Learning By Failing - Colour Theory and Comics

I made a mistake.

Definitely. A mistake. And it wasn’t just a small mistake, either. It was a pretty big mistake and one that took some doing to correct. Mistakes are like that sometimes. While one can learn and grow from making them, it can still be a frustrating and discouraging process to fix them.

See? That’s easy enough to write, but it’s surprisingly hard to explain. Harder still is the fact that I’ve actually made a lot of mistakes. Not the kinds of mistakes that hurt anyone (well, except perhaps myself), but certainly the kinds of mistakes that can be hard to recover from.

In the case of ongoing comic book series WOLF’S HEAD, my main mistake was in misunderstanding a key point about colour and colour theory. Since I didn’t realize I had made a mistake, it ramified; the same mistake wound up being repeated throughout the first fourteen issues (!) of the periodical version of WOLF’S HEAD. Not a single issue or two, but throughout all of those issues.  

Yeah. Can you imagine my frustration? 

So what exactly was the nature of my mistake? Well, it’s tricky to explain, but I’ll give it my best shot. Throughout the first fourteen issues of WOLF’S HEAD, I had used a “cell-shaded” approach to colouring. The idea was to use simple shadows to add nuance to the colouring process. “Simple” being the operative word. I wanted WOLF’S HEAD to have fairly simple colouring. Why? Well, I love black and white inks. I really do, and I busted my ass to become a strong enough inker that my work would look nice and crisp in pure black and white. I prefer colours to support the inking and not “fight it.” I don’t want colours that fight — maybe a better word might be “obstruct” — my inks. To do that and do it effectively meant that I had to do quite a bit of research to fully understand colour as it applies to comics. And I had to build a palette that would work within that key restriction. 

Now, to continue to explain this requires a quick side-step into printing technology. I’ll keep this as simple as I can, especially because chatting about printing technology tends to make an audience’s eyes glaze over. And I’m no exception to that! So, as quickly as I can, here goes: full-colour printing typically uses what are called CMYK inks, used in some colour printing. That’s Cyan (“C”), Magenta (“M”), Yellow (“Y”), and Black (“K”). Theoretically, each of those four colours can have a maximum concentration of 100%.

Take Cyan, for example. You can have a very “soft” colour made with only 10% Cyan. You can also have a very “strong” colour made with 100% Cyan. The same is true for all four of the colours that make up the CMYK colour model. All four of these colours (the “CMYK”) can be mixed together, up to a maximum of 100% each. That obviously means that the maximum amount of ink that could be used through this mixing process is, you guessed it, 400% (the maximum of 100% for each of the “CMYK” colours equals 400%).

Here’s the key caveat: while that is true within certain printing applications and even digitally (inside a graphics program like Adobe Photoshop), in reality it very much depends on what colours and in what percentages the actual physical printer is capable of printing. In my case, I was restricted to a total ink mix of 240%. Not 400%. 240%. I can use any colour percentages I want, just as long as the total colour combination does not exceed 240%.

As a result, this means I can’t have a colour mix of, for example, 75% C + 75% M + 100% Y. Why? Because the total ink required to use that colour mix adds up to 250%. And 250% is 10% over my maximum restriction of 240%.

Well, what happens if I use more than 240%? Simple. The printer will have to adjust any colour found to be over 240%, bringing that colour mix back to being within 240%. Colours out of the printable range are called “out of gamut” colours. The trick with these “out of gamut” colours is that I can’t control the transition back to within 240%. It’s often made automatically by software used by the printer. In the rare cases it’s not, then often the print-ready file (the file that the printer will actually use to print the book) will be rejected. Either way, “out of gamut” colours are to be avoided.

As a result, I had to build my colour palette with that 240% restriction in mind. And honestly, it’s not too much of a restriction. I’ve always preferred using so-called “restricted” colour palettes, mainly because I don’t need an endless amount of colour. I really don’t. I just need to have enough variety of colour to enhance my storytelling. At the end of the day, that’s my goal: stronger storytelling. Colouring is simply one of the “tools in the toolbox” that allows me to do just that. Building a palette from scratch allows me to keep my ink limit of 240% and avoid any and all “out of gamut” colours.

So, with all of that said, what was the problem? Well, the clue is in the colour mix. Remember that 240% limit? My black lineart (the actual black and white inked art) is built out of what are known as “Rich Blacks.” All that means is that rather than build the black lineart out of exclusively 100% K (so-called “Flat Black”), the black lineart is actually built out of a mix of colours. While there is no hard and fast rule (well, save for that 240% maximum), I happen to use the following colour combination: 60% “C”, 40% “M”, 40% “Y”, and 100% Black “K.”

That colour mix creates a very nice “Rich Black” that is really quite lovely.

Ready for my mistake? Recall that I said I used “cell-shading” to build up simple shades and shadows on both characters and backgrounds. Well, some of those shades came very close to that “Rich Black.” I might use a shadow of 90% “C,” 73% “M,” and 73% “Y.” That gives a final ink mix of 236%, only 4% off from my 240% total ink limit and thus my 240% “Rich Black.”

Uh-oh.

Why “uh-oh?” By bringing some shades and shadows that close to the value of my actual lineart, these shades and shadows risked obscuring my lineart. As a result, in scenes that used these very dark colours (also known as “low key” colours), they caused my lineart to almost disappear. That crisp lineart that I wanted wouldn’t look so crisp. In fact, it tended to almost “blend” with the colour.

Oh no!

