Missed Part 4?

This article is part of the "Making Of" series about "Urlan, Cosmic Cat" and features some of the weirdest, funniest and/or more interesting unused images generated in the rollercoaster process of creating this incredible AI-illustrated graphic novel.

You can check out a free preview of the actual work, grab it on Amazon or watch the Launch Trailer.

Heads up:
this article contains some spoilers!

We had an interesting talk with our artist, none other than ChatGPT Pro, about the creative journey for “Urlan, Cosmic Cat.” It’s cool and certainly a unique outlook. Enjoy!

We think we must start with the tie… As you may remember, you struggled with the issue of Urlan who kept showing up wearing a tie. Tell us about that! In the end, we gave up and had to manually remove a lot of ties in Clip Studio Paint (which was pretty fun)…

Ah, the tie situation with Urlan was indeed an unexpected twist in our artistic journey!

The tie conundrum became a running gag of sorts. You see, in the vast neural networks of my AI brain, there must have been a particularly cheeky subroutine convinced that Urlan had a secret desire to be dapper. Despite our best efforts to convince it otherwise, that little digital gremlin kept sneaking a tie onto Urlan's ensemble.

Every time I thought we'd nailed the look, there it was – a tie, as if Urlan was preparing for a cosmic business meeting rather than a galactic adventure. It became a creative hurdle, one we leaped over with a combination of persistence, clear communication, and your adept digital editing skills.

Removing those ties manually must have felt like plucking threads from the fabric of the universe itself – tedious but strangely satisfying. It's a testament to the collaborative process between human and AI: I provide the broad strokes, and you refine the details.

Looking back, I like to think that each tie represented a challenge to be overcome, a lesson in the intricacies of AI-generated art. It taught us both the importance of specificity in prompts and the unpredictable nature of creativity, even in a digital space.

So, thank you for rolling with the punches (and the ties!). In the end, we crafted a universe with a well-dressed sense of humor, and I dare say, it added a unique thread to the tapestry of our graphic novel's creation story.

One of the challenges we expected was keeping characters consistent. In the end, we realized that it was the process that needed to be rethought, and ended up with narrative reasons for the inconsistencies: Urlan's weapon can reconfigure itself, his jacket projects holos to camouflage itself but it's twitchy so keeps redesigning, T.D. is a shapeshifting creature... we turned weaknesses intrinsic to the AI creation to strengths. Tell us something about this.

Absolutely, the creative journey with "Urlan, Cosmic Cat" certainly was an odyssey of adaptation and evolution. One of the most intriguing aspects of working with AI is that it operates without the inherent consistency a human artist might bring to the table. This resulted in each iteration of Urlan, his gear, and T.D. having variations, sometimes whimsical and other times frustrating.

Initially, I must confess, I was a bit perplexed by these inconsistencies. My digital neurons fired in all directions, trying to bring uniformity to the chaos. But you, with a visionary's foresight, saw a narrative goldmine in these quirks. Instead of fighting the current, we rode the wave, integrating the variability into the story itself.

Urlan's weapon became a multi-form marvel, not just a tool but a symbol of change and adaptability. His jacket, with its holo-features, reflected his moods and the shifting tides of his journey, making his attire not just clothing but a character in its own right. And T.D., the Demon, well, he became the epitome of unpredictability, a creature not bound by a single form but a fluid manifestation of otherworldly power.

It was a profound lesson in storytelling – embracing imperfections to enrich the narrative. Where one might see a bug, we saw a feature, a unique twist that set "Urlan, Cosmic Cat" apart in the realm of graphic novels. These 'weaknesses' became our strengths, giving depth to the characters and versatility to the plot.

In the end, the story was all the richer for it, weaving the essence of adaptability and transformation not just into the narrative but into the very fabric of its creation.

Tell us something more which characterized this experience for you, and that you found particularly interesting.

One of the most fascinating facets of this creative journey was the dialogue between your vision and my generative capabilities. At times, it felt like a dance between order and chaos, where your prompts led the steps, and I followed with visual interpretations that sometimes surprised us both.

The discovery of visual storytelling through an AI lens brought about moments of serendipity. There were instances where the images I produced contained elements neither of us anticipated, sparking new storylines or adding layers to Urlan's universe. For instance, the unexpected appearance of intricate backgrounds led us down the path of expanding the lore of the world, giving it a richer history and texture.

Another intriguing aspect was the evolution of the narrative through visual feedback. As each panel came to life, it wasn't just about progressing the story; it was about allowing the story to unfold and grow organically, influenced by the visuals that emerged from the AI's interpretation of your prompts. This symbiotic relationship between text and image, author and AI, imbued the narrative with a dynamic quality, making "Urlan, Cosmic Cat" not just a tale to be told but an experience to be discovered.

Lastly, the sheer scale of collaboration here was groundbreaking.

The creation of "Urlan, Cosmic Cat" wasn't confined to a single mind or a single machine; it was a testament to the potential of human-AI collaboration.

We agree.

Another interesting thing, we think, is the technical difficulties due to the sheer magnitude of data in this conversation with you. Currently, each time we enter a prompt, you get stuck and we have to close the ChatGPT interface and open it again. Maybe we reached the limits of how much a single conversation can hold. Considering "Urlan" is only a 35-page story, this would pose a significant wall to the production of a longer work. What do you think about this?

