Mace
AN ARTIST WITH A MACE FOR A HEAD.
STARTED WORK ON ALTER UNIVERSE (FIRSTLY NAMED ALTEREALM [OR ALTER REALM]) IN 2016 AS A COPING MECHANISM FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL. HE TRIED STARTING UP THE ALTER UNIVERSE SERIES AROUND 15-20 TIMES OVER SEVEN YEARS (2016-2023) WITH MANY DIFFERENT PLOTLINES, BUT HAD TWO LENGTHY PROJECTS IN 2020 AND 2022 BEFORE ALTER UNIVERSE (2024).
SECRET PAGE COUNTER: 4 (INCLUDING THIS PAGE)
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CANON: PROBABLY NOT
RACE: HUMAN
SEX: MALE
AGE: 20 Y/0
HEIGHT: 5’10”
WEAPON: METAL BALL FLAIL -
ALTERUNIVERSE (2020) RAN FOR FOUR CHAPTERS FROM DECEMBER 21st, 2020 TO MID-2021. THESE CHAPTERS WERE MADE FREE TO READ ONLINE.
MACE WORKED WITH WRITER JOHN VELOCE FOR ITS THIRD CHAPTER, THOUGH HE EDITED VELOCE’S WRITING TO FIT A DIFFERENT ACCENT. IT ENDED MID-2021 BECAUSE OF MACE’S DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WRITING AND ARTWORK.
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ALTERUNIVERSE (2022) RAN FOR THREE ISSUES AND WAS DEVELOPED BY COMIC GROUP TEAM MACEHEAD. THE TRIO PRINTED ALL THREE ISSUES AND PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED THE FIRST TWO COMICS. THESE CHAPTERS WERE MADE FREE TO READ ONLINE, BUT PHYSICAL COPIES COULD BE PURCHASED FOR $5.
IN LATE 2021 / EARLY 2022, MACE FORMED COMIC BOOK GROUP TEAM MACEHEAD, COMPRISED OF FRIENDS MACE (ARTIST AND WRITER), JOHN VELOCE (WRITER), AND ADRIAN MUSLIU (WRITER AND CO-FLATTER). HE EXPLAINED TO THEM THE ENTIRETY OF THE SERIES’ STORY AND LORE BEFORE AND DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISSUE #1. THE TRIO SHARED A PRIVATE DISCORD SERVER WHERE MACE PROVIDED ART ASSETS FOR MANY UNIVERSES. AFTER ISSUE #1 WAS PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED, VELOCE AND MUSLIU BEGAN THEIR WRITING OF ISSUE #3. DURING THIS TIME, MACE RECIEVED FEEDBACK FROM A FRIEND THAT THE FIRST ISSUE’S PACING WAS TOO FAST (SEE ALTER UNIVERSE (2024) DEVELOPMENT).
AS MACE WORKED ON ILLUSTRATING ISSUE #2 (HAVING WRITTEN THE SCRIPT BEFOREHAND), HE BEGAN MAKING GRAMMAR FIXES TO VELOCE AND MUSLIU’S SCRIPT. OVER TIME, MACE BECAME MORE INVOLVED IN ISSUE #3 AND ISSUE #4’S SCRIPTS AFTER FINDING VELOCE AND MUSLIU’S CREATIVE VISION DIFFERED FROM HIS. AFTER THE RELEASE OF ISSUE #3, MACE SKETCHED 8 PAGES OF ISSUE #4 BEFORE CONCLUDING ARTWORK FOR THE PROJECT.
MACE SPLIT THE TEAM UP IN FEBRUARY 2023 BECAUSE OF MACE’S DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WRITING, ARTWORK, AND DISPLEASURE WITH THE CONTROL HE HAD OVER THE OTHER TWO MEMBER’S WRITING. THE THREE REMAINED FRIENDS AFTER THE SPLIT.
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ALTER UNIVERSE (2024) IS THE CURRENT RUN OF THE SERIES. IT WAS DEVELOPED FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS BEFORE UPDATE #001 DEBUTED DECEMBER 21st, 2024. THIS RUN WOULD DIFFER IN THAT IT WOULD BEGIN TO PROVIDE FREQUENT PAGE UPDATES, AS OPPOSED TO THE BULK RELEASES BEFORE.
IN FEBRUARY 2023, AFTER TEAM MACEHEAD’S DEPARTURE, MACE STATED ONLINE THAT HE WOULD START ANOTHER RUN OF THE SERIES. HOWEVER, HE BID THAT IF THIS RUN ENDED IN HIS DISSATISFACTION, HE WOULD RELUCTANTLY CONCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SERIES AND POST ALL OF HIS CONCEPT ART FOR THE SERIES OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS ON AN ONLINE PORTFOLIO. AS WELL, HE’D CONSIDER A DIFFERENT CREATIVE PURSUIT THAN COMICS.
BACK DURING DEVELOPMENT OF ALTER UNIVERSE (2022), MACE RECIEVED FEEDBACK FROM A FRIEND THAT THE FIRST ISSUE’S PACING WAS TOO FAST. MACE TOOK THIS TO HEART AND DISREGARDED HIS FORMER PAGE LIMIT OF 28 PAGES PER CHAPTER. IN TURN, THE PAGE COUNT OF THE SIMILAR PLOT OF ALTER UNIVERSE (2022)’S ISSUE 1 WAS OCTUPLED AND SPANNED OVER THE NEW SERIES’ FIRST TWO CHAPTERS INSTEAD.
DURING FEBRUARY, MACE STRUGGLED TO REMOVE VELOCE’S CHARACTER, KING, FROM THE STORY’S HOOK. MACE CHOSE TO DITCH THE FIVE YEAR-LONG-KEPT “MERK IN A JAR” PLOT AND INSTEAD TRIED A DIFFERENT SET-UP (#P - V).
ON MARCH 4TH, 2023, MACE BEGAN ILLUSTRATING #1 - PORTAL. HE FINISHED EARLY AUGUST 2023 AND GATHERED A SMALL GROUP OF PRIVATE READERS TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK (IN FEAR OF BAD PACING). HOWEVER, THE FEEDBACK WAS ALMOST ALL POSITIVE, SO HE BEGAN ILLUSTRATING #P - V.
IN SPRING 2023, MACE BECAME INTRIGUED WITH APOLOGETICS. ACROSS 6 MONTHS— AFTER HEAVY WRESTLING BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND ATHEISM— HE SLOWLY FADED INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST. THIS RELATIONSHIP WOULD CHANGE A LOT OF BEHIND-THE-SCENES STORY AND LORE (ESPECIALLY THAT INVOLVING MERK). AFTER QUESTIONING ALTER UNIVERSE’S VIOLENCE (HAVING WORKED ON #P - V FOR MANY MONTHS NOW), HE QUESTIONED GOD IF ALTER UNIVERSE IS WHAT HE’S REALLY CALLED TO WORK ON.
AFTER CONFIRMING IT WAS— THROUGH MONTHS OF PRAYER AND FELLOW AGREEMENT— MACE QUIT HIS PART-TIME RETAIL JOB AND BEGAN USING HIS TALENTS ENTIRELY ON THE SERIES. DURING THIS TIME, MACE FADED INTO WORKING ON ALTER UNIVERSE FOR GOD AND NOT FOR HIMSELF.
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INSPIRED BY CHAIN CHOMP (SUPER MARIO) AND DENJI (CHAINSAW MAN)
REAL NAME “BRENNEN SPEAL”
“DEMON CAT” ALIAS CREATED IN 2016; ENDED 2020
“CROCO” ALIAS CREATED IN 2020; ENDED 2021
“MACE” ALIAS CREATED IN 2021
