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.
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…
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…
…Up to the finished page.
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!
I first found out about Home By the Rotting Sea as a member of the Cartoonist Co-op, when buzz started happening around the Ignatz Award nominations. One of the comics nominated was Home By the Rotting Sea by Octava Heikkilä, a comic originally released during ShortBox Comics Fair 2024. I asked for a copy of the comic to review, which Octava Heikkilä graciously provided (thank you!).
If you have never heard of this comic before, here’s the listing from the itch.io page:
“The Väki are giants, and much loathed and feared by us humans. When territorial tensions threaten to break out, the Human King sends an envoy of riches, and two members of his harem, Ilta and Laulu, as gifts for the Väki.
Stranded from their kin and home, the two human brides must find a new way of living among the scarred strangers.”
What follows is 96 pages of stunningly drawn comics. From an art standpoint, I adore the dynamic page layouts. The brush textures that make the colors feel somewhere between colored pencil and dry-brushed acrylics are also fantastic.
The art works seamlessly with the narration and story, which follows the point of view of Ilta, one of the brides sent as a “peace offering” to the Väki. I didn’t know what tone the story would take at first, but it does open with tension as these women are sent to a people they have only heard terrible things about.
The pacing features carefully-paced panels depicting Ilta and Laulu’s slow integration into the community of the Väki. And it is slow. Especially since at the start, the Väki tell the brides (and the audience) that they have no concept of “wives.” Instead they are referred to and treated as “gifts.” Something new but fragile.
As a reader, I appreciated the slow pace of it all. There is time to be absorbed in the textures of the art, the world it depicted, and the characters walking (and eventually dancing and marching) through it. There is also plenty of exploration of gender in this story, from the genderqueer depictions of the giants to the brides confronting their expectations of their roles.
A Word of Warning
That said, there is an instance of sexual assault (that’s not depicted any further than initial contact). The thought-provoking material was how the Väki handled the retribution. Because there are consequences wrought on the one who committed the assault. This narrative explores the consequences as well as the aftermath.
I will not spoil the ending (it’s only 96 pages). But I will say that it fits the tone of the story. An ambiguous story needed an ambiguous ending, which Home By the Rotting Sea achieved. This story is still sitting with me even a week after I’ve finished reading it.
If you would like to give it a read, you can get the comic from the artist at Small Press Expo this weekend! Or you can get it on the creator’s itch.io page.
This is Roxie, a transgender roller derby girl and star of the webcomics Validation and ROXIE. I painted this as part of a series of watercolor paintings as a fundraiser for the Zebra Youth Coalition in Orlando, Florida.
I want to say I painted this with Qor watercolors? It’s actually been so long since I painted it that I forgot!
The original paintings have since sold out. If you see this out in the wild, it’s most likely a print.
I wanted to share this because here in Toledo, OH, it’s PRIDE month! To celebrate, I’m sharing Pride-related illustrations each week during August.
Stay tuned for more Pride art! Or, to get sneak peeks ahead of time, sign up for my email newsletter (it’s free, spam-free, and I don’t sell your email to anybody).
DISCLOSURE: Memoh and I are members of the Cartoonist Co-op. Memoh put out a call asking for reviewers for their book, Dominion, volume 1. So I reached out to Memoh and they gave me an ARC (Advance Reader Copy). I’m not being paid for this review.
Before I read Dominion, volume 1, I had some vague notion of what the comic was about. I had seen some of the art before, as it’s also a webcomic on Tapas and Webtoon.
And then I picked it up, and could not put it down. Volume 1 absorbed me from start to finish with its charming character art, intrigue, and on-fire action scenes.
The story follows Desmond, a new recruit in the guard who is also a Blessed, or someone with divinely-gifted powers. (For you RPG nerds, think Paladin from D&D). He’s eager to prove himself, and not just to get out from under the thumb of his brother, who is a tradesman taking over the family business and a manipulative dick. Desmond gets dragged by his brother and father into “a trip” into the seedy part of town, going into an illegal fighting ring.
Then suddenly, an arsonist bursts into the scene, blowing the place up in flames. Who is the arsonist? Pasha, a young woman with a dark past and a bone to pick with the city’s seedy underbelly.
I’ll admit, as a reader, I struggled with the first couple of chapters, mostly because the writing edged into Jane Austen-esque interpersonal drama with the family dynamic. This kind of writing is not usually my cup of tea, but I made it through… Rewarded with the arson attack and everything that comes after. If Jane Austen levels of drama is your jam, expect a fair bit of it in this series. It’s a romance drama, and volume 1 is there to set the stage for more fireworks to come.
But back to volume 1.
Once we got to starting the murder mystery, however, that was exactly my jam.
Pasha, the arsonist, is forced by the captain of the guard to pair up with Desmond to solve the mystery behind a string of murders happening in the city.
Eventually, we meet Jaavir, aka Pasha’s friend and my new obsession. Look, I have a type when it comes to fictional characters, and that type is big, green, and taciturn with an appreciation for puns. He helps Desmond and Pasha by taking them to their first lead. And I’m going to stop the summary there because I highly recommend this comic! And I will tell you why:
It’s not just the murder mystery. Or the interpersonal drama. Or Jaavir. It’s also that Desmond is genuinely a sweet guy trying to do right in a time and place where that is very hard to do. I haven’t even touched on the world-building, which is itself detailed and intriguing in a way that I look forward to learning more about this world. Also, the world-building is paced with the plot in a fluid, natural way.
(Look, I’ve read my fair share of comics that did lore dumps out the gate, or had characters provide exposition in a canned and forced way. Dominion, by comparison, is a breath of fresh air.) The story feels like you’re dropped into a new world and you need to figure it out as you go, in a fun and character-driven way.
Dominion, volume 1 is giving some flavors of Jane Austen personal drama, some flavors of Fullmetal Alchemist (especially Captain Leddeck. Very Olivier Mira Armstrong vibes there), and some flavors of Dungeons & Dragons. I had a great time with this book! You should read it!
You can get a copy of this comic anywhere in New Zealand, with a worldwide release coming soon. Find out more (and even get a copy of your own!) by going to Memoh’s official site.
