[8FOLD/PRECOGS] April is Eightfold Comics Month

[Tom Russell]

Andrew Perron wrote:

> Interesting.  But what makes it different than the other universes?
> `.` I mean, it's interesting that it takes any genre, and has certain
> limits on who's allowed to be an author.  But what opportunities are
> opened up by writing within the shared universe, rather than just
> doing the story by itself?

I guess it's the same opportunity opened by writing in any shared
universe: working with others to build, piece by piece, the fabric of a
world.  One could certainly do any story all by its lonesome-- Speak!
could just as easily be a MISC series, as could Joltin' Jamie's
forthcoming Template-- but we chose to tell them within the same
universe.

It's probably a matter of personal preference more than anything else:
I had a story, I like Jamie and his work, we seem to have a lot of the
same opinions about the cliches that strangle most comics and
comics-related fiction, and it's just an opportunity to try something
new.  And I don't think we're exactly as much as a closed universe as
we might seem.  I think we'll probably let just about anybody join.  We
just want to avoid people blowing up Chicago and telling everyone they
can't use it anymore.  (Yes, yes, Jesse, we know: you DID tell everyone
you were going to do it nearly a year ahead of time.  But with a closed
or semi-closed universe, there's more of a chance of everyone reading
it and taking it seriously and discussing it with you.)

Again, I would say the only thing that distinguishes Eightfold from the
other RACC imprints is that there is no overriding, unifying idea,
theme, or tone.  And, again, this isn't a knock: I'd hate to read an
Omega series about Peelix the Cat.  Oftentimes, it's the overriding
idea that makes a universe cohesive.  What we're trying is to create a
cohesive universe that's as chaotic as real life (the silly and the
sublime side-by-side: General Patton, John Titor, and Mike the headless
chicken [miketheheadlesschicken.org] all occupy the same earth as the
Unabomber, the BTK, and Archimedes Plutonium) but not as chaotic as the
LNH or your standard issue chaotic add-on (hence the closed universe).

So, to answer the question... why would someone want to write in the
Eightfold Comics universe as opposed to any of the other imprints,
their own imprint, or a MISC?  Because they like us, like what we're
doing, and want to work with us, I guess.  It's not so much
opportunities or options being opened to someone as a writer, as it is
an opportunity to create something together, to collaborate, to
proofread one another's work, offer suggestions, etc.

If that's something you would dig, then a shared universe might be for
you.

If working with Jamie and I in particular is something you would dig,
then Eightfold might be for you.

That, and we can have our own awards ceremony, thus increasing the
chance of winning.  :-)

> Andrew "NO .SIG MAN" "Juan" Perron, 'n such.

--Tom Russell