Dear Reader,

A new gallery and a new world to share with Hipcomix readers!
"The Platinum Earth" is an alternate Earth of my devising. It shares the history of our own Earth but diverges from us at a critical date: 1st of May, 1947.

If I were to describe "The Platinum Earth", I would say it's 3-parts Japanese visual novel, 2-parts Japanese anime, 2-parts "tactical espionage action" and 3-parts US comic book. If you're a fan of mind-control (anyone fit that bill here?) then you should be somewhat interested in the stories to come as this is the dominant heroine-in-peril theme that runs throughout the whole series.

The tales that come from the Platinum Earth are primarily focused on Japan and those that have been "illuminated" (you'll figure out what that means later) but the side stories also branch off into China, Europe and the US. If you pay attention through the narrative, you'll eventually be able to piece together what happened on that fateful day in May 1947 and where the Platinum Earth has gone since then.

The first story that has been uploaded is available here:

http://guests.hipcomix.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13567

It's a visual story that describes the origins of the Marionettes, just one of the many factions vying for power and influence over this fractured Earth. In the coming months, I'd also like to introduce you to the other characters that inhabit this planet. The entire cast at my last count, numbered eighty-nine.
I'd best get busy then with the stories and I hope you enjoy reading them.

Sincerely,
Sir Willoughby

Interesting story so far. I'm interesting in seeing where it all leads.

Wow! I'm impressed!

Great storytelling and fine images. Keep up the great work! I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Looks good so far!

Actually, it's far better than that; its wonderful!

Great storyline, very beautful women with excellent backgrounds, a very nice variety of excellent mind control scenes and techniques (I especially liked the tube used on Ebola), and fantastic sex scenes! A very pleasant surprise.

Thanks alot and I look forward to the next chapter!

This is VERY good work. Like Max said, both the writing and the illustrations are top notch. Thanks for sharing, Sir Willoughby!

- Doc

Dear Reader,

Today I have posted up a new story that expands the world of the Platinum Earth as shown in the last image from last week's story "The Marionettes". This story is simply called "Chicago (first half)". Unsurprisingly, it is a story set in Chicago and introduces several new characters. You can read the story here:

http://guests.hipcomix.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13835&g2_navId=x03b1445c

"The Marionettes" was a visual story narrated through the eyes of an Iron Hand soldier. You'll notice that the format of "Chicago" is much more like a comic book. This comic book-style format is how most of the tales from the Platinum Earth will be presented. The stories you will be seeing over the next few months are essentially preludes.

I realize that "The Marionettes" was quite large. The single story pushed the 20MB limit to the point where nothing much else could fit. A new gallery has been made to accommodate the following stories, but I do recommend that if you like the stories, you should download them just in case they need to be shuffled off to make way for new material. I believe I would be testing the limits of Hipcomix hospitality by making a new gallery every time size limits became an issue. I hope even two is not stretching the limits.

The dominant theme running through the stories is of course "heroine in peril". Every story will have some kind of sex and/or heroine peril in it, usually both. I have found that an idea for a story will start with the "peril" concept and the story pads out around that. What this means is that if you're just after the sex and peril aspects, there are probably quite a few pages of these stories you will want to skip.

Finally, in the course of these stories, things will blow up and people will be shot, beaten up and stabbed. But if you're after beatings and torture, you won't find much of it in these stories other than as a plot device. Fans of heroine brutalization will be disappointed.

Sincerely,
Sir Willoughby



Thank you.
It is no exaggeration to say that the story hasn't even started yet. Where we are you can't imagine the end. Even I have trouble seeing it but at least I can pretend I know where I am going!



Thank you.
The next installment is now available.



Thank you.
Next chapter is up, hopefully there's something in there you can like.



Thank you.
The Metrobay Chronicles are my favorite stories here and I appreciate the kind feedback.
Unfortunately, due to file size limitations, the quality of the images uploaded will have to be compromised in the sense that they will be smaller with slight signs of articles. But the upside is that there will be more stories for you to (hopefully) enjoy reading.

Thank you for this new installment.

The first chapter shows a great deal of promise. A fine pace with just enough set up that the reader can see enough of what's happening, even without the benefit of the first batch of pages you've posted.

