Biker Dwarfs in Colour

What can I say? I like dwarfs! Well, dwarves, too, of course, but I tend to go with the "f" spelling. What's not to like?

In gaming terms, especially in old school DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, dwarfs have that really handy ability to detect traps, mechanical alterations to dungeons, as well as sloping tunnels and all that. In fact, in FIGHT ON! 4, Dave Bowman really emphasized their importance in a terrific article titled Delvers Delve. If you like D&D, LABYRINTH LORD, SWORDS & WIZARDRY, and whatnot, I can't recommend that article enough.

Bill the Wizard

A rough preliminary sketch of Bill the Wizard. The finished colour version serves as the back cover of my short collection WIZARDS FOR HIRE - CHEAP! (available in print at comic shops and online at places like Amazon). And, of course, you can read his adventures (along with his canine wizard companion Butch) for free online starting right here.

Dwarf Killerbeards in black and white and colour

While I don't have a lot of time for gaming, I do like to game from time to time. When I do, it's typically in the "old school" style, probably best represented by early 80s DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS (I'm particularly fond of Tom Moldvay's version) and it's retro-clone versions (especially LABYRINTH LORD by Dan Proctor).

And when I game, I love (love!) using henchmen. Or, in this case, henchdwarfs! You know, dwarfs-at-arms. Or, as I like to call 'em, Killerbeards! Enough, in fact, that I've included them in one comics short story I did. Why use humans when you can use dwarfs?! I love me some dwarfs!

Beatrix character design for the short story "When I Find You Again..."

This was the main character design for Beatrix, the focus point of my short story When I Find You Again, It Will Be In Mountains. As with that story, this was done quite awhile ago, though I only recently coloured it.

Short stories can be a bit tricky from a design point of view. In this case, the story was only six pages long. How long is the "right" time to spend doing design work? I decided to cut it short and plunge right in, kinda designing on the fly (save for this piece), developing things as I went along. Not ideal maybe, but there's always a time/story balance that can be hard to get right. It really is tricky, a challenging reality of creating comic books.

Short Story - When I Find You Again, It Will Be In Mountains

UPDATE! While you can always read the short story below, I have decided to start making my comics freely available to all for easier digital reading. Please visit https://www.vonallan.com/p/pirate-von.html for more information and download links!

This is an older story, but I thought it was about time I dusted it off and posted it online. I really love the idea of lost and sad robots in the depths of space. Of course, both Pioneer 10 and 11 as well as Voyager 1 and 2 are still out there, right now.

The poem Seeing Off A Man of the Tao is from the collection WHEN I FIND YOU AGAIN, IT WILL BE IN MOUNTAINS: SELECTED POEMS OF CHIA TAO translated by Mike O'Connor. It is a beautiful collection of poetry. Chia Tao wrote haunting poetry many, many years ago. He died in 843... not 1843, 843. Let that sink in for a bit. I think the thing that draws me to the "Buddhist Poet Monks" is how universal their work is. Loves and losses that feel like they could have been written yesterday. Amazing.

This story first saw print in the comic book titled STORIES! 2015 TO 2019 back in 2019. Unfortunately, the print edition is out of print (though you might be able to find a copy using Bookfinder). But! This story — as well as a boatload of others — were collected into a beautiful hardcover edition titled LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION. More information about that edition can be found right here.

In addition, there is also a digital comic book version of STORIES! 2015 TO 2019 on Kindle that can be read anywhere in the world. That edition is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089QX5LJC.

For more of my comic short stories, please visit my archive of comic books and webcomics.

Various Kids

Some inked illustrations of kids of all ages. The first two were done as warm-up sketches a number of months ago. The last one was a bit of character design for a short story and includes some rough pencils, too. Drawing kids can be challenging (they aren't small adults!), but a lot of fun, too.

Short Story - I Was Afraid For My Life

UPDATE! While you can always read the short story below, I have decided to start making my comics freely available to all for easier digital reading. Please visit https://www.vonallan.com/p/pirate-von.html for more information and download links!

I Was Afraid For My Life is an older story, actually a few years old now, that has never been published. I think, given the times we live in, it still packs quite a punch. Maybe more now than ever.

It's also one of the more abstract stories I've tried to tell. As can be seen once you've read it, the nameless main character and his dog Niko are growing up and getting older during the course of the entire tale. It was an interesting narrative challenge to get the flow of that down and to have it make sense. It might work better in print, given the nature of the "page turn" in comics, but I think it still comes across pretty well in this online version.

Note that pages four and five are shrunk a bit to fit the website. You can click on that image to make it larger.

This story first saw print in the comic book titled STORIES! 2015 TO 2019 back in 2019. Unfortunately, the print edition is out of print (though you might be able to find a copy using Bookfinder). But! This story — as well as a boatload of others — were collected into a beautiful hardcover edition titled LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION. More information about that edition can be found right here.

In addition, there is also a digital comic book version of STORIES! 2015 TO 2019 on Kindle that can be read anywhere in the world. That edition is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089QX5LJC.

For more of my comic short stories, please visit my archive of comic books and webcomics.

Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure: I did briefly post this story on a Tumblr page while I was entertaining the idea of using a different pen name. I decided against going in that direction, so here it is where it belongs.

Short Story - The Planet With No Beer

UPDATE! While you can always read the short story below, I have decided to start making my comics freely available to all for easier digital reading. Please visit https://www.vonallan.com/p/pirate-von.html for more information and download links!

This is the final appearance (so far!) of the wizards Bill and Butch. A really, really neat story to write and draw...and one with a lot of humanity and zest for life, too. Wizards + Beer = Fun in my book! Bill and Butch's other adventures can be found here. Will Bill and Butch appear again? Well, that's up to you! Drop me a line and let me know that you'd like to read more!

