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matt_zimmerBOOM. PLANET MEEK. BELIEVE IN IT. (A DREAMWIDTH EXCLUSIVE)
Against all rationality and common sense I stayed up for 36 hours straight to finish the latest script of The Un-Iverse.
The Further Adventures Of Gilda And Meek: The Terran Wars #4: Chapter 16 "Planet Meek!" (Un-Iverse #87)
Call me crazy for doing that, but frankly, this is the craziest issue of The Un-Iverse. I also predict it will be one of the most polarizing. It has a LOT of "problems", that I think are super interesting, but fandom would certainly hate. For one thing the issue is too damn long. Its script length is equal to "The One With The Spaceship Battles", the previous longest Un-Iverse script. It is less dependent on the artwork, so the page count will undoubtedly be lower. But that doesn't change the fact that it's bonkers and wrecks every last bit of credibility I've built with The Terran Wars. It's basically me giving UHF the same runtime as the extended edition of Return Of The King. Would even any UHF fan thank you for that?
That was the plan anyways. The truth is the actual script also has a disturbing amount of pathos and earned drama, and if you see that tacked onto UHF, you might see the problem here. I actually dig that about the issue. But as silly as it is, the tragic elements make sure it is never as silly as billed.
There are a lot of things I want to talk about here, but I fear so much goes into spoiler territory. I'll detail what I can, but it won't be everything. The Linear Notes to this one are kind of amazing, and when those go on the site, I can talk more about this.
Here is what I can share. For years I resisted Planet Meek. For whatever reason I thought the idea was stupid. I actually don't mind stupid ideas, but it's TOO stupid, especially to make it one of the closing chapters of The Terran Wars, and wrecking every last bit of dramatic credibility and goodwill I had built with this excellent miniseries.
I have to be careful here. Tread lightly, Author.
The initial plan for this issue, WAY before it became Planet Meek, was for it to be a Gilda And Meek issue in name only. The surviving Gilda And Meek characters would appear, but at this point in The Terran Wars, the crossover was supposed to meld together so tightly, that all titles featuring the Gilda And Meek, Otterman, and Lance Lockjaw characters would be equally involved in every issue, and they'd stop specifically necessarily being ENTIRELY about the characters the story's umbrella fell under.
Something happened in the intervening years that made me say "Whoa! No way! That can't go that way!" What happened?
The outlines to "Quest For Catlantis", "Trapped In Piranhala", and "Release The Gilda" were filled in. And I realized I had just written the best three Gilda And Meek issues of all time. Shoving the surviving characters aside in the final issue, and essentially making them GUEST characters in their own fucking book was no longer acceptable. The characters needed an amazing finale in its own right. For THEM. So I knew I was gonna have to pull a rabbit out of my hat, if I was ever going to HOPE to live up to that. And thus I jotted down the previously rejected idea of Planet Meek, with the understanding I'd erase it when I came up with a better idea. Not only did I not come up with a better idea, but I started to think Planet Meek was perfect anyways. And Planet Meek was simply born. Whether I wanted it to be or not.
Why? Because as great as those three issues I mentioned are (and they are the best) the truth is they are darker and more horrible to the characters than ANY previous Gilda And Meek issue. F.I.S.H. has done dark before. But never at this level, and outside of "Skeletons" it's the antithesis of Gilda And Meek. It resonates. It will move you and devastate you. But I figured it would be irresistible to me if the last proper issue of "Gilda And Meek" was a comedy like the very early issues. Unlike those earlier Gilda And Meek issues, there is legit pathos and stakes attached as well. But as leery as I was of destroying The Terran Wars credibility, it led me to believe that's why I should.
Again. This issue will be polarizing.
I'll briefly jot down what other thoughts and facts I can give away (not many).
The tagline AND the Narrator's first line are identical "Sigh. I can't fight this. It has always been this. So be it. Let's go bananas." That opening line is so iconic for the Narrator, it's one of The Terran Wars' Spoiler Quotes.
A second quote can be found at the title page before the Narrator relents, and tells the story he doesn't want to (but must).
"Blessed are the Meek for they will inherit the Earth..." (Matthew 5:5)
I also made that one of The Terran Wars' Spoiler Quotes.