Worse, I didn’t realize it right away. I never even thought about it. Eventually, I had begun to realize the problem around issue 11 of the periodical series, but I couldn’t quite frame the problem in my head. I was unsatisfied with how my colours looked, but I couldn’t explain why. I also wasn’t sure what to do about it. I was nervous about making a significant colour change while the series was ongoing, so I played for time — continuing to create and distribute new issues of WOLF’S HEAD — while I researched what had happened and tried to figure out exactly how to fix it.

The answer wasn’t easy to come by and I actually came across it by accident. In fact, it was two different experiences that led to the eventual solution.

The first was while I was doing some research on bande dessinée, that wonderful phrase for French-language comics. Specifically, I was reading Ann Miller’s READING BANDE DESSINÉE, where she makes the following point:

“By now, the crude drawing style of the early albums had given way to the elegance of the ligne claire, or ‘clear line’, the graphic style which eschews shading, gradation of colours, and hatching in favour of clear outlines, flat colours, and geometrical precision. It also implies narrative legibility. Hergé defines it as follows: ‘You try to eliminate everything that is graphically incidental, to stylize as much as possible […] in fact, the ligne claire isn’t just a matter of drawing, it also refers to the script and the narrative technique’ (Peeters 1990: 204). Bruno Lecigne has argued that the ideological efficacy of the ligne claire lies not in what is chosen for depiction, but in the idea that the world is legible (Lecigne 1983: 40).” (Miller, Ann, READING BANDE DESSINÉE (Bristol: Intellect Books, 2007) 18).

You would be forgiven if you’re thinking that it was the lack of shading that stood out to me. It wasn’t! Rather, it was the notion of ‘narrative legibility’ and the corresponding idea that the ‘world is legible’ that caught my imagination. Why did that excite me? Because it fit perfectly with what I’ve long been trying to do with my own writing! I strongly believe that readers shouldn’t have to “decode” or otherwise deconstruct the story in front of them. It’s not their job to decipher the “grammar” of comics. That’s my job and I need to do it in the clearest and most concise way possible. No reader left behind.

More could be written on this subject — quite a bit more — but, for now, I want to focus on how Miller’s words played through my mind. I wasn’t as swayed by the lack of hatching or the use of flat colour and whatnot, mainly because I have seen examples of ligne claire that doesn’t do this. As one small example, the cover of the English edition of Hergé’s DESTINATION MOON immediately comes to mine.

In fact, the notion that the philosophy of ligne claire doesn’t only apply to lineart was also a shock to me. What I realized is that ligne claire preserves the integrity of the lineart by ensuring that strong colour (i.e.: low key colour) is never so strong to challenge the lineart. To bring it back to the language of colour percentages, it simply meant that none of my “darkest” colours could ever have an ink mix that was too close to 240%! That 236% I mentioned a few paragraphs ago? That was right out, as was any other colour that came too close to 240%. Even 210% might be a problem.

I quickly came to realize that this posed a significant challenge. Why? Well, the main protagonist of WOLF’S HEAD is Lauren Greene, along with various supporting characters (like her mom Patty). Since both Lauren and Patty are black, the colour combination I typically used for their skin tones was fairly strong. Lauren, for example, is based on a default mix of 31% “C,” 60% “M,” and 60% “Y.” While that’s only a total of 151%, well-within my 240% ink limit, that was also unshaded. When I added shades or shadows to Lauren’s skin tones, that typically was a mix of 55% “C,” 85% “M,” and 85% “Y.” That’s a total of 225% and thus very close to my 240% maximum. In other words, those shades and shadows were far too close to my “Rich Blacks” lineart. Far too close. 

When I reviewed the original print collections of WOLF’S HEAD, I could see the problem — now that I was finally aware of it!

What to do?

Thinking on the problem and trying to brainstorm solutions eventually led me to the second part of the solution. As with most artists, I look at the printed works of others, mainly to keep myself apprised of what’s going on — broadly — with the medium. I found a reference to an American comic book series that I had missed when it was first serialized. This was the comic titled CONVERGENCE, published by DC Comics in 2015. In particular, I was looking at one of the spin-off titles, specifically CONVERGENCE: SHAZAM, with art by Evan “Doc” Shaner and colours by Jordie Bellaire. It was Bellaire’s colours, over the wonderfully “open” lineart by Shaner, that really stopped me. Bellaire’s colours were beautiful; and better, from my point of view, they were missing much of the “special effects” that I find tends to so often overwhelm the lineart in corporate comics. Also absent, however, was the cell-shaded approach to shades and shadows that I had been using in my own work. In addition, Bellaire used a beautiful “texture” effect to add a bit more nuance to her colours.

In fact, this latter point (the “texture”) led me to another thought that I wasn’t expecting. So many reprint collections of comics — those from the Golden Age right up to the beginning of the so-called “Modern Age” — tended to print the new collections on better quality paper. Gone were the old newsprint days! For those who wanted their collections on higher quality and/or archival paper, these reprints were just what the doctor ordered.

However… 

These reprints were often also recoloured, sometimes using the original colourists as a base-line and sometimes creating brand new colours, to facilitate reprinting these old titles for the new digital colouring age. Newsprint, despite its restrictions, gave older printed titles a “grain” or a “texture” that worked with the colour printing technology of the time. Taken together, the colours and the newsprint would often, I’d argue, create a synthesis that was stronger than the sum of its parts. With the modern recoloured reprints, often on glossy paper, that “grain” or “texture” was eliminated. The glossy paper simply doesn’t have it. The resulting reprint colours, even when they are close to the originals, lacked a certain something. It’s hard to put into words exactly what that absence is, but part of it was reprinted colour combined with glossy paper was too bright and often too garish.

It turns out that stripping out one part of the technology from that era (in this case, the newsprint paper) wound up hurting the colours. At least that’s my conclusion and argument.

