Creating Weekanoo (Mild spoilers) (Patreon)

Weekanoo was my longest storyline to date. And as such, there was a lot of stuff planned that either got left out or changed entirely. Here are some of the biggest changes...

First of all, Ingrid's subplot was originally going to be a lot bigger. I planned that she would learn to love the theater. She'd embrace everything about it, becoming a counselor matchmaker in the process. Her whole storyline would be modeled after Hello, Dolly. But once I started writing the main storyline, all this seemed to distract from the murders, so her subplot was cut. But, as a consolation prize, I let her reveal the killer.

Also, Freddie, Barry, and Gary's story would entirely revolve around Freddie becoming the coolest kid at camp. They weren't going to have anything to do with the murders, which would be relegated to a subplot with Erica as the star. This would give the counselors more screen time, and keep the kids away from the darker stuff. But while I was writing it, it seemed impossible to keep the main characters from getting involved in what was quickly becoming the main storyline. Sadly, this pushed Erica to the sidelines.

Finally, Bobby's character was originally going to be much different. As you can probably see from his initial design in this comic (third panel, far right), he was going to be a very nervous and pessimistic kid. After meeting Freddie, he'd receive a terrible care package from his mom. Freddie would realize he's way cooler than Bobby, inspiring him to become 'Cougar'. I decided this was too mean for Freddie's character, and there was plenty of pessimistic characters in TOE already. So Bobby became the unfailing optimistic we all know and love.

...

There were a couple full comics that got cut, like the one above. This specific comic was supposed to be right after the big swim-off, with Freddie almost immediately revealing what he saw. I cut it for a couple reasons. First, I wanted something to spark his revelation, rather than having him randomly reveal it. Second, we were getting close to the end, and this seemed like filler. It's short, and doesn't advance the plot. Finally, it just wasn't that funny.