Matt Zimmer's Journal

After Gilda And Meek "Enter Tork" Special Edition was finished, and I did the first round of fixes on the site (there is still plenty more to fix) what I wanted to do was read all 68 issues on the site followed by the final 22 scripts yet to be put to paper.

I am 49 and I did something I was never able to do at any previous point in my life: I was able to read the entire Gilda And Meek And The Un-Iverse saga in order. This is the first time I've EVER been able to do that and it sort of blew my mind.

My thoughts. I am happy. VERY happy.

I knew my upcoming scripts were gonna be great, but on some level that almost doesn't matter. I had had the nagging suspicion in the back of my mind The Terran Wars was gonna blow everything else out of the water and things you formerly loved would seem underwhelming in comparison.

That's not what happened for me. I was happily surprised how well every bit of the saga fits into each other and compliments everything else. Granted that was the idea, but there is a difference in having a seemingly impossible to achieve goal, and achieving it.

What do I like most about the story?

I have always bragged about the pacing, and indeed Candice is of the opinion the whole thing has the feel of a TV show or movie rather than a comic book because of it. What makes me happy is that my pacing was not merely down to scripts or artwork. As I started the saga, I deliberately separated various parts of the saga. For F.I.S.H. and Lace Doilies I went back and forth between the issues. Some people might be annoyed that breaks up the pacing of each title, but my idea was me doing that would actually IMPROVE the pacing by upping the tension every month and waiting a bit to release it. My pacing also was done to the formatting of the saga. And this goes for the fact that the four titles of The Terran Wars mostly have different casts, and don't interact with each other to start out with, so each cliffhanger is especially crazymaking to get back to four issues later.

The other thing I like, and this is something I could only quantify by reading the entire set canon, is the fact that the saga doesn't just vary in tones with comedy, horror, and drama. The story explores a bunch of entirely different genres and somehow makes them all fit (Gilda And Meek is fantasy, F.I.S.H. is sci-fi, Lace Doilies is Superheroes). The amount of disparate story points that seem unconnected and entirely different from each other aren't just cool because they all connect by the end and have to do with each other. It because having all of those different and varying genres in the same story gives it a richer scope than a project that picks a solid idea and is basically about that the entire way through. Being able to connect these things is rewarding, but even if I hadn't bothered doing that, I still feel all of the various story types, genres, tropes, and tones, makes the saga feel not just bigger than other similar stuff, but more well-rounded too.

Doing another few read-throughs and getting in some more site fixes. But May 17-19 2025 was the first time in my entire life I read my entire life's goal front to back, and it holds up as well as I could have hoped. I'm very excited.

Gilda And Meek "Enter Tork" Special Edition. Done.

Gilda And Meek "The Code" Minorly Revised Edition. Done.

When will you see them on the site? Within the next couple of days. I have a LOT of editing to do. Once that is done there will be a bit of site clean-up with a progress report on the site itself.

The Terran Wars are almost here. The site clean-up means I'm finally ready for them. We just have to get through the pretty spiffy miniseries "The Dark Child Saga: The Fall Of F.I.S.H." and I'll be penciling, inking AND coloring all 19 issues! Holy poop!

Over the past few days I have been going back and forth through all 19 issues of it and correcting, fixing, fudging, and making consistent everything that didn't fit together perfectly earlier. Because I can re-edit that entire portion of the saga at will instead of being boxed in with several issues in the can, streamlining and fixing plotholes and continuity snarls is a breeze.

That's the actual reason I did it, you know. But in my mind that was a "Just in case the worst happens and I need to start over" scenario. I never envisioned it being so immediately useful over and over again, even with me pleased with the way things turned out.

No mistakes in The Un-Iverse. Just opportunities and missed opportunities.

GOOD pages.

More tomorrow.

I've done 16 pages tonight. Drawing jags are much rarer for me than writing jags, but honestly, they are better for the saga.

Let me let you in on a dirty little secret about this cartoonist / artist. I HATE having to draw the artwork. Plenty of artists in my circle will look upon me in disgust at saying something so freaking ugly about The Process, which most artists view as sacred. It's a vulgar opinion.

