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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2013 3:59:00 GMT -5
The First Authority/Planetary Special-Six Degrees of Century Babies-is up in the Planetary forum. Hope you enjoy.
-M
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Post by liquidsword34 on Feb 4, 2013 19:02:22 GMT -5
This didn't really feel like an Authority issue, both in terms of the focus of the issue and how the team operated. Not saying that's a good or a bad thing really really.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2013 19:09:49 GMT -5
This didn't really feel like an Authority issue, both in terms of the focus of the issue and how the team operated. Not saying that's a good or a bad thing really really. The specials are generally outside the scope of either series but contain story points relevant to both. This first special was meant to show the evolution of Jenny's role from one of the century babies working as an ally of, but under the direction of Elijah to the one with "the Authority"-by the end she is the one who is large and in charge. In that path I also wanted to introduce a bit of J'onn and Ray's origins without it being an origin story. The reason it was a special was that it didn't fit specifically under one or the other, but it was more about the Secret History than the ongoing covert war, so I put it in the Planetary forum and did it in place of a Planetary issue rather than an Authroity issue. -M
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Post by Drake on Feb 5, 2013 21:23:00 GMT -5
Lord, that was good. By far better than the first Authority issue! It was very good! I was sucked into the story and am definitely onboard with both Planetary and Authority. Other than the occasional error, it was nearly perfect grammar-wise. There is one problem I've noticed you have. When addressing a person you should use a comma before their name. "Hello, Jenny." You did it some of the time and didn't others. I don't know what was going on, but I felt I should inform you just in case.
Also, I've got to say I love the feel of the series. It seems so big and important! 9.5/10.
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Post by Stardrifter on Feb 9, 2013 18:34:03 GMT -5
A good issue for the most part. I love how ambitious you are with both series, but sometimes I wonder if you're too ambitious. I did appreciate the summary at the beginning. Even though I've been following it fine, it was helpful to have a summarized refresher.
My only concern here is all the jumping around. As someone whose doing alot of flashbacks myself, I'd love for yours to be a bit more focused and less all over the place. I feel like things jump around so much that I'm not reading a story so much as a collection of scenes with a thin connection.
That's might just be my impression. But as always, good work. Keep em coming.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2013 23:50:27 GMT -5
I definitely hear you Star. The Authority series itself is going to be more straightforward storytelling, mostly linear. Any scenes not part of the main story are more build ups of B and C plots for the future rather than flashbacks. The prologue in issue #1 of Authority was a set up for an arc that is on slow burn-it will simmer in the background while the main story of the first arc plays out over the next handful of issues, but it may simmer longer as well. The plan for Authority is only to do flashbacks in specials, one-shots, or minis that fill in some of the backstory of the major players, but keep the focus squarely on Jenny's cell in the present and what they are doing.
Planetary itself is more about the secret history. That history is the story, and Elijah is the touchstone for that history. It's about memory and mindwipes, what we think we know and what we want desperately to be true. How we remember things versus what actually happened. Our minds receive millions of stimuli each and every second of the day, whether we are conscious or not, little bits of information fired into our brains constantly, yet our brains cannot function at that level, and we only process less than 1% of the stimuli we receive. The brain fills in the blanks from memories and expectations rather than facts. Elijah's life is a macrocosm of that, so it is disjointed, scenes all over the place sometimes seemingly only tenuously connected. Its about truth and deception (self and those imposed by others) but most of all its about stories and how we interact with them, with Elijah being our tour guide and our guinea pig.
I'm working on the second special now, and it will showcase elements of the antagonists for both series and reveal who is behind most of what is occurring, or at least who thinks they are behind most of what is occurring.
Authority #2 is also in the works and focuses on the aftermath of J'onn and Ray's encounter with the Midnighter, the first salvo in the resumption of hostilities now that Elijah's revival has ended the cease-fire.
-M
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Post by buck on Feb 16, 2013 2:28:21 GMT -5
Fantastic special issue man.
