Thanks for the feedback @theprairiefox, @Nyrryl-Cadiz, @baileymvidler, @Pamela-Fraley! I was leaning towards the second one as well, and it's good to hear others are thinking the same thing.
@Pamela-Fraley I'm working on a comic, and I'm finding that it's easier for me to get my head around it if I take significant characters and objects and design them out individually first. I suppose that makes sense for characters, but even ships, vehicles, etc. Initially I just went in and figured I'd work it out as I drew the entire thing, but it just felt a bit overwhelming. So, I'm carrying that idea over to this project too.