When I saw Bellaire’s colours on CONVERGENCE: SHAZAM, I realized that she had resolved this “grain” or “texture” problem. Her colours, both on screen and in the printed comics, were nuanced and beautiful. And they didn’t suffer for being printed on relatively glossy paper, because the very texture she used “insulated” her colours from the excessive effect of the glossy paper.

I also realized that Bellaire had — probably intentionally — resolved my cell-shaded issues. How so? Bellaire basically didn’t worry about them as she coloured over Shaner’s lineart. It sounds a little silly, I think, but I realized that I didn’t have to worry about them, either. That realization was a lifeline, because it meant that I now had a new method of approaching my own colouring. I could stop worrying about cell-shading at all. I could emphasize texture as well as colour and work within the ligne claire philosophy of colour to ensure that my lineart remained as clear and clean as possible, even if I continued to use hatching and other inking effects then many “pure” ligne claire practitioners prefer not to use.

With these new “tools,” I set about to test them with my own artwork and style. It was a relatively slow process, partially because I was still working on new issues of WOLF’S HEAD throughout this period, but also because the only way to test it was to recolour actual artwork that I’ve done to see the result. Well, it was slightly trickier than that because I also had to see how a printer would actually handle this new colouring process. I went back to some older short stories that I had written and illustrated back in 2015 and 2016 and recoloured them with this new approach. Once they were complete, I was able to publish the stories in a new publication titled STORIES! 2015 TO 2019, a short 36-page collection that clearly showed that the new process worked. And worked very well.

The next step was to recolour some short stories that I was quite fond of, but that were coloured using my now “old” cell-shaded style. These stories starred two cantankerous wizards — a human and a dog — and their adventures were originally published in the print collection WIZARDS FOR HIRE — CHEAP! I was hesitant to do recolour them, but I know I needed to see what would happen. Test, test, and again test!

I was thrilled with the result! I don’t think any of these stories have ever looked better. Dropping the cell-shaded look was the key component of that, allowing my lineart to shine in a way that I had never experienced before. And there was nothing lost with this new colouring approach, either. I had worried that I was overlooking something; that the cell-shaded approach gave my art a certain “something” that I might not be aware of; losing it might damage my stories in ways that I might not be aware of. That proved to not be the case and was an immense relief. Further, adding the “texture” gave my colours a certain je ne sais quoi that they didn’t have before but still worked extremely well with my lineart, my inking.

In fact, these recolouring experiments has led to an upcoming collected edition containing all of these short stories in a new hardcover edition titled LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LOSS: A COMICS COLLECTION.

With these experiments and tests successfully resolved, I set about the big challenge: recolouring all fourteen issues of WOLF’S HEAD to reflect this new colouring approach. It was a great deal of work, but as I did the work, I became happier and happier. Lineart that was previously “hidden” by my cell-shaded colours suddenly was clear and crisp, exactly as I had intended it. The “texture” didn’t obfuscate or conflict with either my lineart or my colours. And the simplified colours, inspired by ligne claire, were beautiful in their own right. In fact, most of my underlying colour remained exactly the same. The difference was primarily oriented around that pesky cell-shaded approach. Eliminating that made my colours sing. And, together with my lineart, the colours were stronger than they ever were before.

Was it easy? Nope, though probably not as hard as I expected. Did I learn as I went? You bet! Do I regret not hitting on this methodology earlier? Yeah. Yeah, I do, but as the old saying goes, “we learn by doing.” The only way I could truly know what the result would be was to test. While that testing process was slower than I might otherwise like, it was well-worth the time it took.

Here, of course, is probably the key question: am I happy with the result? Oh, absolutely I am. I really am. 

One of the most amazing things about art — here I use the word broadly, meaning both writing and visual art — is that the learning never stops. It’s part of what makes art so exciting. And yup, it’s also what makes it pretty frustrating from time to time. It’s always a battle: learning, growing, failing, and learning and growing again. There are false starts, blind alleys, and mistakes; that’s part and parcel of the entire process. We learn by doing, by trying, by failing. The challenge is to never quit. To never stop learning and to never stop growing. To be part of the world and to be open to it. Sometimes we grow by learning, sometimes we grow by failing. 

I’ve made a lot of mistakes; the point is to not let mistakes define me. That’s sometimes a challenge — sometimes a big challenge — but it’s also part of the fun.  

And never forget: making art, regardless of one’s skill level and experience, is a great deal of fun.

Making A Splash: Von Allan's Wolf's Head

One of my favourite old-school blogs is Diversions of the Groovy Kind, run by "The Groovy Agent" himself Lloyd Smith. And one of the funner things that Smith does are the "Making A Splash" series of comic book posts. For the uninitiated, these are splash pages of comics, typically by the same artist or from different artists working on the same title. Seriously, go check those out! They are awesome!

Since I now have 14 (!) opening splash pages from my ongoing comic WOLF'S HEAD, I thought it would be a great deal of fun to post my own "Making A Splash" series. Here goes!

Quick April 2021 Update: I've recently rethought my approach to colour, especially regarding how it applies to comics. As a result, new editions of WOLF'S HEAD will reflect this new approach. The pages below have been updated to reflect this, but please note that the legacy versions (both in print and digital) will contain my older "cel-shaded" approach to colour. New hardcover (!) versions of WOLF'S HEAD are planned in the not-too-distant future and these will contain the new colours. Caveat emptor and all that.

