It's Time To Write Our Own Story

People are cool. I'm impressed by people who make their own thing. There is no one right path to adding value to the universe but friends there are some clear ways to deduct. Licensing is less and less about adding value.  It's more and more about working the corporate thing. And friends, the corporate thing sucks. It sucks now in a way that it has never sucked before in our experience. It sucks so big. It sucks so wide. It is a suckfest and one that I cannot wait to be done with. 

When we started with Star Trek it was a small team, MC got us a license- we knew the names of all the people on the team. MC's daughter's name was also Willow- maybe that was a nice coincidence for us. Maybe it helped us be memorable. MC invited us to the premiere of Discovery season 2. They shared our stuff on their mailing list and on socials. That's how we started, we sent them samples and paid our dues. It felt like a real partnership. It was really a pleasure to work with like-minded creative people. Things have changed a lot since then. I'm not sure I know a single person on the team anymore except let’s call her Jane, who seems to be our wrangler and point of contact. She has Dior books in the backdrop of her Zoom meeting space. It’s very pretty and curated. She's nice but has not seen much Star Trek and doesn't seem empowered to do much on our behalf. She meets with us monthly to ask us questions and offer resources that she is never able to follow up with. I have stopped asking for things. It's not worth the breath.

Paramount is increasingly looking for ways to make more money on their licensing partners. They've priced out Hero Within and another Trek art poster company. Our minimum guarantee was massively higher for this term also, but that was a year ago. I will not recount all the very public things Paramount has done this last year. This coming December marks the end of our current contract with Paramount to make Star Trek products. We won't renew. 

We love Star Trek and the people who love Star Trek. They are some high quality nerds. They are our kind of people. Paramount simply isn't putting people into the equation anymore.

And that is not acceptable. People count. They're why we do things the way we do them.

Slowly sometimes, ethically always.

Yes, I am afraid what it might mean to not have their name next to ours. Can we make it without Trek? Can we continue to grow? The truth is I don’t know. But I have to write. I have to keep going. I have to tell you our story. I think it is a story of rebellion, of kindness, of bravery. It is one of trying to protect a small scrappy crew of nerdy misfits who have put their faith in us. Who have put their faith in me. 

This comic is our out- from a world of corporate greed and distant puppet masters.  It's our chance to tell our story. It's our moment to build a world where people can become extraordinary. It’s our bid for our own name and our own freedom. We want to be the ones who say it's not good enough.  One of our goals for 2026 is to tell our own story. That means a lot of things. It means these blog posts to tell you how we see it. The comic represents the first introduction to the Offworld universe, its clothes, its characters, its general flavor and flair. And so. And so we are leaping.

A jump off the edge. We have jumped before and landed well. Are you ready?

Here we go! 

If you're with me, let me know by sharing our indie comic and tell your people you love them.

Willow