10 Year Stories
I thought it’d be fun to post some making of Savestate stories.
The first comic drawn was the third comic posted, Winter Fun. I drew it on paper with pencil and pen, scanned it, and colored it. The process took far too long so I bought a Wacom Intuos and later got a Cintiq. And, yes, I still have that original comic. Now that I think about it, I should probably get it framed.
I had always planned to release each comic on Wednesday, because as anyone who shops at comic book stores knows, Wednesday is new comic book day. That and, at the time, it seemed like everyone else always posted new content on Mondays or Fridays. Not sure if going against the grain like that helped or hurt Savestate, but it doesn’t really matter. Wednesday is Savestate day.
The first comic was supposed to be posted on January 2014, but then I noticed that Pokemon Bank was launching on February 5, 2014; so I wrote what would become the first Savestate comic to coincide with that. Weirdly, Nintendo was saying Pokemon Bank would be the ultimate way to store your Pokemon, and it didn’t even last as long as Savestate.
Every Savestate comic continues to be made on the same computer. A late 2012 iMac named Gilliam (after the computer from Outlaw Star). That thing is a beast and will not die. Too bad modern Macs aren’t as reliable. That iMac pulled double duty as my gaming PC until Doom Eternal was released and I had to build a new PC to play it.
The original software I used to draw Savestate was Manga Studio, which was just an English version of Clip Studio Paint sold by Smith Micro Software. Once Celsys started selling their own translation I swapped to the official CSP.
In 10 years I haven’t missed a week. (Unless someone can point one out to me which means I was likely abducted by SG-1 Asgards and had my mind wiped.) Some of those were pretty rough. Drawing while you’re sick isn’t fun, but I didn’t want to break the streak.
Thank you to everyone who ever has and/or continues to read Savestate. I honestly thought this would be something I did for a few years before it fizzled out, but I’m still having a blast writing and drawing Savestate!
I’m having a blast reading them, so I’m glad you’ve continued on. I’ve kept up with this comic for years, and I’m always excited to see a new page. It’s cute, charming, light-hearted, and witty. I also love how you do their facial expressions and correspond them to their ears; these are some nice, little details that really sets your comic apart and makes a big difference.
Keep up the great work!
I’ve had a blast reading for the past 10years. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long. Congrats on the 10 years. Looking forward to what you have in store for us next.
I never knew Savestate was that young, I could have sworn it was a comic from the 2010’s.
You have never miss a week since i have been reading this comic, so you got a perfect record so far, señor Weeks, tho, I do remember that time when you post a comic page a week early by mistake.
Wow, awesome streak! Thanks for the all the great comics.
Of course, you did not fizzle out SaveState! The story is fun, the graphics are awesome, the soundtrack is… ops, no soundtrack (yet), but you got it. I hope Savestate can last longer than me. And I really, REALLY hope that one day, we can kickstart a Savestate game (JRPG? Metroidvania? Fighting game? Cart Game? FPS? Anything would be great!) and learn how they speak! Yay! =^_^=
It is a grand comic. I didn’t realise that it was a Wednesday comic for comic book day, as for me all webcomics are at a different time and day: I tend to start looking for the new one on Thursday evening or Friday morning Aussie time, although it’s often up by Thursday lunch (Greetings from the future!). You write a good comic, I hope ten more years will proceed from this decade!
So happy this is still going! I stopped reading for I believe a year or two and have decided to pick it back up. Great job on the streak, by the way. I know of plenty of webcomic artists who have not and/or will not put in the same amount of work as you into keeping the streak while still having great art. So proud of you, and looking forward to many more strips!
Thank you so much for keeping this awesome comic coming for so long!