That's something that I have been concerned about since day one. There are plenty of readers out there who wish to see some sort of permanence to these stories. If a heroine is 'Borged' or 'Stepforded', some of our fans want to see them stay that way. On the other hand, plenty of others readers want to see their favorite characters get themselves into peril after peril, which obviously can't be done if we don't hit the 'reset' button once in a while.

As writers and artists, we are trying to strike a balance between these two sides while still following our own hearts when telling our tales. I'd like to think we're doing a decent job at it, but who knows? At any rate, please know that we do keep this in mind.

Thanks for your comments!

- Doc

so how many characters have been stepdord wifed and haven't returned thought I saw at least 4 from the new guardians ( after the A.I from metrobay tried to have a fembot army)

[quote="ach202577"]so how many characters have been stepdord wifed and haven't returned thought I saw at least 4 from the new guardians ( after the A.I from metrobay tried to have a fembot army)[/quote]

There's very, very few characters that are still under any control. The only ones I can think of are mostly new characters like Dani Jordan, Penny Nichol, and Carla Bello. A few characters have been under control for awhile, such as Shelley Calvin and Spellweaver, and heroines Juris Prudence and Freedom Girl haven't been seen in years due to their mind control, but no real major characters are under any form of permanent control. At least not to my knowledge.

Back to the main comic, I'm enjoying it. It's getting a tad cluttered with so many characters, but Willoughby's done a good job thus far of balancing everything out. It's moving the story along at a very brisk and exciting pace.

The only problem I have with that is there's no time to really stop and catch your breath and actions are flying by rather quickly. For example, I was disappointed Valient Grrl, the "strongest women in Metrobay", was taken out in a one move. I know it was a surprise attack that caught her off guard, but when the strongest character in Metrobay can be taken out in one single move, it really makes the Platinum Earth villains seem insanely overpowered, or at least the Metrobay ones come across as incompetent. I also love the little personal things, like new love triangle that's brewing between Tina, Kristen, and Iram. I hope that's explored more....

... after Alpha Woman is for--d to be an obedient slave, kneeling at her mistress's feet. Seriously, that has to happen. And more.

The series is certainly keeping my interest. It's quite a bit different than the usual fare, what with the squicky aliens, alternate dimensions, giant robots, and asian aesthetic, but it's I find myself wishing the next installment would come out as soon as possible.

Myself, I only wish the heroines' evil transformations lasted longer than one chapter. I would have liked several chapters featuring the three reptilized evil-turned sexualized superheroines dominating and turning more beautiful earth women, with a large focus on Silver Satin's hot cyber slaves. For instance, how the new hot evil sirens and vampire women deal with former lovers and family members, or how they seduce and enslave authority figures to advance the invasion. As sensuous super-villainesses, Satin, Brown Sugar, Knyghtfighter, and Omega Woman have never been sexier, yet the very same chapter that features them puts an end to the satisfaction. While the latest chapter made it even worse with its overcrowded superheroines, sexless battle, and accelerated forward momentum. It's all gotten rather disappointing and anti-climactic, but the series is still the most fantastic and erotic in my view.

at work I had an epiphany ( it was a slow boring day) some of the heroines that have been stepforded have an out in the fact that in one of the metrobay series the "evil" rope/apex villain had problems with the personality process seems heroines have a stronger sense of self worth than your woman there are those that say "well they perfected the process" since when is anything perfect?
Another thought if a reader doesn't like where a story is going just don't read it any more which is ok but the ones I like haven't been updated for sometime and anyway you have 2500+ subscribers what if one leaves?

[quote="ach202577"]
Another thought if a reader doesn't like where a story is going just don't read it any more which is ok but the ones I like haven't been updated for sometime and anyway you have 2500+ subscribers what if one leaves?[/quote]

Which ones do you like? These comics all aren't the work of just one single person. If there's storylines you want to see continued, you have to be specific which ones those are, otherwise we'll never know what our fans want or expect.

