Hiatus versus infinite loop
Don’t you just hate it when a comic you have been following stops. Not at the end of a storyline but halfway through due to outside influences. This article is about three such cases and the way they have been resolved…
Firstly is RPGworld a webcomic that was one of Keenspot’s highlighted webcomics. The story itself is a parody of most RPG games especially the Final Fantasy series. The main problem with it is the timing of the hiatus, one of the most annoying ever (excluding other more annoying ones). RPG cuts out before the final showdown, the comic was coming to an end and boom no more. The reason was that the creator got bored with writing and drawing the comic. Fair enough as webcomics aren’t made for some major comic industry and the creator(s) wishes must come first. The rest of the story I do like, just its annoying to see it end how it does. However it is on infinite Hiatus and as such if the artist Ian J. could restart it sometime. The comic is well worth a read with in-jokes a plenty about the Final Fantasy games, and even if it never finishes it was worth my time reading.
So is there a way around the infinite Hiatus route. There is re-runs. Two comics I know both keenspot use this approach Bruno the Bandit and Wickedpowered.
Bruno the bandit is a comic about a bandit called Bruno. He’s had adventures and every so often the comic does re-runs. This is only a partial infinite loop as the reruns last whilst the creator taking a break from writing. I don’t mind this, and the comic itself justifies the breaks, plus the re-runs remind me of old stories that have been done a while ago. It is worth a look-see even if it is in re-run mode, because the reruns are excellent and you know its not long until another new storyline is revealed. This means that Bruno is a comic worth a look over or if you are like me worth keeping up-to-date with.
Wickedpowered is the evil-side of the infinite loop. The comic like all in this article is worth a read, however this one was funded by a company to be part of an advertisement campaign. The comic itself is a story about a guy who finds out he is going to be one of the world’s greatest heroes. You find out it is mainly due to the safe lasers he uses (from the company funding the comic), and he goes on adventures through time. However at the end of the story there is a time loop and the comic restarts at day one. Which is great until you realise that it is day one, none of the characters remember what has happened and the comic has just restarted. In an infinite loop. The creators have said they would one day like to restart the comic and as the comic is currently mid-run that means I have to check every 8 months to see if it has been restarted. This is the single fact that grates me the most.
So infinite loop or hiatus. It is on a short term basis, just to keep the comic on schedule, re-runs are worth doing in my opinion, you get to see the old stories again and most people are happy. On the long term scale though it might be worth stopping and then restarting when you have found the time/love for the comic again.
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