When a Series Starts, It Might Take Time To Find Its Footing
- Edwin Brown
- Mar 6
- 4 min read
When a new series begins, people may often expect it to feel fully formed from the very first page or installment. But the truth is, most long-running stories don’t start perfectly polished. They grow into themselves. And this is especially true for indie comic books.
When I first began creating my comic series Zero Hour Epsilon Force, I knew the core elements I cared about:
Superhero, action, sci-fi and fantasy storytelling
Impactful themes
Faith and the influence of Jesus
Something that flowed like and resembled the animated Saturday morning cartoons I grew up watching
What I didn’t have yet was the perfect formula for blending them seamlessly. And I realize now that that’s normal when starting out.
Vision Often Comes Before Precision
At the beginning of any creative project, you might have a conviction before clarity comes. You may know what matters. You may know what you want to do and say.
But you’re still learning how to say and execute it in the strongest possible way.
Though Issue 1 of my series did win a Black Author's award, early issues of my series still had exploration such as:
How heavy should the serious themes feel?
How should Jesus be shown and what role should he play?
How much action and what level of violence should it be?
What are the designs of certain characters?
How grounded or how fantastical should the world be?
Those answers didn't come fully developed on day one. They were discovered through the act of creating the series.
Tone Takes Time to Refine
Blending serious themes with superhero action isn’t automatic. If you lean too heavily into action, the themes may feel shallow. If you lean too heavily into message, the story may feel heavy-handed or preachy.
Finding the balance takes experimentation.
It takes:
Writing scenes that don’t quite land
Adjusting pacing
Learning what feels authentic versus forced
Over time, the tone becomes more natural. Not because you planned everything perfectly from the start, but because you kept refining it.
Art Style Improves With the Story
The same thing happens visually. When a series begins, the art may already reflect your core style, but refinement happens through repetition over time.
Some things I began to notice over time as I was drawing my comic series were:
Which expressions felt the strongest
Which panel layouts flowed better
How lighting and shading affects the characters and scenery
Where posing and anatomy needed improving
How action reads on the page
With each issue, the lines and their thickness become more confident. The characters felt more alive, and the visual storytelling became clearer.
Improvement doesn’t happen all at once; it happens gradually. This is also why it's important to realize that there's never a "perfect" time to start something when it comes to art, because the series will always improve in its art style overtime as it goes on. It's important to practice, but at a certain point, you have to just jump out there and do your best.
Early Imperfection Is Not Failure
Sometimes creators feel discouraged looking back at early work and I'd be lying if I said this doesn't happen to me at times.
I see the rough edges and the experimentation. But I remember that those early scenes are not mistakes. They’re foundation.
Without them, the stronger later issues wouldn’t exist.
Growth is visible proof that the creator stayed committed and consistent.
Even Great Stories Take Time to Mature
Something else I realized is that even some beloved series — whether in comics, television, or movies — grow into their identity over time.
The early installments introduce ideas while later installments deepen them. Themes become more layered. Characters become more complex. The world the story takes place in becomes more cohesive. And even new ideas may arise down the line that the creators may want to execute on.
The beginning of the series is rarely the final form.
Commitment Helps Shape a Series
A series usually finds its footing not because everything was flawless from the start.
It finds its footing because the creator:
Stayed consistent
Refined the vision
Improved the craft
Clarified the themes
Over time, the pieces begin to align better.
What started as just a vision becomes confidence. And what started as experimentation becomes identity.
Growth Is Part of the Journey
Looking back at earlier issues can also reveal something powerful:
Evidence of growth, stronger storytelling, more refined art and clearer thematic integration. That progression isn’t something to hide but something to embrace.
Because it shows that the series and the creator are still developing and improving.
And most importantly, still moving forward.
Marketing Challenges
One challenge that comes with building a series like this is marketing it. When a story doesn’t fit neatly into one category, it can be harder to explain in a single sentence.
It isn’t a stereotypical Christian series, but it isn’t a standard superhero comic either. It blends superheroes, the Bible, history, action, fantasy, science fiction and heavier themes in a way that doesn’t always match a familiar mold.
That can make promotion more complex, because audiences often look for clear labels and genres. But at the same time, that uniqueness is part of its identity. The goal isn’t to fit perfectly into an existing box — it’s to build something honest and distinct enough to stand on its own.
Purchase Zero Hour Epsilon Force Today
If you want a unique and growing indie comic series that has tons of action and meaning, check out, Zero Hour Epsilon Force.
Zero Hour Epsilon Force is a superhero, fantasy, and science fiction series that takes place in raw Christian universe and has various gritty themes. You can buy the comic here at Spidercade Studios and join our email list if you like.
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