Category: The Legend of Jamie Roberts

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What if Jamie Roberts Was NOT a Pirate??

a genderqueer human brandishes a sword with a dramatic sweep of the cape

You all know about Jamie Roberts, the genderqueer pirate who left the sea with their two best friends to go treasure-hunting in a land full of dragons.

But what if they weren’t pirates? Believe it or not, in very early drafts of this comic, Jamie and friends were not pirates at all!

In SUPER early drafts (we’re talking back in 2011 to 2013), they were students at a military school. In those versions of the story, they discover the top brass held an earth-shattering secret plan: to release a demon king and destroy their enemies. They would flee the military school and get refuge in the land where the demon king was sealed away.

In hashing out one draft, I had it that they were military school students, then turned pirate to escape. And the feedback I got was, “Why don’t you just…make them pirates?”

Honestly, storytelling 101: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Besides, I really wanted to get to the pirate bits more than the military school bits. People love pirates more than school, anyway.

So that’s how they became pirates!

Some of these concept sketches, though, will be making it into the bonus material of The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 3…Which is coming to KickStarter on October 14.

Be sure to sign up for my email newsletter to be the first to know! The newsletter is free and private, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more!

Thank you for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.

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The Sketchbooks Where the Magic Happens

three sketchbooks, their covers covered in notes and stickers, are laid on a yellow tablecloth

The top two books are the sketchbooks that contain The Legend of Jamie Roberts’ script. The bottom sketchbook contains the majority of the world-building notes. Not ~all~ of them (because many notes are scattered across other sketchbooks). But this one has the majority of the notes, from initial concept to current day. Many of the notes in that one are held in place by paperclips and tape, so it doesn’t leave the studio.

But what do the scripts look like? Well, in the top two books, the pages look a lot like this…

rough pencils of a comic page

They’re rough on purpose! I like doodling around to get the layouts right. As I work on pages, they go from script to a more refined sketch…

more polished pencil sketch of a comic page

…Up to the finished page.

in this page of The Legend of Jamie Roberts, Jamie leaves an offering for a spirit

But it all starts with those rough sketches in the sketchbooks. I’m not going for “perfect” (whatever that is), I’m going for “out of my head.”

Believe it or not, this has worked for me since 2018. Now, I’m going to need a THIRD sketchbook soon, because The Legend is still going, but I’m approaching the end of that second sketchbook. I’m excited to draw what comes next!

Speaking of which, The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 3 is coming to KickStarter on October 14. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to be the first to know!

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more!

Thanks for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.

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Wait, Someone Was Going to Die in The Legend of Jamie Roberts??

pencil sketch of an older man with pronounced cheekbones saying (with a smile), "This way, boys."

I’m going to reveal a plot twist that ALMOST happened in The Legend of Jamie Roberts…

In previous drafts of this story, Basho was going to die in Chapter 14. I even had the fight scene outlined and some rough sketches done!

But then, after everything that’s been happening in my personal life over the last few months (that then culminated into the last few weeks of August), I decided on a different direction.

Now, to me, it’s more important to have a story where family estrangement is necessary. Not only necessary, but healthier. I wanted to see a story where siblings (even twin siblings) become estranged from each other and it’s better that they separated.

In a way, that also reflects in the backstories of Jamie, Thomas, and Daniel, as well! All three of them left their families of origin, banded together, and became pirates. Exploring that may be the subject of a future mini-comic!

And the funny thing is, after deciding on this new narrative direction, the inspiration flowed back. Jamie and friends even started appearing in my sketchbooks again!

I wanted to share this with you to give a peek behind the curtain as to what almost was. But I’m jazzed about this other direction the story is taking!