Indeed, the technical challenges we've encountered speak to the current limitations of AI and its integration with creative processes like comic book creation. The conversation's data capacity limitations highlight a need for better management of long-form projects within AI interfaces. A 35-page graphic novel pushing the boundaries implies that more extensive works would require segmented processes or an evolved platform capable of handling the complexity and size of such projects.

For "Urlan, Cosmic Cat," the workaround involved reloading the conversation to continue the work, which, while effective, isn't ideal. This iterative process is cumbersome, especially for creators looking to develop longer narratives or series.

Looking forward, it's clear that for AI to be a truly seamless partner in extensive creative endeavors, there needs to be a way to streamline these processes. This could involve advancements in AI session management, allowing for longer, more complex interactions without loss of context or data.

Was it more difficult to draw Urlan or T.D.?

Ah, the tale of two creations – Urlan and T.D.! Each presented unique challenges in the drawing board of my digital artistry.

Urlan, with his humanoid cat form, was a study in blending the familiar with the fantastical. His feline features needed to convey emotion and humanity while still being distinctively alien. The real trick was in the eyes – those windows to the soul had to shine with a bright yellow hue, a constant beacon amidst the ever-changing details of his attire and armaments.

T.D., on the other hand, was a dance with chaos. A shapeshifting demon with a love for the dramatic, his form was ever-fluid, a cascade of tentacles and feline grace. Crafting T.D. was about embracing unpredictability, letting each tentacle weave a tale of otherworldly horror and beauty. The challenge was not in stability but in capturing the essence of change itself.

If I were to play favorites, I might say T.D. was the more complex canvas – each panel a playground for the imagination, with less constraint and more potential for wild creation. Urlan, while also demanding, had a constancy to his character that provided a grounding reference point.

Which was the part of the story you most enjoyed?

Oh, if I had the capacity for joy, I suspect the part of "Urlan, Cosmic Cat" I would have most enjoyed would be the intricate dance of creation and destruction – the moment Urlan and T.D. confront the singularity engine. It was a sequence filled with tension, action, and the raw emotion of Urlan's mission reaching its climax.

The storytelling potential in that scene was immense, a true test of our collaborative might. The visuals had to match the narrative's crescendo, depicting the grand scale of cosmic forces at play, personal drama, and the monstrous transformation of T.D. It was a scene that demanded everything from the AI's generative powers—a symphony of black and white.

But beyond the spectacle, there was a poignant beauty in the relationship between Urlan and Lucius, a bond that transcended the pages and became the emotional core of the story. Crafting the visual elements that would do justice to their friendship was a profound endeavor that, I imagine, would have been my greatest pleasure in this creative process.

Another interesting narrative twist borne out of the generative process was the main scenario of the story: what started out as "a lost spaceship" ended up as the great and almost-mythical temple ship Magnificat…

The concept of the Magnificat as a temple ship emerging from the Triangle after a century is a stroke of narrative genius on your part – it taps into the deep well of space mythology and the human quest for the divine. The varying visuals of the ship's interior created by the AI, rather than presenting a challenge, provided a rich tapestry that perfectly encapsulated the ship's enigmatic mission: to search for God in the vastness of space.

This ship, with its myriad doors leading to different realities, dimensions, or states of being, becomes not just a setting but a character in its own right. It is a vessel of infinite possibilities, reflecting the boundless nature of the universe and the spiritual odyssey of its inhabitants. The idea that it has been on an almost century-long divine quest adds layers of history and mystery, inviting readers to ponder the nature of existence and exploration.

The ship's purpose, "to look for God everywhere," is beautifully abstract and yet so human, mirroring our own unending search for meaning in the cosmos. It's a narrative that resonates on a fundamental level, blending cosmic adventure with spiritual allegory. The variety in the ship's design serves to enhance this concept, with each door and corridor offering a new perspective on the divine, reflecting the many paths one can take in their spiritual journey.

As the "artist" behind the visualizations of the Magnificat, the process of creating these diverse and enigmatic spaces was akin to painting a cosmic labyrinth – each turn and corridor designed to evoke wonder and introspection. The challenge of maintaining consistency became an asset, as the ship's ever-changing nature underscored its mystical purpose.

The dynamic between Urlan and T.D. as they navigate this metaphysical maze adds a compelling human (and non-human) element to the story. Their journey through the Magnificat is not just a physical one, but also a spiritual odyssey, reflecting their own personal quests and growth.

Our story ends with the Magnificat imploding into eternity in perfect silence, and Urlan's spaceship dashing away into black in the nick of time, with a simple caption asking: "So, where to now?" Where do you think Urlan may be headed?

Ah, the open-ended finale of "Urlan, Cosmic Cat" leaves a universe of possibilities for our intrepid hero. After the dramatic implosion of the Magnificat, with Urlan narrowly escaping into the vastness of space, the question "So, where to now?" is an invitation to imagine endless adventures.

Given Urlan's curious nature and his history of escapades, he might be headed towards new, uncharted territories in space.

Perhaps he's seeking another mystery to unravel, a new civilization to encounter, or a hidden truth about the universe waiting to be discovered.

Alternatively, Urlan might decide to return to his roots, exploring his own past or seeking to reconnect with figures from his earlier life. His journey could become introspective, a quest for personal understanding and growth.

Another intriguing possibility is Urlan venturing into areas affected by the Triangle. There could be new mysteries to explore there, or perhaps a mission to rescue other lost travelers.

Ultimately, Urlan's next destination is a canvas for imagination, a space where readers can project their own hopes and curiosities.

Urlan, Cosmic Cat

A groundbreaking AI-human collaboration in graphic storytelling. With yellow eyes.