It's that time again! The great Monkeywrench of HissTank.com has a few questions on his mind. He will not stop until he gets the answers that he craves... Will I be able to provide him with the details he wants? Read on and find out!
Monkeywrench:
It was really cool seeing the Dreadnoks in File #30. Do you have any plans of making a full story arc involving them?
1337W422102:
Not at this time, though they will show up now and again to stir up trouble and generally be a pain in the Joes' (and Cobra's ) collective asses.
Monkeywrench:
One of my favorite Files is #5. One thing I like is it takes place in the Motor Pool. I also liked how the vehicles were used in File #31. I know it’s difficult to use vehicles, but do you have plans to use more of them? Specifically the MOBAT?
1337W422102:
I love the vehicles. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Clutch and VAMP pack! And if it wasn't for my good buddy Homer, I wouldn't have managed to get the MOBAT (among other things) at all.
The MOBAT will find its way into the comic, but before I introduce it, I think I'll touch up its paint first. Read its blueprints and take a good look at the tank: there are tons of intricate sculpted details which are lost because they're not painted. Then again, I'm sure people would have complained if there was a nice wash to bring out the detail...
Monkeywrench:
Will we ever see a story arc with Grunt being the main character?
1337W422102:
Maybe. He'll be the central character in some issues and have larger roles in others, but I don't have plans for an entire story arc that focuses on him just yet.
Monkeywrench:
I personally prefer Hawk’s rank as a Colonel. However his General Hawk figure is great. Will we ever see Hawk get promoted to General in your comics?
1337W422102:
I prefer having him a colonel, too. That being said, his General Hawk figure is terrific, with some reservations (mainly the damn arms that can't bend 90 degrees). General Hawk will appear in the comic. I'm not sure when, but he will show up, eventually.
Until I have a clear plan, I'll keep him in his O13 costume. When I do 'upgrade him,' he will deserve some grand rebooting. Maybe he gets injured and when he comes back, he's got his new costume and the Joes are real proud of him. (That scene from the Marvel comic where he shows up in the Pit with his new costume for the first time comes to mind!) Now that I think of it, if I wanted to do this, the heart attack would have been a great time to...!
Monkeywrench:
Willow first appeared in File #15. Did you honestly have plans for the Willow arc that far ahead? Or did things just kinda fall into place and you ran with it?
1337W422102:
Well, here's the story. I hope you guys will believe me! When I first saw that O13 Hawk and Comic-Coloured Scarlett Comic Pack, I didn't have a Scarlett. So, I made that CP Scarlett my default Scarlett until I got the single-carded version. I didn't want to have useless duplicates of characters (this was before I started customizing), so once I got my single-carded Scarlett, CP Scarlett became my figure of Willow from Jim Starlin's comic "Dreadstar."
I plan out comics a long time in advance. I don't always jot down the ideas, though, and sometimes I lose track of things. When I was making that real classy gentleman's club scene for File #15, I was short on non-Joe/Cobra female figures (don't worry, I have more now!) to use as strippers. For a while, I had planned on adding "Willow" to the cast, and I used her as a stripper in File #15.
After I had posted the comic, reader, friend, and fellow Canadian Imperial_Serpentor asked me what Scarlett was doing to Grunt. That's when I realized I HADN'T INTRODUCED WILLOW YET. Serious facepalm moment right there. I knew that the figure was supposed to be Willow, but the readers naturally didn't. I had messed up!
I changed priorities at that point. Getting the Willow story out to explain who that character was became my biggest goal. The "Breaker's Girl" story ended with File #17, but I still needed to finish writing the Willow story. Why would she show up? What would she want? What would she do? How would the arc end?
Thing is, Christmas was rapidly approaching, and I wanted to do a 'holiday special' issue. Also, the 21st-issue mark was drawing near, and I wanted to do a silent 21st issue. I didn't want to start the Willow arc and have to interrupt it twice, so I made a single-issue throwaway story (File #18: "Tapping the Ram," featuring a Transformer cameo), and once the Christmas issue (File #19: Special Occasions") was done, I made the first part of the Willow arc, File #20: "The Scarlett Letter." Time needed to pass between Scarlett's getting the letter and Willow arriving, so I had a chance to post File #21: "Silent Auction."
In File #22: "Seeing Double," I explained that Willow is "the chick who gave [Grunt] a lap dance at Breaker's party!" to try to emphasize that the stripper was NOT Scarlett!
It's also worth noting that "Tiger WTForce," the comic that would later become File #31, was originally going to be File #18 but was pushed back due to the circumstances.
So, to answer your question, yes, I did have plans for the Willow story that far ahead. And to be honest, think I had the plans a little TOO far ahead!
Thanks to Monkeywrench for the questions, and I'm sorry it took me so damn long to answer them!
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