But you know I'm not a great artist, right? You know that's ALWAYS been a struggle. And though I can rock a facial expression, everything else is hard, and I am always a couple of erased drawings away from utterly failing. I enjoy making art where I can just be creative. "Warlocks: Beyond Reality" was entirely refreshing to me for this reason. But usually I have to measure distances between rooms and buildings and vehicles, and not only is that bit no fun for me (and hard) but I suck at scale and perspective, so as much work as I put into it, it still looks like shit.

So why are the drawing jags better? Especially if I'm a good writer and a shaky artist?

Because they are quantifiable. Because every issue I complete, I can show you, and you can like it or hate it yourself. I have something to show for it.

I spent the past four months writing the final issues of the saga. Are they amazing? I think so. But not only will you have to take my word for it, but we won't be seeing them for years. Worse, what if I'm right that the scripts are amazing? Remember the fact that I am a crappy artist? There is a very real risk that because they are all so action-packed and ambitious, I'll totally whiff the artwork, and these amazing scripts with be anchored to shitty-looking comic books.

Me doing a ton of pages and them looking good is better for everyone.

What else can I tell you?

I have only gotten through about half of the script, but what I HAVE drawn is far superior to "Enter Tork" First Edition. On every level. To be honest, I don't expect to do a ton of more Special Editions after the saga is over. Because in almost all instances there are one or two things in a given shaky issue I love artworkwise, and I doubt I could replicate them with the same amount of rawness and honesty as the first time out. The First Edition's artwork is not something I'm ashamed of, and yet this is still kicking every square inch of its ass. So far there is not a single moment where I've said "I wish I got that as good as the First Edition". And shockingly there were a COUPLE of moments in "Groundwork: Special Edition" that I felt were an actual trade-down.

What else? Vic Puff's character design is not consistent with the First Edition, but it looks better. I also have to say one of the positives of doing the Special Editions is the fact that Gilda And Meek issues, particularly the earlier ones, were very easy for me to draw. There is much less background detail necessary, and I never had to use references to make sure to draw the characters correctly. I used a reference for the outside of Puff Manor and Mount Crushmore, but I drew Gilda, Meek, the Piranha, and Dr. Raggleworth from muscle-memory, even though it's been YEARS since I've drawn them in an actual issue ("Groundwork" First Edition in 2022). Outside of special sketches like The Love Series, I haven't drawn any of the original characters outside of Bernadette and Crusty the Crab very much. And it still feels very comfortable to me.

If the issue is not on the site within the week, something will have gone very wrong. We are getting it SOON.

Three pages today. A fully colored and inked cover, a dedication page (which I essentially just printed out in Twin Peaks font), and the first page. Gilda And Meek "Enter Tork" Special Edition should not take very long to complete.

How is the cover? I think the characters and their movements are fantastic, but the action of the portal sucks ass. I'd probably redo it if I didn't like the character art so much. Who am I kidding? I still might. But that's one of my best drawings of Vic Puff ever.

I stayed up all night stimming and working, and I finally completed the penultimate issue of The Un-Iverse Proper (which is shorthand for how I refer to the original 90 issues of The Un-Iverse.)

UnComix Tales: The Terran Wars Aftermath #1: Part One "Robots And Rabbits" (Un-Iverse #89)

What do I tell the Dreamwidth Faithful? I can only talk in broad strokes because I don't want to give away exactly who has survived The Terran Wars so far.

I will say it's unusual in that the second-to-last issue focuses almost entirely on Lance Lockjaw, of all characters. He teams up with one of the surviving characters of Gilda And Meek, and one of the surviving characters from F.I.S.H..

The cliffhanger is legit devastating and will piss people off. Hell, the entire issue might piss people off for not focusing on the Gilda And Meek and Lace Doilies characters more. Those are the books with the characters who really resonated with people, so I ought to have focused the second to last issue on THEM all instead of just Lance.

