Peregrine Lake

Yesterday I finished the final comic of UnCONventional. It won’t go online until next week (I was working ahead), but it’s… it’s done? It’s done.

And it’s the weirdest feeling.

I’ve never finished something like this before. I mean, I’ve ended projects, I’ve stopped updating things… but I’ve never intentionally finished a project of this scope. I planned this ending three years ago, and I actually DID it. I hate to repeat myself this much, but, it just so, so strange.

UnCONventional was ten years of my life. It was a massive undertaking, and I don’t think there’s anything I’ve ever done in my life to this scale. It’s kind of frightening to finish what’s been the most popular story I’ve ever told — and there is a temptation to keep it going just because of that — but I know it’s time.

These characters and their lives have been taking up space in my head for so long that I’m really going to miss them. Since these epilogues have been covering the next five to ten years of the character’s lives, I’m answering all the questions I’d normally have about what they’re doing next. It’s really a massive goodbye.

A goodbye to people who only live in our collective imaginations.

On the other hand, it’s really freeing not to be locked into the structure of a comic that’s taking place in real time. I’m working on a new thing, and the one thing I’m making sure I do is not tie it to the real world’s calendar. There are so many stories I rushed through in UnCONventional because I needed to jump to keep up with the actual changes of the year. This time around I’m not going to do that. And… while I said I was saying goodbye to everyone earlier, there may be a couple of characters I’m not done dedicating brainspace to.

(The super-secret project won’t start until spring 2020, but I’ll announce what it is on December 6th.)

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