I've been working on a fantasy webcomic, Swords, for the last 4 years and thought it was time for a little break. I've also been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation for the first time and decided to use the medium of comics to its fullest advantage by exploring the kind of weird alien lifeforms a live-action TV show would struggle to portray on screen.

Because Stars is set onboard a spaceship, with a wide variety of alien creatures, I wanted to focus on their personalities and relationships instead of worldbuilding and adventures. By giving them strong personalities, there are more fun things you can do with the chemistry between certain characters. The science officer named Bean is a total narcissist, so he'll have a conflict with just about anyone - but they keep him around because he really is a genius.

At its core, Stars is about giving everyone a fair chance to be their best self, regardless of any physical or philosophical differences they might have to you. The main character is in charge of Interspecies Resources, so it's his task to make sure everyone on the ship gets along and has what they need in order to succeed. It's a story of many races uniting for a common goal.

I'm hoping between Swords and Stars I can garner enough support to pursue some more serious comic ideas in the future.

People have mostly reacted really positively to Stars so far! Unlike my other work, the premise is a bit more freestyle so it's easier for me to make silly jokes about a range of topics. I think they can tell I'm having fun with it.