This is Mike Jones' big debut issue, and the only issue in The Un-Iverse Proper he appears in. He is M.I.A. in the sequel "The Supplements", but has an entire book and arc built around him in the Second Sequel "Destroying The Un-Iverse." I think people will dig the only other person on Earth besides Gilda who has a b.s. detector, the underground World Savior nobody has heard of, but I think he'll get some resentment too. Just because the last Gilda And Meek related issue features him so heavily. Gilda And Meek fans might have preferred me to spend more time with the surviving original characters.
Here's the interesting thing. I did. Both. That's why the issue is too fucking long. I gave both aspects equal due, and both sides of the debate about that will be happy. They'll get an incredible character debut and an incredible send-off to the original characters in the same damn story!
The last thing I want to note is not a spoiler, but I'm not willing to be specific about it anyways. But as I was writing this issue today, I realized there was an amazing storytelling opportunity for both the saga AND the characters. But to fully explore it I would need to break one of the fundamental story rules about The Un-Iverse, that I have never broken before, and never INTENDED to break. I won't tell you which one it is, but I will say I felt comfortable bending things here because the rules are in place because I believe any time those rules are broken, the story would become worse in the long run. I looked at this idea in amazement, and there was no downside to this in either the short-term or long-term and (checks notes) actually IMPROVES the characters and the story!
I'm not telling you which rule I broke (or more accurately stretched) but I did so because it made the saga better. Those rules are fucking SACRED to me. As both a writer and a fan. But what kind of writer or fan am I if I refuse to go where the story insists I need it to go? So, yeah, there are definitely a LOT of broken taboos in this issue. Which also happens to be insane.
I have no clue how people will respond to it. I like it, but I like different things than most other fans. Truthfully I don't even seem to love the exact same things actual Gilda And Meek fans do. It's totally possible I am the only person who digs a completely bonkers issue with so much weight attached to it. I hope not, and I hope people like it, but I would not be shocked if I'm the only person who does.
Credibility in this franchise is something I've found is VERY important to people who value it. Will they appreciate a story that pokes so many holes in that? Or one that violates an iron-clad story rule that had never been broken before? I can't say for sure. I hope so. But I am really bad at predicting that sort of thing.
Against all rationality and common sense I stayed up for 36 hours straight to finish the latest script of The Un-Iverse.
The Further Adventures Of Gilda And Meek: The Terran Wars #4: Chapter 16 "Planet Meek!" (Un-Iverse #87)
Call me crazy for doing that, but frankly, this is the craziest issue of The Un-Iverse. I also predict it will be one of the most polarizing. It has a LOT of "problems", that I think are super interesting, but fandom would certainly hate. For one thing the issue is too damn long. Its script length is equal to "The One With The Spaceship Battles", the previous longest Un-Iverse script. It is less dependent on the artwork, so the page count will undoubtedly be lower. But that doesn't change the fact that it's bonkers and wrecks every last bit of credibility I've built with The Terran Wars. It's basically me giving UHF the same runtime as the extended edition of Return Of The King. Would even any UHF fan thank you for that?
That was the plan anyways. The truth is the actual script also has a disturbing amount of pathos and earned drama, and if you see that tacked onto UHF, you might see the problem here. I actually dig that about the issue. But as silly as it is, the tragic elements make sure it is never as silly as billed.
There are a lot of things I want to talk about here, but I fear so much goes into spoiler territory. I'll detail what I can, but it won't be everything. The Linear Notes to this one are kind of amazing, and when those go on the site, I can talk more about this.
Here is what I can share. For years I resisted Planet Meek. For whatever reason I thought the idea was stupid. I actually don't mind stupid ideas, but it's TOO stupid, especially to make it one of the closing chapters of The Terran Wars, and wrecking every last bit of dramatic credibility and goodwill I had built with this excellent miniseries.
I have to be careful here. Tread lightly, Author.
The initial plan for this issue, WAY before it became Planet Meek, was for it to be a Gilda And Meek issue in name only. The surviving Gilda And Meek characters would appear, but at this point in The Terran Wars, the crossover was supposed to meld together so tightly, that all titles featuring the Gilda And Meek, Otterman, and Lance Lockjaw characters would be equally involved in every issue, and they'd stop specifically necessarily being ENTIRELY about the characters the story's umbrella fell under.