To read The Legend of Jamie Roberts, check out the official website. And sign up for my newsletter to keep up with updates.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

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Punk Pirates

a young man with brown hair and heterochromia wears a vest that shows off his chest muscles, as well as pants covered in patches. He smiles at the viewer
a blonde genderqueer person in punk gear swings a guitar back, grinning wildly at the viewer.
a blonde young man with muscles in a vest and patched-up jeans smiles at the viewer, a guitar on his back

Not gonna’ lie, I had a LOT of fun drawing Jamie, Thomas, and Daniel in these punk rock/Rockabilly-esque looks. I don’t draw them in modern outfits very much, so it was a treat to draw these!

When coloring them, I wanted to play with Copic markers again. In particular, I wanted to experiment with using different shades when coloring each one. If you look closely, you’ll notice that Jamie’s shadows have a blue-green hue, while Thomas has a red/burgundy hue to his shadows, and Daniel has a blue hue to his.

One of these days, I’ll put together a tutorial on how to use different colored shadows with Copic markers.

These characters are the main cast of my adventure webcomic, The Legend of Jamie Roberts! You can read it for free now on the official webcomic site.

I also shared this post a few days early with my email newsletter subscribers. To get the next post sooner than the rest of the internet, subscribe for free.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

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NOW ON KICKSTARTER – Reprinting The Legend of Jamie Roberts

Jamie Roberts is not a boy or a girl – they are a PIRATE! Jamie and their two best friends, Thomas and Daniel, find an unfinished map during a pirate raid and decide to leave the seas to hunt for treasure!

But the land they have arrived in has many secrets, including the secrets kept by their new employer, Ragun Basho. Who was chasing after him? Why is he talking about dragons? And who are these people Jamie is seeing in their dreams?!

The answers are revealed in the first two volumes of The Legend of Jamie Roberts, capturing the lush, vibrant, Indigenous-inspired world of this swashbuckling adventure.

Fans of my work may be like, “Hold up. You did campaigns for volume 1 and volume 2. What’s going on?”

So here’s the short version: when I made volume 1, I worked with a comics printer that ruined the first run of books. I did manage to get reprints, but let’s just say it was the latest in a long list of issues I’ve had with them in the past. After what happened, I switched to a new printer for volume 2.

However, the second printer raised their prices without warning over the last few months. They also have a minimum order that makes things prohibitive for me, a person doing all of it solo. That left me searching for a new printer, which leads us to this campaign.

This campaign is to help fund a new print run with a NEW printer for The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volumes 1 and 2. 

It means new and improved quality paper! Vibrant colors! Better pricing! All to share the magical genderqueer adventure that is The Legend of Jamie Roberts with as many readers, new and old, as possible.

“But isn’t this a webcomic? That I can read online for free?” Yes!

“So why should I get these books?”

BECAUSE…

  1. Both books have specific pages redrawn and remade from the original web versions.
  2. These books have extra content the webcomic site does not have, like  bonus comics, sneak peeks at the comics-making process, and more!
  3. By purchasing these books, you’re helping to continue The Legend of Jamie Roberts as an ongoing comic project. Seriously, we’re very close to releasing volume 3 next year! I plan on making 5 volumes of The Legend and need support from readers like you to make it happen.

This campaign starts October 1 and ends October 21 at 11:59 pm EDT. There will be a 24-hour “Late Pledge” grace period, but Late Pledges have a late fee. Keep that in mind!

We also have new add-ons and new stretch goals – so even if you backed the previous campaigns, there’s something new for you to check out, including…

minicomics are available as add-ons! Minicomics include The Legend of Azu-mi, The Legend of Norsa, Legendary & Casual, and Ranki in Cosplay
stickers are also available as add-ons for this KickStarter! Stickers include Thomas, Jamie, and Daniel dressed as punks, Basho's twin in a crop top, and Jamie posing with their sword

So if you’re able to support The Legend, go to the campaign and pick the rewards that work best for you!

Broke? Share this campaign far and wide! Be sure to use the link tinyurl.com/tlojr-reprint. Shares help more than you know. 

That’s all for now. Thank you for your time and support!

You. Are. Awesome.