This past weekend, PvP quietly turned fifteen years old.
I posted the first PvP comic strip to the web on May 4th 1998 (most likely over a 2800 baud dial up modem). Back then, there was no such thing as a webcomic, really. Only a handful of people were posting comic strips to the web. There were no business models, there were no revenue streams. It's crazy looking back that we even tried and kept going. Thank God we did. And thank God for you guys who supported us all along the way.
The last fifteen years have been the most amazing and fulfilling of my life, and I’m not interested in stopping anytime soon. We’ve always tried to stay ahead of the game, remain fluid and never be afraid to experiment. PvP's fifteenth year will be no different. In January, we launched our spin-off strip, Table Titans, and now in May we're announcing the creation of the PvP writers' room.
One of the most difficult aspects of deadline-based comic strip writing is that sometimes it feels like the content serves the schedule. You have to have a new comic strip ready to post, but unless you've managed to create a maintain a large buffer of strips, sometimes you have to take the first idea that comes to mind instead of the best idea that comes to mind. Having worked in a writers' room with Mike and Jerry the last couple of years on The Trenches, I've become enamored with the collaborative writing process. Two or more heads, bouncing ideas back and forth can be creatively electrifying. It's made me completely envious of writing teams and it's made me want to bring that energy to the pages of PvP. But it's one thing to work with a team on a new project and another thing entirely to bring someone in on a project that's been so personal for so long.
Cut to earlier this year when I slipped and injured my back. We were in the midst of launching Table Titans and I was laid up in bed and unable to sit upright drawing for eight hours a day. We needed to reach out for help and that's when my business manager suggested we approach Dylan Meconis.
Dylan, a portland based cartoonist who works out of Periscope Studios, has been creating her own amazing comics for years and, as Cory explained it, is the biggest PvP fan he knows. "Dylan knows more about PvP than you do, Scott." He told me. "Let's hire her to do a week, it'll be the best money you've ever spent." We brought on Dylan to write and draw a week of strips and after we got her first set of scripts in, I was so floored at the work that we asked for another two. That's when Cory and I got really excited about the possibility of bringing Dylan on as a regular PvP staff writer.
You don't know it, but you've secretly been enjoying some more of Dylan's work these last couple of weeks. Our current PvP storyline has all been a product of the combined efforts of myself and Dylan in the PvP writers' room. This larping story-arc is leading into some bold new changes with PvP. We're unafraid and eager to see where we can take this comic strip. It's exciting and scary and exhilirating, all at the same time.
So here we go. Year fifteen. Behind us, over a decade and a half of amazing experiences and memories. Ahead of us is the great (scary as hell) unknown. Maybe we make it to PvP's 20th. Maybe we only make it to 16. But no matter what happens we're going to have a blast creating comics. We hope that you come along for the ride.
Thank you all so much for fifteen years of PvP.
More to come.
