I have a better idea of what day it is today, so I’ll write a proper look back on 2024 and how I felt about it. I’ll be primarily talking about the comics here and not my personal life, the latter of which is less interesting to talk about in 2024 than the comics.
2024 saw my attempt at a shift in storytelling once again! With Snout’s adventure having concluded it was time for me to challenge myself yet again, and to try something new to keep my motivation from getting stale. Going from one long narrative to shorter stories was just what I needed.
MAKENA IN MONGRELTOWN was, primarily, to showcase the custom mongrelfolk of the top-tier supporters of the Kickstarter campaign to reprint the second volume of the Oracle for Hire years! Getting to use Makena as a focus for that showcase, a character I’ve become quite enamored with, was a nice bonus for me. The folks who supported seemed to enjoy my take on their mongrelfolk and I got to write a love letter to jazz. All in all, I considered it a success.
SPIRIT SHEPHERD was very well received. I seem to have become known for my take on “good necromancy” and this shift from necromancer to Spirit Shepherd kept with what folks have come to expect from me. I also got to use it as a rather blatant mouthpiece for how I feel about real world mediums who exploit the grieving, which was a release I very much needed to put out into the world. You folks seemed to like Saritha and seeing Jacob again, so rest assured there will be more Spirit Shepherds in 2025.
ALCHEMIST was a joy for me to make. Between my growing affinity for alchemy in TTRPGs and games (in its various potion-based forms) and the transformative power of the act of creation in any of its forms, this story became a far more personal experience than I was anticipating. While it didn’t make me realize I’m nonbinary like the protagonist, I found myself rather attached to them in their pursuit of personal growth and transformation. Showcasing different parts of their world and their peoples was also a good bit of world-building.
WRITTEN IN BLOOD, while it hasn’t finished posting online yet, is completed and so I have the opportunity to look back upon it. This was a quick, fun, action-packed story that I needed to make. The previous stories had been more deliberately paced and reflective, while this was just a straight-up fight. It was a nice to see the Ink Witch again, so count on some more of Snout’s friends to show up again in 2025.
And finally, I am so very pleased with the longer narrative of the DWARVES OF KADAZ so far. REBEL, BALEBEARD, and THE EMPRESS have had the dual responsibility of introducing not only the cast of characters important to this story, but establishing the dwarves themselves and the culture of Kadaz. The dwarves had only appeared once during the Oracle for Hire years, and mostly as a gag. Building on a previously-ignored part of the world I’d built has been a tremendously educational exercise for me, and connecting it with the original cast makes it even more special. There are two more chapters to go in this initial story of the dwarves, and I’m greatly looking forward to showing you what comes next for them in 2025.
As for the rest of the coming year? Once the story of the dwarves wraps up I’m starting to feel the need to return to a longer narrative again. World- and character-hopping has been fun but I’m itching to stick with a regular cast of characters again. As for what that means? You’ll have to stick around to find out, and I hope you do.
Happy New Year!