The end of history...

Well, I'm working my way up to the end of the Ad Astra History Lesson. I haven't decided exactly how long it should run, but it's nearing the end and then I'll be switching to color and beginning a story arc called "Back to School". I appreciate everyone who's read the comic and I hope you're enjoying it. The History Lesson is not exactly the format that the regular comic will be, it's meant to be a sort of "lecture" telling a "condensed" (and somewhat biased, as will become clear) version of the history of Atlas, and by extension, of the so-called Exile Worlds. The Exile Worlds are all the worlds populated by exiled supers following the events of August 12, 2119. Earth is lost to them, technology is lost to most of them, all they have to rely on are their powers, skills and talents. Earth itself, well, that's a different story for another time. Rest assured that I have plans for it and I hope you'll find them interesting. I've laid this foundation, because, while I'm extrapolating the future of my HeroBlog universe, I'm setting it far enough in the future and in such a different setting that I felt the need for laying some groundwork. I like a mystery as much as anyone, but as a reader, I think it's important for people to be able to identify with the characters on some level and it helps to understand the world in which they live. Originally, I had not intended to make Atlas a monarchy, but as I developed the storyline, it made more and more sense. Atlas is socially stratified based on power level, the weakest at the bottom, the strongest at the top and the flyers above all others. I thought that the society that grew from such roots would definitely form a hierarchy of some sort that would evolve into a more traditional bloodline-based hierarchy as has been common in human society for so many centuries. Other Exile Worlds will develop along different lines, but they will all follow a somewhat similar pattern, being thrust into what amounts to a stone age tech level and working their way back up. But, as I say, all that's for future stories.