The thing is, the second-to-last issue isn't about them. Sure, I could pad a bunch of pointless scenes with the fan-favorite characters, but I want you to miss those characters, so I refuse to write underwhelming, unnecessary scenes featuring them. Even if it would please the reader, even if it's how every other writer is conditioned to write their franchise, especially in the second-to-last issue, it's bullshit, and my rule there is the same as Gilda's. Not gonna happen.

There are many examples in The Terran Wars of the story deliberately channeling and paying homage to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and this is one of the bigger tributes. I mentioned the cliffhanger is gonna drive you nuts, right?

And part of the reason the cliffhanger will drive people nuts is not just because of the lack of favorite Un-Iverse characters. It's because I predict there will be a huge lag time between this issue and the final one. It will seem cruel. But while I am putting The Dark Child Saga: The Fall Of F.I.S.H. and The Terran Wars to paper, I will simultaneously be scripting and putting to paper both Un-Iverse Handbooks, The Un-Iverse Companion, and finishing the Linear Notes for all 90 issues. ALL of that stuff will be put on the site the same day as the final issue, so I have a lot of final work to get done all at once. There could be a wait time of a year between both issues, and considering how cruel the cliffhanger is, that will make people mad.

What else? It's a short(ish) issue, which I'm glad about. The lengths of both Lance Lockjaw: The Way Home: The Terran Wars: Part Fourteen "The One With The Spaceship Battles" and The Further Adventures Of Gilda And Meek: The Terran Wars: Chapter Sixteen "Planet Meek!" annoy me. It probably won't be as short as the issue Otterman: Quest For The Conduit: The Terran Wars: Chapter Three "Resurrection". But that will probably be the only Terran Wars issue that IS shorter.

These past couple of issues have been difficult. I expect the final issue will be a pure pleasure for me to write. And I hope the reader will like it as much as I do what's already in the majorly filled out outline.

Talkback for Gilda And Meek And The Un-Iverse! Read an issue and discuss it here!

Frankly, I DO have a new article ready but I don't feel like posting it, because it's political, and I am currently exhausted by that subject. You'll probably get it eventually. Just not yet.


The Archive on BlogSpot

https://gildaandmeekandtheuniverse.blogspot.com/2020/02/welcome-to-gilda-and-meek-and-un-iverse.html

Latest Issue:

1. UnComix Tales: The Humans: The Epic Series Finale "All Loose Ends..." (Un-Iverse #68)

https://gildaandmeekandtheuniverse.blogspot.com/2024/12/1-uncomix-tales-humans-epic-series.html

I talked about "Planet Meek" violating a Sacred Story Rule in my last essay, but I realize it's been years since I posted the 10 Rules on Livejournal. I went back over them to see which ones I would need to delete. I was a bit shocked none of them. Some had to be finessed because of how the story shook out, but the intentions behind each rule remained pure, even the ones I forgot about (seriously, does anybody in 2025 even remember what Nanotech is?).

I added some extra thoughts and clarifications here, but the Ten Sacred Rules remain Sacred and (mostly) unbroken (although "Planet Meek!" bends one of them quite a bit).

The following rules are numbered, but not in importance. To put it mildly, people being responsible for their own actions is a more important and unbreakable rule than No Nanotech, even if it appears below it.

If some of the writing in this essay feels a bit clunky, keep in mind I wrote it ten years ago. I was already a pretty GOOD writer in 2015. But the GREAT things I had written back then were few and far between.

The Sacred Rules In No Particular Order:

1. The guiding principle of the story is that the good characters are cooler / more interesting than the evil characters. The more virtuous you are, the more interesting and complex I will make their backstory. I am sick to death of anti-heroes and fiction that states you have to compromise your principles to win the day. If Jack Bauer never existed, I might have never gotten back to the Un-Iverse.

My main model for the character's morality will SORT of be Star Trek. But the thing is, there were only a FEW really interesting characters on the first four Star Trek series (and none on the fifth). One of the things I want to do is come up with interesting and appealing characters who are NOT squares in the same way Harry Kim or Geordi La Forge are. They have failings (although not moral ones) and personality quirks. You want to spend time with these people.