You gave Jónn a depth of character he rarely gets in any media so congrads there. It was also a nice touch spelling out the members of the Secret Society they've all been touched on but that really helped me get them straight.
Enjoyed Ray's introduction really looking forward to seeing his development he's definitely got a bit of an Ultimazation going for himt hough.
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Post by Ultimate Silentking on Feb 24, 2013 2:14:29 GMT -5
Okay, I am doing two separate reviews here. First one is for issue #2-6 of Planetary. Second one is a review of the special. Planetary is doing very well and has been very enjoyable. But immediately, it doesn't have me all that interested since I found myself going on a break between reading issue #3 and #4 due to not being interested enough to do so. Although, it probably didn't help that I was behind by a lot of issues from various titles and had felt overwhelmed by all the reviewing I was gonna have to make. There was obviously some mistakes in spelling and grammar, but you knew that already. But it was still a good read and is certainly what you are great at. 8/10 overall.
The Special. OH GOD, THE SPECIAL! This was simply godly! Any potential lost of interest in I had in Planetary has vanished now! You also know how I complained about being heavily confused about the first issue of Authority? NOT ANYMORE! I was also gonna complain of a plot hole in issue 6 that really took me out of it, but this issue filled that hole nicely. Now, if you just hadn't made any spelling or grammar mistakes. Then I would have given this a ten out of ten and defend that rating to my grave. 9.5/10 because of spelling and grammar mistakes. Seriously, only reason I didn't give you a perfect 10.
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Post by DiscipleofBob on Feb 25, 2013 11:30:37 GMT -5
FINALLY caught up with this.
I will say that while the first issue left me generally confused, by the end I think I'm following pretty well. I'm enjoying the story profusely.
The Authority/Planetary special illicits a "meh" reaction from me, but I think that's because after power-reading the Planetary issues from the beginning my brain started to slightly implode. That and I have yet to read Authority yet.
I can't really compare to the original since I've never read the original, but I'm enjoying the characterizations and plot. It eventually comes together like one jigsaw puzzle, though I'm certain there are still mysteries on some levels I haven't even become to fathom.
Solid thumbs-up.
So am I to understand that if certain characters in other franchises had some kind of immunity to mind control, they might remember the Mongo events of th '30s?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2013 14:21:24 GMT -5
So am I to understand that if certain characters in other franchises had some kind of immunity to mind control, they might remember the Mongo events of th '30s? Quite possible but PM me for specifics. -M
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Post by DiscipleofBob on Feb 25, 2013 14:30:56 GMT -5
So am I to understand that if certain characters in other franchises had some kind of immunity to mind control, they might remember the Mongo events of th '30s? Quite possible but PM me for specifics. -M In all likelihood it probably wouldn't actually come up in anything I have planned. The only thing I could actually think of is the Gods of Olympus being immune and knowing the truth, but at this point I'm not seeing how it would really come up in the story or affect anything.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2013 0:51:56 GMT -5
FINALLY caught up with this... It eventually comes together like one jigsaw puzzle, though I'm certain there are still mysteries on some levels I haven't even become to fathom. I should have commented on this earlier, but this is exactly how the title should be read. The tagline for the original Planetary series was Archaeologists of the Unknown, and I am aiming for a similar vibe here. Each issue will give you some pieces of the whole, but how they fit together is a slower reveal. I hope part of the fun for the reader is putting the picture together and trying to figure out the bigger picture. There may be some misinformation or red herrings along the way, as several characters are trying to keep secrets not reveal them, and there are some pieces that may need to be peeled like an onion where there are several layers of it to be revealed. The hardest part is that there is no box cover to tell you what the puzzle is supposed to look like yet. But that's how archaeology works. You discover this artifact and have to puzzle out what it is, how it works, and how it fits into the bigger picture (it's really not all fighting Nazis and death traps, but that does happen sometimes). -M
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2013 19:02:30 GMT -5
The Second Authority/Planetary Special is up, this time focusing on the other side.
