Everything else was just a vague idea. Most of what made this comic what it is came from James without him it would have been nothing. Back then I had the thought of “It would be nice to make to 1,000 pages, which would be a good achievement to go out on.” So that’s my goal, 100 pages to go which will be a little over a year’s time. Putting a set ending help everything go much smoother. I could pace out exactly how future story arcs and be writing towards something rather than spinning my wheels. I know how I would like the series to end and have been making my way towards it. There may be a few extra stuff after page #1,000, including possibly James’ lost unfinished story arc. The final page will be a splash page titled “LCS: The Complete series”. I may also do some retrospectives in the blog as this year goes by, behind the scenes info, character creation/breakdowns, etc.
I never had much hope for the comic to become a break out success. While it would have been nice if this became popular I knew it wouldn’t do to my lack being able to promote anything. Still if you know people who may like the webcomic send them a link, post your favorite page on social media, make meme out of the panels, or whatever (See? Very bad at self promoting). It’ll be sad to no longer have this comic part of my life and I’m sure I’ll fine a new creative outlet, but for now I’m looking forward to getting my Monday and Thursday nights back.
Here’s to 1,000 pages!