The Cavern Post

Hello everyone, and welcome to the first official Cavern Post 2.0 article! In addition to being the kick-off to this awesome new GoMe experience, this is also my first article for the Guild of Messengers, so I’ve got something special for you. I hope you enjoy it.

Back in February, an amazing artist named Heather Larkin got an awesome interview by Allatwan for The Cavern Post. During this interview, she mentioned that she was thinking about starting a webcomic based on the Book of Atrus. Since then, she's gotten that project well underway, and has received a little bit of fame because of it. Therefore, she'll be answering a few questions for us (again) about how things have changed since only a few months ago, what her plans are, and other cool stuff.

So, thank you for agreeing to a second interview for the GoMe! So much has happened in the last few months, and I'm sure we're all eager to know more. First off, has anything changed since February that you'd like to share with us?

I'm honored to be interviewed again! It feels like a LOT has happened since February. We actually did the first interview in October, when I had really just decided to start doing the Myst comic. Then February I posted the first chapter publicly. And since then I've finished two more chapters and I'm currently working on chapter 4. Chapter 4 is a big one. By the end of it, the comic will be almost 100 pages.

Also in the last month, I've put together a proposal to Cyan Worlds, Inc to ask if they wanted to publish an official version of the myst comic for commercial distribution. I haven't said this publicly yet, but the day after my package arrived, Tony Fryman (president at Cyan) wrote me an email responding positively about it. He said he had wanted to contact me about the comic and interested in discussing it, though he needed some time to "do research and talk to his associates." So that's pretty exciting! Let's see how things go from there.

I also just got the exciting news that DeviantArt will be sponsoring me to go to the San Diego Comic-con this summer. I'll have my first-ever stand where I can show off my stuff and hopefully sell some things too.

I also want to say that I've been having a blast doing the Myst comic. I've wanted to do it for so long and it's been a real pleasure to work on. It feels very "me" and it's a great feeling that so many people are enjoying it so far.

Thanks! This is all very interesting. But right now, about DeviantART: Do you think that you'll mainly be showing off the Myst Comic, The Seated Lady, or one of your many other works?

I'll bring a little of everything probably. :) I'm still coming together with a gameplan for what I'm going to bring. I'd love to sell some prints, maybe Seated Lady preview books, other little art books, bookmarks, stickers. I will probably also make some promotional materials for Seated Lady and Myst, to encourage people to visit the site and read the comics. I can't sell the Myst comic, but I'll probably bring my personal printed copy to show off. :)

Ok. Speaking of which, have you thought about marketing/distribution for the Myst Comic for when it's done?

Everything depends on Cyan's involvement, but I've thought about some of the publishing possibilities that I think would be cool. It's a field I'm excited to learn more about.

I've estimated the whole thing maybe be 24 chapters, around 450 pages. Could be more. It will take a few years to finish. Ultimately, I'd love to hold a copy of the whole thing as as a thick book, around the size of the one I made here. But, given how long it might take, I might be nice to release it first in volumes, of several chapters each. For distribution, I was thinking bookstores, comic festivals, online stores, digital download etc.

Then there's the mobile market. I recently got an iPad and I liked the comic book reading apps. I would love to offer the comic for sale on an app like that. Especially       with the feature of showing one panel at a time. I tried to make the comic feel cinematic, so with a feature like that it could feel like you're watching a movie :)

Cool. I can't wait! Speaking of festivals, have you considered attending Mysterium (or any other Myst conventions), to promote and/or to have a good time?

Lol. I would love to go. There's already a lot on my plate for August, so I don't know. It would be so much fun though, getting hanging out with people who love Myst. I'm still considering it.

Well, I'm sure everyone will hope to see you there. If not, thanks for everything you've done! I'm thinking we'd better keep things sweet but short (or is it short but sweet?). So do you have any last thoughts?

Thanks! :D

Last thoughts? I would like to thank everybody who has been reading the comic and leaving comments. Even though I can't always respond, they make me very happy :) I hope you enjoy chapter 4!

I’d like to thank Heather for letting us interrogate her once again, and I hope you found this interesting. If you’d like to read the comic, go to mystcomic.smackjeeves.com, or go to larkinheather.com to see all her awesome stuff.