Ultima-Java: Creative Media

Ultima-Java: Creative Media was founded in November 2005 by Andy Evans, Emily Allom and Steven Olden. UJ:CM is a community driven Webcomic site with a number of different webcomic teams working to produce content. The main focus of the site however, is building a community, and helping one another develop each others talents, though constructive criticism, and sharing of information and experiences. The site is not limited to just Webcomics, and on the forum free thinking and other forms of media are also encouraged as artistic endeavors, such as the production of artwork, sprites, music and videos.

There are two categories of comic on Ultima-Java: Creative Media, Continuity and Non-Continuity. Continuity comics are created to take place in the Ultima-Java Universe, or UJ-verse for short. These stories and comics are written by members of the U Jverse Continuity Creative Team and are submitted to Andy Evans for editing and continuity proofing, before being put into production.

The current lineup of comics is limited to: History, Universe 2, Over The Edge and If You Believe

All of these comics bar History are currently in a state of hiatus, and are looking to start up again, once the new UJ:CM website is complete. This is expected to be some time near mid 2011.

The Team
 * UJ:CM was founded by Andy Evans, Emily Allom and Steven Olden, they remain the main three members of the UJ Main Continuity Creative Team (MCCT).
 * Andy is the main Writer and Continuity Editor for all Continuity projects, and has recently gotten involved with the actual comic production of History, of the chapter Learning Curve. producing backgrounds and special effects for the comic. Aside from comic work Andy is the site designer, and overall administrator.
 * Emily Allom is a writer for History as well as the main artist. She has drawn all comic pages so far. Emily is also the creator and sole producer of If You Believe. Out side of her creative duties, Emily is also the website Forum's main Administrator.
 * Steven Olden is a writer on the project, but due to personal life getting in the way does not have as much time to contribute any more than the odd script.
 * Kevin Gibson joined the team as of 2009. He is the creator and sole producer of Over the Edge and is currently an Assistant writer for the MCCT, providing insights into certain situations and characters that he is developing for the UJ-Verse. Aside from comic work Kevin is a moderator on the site's Forums.
 * Lyle Dietz joined the team officially in July 2010. At the moment he does not have any creative content on the site. His expertise however, lie in programming and server maintenance, and as such, he is the head programmer on the new website that is currently under development.

This site shows examples of:
 * Continuity Reboot: After the change of Creative Team members the story was restarted, the original script is also available under the header of Universe 2. (This is not an example of Multiverse)
 * Word of God: Several questions have been answered over the forums.
 * Webcomics Multiverses or Alternate Continuity: There was originally a UJ Multiverse, but this has since been removed, however the pre reboot continuity comic is still hosted and titles Universe 2.
 * B-Side Comics

History

The main comic is History, and features the three main characters, Andy Frogman - A warrior who has no memory of his past, and wants to discover his origins as he attempts to write his own future destiny; Queen Qeeko - A mortal girl who has been granted the immortal essence of Chaos, and struggles with the responsibilities of the new power; and Stephanos a Dark Knight in the service of a Demon Lord who has reign over a planet in the Physical Universe, which Qeeko attempts to recruit as her Herald. A lot of the comic's story is shown through the visual artwork instead through dialogue or text.

The comic is called History, not because Andy Frogman isn't aware of his, but instead that when this comic was being planned the Creative Team of Andy Evans, Emily Allom and Steven Olden, decided to take the story back to the very beginning of events leading up to where the characters are today.

After about a year since the reboot, the comic History, currently has three chapters in it's first story arc In the Beginning..." and has just started on the first chapter of it's second story arc The Winding Road'' currently in production and many more chapters already planned and scripted.

In September 2009 Kevin Gibson joined the Ultima-Java: Continuity Creative Team.

As of January 2010 the comic has returned from a long hiatus hiatus stretching back to the end of 2008, and now has a one page per fortnight (two weeks) schedule. Along with the hiatus being lifted, the background of the UJ-verse has been altered slightly. The most obvious change being the removal of the Multiverse as a concept in the comic. No changes since it's return has constituted the necessity for a reboot.

The removal of the Multiverse has not in any way altered the events of Universe 2, or the Forumverse, as technically these are not Universes in a multiverse, but they are alternate story lines.