Other Links

• Overview of my Comics: http://www.vonallan.com/p/comics.html

• Wolf’s Head (My Ongoing Comic Book Series): https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/

• Von Allan Studio Shop Page: http://www.vonallan.com/p/von-allan-studio-shop.html

• RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Von_Allan_Homepage

• Mailing List Sign-Up: https://vonallan.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=f6d06612e90503db886a31a24&id=7642c19478

Pencils and Inks for the cover of Wolf's Head 13

One of the things I'm not great at is showing work in progress, especially for my ongoing comics project WOLF'S HEAD. Here is a small effort to change that!

Up first is a cell phone photo of the tight pencils of the cover. In general, for interiors, I don't pencil this tightly. That's mainly because I ink my own work and I prefer to do some of the "drawing" in ink.

The pencils are followed by the inked illustration. This obviously doesn't have the cover logo and whatnot on it, but it's complete aside from that. I used to do all of my inking by hand, using a brush, but I found that the scanning process required a lot of very fussy work. Nowadays I digitally ink, in Manga Studio (now known as Clip Studio Paint), and that completely side-steps all of that pesky scanning and corrections. I do still ink "traditionally" from time to time, but I have to admit I really prefer digitally inking. Faster, cleaner, no scanning, and digital inking has the lovely advantage of "take-backsies" if I screw up. Nice!

And you'll actually notice I did screw up, so the inks also show a few corrections.

Wolf's Head in Print and Digital Formats

I just wanted to take a moment and point out that the WOLF'S HEAD mini-site (https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/) is slowly but surely building out. While I would like to include more content, there is quite a bit there already and more is still to come. So you haven't taken a peek, please do.

I'm currently hard at work on issue 13 (about halfway through illustrating it as I type this). For those who read my previous update on the state of WOLF'S HEAD, not too much has changed. However, one thing I did want to add to it is the great community support I receive here in Vanier (for those who don't know, I live in Ottawa, Ontario and Vanier is a large neighbourhood inside it). The support from Vanier has been wonderful; not just from my neighbours, but from people in the broader community, too. Given the pandemic times we live in, it has been a key part in keeping my spirits up. That spirit or "joie de vivre" is really something to see.

In addition, I also wanted to take a moment and briefly touch on serialized storytelling. While I love the medium of comics in any form, there is something about serialization—the way story after story becomes more than the sum of its parts—that I truly love. One of the great joys I've found in WOLF'S HEAD is exactly that. And that means the story has taken me in directions I wasn't expecting. It also means that it's continued to delight and surprise me as I start writing each issue.

Eventually, WOLF'S HEAD will be collected into hardcover editions—this is something I've wanted to do right from the beginning—that will enable individual issues to be collected into a thematic unit (kinda like what a season of a TV series feels like on DVD or Blu-Ray). I've been very pleased, despite all of the difficulties I've faced, in presenting the series in a serialized format first.

The current storyline has also allowed me to explore horror and that's been something I've been wanting to do for quite some time. Andrea Subissati from RUE MORGUE did a great video that explored a definition of horror that I find pretty useful. And fun! And it's been a great deal of fun to take Lauren, the current star of WOLF'S HEAD, from an action/adventure-style series and move her into a more horror-style tale.

See? That's what I love about serialization. You can do things like that with it. You can play with tone, with theme, with style. And by exploring these things you can also push the characters into different and unexpected directions. And push and explore yourself, too. I find that incredibly exciting. There's no formula. There's no "story engine." There's just questions… and the answers help to shape and form the narrative.

That's fun! That's what good serialization can bring to the table. What happens next? Let's find out together!

Other Links

• Overview of my Comics: http://www.vonallan.com/p/comics.html

• Wolf’s Head (My Ongoing Comic Book Series): https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/

• Von Allan Studio Shop Page: http://www.vonallan.com/p/von-allan-studio-shop.html

• RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Von_Allan_Homepage

• Mailing List Sign-Up: https://vonallan.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=f6d06612e90503db886a31a24&id=7642c19478

The State of WOLF'S HEAD

2025 UPDATE: Please visit the following link for more details and thoughts about Diamond Comic Distributors. Some of what’s discussed below "elided" certain issues, but this the new post discusses the situation more openly now (and that means I’ll probably revisit the post below with updated information, too): https://www.vonallan.com/2025/01/Diamond-Comic-Distributors-Wolfs-Head-and-Me.html

Whew, boy, what a tough couple of months. While there has been some joy (receiving the City of Ottawa grant and being shortlisted for the Peter Honeywell award being the best), for the most part it has been one helluva frustrating slog. I’m going to do my best to outline what the current situation is, mainly to help solidify my own thoughts on what’s gone wrong. Or, to put it another way, what hasn’t?

To put it bluntly, sales are not good. Worse, every attempt I’ve made to mitigate that has failed. In different circumstances, that would be enough to shut the series down. In fact, I have done exactly that in the past (specifically with my previous graphic novel series STARGAZER, ended after two volumes, and with the digital-only series METAL GODS, ended after four issues).

What makes WOLF’S HEAD different from those two? The biggest difference is that WOLF’S HEAD has never reached the Direct Market and, as a result, has been cut off from its largest potential audience: comic book fans. Mixed in with that are the aforementioned awards and grants; these have been especially important in teaching me that WOLF’S HEAD does have merit in certain (local) art circles, but there’s a “circuit break” between that and the larger comics community world-wide.

In fact, one of the biggest examples I could point to in terms of specific my role with in the comics community is the utter lack of media coverage and interest in my work. Not just with WOLF’S HEAD and not just recently; a significant disappointment to me was when the documentary film I’m in (titled I AM STILL YOUR CHILD) received no traction whatsoever with comics media. If the film had been covered, then more people might have been introduced to both me and my work. I had partially launched WOLF’S HEAD with exactly this in mind: maybe my role in the film would help galvanize interest and awareness in the series. Since that didn’t happen, WOLF’S HEAD did not receive the momentum from the film that I hoped it would.

