Short Story - The Two Magic-Users

The Two Magic-Users Page 1 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

The Two Magic-Users Page 2 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

The Two Magic-Users Page 3 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

The Two Magic-Users Page 4 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

This was a fun little story to do. The main idea behind it was a simple one: there have been a number of different "retro-clone" versions of the old B/X ("Basic/Expert") style of dungeon crawling since the publication of the Open Games License. I thought it would be interesting to take some of those differences and contrast them in a story. Specifically, I wanted to contrast the magic-user class presented in LABYRINTH LORD with the one presented in Tom Moldvay's BASIC DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and David Cook and Stephen R. Marsh's EXPERT DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.

It was originally supposed to run as a black and white story in the second issue of UNDERGROUND COMICS, but sadly that project seems to have fallen apart. However! It has seen print as a back-up feature in the 3rd issue of my own ongoing series WOLF'S HEAD.

I also subtly linked the story to the world of Bill and Butch, too!

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 titled WIZARDS FOR HIRE — CHEAP! on Kindle that can be read anywhere in the world. And it contains this story! This is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089QXBYY9.

For more of my comic short stories, 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 - When I Find You Again, It Will Be In Mountains

Page three of the comic book short story When I Find You Again, It Will Be In Mountains written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page four of the comic book short story When I Find You Again, It Will Be In Mountains written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page five of the comic book short story When I Find You Again, It Will Be In Mountains written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page six of the comic book short story When I Find You Again, It Will Be In Mountains written and illustrated by Von Allan

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.

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.

Page two of the comic book short story I Was Afraid For My Life written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page three of the comic book short story I Was Afraid For My Life written and illustrated by Von Allan

I Was Afraid for my Life double-page splash

Page six of the comic book short story I Was Afraid For My Life written and illustrated by Von Allan

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

Page three of the comic book short story The Planet With No Beer written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page four of the comic book short story The Planet With No Beer written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page five of the comic book short story The Planet With No Beer written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page six of the comic book short story The Planet With No Beer written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page seven of the comic book short story The Planet With No Beer written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page eight of the comic book short story The Planet With No Beer written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page nine of the comic book short story The Planet With No Beer written and illustrated by Von Allan

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!

Page three of the comic book short story Total Party Kill written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page four of the comic book short story Total Party Kill written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page five of the comic book short story Total Party Kill written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page six of the comic book short story Total Party Kill written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page seven of the comic book short story Total Party Kill written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page eight of the comic book short story Total Party Kill written and illustrated by Von Allan

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!

Page three of the short story The Cowardly Clerics of Rigel V written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page four of the short story The Cowardly Clerics of Rigel V written and illustrated by Von Allan

Page five of the short story The Cowardly Clerics of Rigel V written and illustrated by Von Allan

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!