You've succeeded in creating a well balanced story that meets the desires of many of the readers here. And don't concern yourself over the levels of graphic violence or sexual content. This first chapter shows you have a firm grasp on how to integrate them into a story.

Great job!

Personally, I think the excellent quality of your work is of a high enough calibre that I hope all of your stories can be kept on site. If you are concerned about eating up too much bandwidth, you could contact the site managers directly about what they will and will not allow. I would hope that they would be more than willing to make room for your stuff, especially given the epic promsie and high quality it demonstrates in terms of story style.

Frankly, if you are worried about hogging the geust gallery file sizes, would you be willing to be a regular contributor if it would otherwise mean that you would have to take stuff down? If you can deliver this amount of great material on something approaching a semi-regular basis you could make the same move that Akonkid and others have done from guest to main site contributor.

Thanks again.

That's very nice of you to say, Sir Willoughby. I appreciate the kind words.

If you wish to continue to place your stories in our galleries, I'm sure we can come up with a solution to the size limitations. Send an email to admin (at) hipcomix.com describing what you need and Jpeger may be able to help you out.

- Doc

Dear Reader,

The final half of "Chicago" is now online, tying up a few loose ends but probably leaving a few questions unanswered. You can view the conclusion of the story here:

http://guests.hipcomix.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13835

And this is where we leave Larissa and Nicole for the moment. The goal was to mix up the "sexy peril" aspects with a healthy dose of action and a liberal dash of characterization. These ladies are tough and they want you to know it! If you enjoyed the story, then I'm probably stumbling down the right track.

As you may have noticed, his week's story was slightly early due to the time of year. I would expect the next installment alluded to at the end of the current story to be coming sometime in early January. I can tell you now the next story is a three-parter and is 80% complete. That is, the images have been created (all 179 of them) and now the post-work needs to be laid down (eg. voice bubbles + effects).

Have a pleasant Yuletide season and a productive new year.

Sincerely,
Sir Willoughby Faulkner Sedgewick


You're welcome.


Thank you.
A technique I bear in mind when making the Tales from the Platinum Earth is "no wasted effort and motion". That is, every panel depicted and line spoken must serve a clear purpose.


You may think differently about this week. The focus is primarily on action. Sometimes you can't just add the sexy bits to everything!


Thank you. I'm glad you like what has been posted so far.
As for the bandwidth issue, we'll see how we go. Perhaps people wouldn't mind a JPEG compression of 10? No, they probably would; I'm joking.


That would be something I would be interested in down the track. The Platinum Earth is a tale with a definite end that has been pre-planned, but it's a long road to get there. So shortage of material isn't a problem. I think though, I would need to show more material and get more reader feedback before I could consider what you suggest.


You're very welcome. Just put Jade Lightning into a story soon and I would be well pleased.


Thank you for the suggestion.
This is something to consider for the future.

A fantastic contribution!

This is a very entertaining story. Your sense of timing is superb. The cliff hanger ending is perfect. And a bit of ambiguity keeps the readers coming back to find out what is going on, especially in regards to the complications the bounty hunters are now facing.

This makes Kenichi Sonoda's Gunsmith Cats look G rated by comparison! Looking forward to the next installment.

Dear Reader,

Happy 2009!
The next story arc from the Platinum Earth is now available for viewing at:
http://guests.hipcomix.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13835

This one is entitled "Honshu" as it is set mainly around Japan. North East Asia is the main setting for the Platinum Earth, as I have mentioned previously.
I hope you enjoy it.
I've calculated the next part to the story won't fit within the 20MB allotted, so in the meantime, I'll figure something out.

Sincerely,
Sir Willoughby Faulkner Sedgewick



Thank you.
Unfortunately, while Nicole and Larissa's story does have a continuation, you won't get an answer to their predicament for quite a while.



Actually, it was another comic book series I had in mind when creating Nicole. Something much more American. Larissa was original. Well no, that's a lie. She was inspired by a comic book character as well.

Dear Reader,

The second part of "Honshu" is now online. You can view it here:

http://guests.hipcomix.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=14583

The installment after this will wrap up this current story and there will then be a new story where I'll introduce you to some new characters from the Platinum Earth. All these stories in the long run, tie together.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
Sir Willoughby

Thanks. I like your work alot, and I'm happy to see and hear the good news!