Diamond and the Direct Market

This has been difficult for me to place, mainly because getting a direct answer from Diamond Comic Distributors has been so difficult. For those who don’t know, Diamond is the largest distributor of comic books in North America and Great Britain and they also distribute comics and related merchandise throughout the world. Prior to 2020, they were a de facto monopoly in the world of comics; however, with DC Comics breaking from Diamond in early June 2020, the monopoly label is harder to apply. Diamond was also a de facto monopsony; though that, given DC’s departure, is harder to apply, too.

For a small press like Von Allan Studio (that’s me, folks), Diamond plays a critical role in facilitating sales of comics and graphic novels to comic book stores. Fortunately, I have an account in good standing with Diamond; in fact, STARGAZER was distributed into the Direct Market (under Item Numbers NOV101057 and AUG111259) through Diamond a decade ago. Unfortunately, my amazing sales rep departed the company and his replacement has been fairly problematic. This is key: while Diamond never outright rejected WOLF’S HEAD, they’ve never accepted the series, either. In other words, WOLF’S HEAD exists in a sort of limbo for the past few years.

That has been dismaying for a few reasons:

1. WOLF’S HEAD is a far stronger work than STARGAZER and it remains baffling to me why the latter was accepted for distribution while the former hasn’t been.
   
   
2. “Limbo” also means that WOLF’S HEAD could be accepted for distribution with Diamond tomorrow… or never.
   
   
3. The specific format of the print versions of WOLF’S HEAD was a result of attempting to meet Diamond’s specifications.
   
   While I don’t want to stray too far into the weeds here, the basic process works like this: once Diamond has agreed to take on a title for distribution, each issue/volume has to maintain a minimum sales threshold or risk cancellation. That threshold is based on total dollars; so selling 1,000 copies of issue 1 of a $2.99 US series results in a total dollar amount of $2,990.00, but selling 600 copies of issue 1 of a $9.99 US series results in $5,994.00! But that requires a print format that justifies the higher cover price. To do just that, I went with a trade paperback trim size and approximately 60 pages of content per issue for WOLF’S HEAD. I felt that this would give the series the best chance of meeting Diamond’s benchmarks while still giving readers a terrific experience.
   

Now, if Diamond had formally declined distributing WOLF’S HEAD, then I would have went in a very different direction with the print version of the series. Since I was in “limbo,” however, I decided to go ahead with it, hoping that, as the series progressed, Diamond would get on board and distribute the series. Sadly, that has never happened, leaving me with a print format that I’m not particularly happy with.

I did manage to get a few Canadian stores to pick up the series. But a combination of the pandemic (see below) and bad luck have basically ended that experiment. The store that did the best with the series was Librairie Astro in Montreal. Sadly, they closed in the summer of 2018 and I lost one of my biggest advocates. Strange Adventures in Halifax was carrying the series, but has apparently stopped. I say ‘apparently’ because I’m not exactly sure what happened; I suspect the audience simply never developed for the series.

What format would I be happy with? Well, either a saddle-stitched periodical series (i.e.: ye olde 32 page comic) or, better, a beautifully produced hardcover series that collected each story arc.

As it stands, I suspect the next release of WOLF’S HEAD (issue 7) will be the last with this 60 page format.

Comics Media

Without Diamond distributing the series, gaining media attention for WOLF’S HEAD from “comics media” (for lack of a better phrase) has been problematic. Some of this is understandable; a lot of comics media supports the Direct Market and are very plugged into Diamond’s distribution cycle. WOLF’S HEAD lack of distribution with Diamond falls outside of this purview and, as a result, few media outlets have been interested in discussing the series.

What’s been frustrating to me is that WOLF’S HEAD is broadly distributed. Finding the series is not difficult for either readers or retailers, primarily because WOLF’S HEAD has world-wide distribution through Ingram. This also means that the series is easy to find at online at retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, Waterstones, and so on. However, from the point of view of “comics media,” this isn’t enough. Worse, this lack of distribution from Diamond has also disqualified WOLF’S HEAD from the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards (while I’m not positive on this score, I believe that the “Shusters” require distribution through Diamond for eligibility).

More importantly, the lack of media attention has meant that the series is pretty much unknown with the audience I need the most: comic book fans. Especially comic book fans who like independent or alternative comics (or “comix”). It is very hard to grow a series if your key demographic doesn’t know you exist.

Comics Media are also tricky to talk about because there’s a split in what and who receives coverage. More mainstream sites like Comic Book Resources or Bleeding Cool tend to focus on corporate intellectual property. This means titles from Marvel, DC, as well as licensed properties. Sites like The Comics Journal focus on more literary titles. Unfortunately, either due to the lack of distribution from Diamond or other reasons, I’m persona non grata with both. And that’s certainly not for lack of trying on my end.

The knock-on effects of all this is problematic. As a simple example, there is now a great deal of scholarship being conducted on comics with some truly fascinating insights from some remarkable scholars. Unfortunately, comics scholars aren’t, as far as I can tell, aware of my work. Or even aware of me, for that matter. A second example are librarians. Librarians have become key advocates of comics, but I’ve never managed to gain library support for WOLF’S HEAD outside of my own local Public Library. WorldCat certainly illustrates this plainly.

This is disappointing because my work has been in libraries in the past, but without awareness of the series it would be difficult for a librarian to justify the purchase of the series, especially given the times of austerity we’ve been experiencing for the past twelve years.

COVID-19

The pandemic has effected everyone. In the face of the death toll (it boggles my mind that 200,000 people have died in the United States alone and we’re not that far from 1,000,000 dead throughout the world), it’s a bit hard to think of anything else, but there have been knock-on effects for everyone, even those who haven’t directly been hit by the virus itself.