Madhouse Studios is also announcing the the Planetary title has undergone a name change. Beginning with issue #7, it will now be known as Tales from the Planetary Guide. It will tell tales from throughout the secret history, but never fear the events of 2013 will be revealed in later issues of the Planetary Guide. The Authority title will continue to be set in the present.
-M
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Post by Drake on Mar 3, 2013 10:50:51 GMT -5
This was fantastic! It was great seeing the endless secret war from the POV of the baddies, and it definitely made them just a little more relatable. 8.75/10.
I do have a question though. Not about the issue as much as your last comment in this thread. Did you mean to say 2103 or was that a typo for 2013?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2013 12:05:11 GMT -5
It was a typo, and fixed, thanks.
-M
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Post by Stardrifter on Mar 6, 2013 20:53:23 GMT -5
It was a good issue. Offered up some insight into what's happening. But I noticed this issue wasn't as polished as your issues normally are. The history at the beginning started to repeat itself, saying the same things over again. There were also a lot of errors. Sometimes your sentences or paragraphs were a bit awkward, using the same word or phrase repeatedly. Just seemed like it needed another proofread and didn't get it.
Otherwise it was good. Moriarty and Nemo are an interesting pair. Keep em coming.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 1:39:09 GMT -5
It was a good issue. Offered up some insight into what's happening. But I noticed this issue wasn't as polished as your issues normally are. The history at the beginning started to repeat itself, saying the same things over again. There were also a lot of errors. Sometimes your sentences or paragraphs were a bit awkward, using the same word or phrase repeatedly. Just seemed like it needed another proofread and didn't get it. Otherwise it was good. Moriarty and Nemo are an interesting pair. Keep em coming. Yeah, I will freely admit this one was a rush job to meet deadlines. It got a draft, quick revision and a once over proofread rather than my usual write a draft, put it aside for a day or two, then come back and revise, then put aside, come back and proofread, etc. wash rinse repeat process. The history in the openings is more of a riff on the previously in...type pre-credit pages than meant to be original material. Kind of putting the various pieces revealed all over the pace in a more cohesive whole picture, so it will be a bit repetitive. The other redundancies and repetitions were definitely edit/polish issues. -M
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2013 1:56:39 GMT -5
So solicit for #7 is up, and the issue should go live once I have had time to revise and edit the draft-I am hoping to get back to issues going up on Sunday nights, but I will not be returning to anything resembling the weekly schedule anytime soon.
#7 is a change for Planetary. The title is changing, becoming Tales from the Planetary Guide. Each arc will be titled after the year it is set in. The new arc is 1941. The first issue will feature Elijah and the Shadow working a case together in 1941 Chicago, but the story will eventually lead Elijah to the "Dark Continent" of pulp legend.
Issues #1-6 should be considered Tales from the Planetary Guide 2013 Act One. 2013 Act Two is in the works, but we are going to flesh out some of the characters and history of Planetary before diving back in to the present. The Authority however, will continue to be set in 2013, so I am not abandoning the present entirely.
The change is intended to narrow the focus of Planetary for a bit and keep the cast smaller until the characters become more familiar to the readers.
There is a third Planetary/Authority Special in the works as well, but it may be a month or two before it sees the light of day...
Hopefully I can get back into the groove on these books and get ahead of the curve on the Dreaded Deadline Doom that has been plaguing them of late. Each installment may be a little shorter than normal (for me that is) until I do, but that is intentional as I am experimenting with something again.
Writing period pieces can be fun, but challenging as well. In the course of writing this I had to research a lot of little details including fire hydrants, pneumatic tires, electric windshield wipers, jazz and supper clubs, and 1941 headlines among other things. Plus well Chicago of the 40's in general. I could have winged a lot of it, but I like my period fiction to feel authentic and the extra work is for my own piece of mind on it.
-M
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2013 16:40:43 GMT -5
Ok Tales from the Planetary Guide #7 is up for your perusal...
-M
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Post by The Wonderful Wachter on Mar 17, 2013 16:50:29 GMT -5
Yay. I just noticed you heeded my advice and cut back on the crazy scene break stuff.
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