The moral of this particular story is that evil is mundane. Evil is unspectacular. Evil is not romantic or glamorous. Evil is stupid and unimaginative. Evil isn't just morally wrong and something to be defeated. It is simply uncool.

2. Artwork in the Un-Iverse will be old-school cartoon. The simpler, the better. None of the characters will have nipples or body hair. Whenever I see a modern cartoon character with nipples or body hair, aside from being mildly disturbed by it, I am also greatly distracted by it. The artwork of the Un-Iverse will be as appealing as possible. There will be limited fanservice / sexy characters. There will be SOME bloody violence but nothing over the top. When Augatha beheads someone it will be scary, but not disgusting. You should never want to lose your lunch while reading a Gilda and Meek comic.

3. I want the reader to trust what they are seeing. Not believe the scenario is realistic, but that I am not ever pulling a cruel trick.

Dream sequences are rare and limited in scope. Any dreams that happens are things like Twin Peaks that are an actual part of the Narrative. The Dreams actually happened somehow. The reason I am shying away from dreams is because they are often something used to trick the audience into thinking a character has done something horrible, while the writer can immediately buy it back without having to deal with the consequences of it. Like mind control, I do not think a character's behavior is something where there should EVER be case of having your cake and eating it too.

Another reason to do this is something I don't think fiction that engages in those types of tricks understands. The SECOND you do a fake-out dream sequence, the reader or viewer will never trust you again. Under any circumstances. And this is true for fans who had no problem with the dream sequence at it happened. Any time you show a character death, that you want to hurt and destroy the audience, it doesn't land. Because the audience is secretly seeking an escape hatch and a way out of it. The most damaging thing about fake-out dream sequences is they create a relationship with the fan where the fan cannot believe what they are seeing or take bad things happening, that are supposed to have consequences at face value. Out of ALL the damaging tropes most fiction engages in this is the most damaging of them all. What's messed up is I am literally the first person I have ever seen verbalize it in these specific terms. And that scares me because it's so freaking obvious, I shouldn't HAVE to explain it. Creators should already know this, and fans should already object to this for this reason. But both creators and fans take the idea as a matter of course instead of as the bullshit it really is.

Corollary to this: Ixnay on devastating fake-out deaths. You'll cough under your breath "Otterman!" and while yeah, Otterman's death at the end of Lace Doilies is DEFINITELY not real, the difference there is the next issue featuring Bernadette is entitled "Otterman: Quest For The Conduit: Chapter Three: Resurrection". But I want to be clear it's not just because I already telegraphed what I was doing there in the Table of Contents in the first issue of Gilda And Meek which is why it isn't objectionable. It's because I will not spend Bernadette's next few issues putting her through the emotional wringer and grieving the character, trying to trick the reader into believing the worst, and sharing Bernadette's pain (which wouldn't even be real in this scenario). The matter is settled in the first scene of that issue. I will not make Bernadette suffer for no reason, and I will not make the reader suffer for no reason. That is not to say neither Bernadette nor the reader will never suffer. But if and when they do, it will be REAL suffering, and they can believe in its realness because I don't dick people around about this shit. Ending an issue with a potential character death is fine if it's resolved immediately in their next appearance. If you are going to reveal six issues later the person who died was an impostor and the real Otterman is being held in a dark prison somewhere, you did that because you are a shitty storyteller.

4. No 'shipping for Gilda.

There will be NO sexual tension between Gilda and Meek. None. Ever. They will never hook up and never even WANT to hook up. One of the most annoying things about fiction with two opposite sex leads is that they inevitably wind up together as a couple by the end of the story. Even in stories where this doesn't happen (like 30 Rock or Harry Potter) flirtation and will-they-or-won't-they is still part of the subtext. Gilda and Meek are as close of friends as two people can possibly be but have no romantic feelings towards each other. The closest relationship to theirs I've ever seen is Captain Picard's and Guinan's from Star Trek: The Next Generation. But even that show kind of wrecked it with Guinan's line about being attracted to bald men. Nothing like that will happen in the story. Ever.