Obviously declining retail sales are a significant example. The effects are more horrifying when you think about food scarcity, layoffs, evictions, and the like. Yes, it could certainly be worse; in fact, I’d argue that one of reasons that COVID-19 has not been as horrific as, say, the 1918-19 Influenza pandemic is that there are still enough social programs by various levels of government to help prevent the situation from spiraling out control. Plus science has a far greater understanding of how pandemics spread than it did back in 1918-19. Still, the official governmental responses has been problematic (really? 200,000 dead in the US?) and we are clearly not out of the woods yet.

Since art tends to be a discretionary purchase, in the face of the global pandemic my print sales have declined. Not that sales were robust before 2020, but the pandemic has destroyed them. While book sales in general slumped when the initial lockdowns occurred, there seems to be some evidence that book sales are now stronger, at least in some markets. Unfortunately, this has not led to any sales growth for WOLF’S HEAD or any of my other backlist, though this is not surprising given what I’ve outlined above.

Digital Comics

What about digital sales? WOLF’S HEAD is available on both ComiXology and Kindle and released in periodical format (i.e.: approximately 30 pages) for $1.99 US each. This format has not led to strong sales. In fact, sales have been very weak. Kindle is almost a non-starter; while it doesn’t take too much work to format titles for Kindle (using the Kindle Comic Creator software), I’ve only had a handful of sales in this format. My ComiXology sales have been marginally better, but ComiXology (and Kindle, for that matter) really require reader awareness and interest when seeking out titles. What do I mean?

Well, there’s a conundrum with digital discovery that I don’t think has been solved yet. In a ‘brick and mortar’ environment, people can stumble across titles that they might not have known about simply because they are on a shelf, let alone activism from a passionate sales staff. While COVID-19 has obviously effected the ability of people to enter into retail stores of all types, this is still a key element of what makes ‘brick and mortar’ stores so compelling. Wander in, stumble across something interesting, buy it, and try it. With digital comics, it would appear that you really need to know what you’re looking for. I realize that digital does allow some degree of browsing, but (at least from my point of view and experience), this doesn’t seem to work all that well in practice.

As a result, my digital sales have been very poor. What I find interesting about this is that my 2020 experiences with Kindle and ComiXology mirror my 2014 experiences with ComiXology and my series METAL GODS. Things really haven’t changed all that much at all.

Where Things Are At

As disappointing as this has been, the good news is that the comics art grant from the City of Ottawa has helped mitigate some of the damage detailed above. In fact, if it was not for the art grant and the Peter Honeywell award shortlist, I suspect I would cancel WOLF’S HEAD immediately. As it stands, WOLF’S HEAD will continue, at least through the current story arc, and then I’ll revisit in 2021.

Self-publishing is hard. Frankly, I’ve never wanted to do it, not because I’m against self-publishing per se, but because of the immense amount of work involved in doing it. Hell, I already wear all the hats (writing, art, production, etc…). Adding “publisher” to that list is a bridge too far. I badly need a publisher. I badly need an agent, too.

With WOLF’S HEAD, it’s hard to know how things will go. My efforts to find a publisher for the series will continue, though that is one helluva slog right now (my jealousy of authors with formal publishing contracts knows no bounds!). For the short term, this means that WOLF’S HEAD will probably be turned into a webcomic.

Webcomics actually terrify me. While once-upon-a-time I did do a webcomic through Girlamatic (THE ROAD TO GOD KNOWS...), that was both a long time ago and with a group of allies. Doing it alone is scary. And WOLF’S HEAD was never designed to be a webcomic; I’m leery of how transitioning the series to that format will work in practice. At the same time, I know that a WOLF’S HEAD webcomic might be the best (only?) chance that the series has to find a real audience.

To paraphrase one of my favourite movies, “art is a cruel mistress, but she is her own reward.” Easier said then done. I don’t like writing and drawing in a vacuum. While I’ve never minded the solitary nature of the craft, my stories are meant to be read. I’ve never wanted to make ‘outsider art’ that few if anyone reads. My goal was never to ‘hermetically seal’ my work from the world at large, either.

It’s not a fun feeling to be where I’m at, struggling to find an audience and struggling to make a living at it. Solutions are difficult to find. And the loss I’ve been feeling is difficult to place. Given the state of the world (not just with COVID-19 but with the wildfires in California and Oregon, the explosion in Beirut, and so on), there’s a lot to be thankful for. There really is. Art and writing bring me a great deal of joy, not to mention the fact that I’ve grown a great deal as an artist.

I’m extremely proud of WOLF’S HEAD, despite the terrible sales and lack of awareness that it even exists. I think it’s some of the best work I’ve ever done. And it’s been a joyful experience, too.

It would just be truly awesome to be able to share that joy with readers.

Other Links

• Overview of my Comics: http://www.vonallan.com/p/comics.html

• Wolf’s Head (My Ongoing Comic Book Series): https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/

• Von Allan Studio Shop Page: http://www.vonallan.com/p/von-allan-studio-shop.html

• RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Von_Allan_Homepage

• Mailing List Sign-Up: https://vonallan.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=f6d06612e90503db886a31a24&id=7642c19478

City of Ottawa Grant Support

In a surprise (well, at least to me!) turn of events, I’ve received a $4,000.00 grant from the City of Ottawa’s Arts Funding Program (the PDF announcement from the City is here). The grant is in support of my ongoing comics project WOLF’S HEAD and represents a significant step in my arts career. Why significant? Well, bear with me here for a sec and I’ll try to explain.