Something happened in the intervening years that made me say "Whoa! No way! That can't go that way!" What happened?
The outlines to "Quest For Catlantis", "Trapped In Piranhala", and "Release The Gilda" were filled in. And I realized I had just written the best three Gilda And Meek issues of all time. Shoving the surviving characters aside in the final issue, and essentially making them GUEST characters in their own fucking book was no longer acceptable. The characters needed an amazing finale in its own right. For THEM. So I knew I was gonna have to pull a rabbit out of my hat, if I was ever going to HOPE to live up to that. And thus I jotted down the previously rejected idea of Planet Meek, with the understanding I'd erase it when I came up with a better idea. Not only did I not come up with a better idea, but I started to think Planet Meek was perfect anyways. And Planet Meek was simply born. Whether I wanted it to be or not.
Why? Because as great as those three issues I mentioned are (and they are the best) the truth is they are darker and more horrible to the characters than ANY previous Gilda And Meek issue. F.I.S.H. has done dark before. But never at this level, and outside of "Skeletons" it's the antithesis of Gilda And Meek. It resonates. It will move you and devastate you. But I figured it would be irresistible to me if the last proper issue of "Gilda And Meek" was a comedy like the very early issues. Unlike those earlier Gilda And Meek issues, there is legit pathos and stakes attached as well. But as leery as I was of destroying The Terran Wars credibility, it led me to believe that's why I should.
Again. This issue will be polarizing.
I'll briefly jot down what other thoughts and facts I can give away (not many).
The tagline AND the Narrator's first line are identical "Sigh. I can't fight this. It has always been this. So be it. Let's go bananas." That opening line is so iconic for the Narrator, it's one of The Terran Wars' Spoiler Quotes.
A second quote can be found at the title page before the Narrator relents, and tells the story he doesn't want to (but must).
"Blessed are the Meek for they will inherit the Earth..." (Matthew 5:5)
I also made that one of The Terran Wars' Spoiler Quotes.
This is Mike Jones' big debut issue, and the only issue in The Un-Iverse Proper he appears in. He is M.I.A. in the sequel "The Supplements", but has an entire book and arc built around him in the Second Sequel "Destroying The Un-Iverse." I think people will dig the only other person on Earth besides Gilda who has a b.s. detector, the underground World Savior nobody has heard of, but I think he'll get some resentment too. Just because the last Gilda And Meek related issue features him so heavily. Gilda And Meek fans might have preferred me to spend more time with the surviving original characters.
Here's the interesting thing. I did. Both. That's why the issue is too fucking long. I gave both aspects equal due, and both sides of the debate about that will be happy. They'll get an incredible character debut and an incredible send-off to the original characters in the same damn story!
The last thing I want to note is not a spoiler, but I'm not willing to be specific about it anyways. But as I was writing this issue today, I realized there was an amazing storytelling opportunity for both the saga AND the characters. But to fully explore it I would need to break one of the fundamental story rules about The Un-Iverse, that I have never broken before, and never INTENDED to break. I won't tell you which one it is, but I will say I felt comfortable bending things here because the rules are in place because I believe any time those rules are broken, the story would become worse in the long run. I looked at this idea in amazement, and there was no downside to this in either the short-term or long-term and (checks notes) actually IMPROVES the characters and the story!
I'm not telling you which rule I broke (or more accurately stretched) but I did so because it made the saga better. Those rules are fucking SACRED to me. As both a writer and a fan. But what kind of writer or fan am I if I refuse to go where the story insists I need it to go? So, yeah, there are definitely a LOT of broken taboos in this issue. Which also happens to be insane.
I have no clue how people will respond to it. I like it, but I like different things than most other fans. Truthfully I don't even seem to love the exact same things actual Gilda And Meek fans do. It's totally possible I am the only person who digs a completely bonkers issue with so much weight attached to it. I hope not, and I hope people like it, but I would not be shocked if I'm the only person who does.
Credibility in this franchise is something I've found is VERY important to people who value it. Will they appreciate a story that pokes so many holes in that? Or one that violates an iron-clad story rule that had never been broken before? I can't say for sure. I hope so. But I am really bad at predicting that sort of thing.
