Webcomics fall into all sorts of categories. They range from autobiographical to furries-in-space…and sometimes even autobiographical furries. But there are only two kinds of webcomic creators…Professionals and Hobbyists. Professionals treat their webcomic as a business and everything they do supports that. And Hobbyists…do not. Hobbyists play fast and loose with deadlines, have no real plan moving forward and sort of take wild stabs in the dark. Occassionally they will fall into moderate success with this method, but it almost always takes a change in attitude before that happens.
For the last several years, we have been Hobbyists. That isn’t to say that Shadowgirls didn’t have professional level work, because I believe very strongly that it does. Our production values are pro all the way…our approach, however, was totally hobbyist. And even though it was unintentional, it doesn’t make it less true. So, after we managed to get through the last season, it was time for us to take a step back and not only decide what sort of webcomic we wanted to be but also what it would take to get us there.
Which brings us to today; at this overhaul and relaunch of Shadowgirls. While there are a lot of cosmetic changes you are going to find in the coming weeks, you are also going to see a lot of structural changes in how we approach the business of making webcomics. From our newly acquired producer who has assembled a schedule and plan for us, to the exclusion of any non-Shadowgirls material from the main site. Sure, we’ll still have two weeks between each episode, but those two weeks will have only direct Shadowgirls material by US. No fill in artists. No other comics or comic strips. Anything like that will appear in its own section of the site or, like the new Lindsey story, be a extra you can get by voting. But the Shadowgirls site, is just that. And we aim to keep it that way. A massive amount of work has gone into making sure that we no longer experience a delay in our production and posting schedule. And this relaunch is a symbol of our commitment to not just the work…but to truly becoming professional webcomic authors.
As webcomics go, Shadowgirls really did start out ahead of the curve. We believe that it is now time for us to live up to that promise. I thank the fans that have stayed with us through these delays and welcome the ones that we hope will find us in the coming weeks.
I look forward to what the next four years will bring for all of us. Welcome to Season Two.
David A. Rodriguez