As I’ve struggled to cobble together an arts career, there have been a number of obstacles that I’ve had to overcome. This is not unique to me, unique to Canadian comic artists, unique to visual artists, or unique to the arts in general. Despite certain stereotypes of artists (“heads in the clouds,” blah, blah, blah), it’s quite a tricky career to manage. There is not a lot of support “out there” for artists, either. Most artists I know are forced to manage their careers as best they can and there really isn’t a road map to help along the way. That’s been very true for me. While a lot of words come to mind to describe this — ‘challenging’ being a very good one — it just is what it is. And there is a certain truism to the notion that by the time acknowledgement does come (usually in the form of awards, accolades, and sales), the artist doesn’t need as much support as they once did. That’s definitely not true of me.

Let me say that again: That’s definitely not true of me.

It’s been a fight every step of the way. The first fight was simply to become competent and that might have been the toughest battle of them all. The learning curve, at least for me, has been extremely steep with a lot of false starts and dashed hopes along the way. Then, the next fight is to survive. Truth be told, that’s been tough, too. Being pretty much a fringe artist at the best of times and a true Outsider most of the time meant that building awareness for my work has been a never-ending struggle. Pragmatically speaking, surviving as an artist means generating an income. In my case specifically, that primarily means selling my comics. And that has never been easy.

As some folks know, I really had hopes that I AM STILL YOUR CHILD, the documentary film I’m in, would help build awareness for my art. That really hasn’t happened, at least so far, and the disappointment was hard to place. That doesn’t mean I’m not proud of my role in the film. Far from it! And I still think the film is important for shedding light on parental mental illness, a taboo subject to this day.

That said, as my wife is fond of saying, the film was ‘kindling’ for my arts career and represented a milestone in its own right. While it hasn’t changed awareness of my work in the larger comics community, it has led to growing awareness in the local arts scene. I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have been a finalist for the Peter Honeywell Award without it. And I certainly wouldn’t have won a CBC Trailblazer Award without it, too.

And with today’s announcement of winning a grant from the City of Ottawa, I’m pretty confident saying that it wouldn’t have happened without the film and the other awards. One thing does lead to another. And the grant is important from another point of view; it really does give some much needed financial support for my comics endeavours. As I’ve noted, being an artist is not an easy path and every little bit of financial support helps. When a jury of my peers determined that my application was worthy of financial support, my jaw dropped. And it’s taken a bit of time for me to really get my head around it. I’m both honoured and pleased as punch to receive it. And in these pandemic times we live in, it is one helluva lift.

So yes, Von Allan Studio (that’s me, folks!) gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the City of Ottawa. Boy, do I!

Other Links

• Overview of my Comics: http://www.vonallan.com/p/comics.html

• Wolf’s Head (My Ongoing Comic Book Series): https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/

• Von Allan Studio Shop Page: http://www.vonallan.com/p/von-allan-studio-shop.html

• RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Von_Allan_Homepage

• Mailing List Sign-Up: https://vonallan.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=f6d06612e90503db886a31a24&id=7642c19478

Recent Podcast Interviews with Von Allan

I've recently been a guest on three different podcasts chatting about comics, art, COVID-19, and mental illness. In no particular order, here goes:

I was interviewed by Tim Midura and Kyle Welch on their Pages and Panels Podcast. This is a wide-ranging discussion of comics, my ongoing series WOLF'S HEAD, the situation at Diamond Comic Distributors, the documentary film I AM STILL YOUR CHILD, and on and on! I really enjoyed this one and I think you will, too. The interview can be found at https://pagesandpanels.squarespace.com/blog/2020/6/12/pages-and-panels-vol-2-23-von-allen-and-wolfs-head or downloaded directly as a MP3 right here (just right click to download).

Not to be outdone, I was also interviewed on the Out of the Basement podcast. Out of the Basement is a local podcast from here in Ottawa, but with social distancing due to COVID-19, it was handled remotely. This chat ranges from comics to D&D and was a lot of fun. This interview can be found at https://outofthebasement.ca/pod/ootb/out-of-the-basement-podcast-episode-91/ or downloaded directly as a MP3 here (again, just right click to download).

Lastly, the always lovely Kevin Midbo had me on to chat about the early stages of COVID-19 and how it was effecting folks in my neighbourhood here in Ottawa. Kevin is great and the discussion, while short, was terrific. It can be found at https://www.vancouverislandmentalhealthsociety.org/artist-and-comics-creator-von-allan-on-life-during-covid-19/ or downloaded directly as a MP3 right over here.

Other Links

• Overview of my Comics: http://www.vonallan.com/p/comics.html

• Wolf’s Head (My Ongoing Comic Book Series): https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/

• Von Allan Studio Shop Page: http://www.vonallan.com/p/von-allan-studio-shop.html

• RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Von_Allan_Homepage

• Mailing List Sign-Up: https://vonallan.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=f6d06612e90503db886a31a24&id=7642c19478

Wolf's Head Launches Today on Kindle

I'm very pleased to announced that the digital comic book version of WOLF’S HEAD has now launched on Kindle. The link to the first issue is at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089V1DVY7

I should add that Kindle has received and approved issues 2 through 10, so I expect that subsequent issues will be released regularly. The link to the series is at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MTGCS49

What's it about? WOLF’S HEAD is the story of Lauren Greene, a young woman who quits her job as a police officer in Detroit and consequently struggles to pick up the pieces and find her place in society. After her mom makes an astounding discovery at a research facility, Lauren must fight for their lives against forces that will stop at nothing to stop them. I think the series is a great deal of fun and also contains the best writing and comic book art I've ever created.