Frankly, I'm never going to pair Gilda off with anyone EVER. She is never going to have a romance or even have an old romance discussed. Why? Frankly, for the same reason I think Veronica Mars should have remained single and unattached forever. She is SO awesome that there is literally not a man alive who is good enough for her (or woman for that matter). She isn't considered attractive like Kristen Bell is, but she is pretty much out of EVERYONE'S league anyways, and will remain so. Besides, my story isn't about sex or romance anyways, so you won't feel like the character is missing anything.

For the record, Gilda probably DOES have a sex life, and I didn't turn her into a nun just because there isn't a character who is a good fit for her. What she does and doesn't do on her days off is her business. She might have a boyfriend we don't know about or she might not. I do not want to give the impression that Gilda is asexual just because she is not about the 'ship. It is just something that is private for her. Her personal and office life do not intersect because she is a complete professional.

And it's important to me that Gilda does not see the end of her journey being her being able to settle down with a good man and having a family. She doesn't want to stop having adventures with Meek because she LIKES those adventures. Aside from there not being another good match for her, Gilda is not the type of character (or person) who needs (or wants) to be defined by which man she'll settle down with. Her wants and needs are bigger, and in fact, currently being met in her life as it is.

5. No Nanotech. Ever. It does not exist in the Un-Iverse. No-one has even heard of it there, so it won't ever even be brought up jokingly. Not even on the alien planet of robots. It is the ultimate cartoon storytelling crutch, and I think if I ever find myself creating a scenario so complicated that I need to use Nanotech to fix things, it is probably already too complex for its own good, and needs to go back to the drawing board. You may deduce that scientists and sci-fi writers in the Un-Iverse never even DREAMING up Nanotech means the people in the universe are stupid and unimaginative. I think it just means the universe isn't actually lame.

6. People are responsible for their own actions. In all cases. Let me detail the steps I have taken to follow this rule. They are doozies.

No mind control, body swapping, loves spells, demonic possession, memory wipes, or the like. I HATE those stories in genre shows for various reasons, but I'll briefly list the two main ones I object to. I feel it is a violation of a character on par with them being raped. It is NEVER played as that serious in cartoons or TV shows, but if that ever happened to me, I would feel betrayed and disturbed beyond belief. So, no, I'm not going to put my characters through that. The other big reason is that it lets the characters off the hook for any misbehavior they do. You could probably come up with a bunch of "great" story ideas by having your heroes not be responsible for any mess they make (I'm looking at you 50's Superman comics) but in real life actions have consequences. If someone in the Un-Iverse does something terrible, they own that behavior and can never undo it. The character of Otterman is attempting to redeem himself from committing an evil act earlier in his life. But he has no-one but himself to blame for doing it. If he IS redeemed, it isn't going to be because he is magically ensouled by Willow Rosenberg. He is actually going to have to pay for what he's done. I honestly don't know why more writers don't see things this way. By having all of your characters be responsible for their own actions, that just makes it all the cooler when one of your characters does an awesome thing. Again, this idea is one of the biggest reasons I decided to come back to my story. If nobody else is going to do this, I guess I'm going to have to have to be the one who does.