This comic is featured on the Crowning Moments page.

Storyarcs:

In The Beginning...
 * Chp 1: First Step to a Thousand Miles - The three main characters first appear here.
 * Chp 2: A Tip of a Quill - Focuses on the relationship between Stephanos and Queen Qeeko.
 * Chp 3: A Deviant Cause - Puts Andy in the spotlight as he encounters the chapter's eponymous group. (In Progress)

The Winding Road
 * Chp 1: Learning Curve - Things are starting to come together. Andy has joined the group from A Deviant Cause, while there are revelations about the Demon Lord who lords over Stephanos.

This comic shows examples of:
 * BFS: Andy Frogman is shown to wield a few of these.
 * Continuity Reboot: After the change of Creative Team members the story was restarted, the original script is also available under the header of Universe 2. (This is not an example of Multiverse)
 * Order Versus Chaos: Not so much Order Vs Chaos, but certainly examples of both
 * Word of God: Several questions have been answered over the forums.
 * Webcomics Multiverses or Alternate Continuity: There was originally a UJ Multiverse, but this has since been removed, however the pre reboot continuity comic is still hosted and titles Universe 2 and the Forums continuity is referred to as The Forumverse.

Ultima-Java: Creative Media also hosts other comics such as Universe 2, Over the Edge and If You Believe.

Universe 2

Universe 2 is the pre-reboot comic that was written with a creative team of six. Due to creative disagreements this comic never even made it to 30 pages. The original comic featured the characters, Andy Frogman, Queen Qeeko, Stephanos, Melfice, SAAM and Kardin, and has since it's reposting on UJ:CM been pruned down to only four characters that we still have permission to use. This prompted the reboot and the creation of Ultima-Java: History.

This comic is considdered by the Creative Team as the Golden Age of Ultima-Java Comics, and was named as a reference to DC comics, where their Golden Age took place on Earth 2. While the UJ Multiverse was being used, the comic occupied the Universe with the designation U~2.

The Multiverse has since been removed as a consept in the UJ Mythos and as such, Universe 2 is now only a reference to DC comics Earth 2. Though the Multiverse is no loner in use this pre-reboot comic can still be considdered and Alternate Continuity.

This comic shows examples of:
 * Continuity Reboot: This comic was rebooted into History.
 * Order Versus Chaos: Not so much Order Vs Chaos, but again examples of both.
 * Webcomics Multiverses or Alternate Continuity: This is the pre-reboot continuity of the UJ-verse, even thought he concept of a Multiverse has been removed, this comic is still refered to as Universe 2 and can be considdered and Alternate Reality.

Over The Edge

Over The Edge is a slice of life / random events / gamer culture comic by Kevin Gibson. The comic is currently on hiatus, but while it was updating it was being released at the rate of one comic per week.

When Over The Edge first arrived on UJ:CM, we were greeted with a string of brand new comic pages. As it does in most situations, life had gotten in the way of the updates, and so Kevin re-released all his older comics on UJ under the header of The Retro Files.

new pages have been planned for future release.

This comic shows examples of:
 * Slice of Life
 * Pop Culture
 * Gaming References

If You Believe

If You Believe is a side project of Ultima-Java: Continuity Creative Team member, Emily Allom. This comic is an off the wall comic delving into the depths of imagination and the concept of belief. If You Believe revolves around the theory that if you believe in something enough, it could very well be true, if only to the individual who believes in it.

In spite of it's colourful style and cartoony characters, If You Believe also features themes of an adult nature, including smokeing, drinking, sexual references and death.

Due to the struggle to keep Ultima-Java: History updated regularly, If You Believe has been placed on a back burner. Recently there have been several updates of a backlog that was created, but these have now run dry.

New comics have been planned and are in production.

This comic shows examples of:
 * Belief
 * Existentialism
 * Adult Themes

External Links


 * Ultima-Java: Creative Media: The main website.
 * Ultima-Java: Forumverse: The Forums of Ultima-Java: Creative Media.
 * History: The main continuity Webcomic.
 * Universe 2: The Pre-reboot continuity comic.
 * If You Believe: The Ultima-Java Presents... comic strip by Emily Allom.
 * Over The Edge: The Ultima-Java Presents... comic strip by Kevin Gibson.