now that I finally got some sleep I would be remiss if I didn't thank the artists and writers responded to my posts it shows that you do care for what the readership thinks.
It is funny tho that the borg/stepford comment got the most play and not the fair and balanced part of the a post. The writer/artist says that there will be consequences for snowflake and metrobay will not be the same, so being a baddie is a free lunch who would had thunk it at least the computer program in metrobay was knocked offline twice and ickles got a poke in the nose by the somewhat good doctor
as for storylines I like I'll have to get back on that I haven't had my morning cafferine, but thanks for asking will have a list by tonite after work
ps whatever happened to doctor benway and issue 26 where that service bot was going to get it's body back after benway transferred the heroine's conscious to it? like to see that resolved if it already has been and where is it if it has?

you wanted a listing of storylines that might need to be continued well.....
Tarra Nova had an ending ( even rather happy)
Agents of Desire hope this is an ongoing series
Femcops ended with number 3 maybe you could work in how the reporter and cop are faring with the drug still in their system having it act up under certain conditions??
Unity still want to know what happens to ole miss red eyes ( how many heroines did you lose on that story arc?)
Downfall only problem here is that I'm not a permanence kinda guy and from the last issue all three were tamed sooo...
Cheater nuff said
Agent diana

that's it for series left a post in the general section about other series I have seen and wanted to know more about where I could find more but no one replied tried following links but that took me far afield since your in the business what other sites are worth looking into?

I really hope that robot lying in the cargo bay means what I think it will mean... ;)

Sorry this issue did not measure up to your standards Willoughby, it was better than any poser story I could ever do. Not so much MC, but then there needed some more development for our crisis time.

As for members who are concerned about story lines and cross universe rules...these are comics...I have never cared if the facts are bent to make a good comic.

Keep up the great story, and if you need more issues...I would never complain. ;)

Waiting for the next installment.

P

since I don't know what the robot in the cargo bay is for can you enlighten us who are a little slow on the uptake?

Please don't take my personal wishes as anything but that. I would never presume to tell another writer how they should tell their story, or what that story should be, beyond just voicing my "wish" that things don't end off too quickly :)

In short, I'm liking this and look forward to each update, so you're doing well.

As to my comments about the reset factor, I can understand that one would not want established characters permanently damaged, but that doen't mean that they can't be affected from one story arc to the next. Something that happens in this story arc could have continued ramifications in another.

Alpha Woman and Valient Girl could, for instance explore their evil side for a bit and it could be fun.

And I stand by the assertion that Solaria would look good in scales ;p

(She could be the fire throwing dragon)

I myself have bee accused of NEVER having things end happily (or at least never having the good guys win). Looking at my posted work it's hard to argue with those accusations.

But then I might some day surprise people and actually have a happy ending.

Mostly I just want to add my compliments and say: "Keep up the good work."

FBH

[quote="ach202577"]since I don't know what the robot in the cargo bay is for can you enlighten us who are a little slow on the uptake?[/quote]

Compare the collapsed robot with those that Hector was working on in the station... ;)

P

Dear Reader,

The latest Act of The Platinum Earth (Act 39) is now available for viewing at the following link for paying members:

http://memberslogin.hipcomix.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=126078

50 pages long, I would say anyone who pays for HIPComix this month to read my stories is definitely getting value for money!
It wasn't intended to be so long. The reason it is is simply because my storyboard required everything that happened in this issue and it took that many pages to tell this part of the story. I could have been sly and split this Act into 3 separate issues (there was certainly enough material to do this) but I decided not to. Hope you enjoy it.

The longest sequence was about 23 pages long (an issue in itself) and I actually broke that up into two separate sections of the story rather than just have one long sequence. I did the calculations: 128 images go into this story and there is an additional 116 images created for use as composites into some of the more crowded images. Needless to say, I don't think I will ever do something like this again.

My schedule's now pretty tight. It may be the case that Act 40 will not come out in 2 weeks time. If this is the case, I hope you can forgive that and enjoy Act 39 a little longer than usual.

Sincerely,
Sir Willoughby Faulkner Sedgewick



I'm not a big believer in karma. Things just happen.
Evil is not always punished the way we are brought up to believe when we are children.



You probably won't enjoy this issue then if you don't like clutter.



I know it is too fast for some, but let me just say that this is the kind of storyline it is. Everything that is happening here has more or less been planned six months in advance, so the pacing is deliberate. I'm sorry to those that wanted a slow paced story with lots of enslavement and naughty bits because this wasn't my goal. My aim was to make a big event crossover. At any rate, I hope you have enjoyed it so far.



