Staring down the empty page... again.

Well, the past week has certainly been weird. I've taken a week or more off before, but when I did, I was always plotting out Suburban Tribe in my head, jotting notes for future arcs and stand-along gags, etc. It's not easy to write new content for new characters when Tiffany is yelling the plot outlines for the next 5 stories in your ear.

I really appreciate all of the comments that everyone has left and the emails that they've sent. I know that a lot of you feel as if I've pulled the rug out from under you, but please understand that this decision is, for lack of a better term, an economic one. The fact that none of the major webcomic news hubs has registered my announcement one week later -- after I've published 860 strips over nearly 5 years -- kind of sums up the situation.

I haven't lost any love for these characters and I have a lot more that I want to say with them, but I've hit a low saturation point and so I need to explore other concepts.

We recorded a podcast this past Monday night, but there were a few technical and content issues that I thought I could fix in post, but alas, I can't. We'll re-record it in a couple of weeks, as soon as Bill and Jeremy get back from vacation.

In the meantime, here's what I am working on, and what you can expect to see on this site in the near future:

Empyreal Fall
This is my character-centric medieval fantasy comic that has been a couple of years in the making. An excerpt is being scripted for inclusion in an anthology that I'm working on with a few other local creators, but I'm also developing a treatment for an ongoing series of graphic novels. Preview pages and concept sketches will be posted here.

Suburban Tribe
A new story in print-comic format is being developed for inclusion into the anthology mentioned above. You'll be able to preview it here as well. Look for stand-alone strips from time to time, too.

The Permutation of Stupidity
This is still going on. I'm going to try and post one next week.

And One More Question:
All of the ST strips for 2007 were created ready for print. Originally, I was going to publish the entire year into a trade paperback. However, since I only have 2/3 of a year, I wanted to ask if you guys would sooner buy a trade/comic with all of 2007's comics, or a super-sized trade with all of 2006 AND 2007's comics? Let me know.

The End, for now.

BRIEF UPDATE 2: Looks like we are going to record the podcast late this weekend or early next week. I'll discuss in-depth the reasons for the strip's end with my friends Bill ("Skip") and Jeremy ("Dave"), what comes next for the Suburban Tribe cast and other projects I'll be working on.

If you have questions you'd like me to answer, email them to jlee [at] suburbantribe [dot] net ASAP.

BRIEF UPDATE: I think my announcement/decision is coming across a little more morose than I intended. While ST will not be published M/W/F anymore, I am not riding off into the sunset to go play Xbox; I am making other, better comics, some of which will be Suburban Tribe, and they will not have a set publishing schedule. ST is being shelved so that it can exist alongside other projects that will hopefully get more attention both on and off the web.

I'm jamming on a deadline right now, but I'll go into it in more detail late today, with an announcement of future projects and a date for the podcast. Thanks, everyone.

I regretfully announce that Suburban Tribe will not continue past today. At least, not in a continual 3-day a week format.

I know this seems sudden, but this is something that I have been thinking hard and seriously about for a few months now. The reasons are many, but it all comes down to the fact that there is too little return for the time and effort I put into the comic.

When I say "return," I'm not speaking of the interest and respect that many of you show for my work, nor of the benefit of seeing my craft improve. Rather, I am speaking of viewer statistics that have been frozen for quite some time and general non-interest from the larger (web)comics community.

I realize that last part might sound bitter, but I don't intend it to be. This isn't a decision made out of anger, frustration, or spite, nor is it a stunt.

I just mean that unless I try something new and show that I can write and draw other things, I'll be making my living in graphic design while continuing to burn the midnight oil on Suburban Tribe for free.

This doesn't mean that you will never see another Suburban Tribe comic - far from it. I do have more ST stories to tell, and you'll see them here, along with my other projects. However, I'm going to create all of these new comics in an expanded comic-book like format with dynamic panels and backgrounds. Therefore, the semi-daily deadline must go away... even if the odd 4-panel strip may pop up every now and then.

If you want to know whenever I post new comics or a new blog entry, you can subscribe to the new RSS feed.

There's a lot more to say about all of this, and I am working with a couple of my friends to orchestrate a podcast where we'll discuss it in-depth. Check back here or subscribe to the RSS feed to learn when it will be available.

That's about all there is to it. This was not an easy decision to make and it's even harder to execute. Because... I'm not tired of creating this strip, really. I just realized that I need to explore other avenues if I want to realize my dream of drawing, painting and storytelling for a living.

Thanks to everyone for being here. A lot of you really heard what I was trying to say with this comic and with this site, so I must have succeeded on some level. Onward and upward!

Please feel free to ask questions in the comments.

Good Ship Chronicles Launches

Fellow Kentuckian Tauhid Bondia has created a new strip that's certainly worth your time and you can find it at www.goodshipchronicles.com. I know a lot of you enjoyed Spells & Whistles, so I know that you'll like this.