So, as I mentioned on the final page, I had a plan for where the series would go after volume three. Volume Four is more solidly planned and volume five was more of a vague idea, but this is basically what was going to happen.
Chapter Thirteen
After Molly moves into her new office, Vanessa comes in to let David know her editor is ready for his pitch. David meets Emily, a middle-aged woman with no sense of playing nice. The pair butt heads but she accepts his pitch, and Molly becomes a comic artist. Meanwhile, Greg, Vanessa and Mike do some odd jobs here and there to pay off their immediate debts, but can’t seem to get ahead. Mike hints that he has a solution.
David heads home and lets Alice know the good news, that he got the book green lit and he got an advance. Alice starts talking about what they could use the money for, but David reveals he spent some of it. She’s about to ask on what when he gets down on one knee. The final page would be a splash of David proposing, and we finally learn Alice’s surname (It’s Tanner).
Chapter Fourteen
We find out that Mike’s plan was to ask Chloe for the cash to pay back the bank so Greg and Vanessa don’t lose their house in exchange for some cleaning jobs. Initially, Chloe isn’t willing due to how they treated Molly, but is convinced to on condition they apologise. The conversation then turns to David’s proposal and Chloe asks how it went. Since Comixology has a three page preview I wanted to wait until page four to say whether or not Alice accepted. She did. David and Alice are at the office, showing off the ring to Fer and Julia. Alice and Julia immediately start making wedding plans while David and Fer only have to get a cake and make invitations.
Meanwhile, Greg and Vanessa go to Molly to make their apology, while Molly is doing her best Gendo Ikari impression. I had a few ideas on what she was going to make them do, all of it humiliating, but in the end all is forgiven and Chloe is now in charge of all their debts. And Chloe has not forgiven them. Alice and Julia get some good service, but watch the price jack up every time they mention it’s for a wedding. When David and Alice compare notes, they wonder if Chloe would be willing to take the debt too, when their account gets a huge deposit as Greg and Vanessa finally pay them everything they owe David for his work on the movie and comic, which covers everything and then some. Being responsible adults, they use the excess to pay for a 75-inch OLED TV.
Chapter Fifteen
Con time. Molly is nervous because they’ll be selling the first issue of her and David’s comic, but Fer reassures her that everything will be fine. We find out that the comic has been selling well enough that Emily is asking for more issues beyond the initial miniseries. What ends up being more of a problem is that Greg and Vanessa have a TV with Ethereal High playing on repeat to try and advertise the movie, but don’t think to chase off anyone who just stands around watching without buying anything. Also, Julia is doing triple duty as a booth babe, changing outfits between Emerald Justice, Ethereal High, and the new comic. Finally, the day is over and it’s time to party. By which I mean it’s time for David and Alice’s Bachelor and Bachelorette parties respectively. I didn’t have anything firmly written down for these, but both parties meet up in the hospital at the end.
Chapter Sixteen
Back when I was hashing this out, it was when the updates were really slowing down, so I was planning on this being the ending, but still had ideas for the future in case I was able to do it. If we were able to keep going, I would have moved some of this stuff to volume five and had this chapter just be about the wedding.
David and Molly go to a book store, where their first trade is on display. She asks David if she can leave the series after the second arc ends so she can draw her own comic, which he agrees to. He and Fer decide it’s time to wrap up Emerald Justice and Fer takes over for the published series. David also goes to see his doctor and they discuss his car accident, which he is now completely recovered from. The weird shit that happened in the Paul strips is confirmed as being his brain damage from the accident, which was always meant to be the explanation. With a clean bill of health, it’s time for the wedding.
I was going to have every old character come back, maybe even bring Paul back and say that he just moved on after the newspaper shut down instead of being killed at the end of his tenure. There are some antics, but the big day goes off mostly without a hitch and the comic would end with David and Alice sitting down after the reception. If this was the ending, there would be a page where characters start joining them and someone would suggest taking a photo of everyone with a drone. The final page would be a two-page spread of everyone waving at the camera.
Volume Five
If this happened, chapter seventeen would be when Molly quit the comic and Fer became the artist. Julia would announce her trip overseas and leave. Also, Mike is the new manager for Ethereal High and moves back into the office. With the income from the new book, plus a new tenant moving in, Alice broaches the idea of quitting her job and becoming a writer like David. He agrees, on condition she has to treat it like a real job and not just goof off. She agrees and starts working at the office.
Chapter Eighteen or so would be when we’re finally introduced to Chloe and Molly’s mother, who is an older business woman who dotes on Chloe but sometimes forgets Molly is even in the room. She generally makes a nuisance of herself and causes problems as she decides to try and make up her neglect to her youngest daughter by forcing David to accept her as the newest occupant. Eventually, Molly convinces her to leave in chapter twenty.
Chapter nineteen or twenty would involve David pitching a new series, kind of like the pitches we included in LWI, and that would get accepted. Alice would shop her manuscript around before agreeing to let Mike be her agent, on condition he has no access to the finances. He comes through and the ending would involve Alice and David in the bookstore, holding up their new respective books.
Volume Six
Alice is pregnant. That’s about as far as I thought ahead.
So, yeah, that was the plan, at least that’s as far as I thought ahead. I hope one day we can tell those stories, properly. But if not, well now you guys know where it was going.
Until next time
David
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