Now Available to Read Online!
thanks for reading!!! :) :)
What a journey this has been...
I started this project back in 2010 - when the world was a simpler place. Well, actually not really, the world has always been pretty complicated... But I certainly was a bit simpler!
It's hard to write in words how much I have learned over the lifespan of this first book. There's something wonderful about trying things for yourself - it makes you really appreciate the ones who can do it well. And I have come out of this first Volume with such an appreciation for the Comic Art medium. I have worked as an illustrator for around the same time as this project has existed and nothing has been so hard to obtain, so hard to master than telling a story through sequential art: The pacing, the lighting, the design, the style, colour, depth of field, tone, intensity, camera angle, line economy, faces, feet, HANDS!...it's all to create connection, to sell a story that gets people entranced. I have had those moments whilst reading this medium and it's something that I've wanted to create for others.
Old and New
(Left) A cover I made circa 2014 for an Issue that got reworked: Pages were scrapped and the story's direction changed. This happened a lot. There's three characters in there that aren't in the final print of Volume 1. (Right) The 2022 cover for Volume 1. Made for the first run of printing.
At the end of this first Volume (DeathBattle at Woodhill Mall) I wanted to put a pin in this project because it had, quite honestly, taken so much out of me. But instead, I got excited about where the story could go, and to be frank, I love an epic saga and I knew from the get-go that I was jumping into something pretty big. Whether or not this story will continue to get told, I really don't know but I am humbled at the creators who stick at these projects for decades (I'm thinking of you, Manga artists!)
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If you have got this far, I thank you for taking an interest in this. There are many creations in the world out there and all of them have a story of how they came to be. And for many, this is more interesting than the project itself. One day, I hope to expand on my journey because it has been such a big part of my life so far. But not right now, I'm hungry and I have a curry waiting for me with my name on it!