This story first saw print in the comic book titled WIZARDS FOR HIRE — CHEAP! back in 2017. Unfortunately, the print edition is out of print (though you might be able to find a copy using Bookfinder). But! This story — as well as a boatload of others — were collected into a beautiful hardcover edition titled LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION. More information about that edition can be found right here.

In addition, there is also a digital comic book version of WIZARDS FOR HIRE — CHEAP! on Kindle that can be read anywhere in the world. That edition is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089QXBYY9.

For more of my comic short stories, including Bill and Butch, please visit my comic book archive that has links to all of my short stories. These are all available as free webcomics, so there's quite a bit to read! Have fun!

Short Story - Total Party Kill!

UPDATE! While you can always read the short story below, I have decided to start making my comics freely available to all for easier digital reading. Please visit https://www.vonallan.com/p/pirate-von.html for more information and download links!

This is the second short story featuring the wizards Bill and Butch.  Fantasy gaming, probably best represented by DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, was certainly an influence here. But more than the game was the tone of what made the "old school" exactly that. Dangerous, violent, and scary, but the characters are taking those risks for the gold. Get rich or die trying is oh so very true when it comes to dungeon delving. Especially true for the lowly first level character.

'Course, that's part of the fun.  Especially when combined with the laughs sitting around a table eating pizza and making bad jokes while the brave little PCs get shivved in the dark!

This story first saw print in the comic book titled WIZARDS FOR HIRE — CHEAP! back in 2017. Unfortunately, the print edition is out of print (though you might be able to find a copy using Bookfinder). But! This story — as well as a boatload of others — were collected into a beautiful hardcover edition titled LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION. More information about that edition can be found right here.

In addition, there is also a digital comic book version of WIZARDS FOR HIRE — CHEAP! on Kindle that can be read anywhere in the world. That edition is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089QXBYY9.

For more of my comic short stories, including Bill and Butch, please visit my comic book archive that has links to all of my short stories. These are all available as free webcomics, so there's quite a bit to read! Have fun!

Short Story - The Cowardly Clerics of Rigel V!

UPDATE! While you can always read the short story below, I have decided to start making my comics freely available to all for easier digital reading. Please visit https://www.vonallan.com/p/pirate-von.html for more information and download links!

This story first saw print in the comic book titled WIZARDS FOR HIRE — CHEAP! back in 2017. Unfortunately, the print edition is out of print (though you might be able to find a copy using Bookfinder). But! This story — as well as a boatload of others — were collected into a beautiful hardcover edition titled LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION. More information about that edition can be found right here.

In addition, there is also a digital comic book version of WIZARDS FOR HIRE — CHEAP! on Kindle that can be read anywhere in the world. That edition is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089QXBYY9.

For more of my comic short stories, including Bill and Butch, please visit my comic book archive that has links to all of my short stories. These are all available as free webcomics, so there's quite a bit to read! Have fun!

Close-up on a Dwarf Killerbeard

As much as I have a soft spot for dwarfs, I have a soft spot for dwarf henchmen (dwarf-at-arms!) in particular. This is something that I think THE VENTURE BROS. have captured extremely well. As did Adam Beechen and Manny Bello's HENCH indy graphic novel. Of course, henchmen and other retainers are a big, big part of old school gaming; it can be a helluva lot of fun to see them develop in their own right. Especially after your main fighter gets ganked in the back by a bunch of Kobolds or something and you need a quick successor.

Henchmen...gotta love 'em!

Biker dwarfs in a dungeon

In my head, these dwarfy folks have just hit the first level, full of enthusiasm, energy, and greed for gold, only to be confronted by… something. What the hell is it? You tell me! One of the fun aspects of dungeons, at least for me, is to play around with expectations. I suppose this monster could be a pudding or a slime, but I think there's a great deal of suspense and excitement when a Referee tosses out the ol' standard bestiary or monster manual and uses brand new critters instead. That keeps players on their toes, never quite sure what they're facing.

Biker dwarfs along a winter street

Really fun little winter street scene. Have I mentioned that I love dwarfs? Well, I do! Biker Dwarfs in particular, because I like my fantasy (well, especially when it comes to the stout lads and lassies) to have a mix of science fiction. Science Fantasy, if you will. While I was never much of a WARHAMMER 40K fan (nothing wrong with it, I just did not know anyone who played it), I did get pretty invested in BLOOD BOWL. And especially DUNGEONBOWL! Or more precisely, ELVES, DWARFS, AND DUNGEONBOWL! That game was a great deal of fun. Whew, boy! What is a smidgen odd is that I was not much of a board game fan, either, but BLOOD BOWL was a blast. I think because it was so very, very silly. Toss in the undead, chainsaws, and (if you were playing DUNGEONBOWL) spiked footballs and teleport pads and the game had an unpredictable chaos to it that was really fun.

A version of this art also appeared in the print edition of WIZARDS FOR HIRE - CHEAP! in the summer of 2017. While that issue is now out of print (boo!), you can read it for free in digital format at my "Pirate Von" section. That's right over at https://www.vonallan.com/p/pirate-von.html!

Dungeon Delving Biker Dwarfs Find Buried Gold

I really had fun doing this piece. A pack of dungeon delvers, dwarfy delvers at that, looking to strike it rich! One of the things I get a kick out of doing is teasing what's just off-page; what's about to ruin their fun? Who knows? Judging by the look on that lead "Biker Dwarf's" face, it can't be good. Is she about to run away? Fight the good fight? What do you think?

Dungeon Dwarf

I have to admit, I do have a soft spot for dwarfs. Especially biker-type dwarfs, fully kitted out and ready for adventure. Old school adventure, I hasten to add!