Webcomics is a difficult field for me, in part because I have the artistic skills of a three-legged rhino, but it’s one I’ve always gravitated to because I’ve always been a very visual storyteller. I’ve been very lucky enough to work with artists who have helped to tell stories like Jump Leads, and when those artists find their time suddenly at a premium those stories have to end. Which is a shame, but there it is.
I loved working with JjAR on Jump Leads, and I loved, and continue to love, those characters and that universe (or multiverse). The story ended on a cliffhanger in the comic, mostly because that’s how that particular story was supposed to end, but even when JjAR stepped away and Mr. Phillby filled his somewhat sizable shoes to help finish that final story, I didn’t want to change the ending. Changing the ending would have been admitting that Jump Leads was over, and I wasn’t ready for it to be over.
In hindsight, I regret not changing the ending. I regret not giving our readers closure. Those who had stuck with the comic for five years deserved a proper ending, not what we gave them.
I want to bring Jump Leads back. I do. I’ve struggled with what form. If it were novels, I’d have written them by now. I struggle with writing longform stories. The words don’t form in my head when I sit to write. I have tried – there are unfinished drafts on my hard drive. I wonder why I don’t have the patience for it?
I keep thinking of doing audioplays. I could do that. In my head, Meaney and Llewellyn are British, but everyone else is up for grabs. It shouldn’t be too difficult to cast, right? Oh, but then there’s that whole “money” thing. Studio time, paying the artists, mixing, sound design… how do I cover all that? a Kickstarter?
In a perfect world I’d like to write comics again. But that has the same logistical problems. Time, payment, what have you. It’s a quagmire whichever way you look at it.
I did write a sort-of “Writer’s Bible” for a potential revival, though. Maybe one day I’ll be able to put it to use.