Pandeia

Frequently Asked Questions:

1: So like, what’s with the name?

I have a boner for Greek Mythology. That’s the short answer. This from theoi.com – PANDEIA was a daughter of the sky-god Zeus and the moon-goddess Selene. It is likely that she was a goddess of the full moon (panselênê in Greek). Essentially, this story has a future mythos, in which Selene was the legendary sister-world of Earth. Long ago, she died, and the Menai – the ring of debris orbiting the planet – formed from her ashes. Pandeia is… well if you can put two-and-two together and see where the story is going, I think you’re a smart boffin and deserve a gold star. If you can’t… all will become clear when I SPOON-FEED IT TO YOU.

2: What is the release schedule for Pandeia?

When I first began producing pages, the release schedule was set at a modest 1 page per week. I’ve since gotten better, and now aim to update three times a week when I can.

3: How many books will there be?

At the moment, it is unclear. I am aiming for each six-or-seven issue run to be released in a trade paperback, and so far I have story for two books… but with each character I add, more story comes with them that needs telling.

4: What software do you use to create this comic?

I use Blender and GIMP. I sketch out the roughs digitally on a pre-formatted paneled page. I build most of the set pieces, the vehicles, and many props in Blender, then render out a series of passes – line, color, and shadows. I then import these passes onto the page, where I assemble them on their corresponding panels. I then add inks for things which are more organic: landscapes, characters, etc. I also touch up the line-work rendered out from Blender. I merge all the inks into one layer; all the colors and shadows into their own layers, then once the artwork is down, I create the speech bubbles, type out the words, and export a jpeg ready for upload and schedule on the website.

5: Is it only available as a web-comic? What if I like print?

I’m glad you asked! Simply click on the eStore menu item, and you will be able to purchase both eBook and print versions of Pandeia!

6: So… how DID the moon get destroyed? Will we ever know?

It may seem strange, but how the moon got destroyed is not hardly as important as a bunch of other stuff. In fact, the back-story is so detailed, it may make for a cool spin-off all on its own! It will be alluded to, however. It’s a pretty big elephant in the room… or… sky…

The truth is that the destruction of the moon is seen as a mythical thing, and the different cultures in this story will have their own legends on how it happened. It also gives me a good excuse to do a prequel eventually, which would be a pretty cool story to tell on its own.

7: Do you have the story written, or are you making it up as you go along?

The truth: a little bit of both. I’ve now spent about four years studying, learning and practising story-telling. I’ve talked about some of my journey on The Process Diary, but this is the phase where I put what I’ve learned to the test. I am still learning. I’ve got the over-arching story. I have several plot points I am really happy with. Even now, I am re-ordering some of those plot-points because they serve better purposes in other places in the story-arc. I’ve developed these characters to the point where they each have a goal, and will be constantly tested with conflicting characters to see who wins out. Everything else, well… that’s just the very pretty icing on the cake.

8: I noticed lots of Greek symbols and stuff. Do the characters speak Greek?

Good question! The reason for the Greek symbols will become clear, hopefully sooner rather than later. They don’t speak Greek, and don’t expect to see proper use of Greek anywhere. There is a very good reason for this (and no, it’s not simply because I can’t speak or write Greek properly myself. I can’t, but that’s not the reason). I will give you a hint: what characters are often used in physics and maths? That should get you started.

FINAL NOTE:

Any other questions you guys might have, please feel free to put them in the comments box below, tweet me: @pandeiacomic or leave a comment on the facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pandeiacomic