Hey, hey!
Welcome to my February newsletter, and thank you so much for subscribing. This email is being delivered to fifty people today, and although I’m no influencer, I feel very honoured to have you all.
And if you’re one of my friends and family members, I suppose this is a way of catching up since I’ve been kind of a hermit for the last few months!
This issue features a picture of a very rough draft of The Last Day of Rain and also of a homemade book photography studio. And, as usual, we’ll finish with a review of an indie comic: “Fallen Empire” by Chloe Starling, a beautiful, primarily silent science fiction story.
The first draft is done!
The first draft of The Last Day of Rain is finished! Or is it the second… or third? At least I can say it’s the first time I have laid out the story panel by panel and know exactly what will happen at each point, and more or less how many pages will fit on each physical chapter. I have known what the story would be for quite a while, but not to this level of detail, and it feels rewarding. Either way, I have about 140 pages to draw, which will probably turn into two hundred or so. This year will be fun. 😀
I followed Emily’s advice and planned the whole thing on paper in tiny squares. If you haven’t received my previous newsletter, Emily is my mentor and a talented graphic novelist.
This way of planning helped me focus on the bigger picture, and I also had the advantage of avoiding being distracted by my devices (which, as you surely know, is very easy!). So I ended up with a bunch of tiny, almost undecipherable panels, which I will proceed to decode very soon.
Here’s a picture of the thing, with annotations wiped out for your benefit. Gotta avoid those spoilers!
Hopefully, this hideous thing will turn into five colourful, arguably passable comic books. I thought of writing an actual script afterwards, as I did for chapter one. But since I'm drawing the story, this is more than enough, and I'm ready to get into the thick of it. Whatever works, right? 😅
And, of course, if you have been reading The Last Day of Rain online, you won’t miss out on the fun either!
Next week’s issue will be the last episode of chapter one, and once chapter two is printed, the next issues of the webcomic will make their way here, to Zestworld. I’m planning for two months until the next chapter is done and dusted, BUT you know how these things go. In the meantime, I’ll feed you teasers, images of work in progress and my anxiety through this monthly newsletter. 🫢
The good parts begin now, so stay tuned! Or not. 📺
Fairs and online shop
Last year, I started selling my work and attended my first comic book fairs. It was a huge milestone for me, and it was lovely to meet everyone who came by my tables. 🥰
I’m looking to continue along the same lines this year, so I have already applied to a few fairs. One of them was one of the largest comic conventions in the UK and one of my favourites. Their email will come at the end of May, so be prepared for June’s newsletter to have lots of me crying over not being selected.
In the meantime, if by a very remote chance you happen to be in Plymouth in a couple of weeks, I’ll be tabling at Plymouth Comic & Zine Fair, so come say hi and get some stickers.
I have also been organising my online shop, which included taking photos of the books using a weird contraption called a portable lightbox studio:
This thing has light panels inside and apertures through which you can put your camera to take pictures so they come out without distracting shadows. You can see the result in my online shop (excluding the pre-order item, which is clearly a digital montage :P). I'm not sure if they're good or not, but at least the whole thing looks somewhat consistent, which is what marketing people tell you to do. 😅
Review time: “Fallen Empire” by Chloe Starling
I am VERY excited to be finally reviewing this comic. Believe it or not, I only began reading indie comics less than two years ago when I started getting involved with the community. Chloe’s was the first one that I bought, and it has inspired me throughout.
When I looked at the cover on her website, I knew instantly this would be the kind of thought-provoking science fiction that I live for and that the art style would be imaginative and detailed. This proved true, but you already know this because I said it. Here is the cover:
The story is about a robot who wakes up in a devastated lab and ventures on a quest for friendship. Will they find it? I won’t tell you: you’ll have to buy Chloe’s book to discover!
I loved everything about this: the illustrations are beautifully detailed, with every line telling its own story. And it barely needs text to carry you through the narrative. Only a few expertly placed words and punctuation marks. I loved seeing the main character exploring their newly found post-apocalyptic world, inspecting every crumbled object and human lookalike on their path.
And, as good narratives go, the robot’s motivation is always with us: it desperately needs connection in a world full of false positives.
Oh, and don’t you think this is a cheesy comic book (there's nothing wrong with those, though!) But no. It comes complete with a big action scene full of heart-stopping moments. I won’t tell you more about it. You wish.
All-in-all, this is a nicely crafted piece that flexes its storytelling muscles very intently. You can see it is created by someone who spent their life surrounded by great stories, and the ending gives you a feast for thought. I was happy that I got to re-read it for this review. And thank you, Chloe.
Next up!
Thank you for reading my brain dumps once more. I’m always very self-conscious about emailing people, as I know how easily an email inbox can get crowded with things we don’t want to receive. So I would love for this space to be a way for me to connect with you as my fans, peers, friends and family.
Besides the usual update on The Last Day of Rain and a comic book review, I don’t know what I’ll write about in March yet. We’ll see when we get there. I’m still figuring this whole content creation thing out!
What would YOU like to hear about? If there is something in particular, or even if not, you’re always welcome to reply to any of my emails at [email protected].
See you soon! 😊