Showing posts with label short stories. Show all posts

Home » Posts filed under short stories

Von Allan Studio's Graphic Novels for the Holiday Season

With the holidays just around the corner, I thought I'd take a moment and summarize my two hardcover graphic novels that were recently published. Why? Well, I think that they both are perfect gifts for the holiday season! I'm very proud of both of them. I think they both are the best representations of my art and writing that have ever seen print. Both books are beautiful and I'm extremely pleased with how they both turned out.

Both hardcover graphic novels are available pretty much everywhere in the world. One of the remarkable things that the internet has brought us all is the relatively easy way to find and buy books. I still remember, back in my bookstore days, how tricky it was to actually books. And if one goes back any further, prior to the internet, finding specific titles, especially indy books from indy authors, was extremely difficult. One would have to search local stores, reach out to fellow fans in other towns and cities, and even write to stores in other countries to track down a title. Now? It is so much easier. It really is a remarkable change. For an independent comics creator like me, it is a huge change.

With that said, here we go!

WOLF'S HEAD BOOK 1

For WOLF'S HEAD BOOK 1: WE ALL WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD, you can find a listing of stores carrying it by visting https://www.vonallan.com/2021/12/wolfs-head-book-1-in-hardcover-worldwide.html or by visting the Von Allan Studio Shop Page. Plus there are online stores like Amazon.com, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, Barnes and Noble, and so on. Previews of the graphic novel can be found right here and there's a tremendous review by Frank Plowright over at the Slings and Arrows Graphic Novel Guide site.

WOLF'S HEAD BOOK 1 collects the first six issues of the ongoing WOLF'S HEAD comic book series in full colour. The graphic novel version is 176 pages long in full colour. And what's it about? Well, here's what my illustrous editor and I wrote for the synopsis:

Lauren Greene is an ex-police officer who turned her badge in after becoming frustrated with the police force's corruption. She's had enough of violence and is thinking about packing her bags and hitting the road to see how she can make a difference out in the larger world, when her mother Patty shows up at her door with a complication. It turns out that Patty's employer — a secretive military corporation — has created an artificial intelligence to fight humanity's wars. Unfortunately for the corporation, the AI fell in love with Patty's humanity and orchestrated its own escape through her. Giddy with excitement, Patty brings the AI straight to Lauren for help, not realizing the danger she's putting herself and her daughter in. But Lauren has dealt with people like this; she knows what they're capable of and she is terrified. Her fears are realized when she and her mother are confronted by corporate goons who want the AI for themselves and are willing to do anything to get it. As Lauren does her best to keep herself, her mom, and her family safe, the tensions over the AI erupt into violence… and suddenly Lauren is on her own.

The new little life form doesn't want to go back to the corporation and Lauren realizes it cannot be forced to live out its life as a war machine. There is already enough corruption, inequality, and violence in the world; the AI has to have a chance to help humanity — peacefully — while figuring out its own existence. Together with the AI, an eccentric cast of friends and family, and her dog, Lauren must figure out her next steps… while keeping herself alive.

And here's a fun little teaser I did that showcases some of the themes and art from the collection:

Wolf's Head Book 1 teaser that showcases art and writing from the hardcover graphic novel

It really is a fun graphic novel with all kinds of twists and turns. I'm very proud of it and I'm extremely pleased with how sharp the printing turned out.

LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION

Next up is my hardcover short story collection! Like WOLF'S HEAD BOOK 1, this is available worldwide and is widely available online at sites like Amazon.com, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, and Barnes and Noble. Photos of the graphic novel collection and more links can be found right here or by visting the Von Allan Studio Shop Page.

Unlike WOLF'S HEAD BOOK 1, this is a short story collection featuring some of my favourites. All of these short stories are available for free on this website (you can find the links to each short story in webcomic format here). Frank Plowright also did a great review of the collection at https://theslingsandarrows.com/love-laughter-and-loss-a-comic-collection/.

Here's the short synopsis from the book:

This collection contains nine short stories by Canadian writer/artist Von Allan that, together, represent the best and worst parts of life; love, laughter, and loss. Travel around the world (and sometimes even off world!) with average people, heroes, cowardly adventurers, and even a dog. While these stories were previously published in two periodical collections ("WIZARDS FOR HIRE-CHEAP!" and "STORIES! 2015 TO 2019"), this marks the first time they've appeared in a premium hardcover format.

And here's a teaser image from the collection!

Love, Laughter, and Loss: A Comics Collection teaser that showcases art and writing from the hardcover graphic novel collection

Like WOLF'S HEAD BOOK 1, this short story collection is perfect for fans of comics and graphic novels. The short stories really range in tone and theme and I'm extremely pleased with how they look in print.

