An interesting thought.
 

First of all, you all may consider this completely absurd. If so, go ahead and delete the crap out of this, although I'd prefer it if you read my suggestion all the way through first. Humor me, please.

Now, this all banks on if Brian has any TIME to do things anymore, what with all the other stuff he has to do... But I've been wondering if there will ever be a second 8-bit theater. Another series staring the old gang that everyone knows and loves. The ones that got everything here started. I mean, it's what most of us loved you for first, Brian. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not demanding it, or saying we deserve it, I'm just saying it would be awesome to happen.

And I know you're busy. We all do. The intelligent ones, at least. It wouldn't be fair to just bug you with, "Brian! Make another 8-bit with the old gang! Put them in the ffIII world! Fighter and Black Mage could technically be there right now, since they're lost!" I do think that's a good story idea, though.

But I'm rambling. My idea is this: You're busy. What if we made it worth your time? What if we, your fans, gave you a massive donation to start up a sequel, or just donated for new pages? We could set up a massive donation board or something. "Donate 5000 dollars to Brian as payment for a new 8-bit! Or donate 10 dollars to get a new page from him!"

I'm serious. It'd be a totally fair way to pay you for your valuable time. It'd be like buying your paper comics. And since this would be a collaborated online thing, I'm certain it'd be easy to gather up 5k (or however much you think would be fair) as payment to you.

Hell, I'm such a fan that if I had 5k right now, I'd suggest it to you personally. But I don't have that much money, which is why I'm making this suggestion, here on your forum.

Anyway, I know that was kind of rambly. I'm not too terribly good at this sort of thing. But still, lemme know what you guys think.

Well, it's an interesting idea. I imagine the time factor would be very large obstacle, especially considering that Brian has contracts and deadlines now that would probably prevent him from taking a lot of time off his other projects to write 8BT Part II even if it was financially worth it.

Remember that you'd also need to pay an artist because using sprites and earning money don't go well together in the same comic. And then you need to find and coordinate with the artist as well which is another factor. Time and coordination are why HIKYM and Warbot don't work out so well at the moment.

And there's also the whole question of whether he'd actually want to write that in the first place. I'd enjoy a spiritual successor to 8BT as much as anyone but I'm not expecting one to see the light of day anytime soon.

The problem with the idea of an 8-Bit sequel is that there's really no solid justification for one. 8-Bit was never about the adventure. It was about four terrible, terrible people who were utterly incapable of going on an adventure without making the world a far worse place as a consequence, more or less. Notice how I said, "An adventure." In this case, it was FF1, but it could have been FF2 or FF3 or what-have-you. I'd say certain elements of FF1 lend themselves to such a narrative, but that's a different discussion.

Basically, the fact that 8-Bit could be set in any old school adventure story is why a sequel doesn't work. It's sending these characters on another adventure when the adventure itself never mattered.

That said, I could probably support a spiritual successor with new, slightly less exaggerated characters done in anything-but-sprite art. Mostly because I'm just curious how Brian would do a light-hearted fantasy adventure story that was actually an adventure story.

It's probably rude of me to be speaking for Brian, but...
 

I think it's time for some 8bit fans to move on. It's done. Find another comic to read. If you can't, then you're either not looking hard enough or your taste is too narrow. If 8-bit really is the end-all-be-all comic and you can't find another no matter how hard you look, you either need to be content rereading them, or you need to give up comics entirely. Or make your own. Sorry to be blunt, but that's reality. The choices are pretty simple...

When 8-bit ended, I volunteered to do the art for a sequel (I think for free, but I can't remember), but Brian was tired of it so he said no.

The more people insist on him making a sequel, I think the less likely it's going to happen. That kinda pressure makes it feel like a chore, and no one wants to do a chore. Would you want to spend the time and energy making something you didn't like? You can't make good art that way. At BEST it would be mediocre. Seriously, I think the only thing these occasional threads are doing is making an 8-bit 2 less likely to happen.

If you want to donate money to Brian, go buy Atomic Robo. Or support one of the other comics that are here. (or just mail him some money)

8-bit 2 isn't going to happen any time soon, more likely it's not going to happen at all. Not if someone made a hundred different accounts and posted a hundred threads about how it should happen. Not if they're polite, rude, or somewhere in between. The amount of money it would take to convince Brian would have to be enough for him to put off Robo, his comic career, and everything else to make a comic he doesn't want to make. If you're not willing to spend the 3bucks a month to buy Robo (for example), I doubt you'd be willing to fork over the amount of cash it'd take to sway Brian into making 8-bit 2.

Friendly (sad but true) Advice: Save yourself the energy and give it up.


I kind of like to think of The Dreadful as a "spiritual successor" since it is another fantasy adventure, but I know since I have the handicap of not being Brian, most hardcore 8bit fans are probably not going to give me the time of day.. It's also part Western and a different tone, so it may not feel all that much like a spiritual successor. I'm also not as good of a writer as him. Maybe I'll get there some day, maybe not. I'll keep trying :D

Plus I think some of the hardestcore 8bit fans have a kinda grudge against me for helping with the Epiclogue. No matter how good of a job I might do on The Dreadful I'll always be that artist jerk who Brian teamed up with to do the ending the wrong way.

It's flattering that you enjoyed something I did so much and you only want more of it. But 8BT was a finite story. It always was. I had the end figured out from the start. It was just a matter of getting there. The comic will always be online for you to enjoy.

I loved Arrested Development and would love to see new episodes. But it ain't happening. So, I sought out other shows like, say, Community. It's not the same as AR, it's not funny in the same ways as AR, but it's also good.

This is a television metaphor for Atomic Robo! Or, let's go nuts, comics that I have nothing to do with.

Okay. That's all I really needed to hear. Thanks for the response, Brian.

Suppose I'll go hunt for another comic to read untill I feel like reading the archives again. Or go re-read Adventurers! or Bob and George. I think I'm starting to run out of comics, really. XD

For the record, Brian, I've been a fan of yours for a long time. Since around 8-bit comic 250, I think. I've got Nuklear Age, and all the Atomic Robo I can get my hands on. If you'll permit me to fanboy a little, I have to say that you're easilly one of the best writers around. In my opinion, at least.

That's all. You guys can lock this now, if you want. Or throw comic suggestions at me for people to read when they start wanting another 8-bit.

8 Easy Bits is pretty good. Gotta warn you, it never got finished and probably never will be, but it's there.