Well, If George Lucas can do it...

I don't see why I cant.

I'm constructing a "prequil" to Anywhere but Here, using the scripts from the original 30 strips as a template for the "actual" introduction to the strip. This will NOT be a seperate series, nor will it be a "flashback" series.

Rather, it's going to be a very interesting implimenation...to be certain.

Try and keep this clear....

The very FIRST strip I actually published for this series was published on December 6th 2004.

However, very soon when you go into the archives, you'll see the first "intended" strip, the very begining...the "pilot" if you would...for the entire series, and that should have a publish date of June 1st, 2003.

See...when I first came up with the idea of the strip, it was in 2001. (I even found some of my old templates for it, and the first title for it was "the end of the road".) I actually have the outline for the first 30 strips...all written around 2001/2002. Looking over my outlines for Anywhere but Here, and reading over the final story arc, I realize that is VERY FRIGGIN IMPORTANT to get these strips published to the web. When I first started "doing" this strip in December of 2004, I had no idea if people would like it or not. So I started in the middle of the story. Why? Becuase that was what was most interesting to ME as a creator. I didn't want to do the backstory becuase I already DID the backstory in my mind. I'm at a different place now then I was then. So I started where I felt most comfortable.

The problem is, the backstory REALLY REALLY needs to be told. So, I'm going to publish them, and I'm going to publish them to the keenspace site...starting with the date June 1st, 2003. And HOPE that I have the right start date, and have aproximatly the right starting TIME. Fingers crossed.

So, the first strip that I ever DID will be the December 6th 2004 strip, but very soon when you hit "go to the first strip" you'll see "June 1st, 2003". Which means that the first strip in this epic story takes place 2 years ago...and you can, if you'ld like, read what's happening 2 years in the past, as well as what's happening "today".

In the realms of quantum physics, this is refered to "as a major head fuck".

Thank you Stephen Hawkings for coining such an eloquant term.

My suggestion...just read the daily's. And go through the archives as you feel the need to go through them.

This is why these strips need to be published:

The explain an awefull lot about what the hell "The Dude" is doing in North Dakota, why he's here, an awefull lot of character motivation that I understand, and actually explains an awefull lot concerning the entire, and I mean ENTIRE arc of this story. After going through my notes, a lot of what I have planned for the ending isn't going to have nearly the impact that it will if this isn't told.

I'm going to TRY and get that year and a half of backstory in by christmas of this year.

TRY is the operative word.

Because I'm ALSO going to be publishing the DAILY strip..well...daily.

So, if you do the math...

thats an ASSLOAD of strips to get in for christmas now isn't it.

To me the MOST important thing is to get the dailys out on time.

The second most important part is getting more of the back story out within the next year and a half. What I really want is to have someone in about a years time read the archives from start to finish and get the whole story, from the start to where we are at now. For my CURRENT readers, well, just think of it like this:

You caught a brand new television series half way through the second season. You're also able to check out the first season in syndication at the same time.

May god have mercy on my soul. This could get interesting.

Cheers.

-Jason

PS, to make things even shittier for myself, I'm going to mimic my "old shitty" style for those year and a half of strips. So as not to make it look like my art suddenly got terribly terribly shitty for a month during december of 2004. However if it does, those of you who were there from the begining can simply say "oh, he had syphilis for about a month. Man, did it show in his strips."

See, it all makes sense doesn't it?