Well, to be truthful, I'm not really misrepresenting her. In the past, she has been taken out by a needle, a beam to the back and fallen under hypnosis without much of a fight. If anything, Valient Grrl has always been beaten rather easily. I believe it is in the past year as her character has developed that readers may start to be looking at these heroines as more than just nice bodies waiting to fall into an enslavement trap. In fact, isn't that the story of Metrobay? Heroines created for the purposes of being placed in bondage and mind control but over time, as the universe develops, becoming characters in their own right.

But, I just want to say that Skullcrusher is immensely strong, being the equivalent in strength to her "mother" the Union Belle. Valient Grrl is strong, but Skullcrusher is in another league.



Iram Fitzpatrick was a special order.
He'll probably be appearing in the Metrobay universe in the future.



I understand where you are coming from, but the current arc is just not that kind of story. I do have three words for you, though. Mars. Base. Verona.



I am aware that sometimes you can focus too much on plot and miss out on the bits that people actually pay money to see. I do think though, that the sexiness quota has been met for the current issue. See for yourself.



You know, speaking about Snowflake, when I was creating the pages of this week's issue that featured her, I actually got teary as I was putting in the dialog. I didn't think I cared that much for the characters but I suppose I do. At least, I care enough to get all misty-eyed. Stay tuned for developments there. I really don't want to beat the drum too much about that aspect of the story. It's hard for me to think about, actually.



Probably, but not in the way you think. I hope the Verona sequences are making sense to people now. It actually is part of the bigger picture.



Look, I totally agree with this. These stories shouldn't be Saturday Morning Cartoons where you could mix up the order of episodes and it wouldn't make any difference.



Talk to the MCComix guys about that. Doctor Robo has some plans. I'll probably disappoint you on Solaria, though.



Thank you.

Quite a bit to digest. A lot happening. Enslavements, rescues, deaths.

Normally, I'd go through and break down everything that happened, but for the moment I'll just be content to say that as an epic crossover mega-event, or the equivalent of something like say DC's "Final Crisis", this does a good job. There's not a lot of time to stop and catch your breath, but it seems like one of those natural disasters that tears through the city and only after it's done do you come out of the shelter and survey the damage.

This isn't a "normal" story and nor should it be. If people want straight up bondage and mind control, there are direct alternatives (many featuring the same cast of characters). My own "League of Liberty" storyline is exploring Brown Sugar and Jade Lightning's past and has pervasive mind control elements in it.

I still have slight issues with the Platinum Earth heroes and villains just outright outclassing every character in Metrobay, with a few exceptions of course. You can claim Valient Grrl's been defeated easily before, but that was usually because she was outsmarted or was up against energy weapons, but she lost a physical fight. No, it wasn't EVEN a fight. Maybe Skullcrusher is just THAT much stronger, but then I get that Dragon Ball Z vibe where skill, experience, training, and inherent abilities are just tossed to the side every time there's a new, big god-like villain in town. I'll admit strong personal bias in that regard, as Valient Grrl is my favorite heroine throughout the MC and HIP comics, but there's been so much action, I was looking forward to a strong-arm struggle, and to not have that is so far my only brief disappointment.

And, well, the less said about Snowflake the better. Would ruin the surprise, I guess. Never thought I'd see the most upbeat and cheerful heroine in such a situation. *shiver*

It's building towards a crazy conclusion, I can tell. A massive update like this is also highly welcome and appreciated. Keep up the good work.

I have to say, this series is one of the few that I find myself coming back to and hitting refresh over and over on the website every other sunday in anticipation of the next update. Especially as of late.

I can understand some of the criticisms of the story, and a few of them I can even agree with- but I also understand that this story was a long time in the making and needed all of the seemingly unconnected threads that seems to bog it down near the beginning.

For instance- I'm also one of those people who like a bit more continuity and dislike the "reset button" being reflexively hit after every episode.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by the events of this latest update. After the ending of last week and the comments about the Metrobay characters being "on loan" I was afraid that I would be losing all of our beautifully converted super-heroines. I was especially disappointed in not being able to get a few further examples of Silver Satin using/abusing her new found abilities. All too many of the stories of this variety fall into the "could have been so much more" angle, of course less so on this particular forum where we actually want the bad guys to have their way a bit. But still, I was glad to see some of the Metro "villains" live to fight another day. I eagerly anticipate how they plan to continue their assault on the Platinum Earth world.

