Thread "Unshared universe." in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 3:08AM, Aug. 22, 2023

Just thought I bring up the subject of just NOT connecting every work together under a single collective bindings and letting each title one works on operate under their own setting, rules and characters even if they share designs and names.

I do have a few comic projects planned in the future and one decision I had made is they are going to have their own thing, with very few exceptions of a spin off or two, so I can have different things like having a cartoon world of half dressed funny animals filled with mechas that fight space aliens to a high fantasy Bakumatsu Isekai where the humans from Earth are not special chosen ones but just, there.

Honestly I would prefer if things didn't have this over reaching "rules set" of shared universe, even though I love crossovers, just have each title have their own little pocket of existence to do what they want or need to do.

Hell, earlier I said I like to do a spin off so I wouldn't interrupt , but perhaps I should put the story in the mainline just to keep things contained to one title and make it easier to follow what's going on.

What is your thoughts on this subject?

Posted at 4:08AM, Aug. 22, 2023

I just made my universe so big and diverse that it can accommodate a lot of different things. That way I can do crossovers whenever I want. Of course that means I have to keep track of a couple of dozen different worlds and 10,000 years of history.

But lots of room.

Posted at 5:08AM, Aug. 22, 2023

I've managed to incorporate all of the genre settings I wanted to play with into one universal, yet also very confined setting by taking full advantage of its enviromental dynamics.

It incorporates high-fantasy, while actually being set in a sci-fi/modern future, by having all the fantasy characters be little people with their own fantasy races and realms. Their world is able to be different because they live out in the wilderness, navigating this different dimension of the same world due to their tiny size while also occasionally clashing with the modern/sci-fi setting of regular sized people.

It incorporates post-apocalypse by dividing the island nation that most of the stories takes place in into two blocks, one a urban sprawl area and one radioactive, mutated countryside populated by mutant people who've decided to leave the urban living to embrace their philosophy of living side by side with the mutated enviroment that made them the way they are, becoming villagers and sea pirates hunting for treasure in the ancient ruins of the wilderness. I also work in space opera here by switching out outer space and spaceships for deep ocean and submarines (I mean, hey, the ocean is a lot like outer space)

It incorporates giant mech stuff by switching out the giant mechs for apparantly unliving dolls made from fungus stuff who in spirit form dives into the sub-anatomical space of the mutated human body–and accidently comes back as the hosts of that same body, like a mech pilot stepping out of his/her machine for the very first time:P

Extensive purposing and repurposing of a world's dynamics like that can give you a surprising amount of stuff to play with in a relatively small sandbox, without having to come up with over-written rules of why and how they coexist.

Posted at 2:08PM, Aug. 22, 2023

Basically, anything and/or everything that is created or produced within in my realm is collectively umbrella'd under The Joseph Scarbrough Universe, and has been since I've been a Content Creator, and that includes but is not limited to my VAMPIRE GIRL comic, my Steve D'Monster shorts and films, any random project I may come out with like a one-off short or film, and even my MORON LEAGUE miniseries of fan films to a lesser extent. It's not entirely uncommon that my separate works my blend and/or crossover into each other; for example, I've toyed with the idea of adapting VAMPIRE GIRL into a live action film, and having Steve being a Kermit the Frog-esque storyteller throughout.

And yes, I am aware that "universe" sounds a little inflated and pretentious, but honestly, "world" has been overdone, and even growing up as a kid, my teachers often felt I lived in my own little universe anyway, so it seemed fitting.

Posted at 3:08AM, Aug. 23, 2023

I'd forgotten that I did one comic set in an alternate Earth time line, however the universe is set up to accommodate "alternate time lines" as being another human inhabited planet like Star Trek:TOS (the original series) had alternate Earths in such episodes as The Omega Glory and Miri. So the alternate time line is merely another planet in the galaxy.

I have an alternate Star Fleet and Federation too. There is in universe explanation why the TV series and a version of the real thing can coexist, besides just because I like doing tributes to the Star Trek series.

Like I said; it's a big universe and a lot of room but at the same time a lot to keep track of. I have to actively resist temptation and do retcons. Often stories are done out of strict historical sequence. In fact, I've done a few origin comics detailing how certain subspecies were created. When the accounts vary, there is a reasonable in universe explanation why they can differ. History is often written from many different perspectives ,records can be incomplete and character's memories may not always be 100% accurate recollections. People often conflate historical events.

Lots of room in one big very troubled universe.