Ready Art Explains the Growth Lab - Episode 052, Your ideas answered! (Patreon)

Right off, we've had awesome ideas from my friends and fans and I want to reply with overall thoughts. This will also cover (ideally) some of the things we are seeing now in the comics and animations and where things are possibly leading.

Multiverse and Alternate Versions of the Growth Lab Timeline

The idea of a multiverse or alternate Growth Lab universe in different time lines (medieval, super high tech, super alien, etc) is DEFINITELY something I want to explore at some point. The most likely direction would be some sort of cross over event or short comic story to test the waters. I don’t have more details since it’s a plotline I’m still workshopping. There are a LOT of fun possibilities and the ones I’m attracted to the most will win out.

Again, I appreciate all the fantastic ideas via messages and our Discord. I want to add every single patron can join our Discord if they want to participate in the discussions there.

So yes, I would like to do alternate takes on existing characters and situations. Of course, I would also like to have new characters brought in with new situations as well. The basic idea is to shake things up and try new things out.

Luna and her team versus the Coalition

First, Luna’s team. At this point in both the comics and the animations Luna and her group (members of the USAF) are somewhat on the back foot. They have lost their prestige with the rise of the Coalition. The whole point in the stories was always factions were organized against the USAF. Luna was always intended to be a scapegoat and a diversionary tactic. General Bill Riggs mentioned that several times across the comics and a few times in the animations if I recall correctly. The point is, there’s a reason her plans have failed. Some of it is just bad execution and a lot of it is subterfuge and sabotage.

Overall, the idea is we are having fun transformations so we need scenarios where we have transformation opportunities. Of course, that’s going to be an underlying trait in all my work. If everything worked correctly, if every plan was executed perfectly there would be few or no outbreaks.

The Coalition

We are seeing Erica and her forces take a more prominent role. Something I may not have conveyed clearly across the last few animations or comics is the Coalition has been around a while. At least that’s the implication. Originally, they were introduced as a European counterpart to Luna’s North American team. As we started to discover, they are a much more global team than we first thought. People like Emily, Lorraine and a few others have effectively started as infiltrators and spys.

Another thing is the Coalition isn’t viewed as some scary evil organization by most people. As I was mentioning above while Luna is set up the Coalition was positioning itself as a rescue force. A helpful group of scientists who offer better solutions than the USAF. Are they actually better? That’s still to be decided. One thing they are doing is showing a contrast between their results and Luna’s. And without any sabotage their results tend to look better overall.

The level of tech in the world

This is one of those topics which require a bit of buy in from the reader. Clearly, we have incredibly high-tech spaceships and devices in this universe. One thing I’m aiming to do is also give back story as to why things progressed so far in certain ways and not in others. One of the new character races being introduced is the Gargoyle race. There’s a bit of development to go but the idea is they are an alien race of beings. They are exploring and colonizing and have somewhat recently re-found our solar system. The short story as they been here before but that knowledge was lost a while back. How are they part of the growth energy? That’s going to be part of the story. One thing I would like to do with the Gargoyles is introduce an antagonist that unifies the coalition and the USAF. It’s been fun having Luna versus Bill versus the Coalition versus various factions but we’ve had 50 issues of that and I’m looking to branch out. Doesn’t mean we won’t have those quibbles; they’re not going anywhere. I’m only looking to expand the universe and bring in more back story and lore.

How it all comes together

Again, I appreciate all the suggestions and great ideas from everyone. I do read them all and look to respond as best I can.

I’d also love to say I can execute all your ideas or somehow integrate every single one of them into the Growth Lab’s going forward but it’s not always possible or reasonable to do so. Still, I do my best to integrate the spirit of what the suggestions represent to me and bring you the fun you’re looking for.

Thank you again we’ll talk soon. Keep those ideas coming!

-Ready