| 1. Didn't there used to be a different site for this comic? And it was all purple? And there were like, other features? What happened? The old Sterling site was designed by a friend of mine who pretty much went MIA a little while after I started using his design. Unfortunately, some of the coding he used was incompatible with what my hosting would support, so there were a lot of technical problems with the site that weren't easy to fix. Eventually, I decided it was better to go back to my simple, home-spun website that I could actually control without having to immerse myself in programming language or be overly dependent upon those who do. Plus, I just got sick of purple. 2. Wait, now that I think about it, weren't you dead or something? Sterling had a very rocky period for well over a year due to a combination of website problems (see above), tendonitus in my right hand, and some general life problems. I never lost my enthusiasm for the project, but there was a lot of stuff that I had to deal with that made concentrating on the comic nigh-impossible for quite a while. I am continually in awe of those artists who can keep up with their comics regardless of whatever may be going on in their personal lives (i.e. "I'm having my leg amputated on Sunday, but this should not affect the Monday update in any way, because I'd rather die than miss an update!"), but I don't seem to have that capacity, and I'd rather work on making my life better than try to develop it. So far, I think I'm making good progress. 3. When does this comic update? Sterling updates sporadically. You should be able to find out when updates are posted by getting an RSS feed of my blog. 4. What genre is Sterling? Popular fiction. Actually, I had an interesting discussion with someone once, where they kept asking "what section would Sterling be in if it was sold in a bookstore?" I kept saying popular fiction, and he kept saying "No, that's not a category, I mean like romance or western or that sort of thing." From this I learned that there are still people who never go to bookstores. 5. What's it rated? This comic is actually completely innapropriate for everyone currently alive. Including me. **Edit** Okay, now that I've gotten my glib answer out of the way, I should answer this. Considering how concerned parents have to be about what their kids stumble over on the internet these days, this is not a trivial question. As of this writing, other than some mild innuedo there really hasn't been anything in Sterling that might upset or disturb a younger reader. However, that doesn't mean that this will apply to the comic in it's entirety. Generally speaking, I don't think anyone who's younger than the teenaged cast in this comic--16-- should be reading it. 6. Can I buy a print copy of Sterling? No! Never! Well, actually, maybe someday. I have no plans to self-publish Sterling or submit it anywhere at this time, but that may not always be the case. If I can get through the next two chapters or so more smoothly than I did the first one, that might be a good time to re-evaluate printing it. 7. Can I buy original art from the comic? I have been known to give people art from the comic on occasion, but I don't sell it. If you would like to be the recepient of a free piece of original art from Sterling, you must be prepared to suck up to me to a tremendous degree. Actually, in all seriousness if you would like to purchase a sketch for a nominal fee, send me an e-mail, we can probably work something out. 8. Can I support Sterling in any way, shape, manner or form? Other than telling your friends about it if you think they might be interested, the best thing you can do is add Sterling to your favorites list on www.OnlineComics.net. In general, I dislike top-comic voting lists and such because I think they make the world of webcomics far more competitive than it has to be, but adding a comic to your favorites on OCnet is still a nice gesture. You could always send me an e-mail telling me what you think of the comic, but I reserve the right to continue ignoring any and all story advice I receive in this fashion. I will probably be printing up a few small posters after "Kids" has been completed, shoot me a quick e-mail if you think you might want some because as of right now, I'm only planning on printing enough for a small group of friends and readers. If there's more interest by the time I'm ready to do it, I'll consider selling them directly via the website. 9. Are you a professional artist? I'm a professional graphic designer with a degree in English. I don't have any qualifications in illustration or sequential art, however. STORY FAQ This nifty section added because I really do get asked the same questions about the story over and over and over and over... 10. Why is Sam such a &*^%? Because that's the way he is *ba-da-bump*. No, seriously, I don't understand this question. Don't you read stories in part so you can find out stuff about the characters? Why would you want the author to spoil it for you? 11. Why is Aeka such a rip-off of Belldandy/Naru Narusegawa/Kaname Chidori/etc. I would be happy to answer this question if you guys could come to a consensus about what character she's supposedly such a rip-off of. I was genuinely concerned the first time someone asked me this, but I stopped worrying when everyone who asked was totally positive that she was a rip-off of a completely different character. She does have the most manga-esque hairstyle in the comic-- a type of style that is popular among countless manga artists in Japan (of which Fujishima and Akumatsu, creators of Bell and Naru-chan respectively, are two of the most popular.) I'm considering giving her a little pixie-cut at some point just to see how long it takes someone to ask why she's such a ripoff of Evangelion's Rei Ayanami. Okay, I'm not really going to do that, but still... 12. How do you pronounce "Aeka?" Ache-UH. There is an anime character called Ayeka who's name is sometimes romanized as Aeka, which has confused a few people, but there's no relationship between the two characters; Aeka is not a japanese name. 13. Why did Jeff's camera battery die? This is by far the most common question I get asked about the story...and I don't answer it. Sorry, you'll have to wait to find out the answer to that one. 14. There's a grammatical error in the epilogue: It says "He died without having went anywhere interesting." Shouldn't it be "He died without ever having GONE anywhere interesting?" Those of you who noticed that are not wrong, but it's not going to be changed. When characters have a very distinct way of phrasing things, sometimes you have to go with the way they would say it, even if it's technically incorrect. Generally people are very forgiving of this sort of thing when it comes to dialogue, but because the epilogue is presented in essay form, people don't view it that way. If you want to be really anal, you can find way more than just one grammatical error in that passage... 15. Does the epilogue mean anything, or is it just a bunch of artsy poetic nonsense? .... I certainly don't blame anyone for failing to understand it 100%, but it shouldn't be that difficult to figure out a couple of important things about it. Chapter One starts in Sam's head and ends in Sam's head, but whether or not the two narratives actually occur where they are placed chronologically is questionable. You can tell from some of the comments in the epilogue that it does not take place immediately after the events of "Interview". That's all I'm giving you, young grasshoppers. 16. What's the deal with the blocks in "Undisciplined?" Are they supposed to mean something?" You have to take the camera angle into account. This is true in more than just that instance, of course. |
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