The New Era

This is the first of it’s kind. And I hope not the last.

You’ll notice that it’s quite different than a comic, but it is the continuation of Magical Girl Kamiko.

To use this new interface, you’ll have to click on the dialogue box to step through the dialogue between our heroes. For those of you who know, the interface has a lot more in common with a visual novel than a webcomic. If you click too fast, you can tap the “History” button and read what you missed. When you get to the end, you can also reply, but you can also refresh the page and start from the beginning agian.

Now… this being some new technology I’m integrating with the site, there will be bugs and weird problems. It’s not perfect. It may even entirely flop over day one — I’m crossing my fingers that it will not.

If you notice anything, don’t hesitate to click the Contact button and drop me a line.

I would appreciate it greatly.

If there’s a usability issue, please tell me. I’d like to make this format as easy as possible for you to engage with, because it’s here to stay.

Why this new format though?

This Mortal Coil has always been about exploring my artistry through different means.

This is the next iteration of that.

Making the comic has always been time consuming compared to how long it takes for you to read it.

This insane idea was to change how the story is authored. Instead of drawing an image for everything and creating long vertical comics, the idea is to build stages and “puppets” and use this stagecraft to write stories.

I understand the irony of using visual novel/video game tech, which is a level harder to deal with, to make something “easier.”

The upfront cost is high — there’s the code, drawing backgrounds, and building puppets, and putting it all together, but the hope is that in the long run it’ll get easier as more content is produced. And, I can only know how it’ll turn out by doing it.

This doesn’t mean the old formats are dead.

In fact, This Mortal Coil, should be every format. It should be written as a story, presented as a comic, and made interactive because its digital.

And I should be able to mix and match those mediums based on how I feel a part of the story should be presented (or honestly, how much time I have to make it).