Note: this particular rule will always be observed, but there is a difference between it and nanotech: mind control and demonic possession and the like actually exist in the Un-Iverse. It won't happen to any of the characters we've met. In fact, demonic possession is a very real threat in the first issue of "Gilda and Meek", but it is prevented in the story and doesn't actually occur. There are also a couple of concepts SIMILAR to it, but I think deviate far enough from it, that I don't feel like it violates any of the characters. The first is the fact that Werewolves exist in the Un-Iverse, and a great many of them do not wish to be Werewolves. However, Werewolfism is, by the time my story takes place, a perfectly manageable condition. It wasn't always, but if you take precautions, you will never purposefully wind up hurting anybody else. The second disturbing concept that DOES exist in Gilda and Meek is shape-shifting. I know that is pretty far from mind control, but I think it is similar in that a person could pretend to be someone else (like the hero) and blame their actions on the protagonist. There are only a couple of shape-shifters in the Un-Iverse, but the biggest example I have is a hero in the latter half of the story (Lance Lockjaw). He sometimes uses this power for guile and for spyjinxs and the like, but he never misrepresents himself as someone we've already met. There are a couple of other examples, but even when the characters are using this power to conceal their true identities, they never use it to blame their actions on someone else. It is sort of like the same thing as a supernatural alias, rather than a way to frame someone else for your crimes. But those are the only exceptions. In the Un-Iverse, if you've done something wrong, you've either got to answer for it, or live with it. There isn't a love potion or magic spell you can blame for it.

7. Prophecies are unreliable and are as wrong as often as they are right. Mind-reading and psychic powers are a thing in the Un-Iverse, but predicting the future? Notoriously sketchy. Ironically, there will be an example of a prophecy going down exactly as promised, but that will be a SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY. It never would have happened had people not been trying so desperately to prevent it. The fact that it was accurate is just a coincidence. There are a couple of other examples of prophecies being fulfilled, but they are about a 50/50 batting average of being correct. Better accuracy than every political pundit alive, but not the stuff religions should be founded upon.

See also the first sentence of Rules 6.

8. Gilda and Donna Demented can never appear in the same scene together. Gilda would never fall for her b.s., and would recognize her as a serial killer immediately. I thought about including Bernadette in this rule, but I think she's JUST self-absorbed enough, that I can probably get away with it, if you don't think too hard on it.

However, I eventually had Gilda share a fun scene with Donna in "The Woman In Sunglasses", where Gilda is drunk and nobody takes her warnings about Donna with her b.s. detector seriously. It's played for laughs at the time, but will have serious dramatic consequences for the sequel The Supplements. But the initial reason I made the scene was a friend worried that if Donna and Gilda NEVER shared a scene together, some people might theorize they are the same person. I thought that idea was beyond ridiculous, and then I remembered how dirt-stupid fandom is, and how completely unable they are to take what they are seeing at face value, and I was like, "I am not risking any dumbass starting on argument that the most moral and righteous character is secretly a serial killer on her nights off." So That's Why That Happened.

9. Everything exists. Vampires, zombies, fairies, goblins, trolls, the Easter Bunny, even God. Just because we haven't met them, doesn't mean they aren't there. The Un-Iverse is a BIG place, and I just won't have gotten to it all. A good rule of thumb about fictional (and even some non-fictional) characters: if it's public domain, it exists.

10. And finally the five main characters of "Gilda and Meek" are happy and usually content. Even Bernadette. They are fine with themselves the way they are, and even those of them who have somewhat tragic backstories (like Gilda and the Piranha) don't dwell on the past too much. They don't have chips on their shoulders, or carry an unbearable burden, or feel cursed. For instance, Meek is clearly mentally ill on some level. But it doesn't bother him the way most heroes would be bothered by it. He struggles with it, but it doesn't define him or turn him into someone he's not. He's not a borderline psychopathic vigilante. Bad things will happen to these characters. But all five of them will see these bad things at bumps in the road, and that eventually things will work out if they stick together. It's corny, but none of the five main characters are really all that damaged. That is not necessarily true of all of the characters in the various spin-off titles of "Gilda and Meek" (in "Lace Doilies" Otterman is one unhappy individual and Lance Lockjaw from "F.I.S.H." is flawed and unlikable in many ways) but Gilda and Meek and their three best friends, have good lives and whatever bad things happen to them, they know they will eventually fix them and get back to them. All of the characters have a fundamental sense of morality and will almost never vary from it, no matter how juicy the storytelling opportunities. I reject the idea that to stop evil you need to sacrifice your principles. Most people would find this kind of storytelling bland. With every single anti-hero TV show and superhero comic out there right now, I think it will be a bit refreshing.

BOOM. 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.