And don't be afraid of letting the bad guys rule the day for a while. There is no "comic book code" in the real world and the villains of your world do not need to be tied down by it either. Sometimes the bad guys DO win... Otherwise why would they keep trying?

As for a general comment on your style of MC I have to say there are two things I really appreciate about how you handle it:

1) I'm a BIG fan of the biological method of MC and find any episode involving the Gainite faction of particular interest- especially given that your MC is more of a "switching sides" type of conversion and not simply the mindless slaves. To see the "innocent and just" converted into something so wantonly "evil" is... well, appreciated.

2) On that subject- I know these comments are a bit late, but I just LOVED the conversion process of Ultimo's hand-maidens and the subsequent "dampening of the conscience" he used in the last few episodes. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the mindless "Yes Master" as much as the next guy but that can only go so far. One detail I was curious about tho was why he didn't use the same mechanic on the heroines he had in his clutches at the time instead of just on his pets. Of course I don't know the "how" it all works so there may be other reasons than just "the plot wouldn't allow it"...


So- after a post that may seem all to flowery, please keep it up Sir Willoughby. I love what you've done to the place.

---- One last question, if I may... And I hope this isn't a "spoiler"... but did we just witness a "cure" to the Gainite infection? While I love the idea of the way her powers work I do hope its not *quite* so easy to undo the investment they have put into their slaves. ;) But then again, I may be biased in this regard.

I have to admit, this update has caught my eye more so than the others have. The Alpha Woman's memory download was quite intriguing. I was anticipating Cass doing something more than the implant when it came to keeping AW under control, but wow, a full memory download. Awesome!!

Right after she downloaded, Cass sent her in to kill, a task that would be completely opposite of the original state of AW's persona. This proved to me that she had been completely dominated. My intrigue went even further when I saw Cass explode after the fight with Snowflake and I wondered if the download was stored in Cass or somewhere else, especially when we see AW in the back seat of the vehicle. My curiosity is left in a cliffhanger moment as I ponder if she is still under the control of the implant or is she about to teach the kids upfront a backseat driving lesson?

finally broke down and read the newest installment of platinum earth ho hum nothing really all that great this storyline is fast becoming a object lesson in what I like to call the Batman effect ( as far as the movie franchise before they figured out less is more) this is where you put every character you can into a film hoping that the end result will be impressive it didn't work for the movies and it's really not working for me either, if you compare the examples of the author/artist work that is in the Free section to this one has a story you can follow while the other has you going back to issue whatever to see what that one point in time meant to what is happening now.
I had the same problem when I was in college tried to make the story larger than life bigger is better but the professor gave the advice "like cooking to many cooks spoil the broth" and in writing to many threads make for a tattered story.

Wow! Every reader is welcome to their own interpretation of the material that is posted here at HIPCOMIX.COM, but I don't know when i've seen such a negative opinion expressed about one of the very best series ever appearing here. I have created over 5,000 pages of comix here at HIP, but the series I always look forward to is the PLATINUM EARTH. You might consider re-reading the series with a careful eye turned to plotting and character development, I think that Sir Willoughby has a fine clear touch in those areas especially. I imagine there is a small army of followers who will now register their opinion about your comments. Good Luck,
and I hope that you find something that you like about HIP and especially THE PLATINUM EARTH.

Timo

well,if you think I'm the only one that has this thing about stories with frayed story lines and long winded explanations you'd be wrong there are a few more of us .
Look at his stuff on the free sight and you'll see tight story telling not this tattered tapestry of lets throw everything in and see what it looks like all the while trying to tie up loose ends.
Nope, will read the other series on this sight,but platinum earth isn't one of those "must reads" anymore there are a few others that I just skim between this and your other sight $ 40 is looking a little steep you have 2500+ members you wouldn't miss one

Unfortunately, my stories are not for you.
My recommendation is that you find something you like.
Good luck with that.
Thanks for posting, goodbye.