So, that's that! Two beautiful graphic novels that fans of comics will fall in love with. If you need a gift for someone (or even just yourself!), please do consider them. You won't be disappointed!

Love, Laughter, and Loss Wraparound Cover

I've been meaning to post this for a little while. While the front cover of my latest hardcover LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION is readily "discoverable" online (and, of course, on this very website), the wraparound cover isn't. Let's remedy that!

I really like how this one turned out! And it looks great as a physical copy, too! For more photos of the actual graphic novel as well as links to all of the stories contained in this volume, please visit https://www.vonallan.com/2021/05/Love-Laughter-Loss-Comics-Collection-by-Von-Allan.html

Oh, and I should add that Frank Plowright over at The Slings and Arrows Graphic Novel Guide did a fantastic review of the graphic novel. It's up at https://theslingsandarrows.com/love-laughter-and-loss-a-comic-collection/

Love, Laughter, and Loss wraparound cover by Von Allan

Short Story - The Street

Page 1 of short comics story The Street by Von Allan

Page 2 of short comics story The Street by Von Allan

Page 3 of short comics story The Street by Von Allan

Page 4 of short comics story The Street by Von Allan

Page 5 of short comics story The Street by Von Allan

Page 6 of short comics story The Street by Von Allan

Page 7 of short comics story The Street by Von Allan

Page 8 of short comics story The Street by Von Allan

Short Story - Bubbles!

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 another older story that I recently re-coloured (to read some other "revamped" short stories, please see here and here). In fact, this is one of the first stories I ever wrote and drew and it went through a lot of evolution. I finally redrew it back around 2015 but I still wasn't happy with the colours, mainly because I was having issues getting the colours "print-ready." With this version, they finally are. This one is a lot of fun and (shockingly!) is loosely based on a real event that happened to my wife and I. Yes!

Bubbles a short story written and illustrated by Von Allan Page 1

Bubbles a short story written and illustrated by Von Allan Page 2

Bubbles a short story written and illustrated by Von Allan Page 3

Bubbles a short story written and illustrated by Von Allan Page 4

Bubbles a short story written and illustrated by Von Allan Page 5

Bubbles a short story written and illustrated by Von Allan Page 6

Short Story - Bushido Bob!

Bushido Bob Page 1 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

Bushido Bob Page 2 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

Bushido Bob Page 3 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

Bushido Bob Page 4 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

Bushido Bob Page 5 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

Bushido Bob Page 6 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

Bushido Bob Page 7 Written and Illustrated by Von Allan

Bushido Bob is a short story I originally drew in 2015. While I certainly would do a few things differently now, the main reason I haven't shared it before was that there was actually problems with the colours. This is a similar situation to another short story I did in the same year titled "When I Find You Again, It Will Be In Mountains."

To put it as simply as I can (Warning! Technical details ahead!), there were a few problems:

First, the colour palette I used was not optimized for SWOP (Specifications for Web Offset Publications); actually, even that's not totally true. SWOP uses an ink limit restraint of 300%, but the print specifications I need to use have a total ink limit of 240%. I needed to fix that.

Second, the way I approached digital colouring was to primarily do it in Photoshop but use the Brush Tool. While you can create certain beautiful effects with the Brush Tool, the problem is that it doesn't allow much editing. Colouring with the Pencil Tool does. Since I had moved on to other problems, tweaking certain effects that I had originally done with the Brush Tool was going to be a headache to fix. Fortunately, I recently figured out a short cut that allowed very quick editing and that allowed me to tweak the colours simply. The above is the result.

As I noted, I think I've grown quite a bit as a draftsman and artist since I did this story (see my recent work on WOLF'S HEAD), but it's neat to finally get this story online. And I still like the spirit of it, too.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Von Allan Studio's Graphic Novels for the Holiday Season

WOLF'S HEAD BOOK 1

LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION

Other Links

Love, Laughter, and Loss Wraparound Cover

Short Story - The Street

Other Links

Short Story - Bubbles!

Other Links

Short Story - Bushido Bob!

Other Links

Short Story - The Two Magic-Users

Other Links

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

Other Links

Short Story - I Was Afraid For My Life

Other Links

Short Story - The Planet With No Beer

Other Links

Wolf's Head by Von Allan

Contact Von Allan

City of Ottawa Grant Support

Creative Commons License

CBC Trailblazer Profile

Documentary Film Excerpt

I Am Still Your Child Trailer

WOLF'S HEAD BOOK 1

LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION

Other Links

Other Links

Other Links

Other Links

Other Links

Other Links

Other Links

Other Links

Wolf's Head by Von Allan

RSS Feed

Contact Von Allan

City of Ottawa Grant Support

Creative Commons License

CBC Trailblazer Profile

Documentary Film Excerpt

I Am Still Your Child Trailer