Tag: small press

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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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“An Ignorance of Romance” Is Funded on Crowdfundr!

Holy banana pants! An Ignorance of Romance has reached its base goal on Crowdfundr!

This means we have raised enough funding to cover webhosting, domain registration, and the first 3 to 4 pages of the webcomic.

Any and all funding raised from today until April 27 will fund more pages of the webcomic before we launch for the public in June.

Also, the more backers who support the Crowdfundr, the more rewards you can claim – including sneak peeks at behind-the-scenes work.

Finally, here’s a peek at the cover art:

Be sure to check out the Crowdfundr before it closes on April 27!

That’s all for now. Thank you very much for your support.

You. Are. Awesome.

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I Made A Comic About Lake Erie and the Toxic Algae Blooms

I made a comic about Lake Erie and the toxic algae blooms! You can read it now, freely, on Crucial Comix and The Revelator.

This is my first nonfiction comic publication, aside from a 3-page explainer for a Columbus, OH zine about the 3 Sisters crop arrangement (that’s coming later). I had not made a science comic like this before, and I’m glad I accepted the challenge!

On Crucial Comix, it’s, “Lake Erie Was Declared Dead. Now We’re Fighting For Its Life.” On The Revelator (a publication of The Center for Biological Diversity), it’s, “In Ohio, Facing A Future Without Clean Water.”

Here’s a sneak peek of it:

part 1 of my lake erie comic.
part 2 of my comic about Lake Erie

To read the rest of the comic, head to Crucial Comix or The Revelator. Links are above the art.

I want to make more comics like this. The scientists who got me in touch with the biologists for this are expressing interest in working with me again on a separate project. We’ll see who likes the pitch and where we can go with it!

During the making of this comic, I learned *way too much* about Lake Erie. So if you have questions, leave them in the comments and let me know.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

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We’ve Started Making Pages!

Kai and I are now making pages for An Ignorance of Romance!

Here’s a peek at the thumbnails for the first 4 pages…

thumbnails for comic pages

This is the stage where I read the script, then I lay out what I think the pages will *roughly* look like. Once sketched, I send them to Kai for approval. If approved, I can start actually drawing the pages.

Good news – Kai approved of these thumbnails! So now I can start drawing pages.

Thanks to the funding raised so far, we can cover webhosting and domain registration, and covering costs for the first page or two.

As an FYI – there will be extras in these opening scenes, like castle staff, stable hands, and market folks. So if you (or a friend!) want to be drawn in this comic, there are spot available for you to claim that reward!

You might be asking, “Will this comic be drawn in color?”

Surprise: this comic will be drawn in black and white with tones. This is so we can post two (or more) pages in a week, because black and white pages are faster to produce. There’s a LOT of story here, so we want to post more often!

Got more questions? Ask them in the comments and we’ll get back to you!

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

You. Are. Awesome.