The print editions of WOLF’S HEAD have been making their way to bookstores and comic book shops (both online and off) for awhile now, but this is the first time that WOLF’S HEAD will be available in a digital version. For those who don't know, each volume of the print version contains two issues (making each volume approximately 60 pages in length). The digital version is a single issue and that means the page count for each digital issue is approximately 25 to 30 pages in length.

There's a dedicated website for the series at https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/. This site includes previews, frequently asked questions, a complete media kit, links to the print editions, and more! https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/ will also be updated in the near future with Kindle links to each issue, too.

I think that covers it! I'm very pleased to have WOLF’S HEAD out in this format. It's going to be a great deal of fun to have the series roll out on Kindle. Come with me, won't you?

Wolf's Head launches on ComiXology April 22!

Big news, folks! I'm very pleased to announce that the first issue of WOLF'S HEAD will launch on ComiXology on April 22nd, 2020! While the specific ComiXology WOLF'S HEAD link is not live yet, you can certainly keep track by visiting the Von Allan Studio ComiXology page. And, of course, I'll update links when I have them.

You can also preview the first issue of the series at https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/p/wolfs-head-issue-1.html. A press kit for the series can be found at https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/p/media-kit.html.

Cross-posted from https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/2020/04/Wolfs-Head-launches-on-ComiXology.html

Peter Honeywell Mid-Career Artist Award Nomination

Ottawa, Ontario (April 3, 2020): Von Allan, an Ottawa-based artist and comics creator, is one of the three shortlisted artists for the Peter Honeywell Mid-Career Artist Award through the Ottawa Arts Council. The award was established to recognize and encourage the achievements of Ottawa artists of all disciplines who have evolved beyond the emerging stage in their career to become recognized professional working artists contributing to the community. His fellow nominees are AM Dumouchel and Rebecca Noelle.

“In general, I try to measure my artistic achievements against my own goals and dreams,” said Allan. “In the arts and, I think, in life, the only real competition is against yourself. To push yourself. To grow stronger. To always be learning. For a long time that has been a difficult struggle for me. My learning curve and development as an artist was long and slow, with a lot of frustrating and discouraging reversals along the way. The key, at least for me, was to always keep trying to grow into the artist I imagined I could be. From that point of view, art awards are not something an artist ‘wins’ or ‘loses,’ but rather a signpost or waypoint along the journey. And I’m very pleased with this signpost!”

“Being shortlisted for the Peter Honeywell Mid-Career Artist Award is a significant step in my art career and a huge honour,” added Allan. “I’ve been aware of this award for awhile but it has always seemed out of reach. To be here now, nominated with two other amazing artists, is humbling. It’s also wonderful to be here as a comics creator. I am deeply grateful to the judges for their consideration.”

Von Allan was nominated in part for his ongoing comics project ‘Wolf’s Head.’ The story follows a newly created artificial intelligence (AI) on the run from its creators with the unexpected help of a janitor, her ex-police officer daughter, and their dog. ‘Wolf’s Head’ features Lauren Greene, a young woman who quits her job as a police officer after becoming frustrated with growing police violence. At the same time as Lauren is quitting, a secretive corporation across town has managed to create a seemingly perfect AI for war and profit; however, before the corporation can use the AI, Lauren’s mother, Patty, a janitor at the corporation, finds it. Patty is literally the kindest person the new lifeform has ever met and, as a result, it bonds to her, rejects its purpose and creators, and orchestrates a huge accident to cover an escape. Patty, overwhelmed, asks her daughter Lauren for help. Despite being broke and a bit lost herself, Lauren agrees to help, setting the stage for the story that follows: two humans, an AI, and a dog versus a warmongering corporation.

About Von Allan: Von Allan was born red-headed and freckled in Arnprior, Ontario, just in time for “Star Wars: A New Hope.” The single child of two loving but troubled parents, Von split most of his childhood between their two homes. Additional information about Von Allan can be found at https://www.vonallan.com/.

Von was featured in the documentary film “I Am Still Your Child” (http://iamstillyourchild.com/) and was the recipient of the Corel Endowment Fund for the Arts Award in 2014 and the CBCTrailblazer Award in 2019.

About The Peter Honeywell Mid-Career Artist Award: The Peter Honeywell Mid-Career Artist Award, which was renamed in 2019 to honour the legacy of the long-time Council Executive Director. This award is sponsored by GGFL, Chartered Accountants, and Mann Lawyers LLP. The recipient will receive a $5,000 award; two other finalists will receive $1,000 awards. More information about the award can be found at https://ottawaartscouncil.ca/en/council-news/peter-honeywell-mid-career-artist-award.

The Ottawa Arts Council will announce the Peter Honeywell Mid-Career Artist Award recipient at 11 am on April 8, 2020.

About the Ottawa Arts Council: The Ottawa Arts Council is an arts umbrella organization founded in 1982, following a recommendation by the City of Ottawa Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Arts. For over thirty years, the Council has represented the interests of Ottawa artists and collaborates with numerous partners to strengthen the Ottawa arts community.

The Ottawa Arts Council is recognized as a respected, trusted and representative organization. The Ottawa Arts Council's partners include various levels of government and their agencies, businesses, patrons, donors, arts organizations and individual artists. More information about the Ottawa Arts Council can be found at https://ottawaartscouncil.ca/en.

—30—

Share the Love

As everyone knows, these are difficult times. COVID-19 has spread like wildfire and, here in North America, we're most likely only in the initial stages. The death toll has been shocking; coming to grips with that is not easy to do. And, of course, the knock on effects throughout all of our lives has been shocking (not to shocking if you happen to have lived in the global south, something that writers like Vijay Prashad have articulated so well).

The economic effects will also take some time to sort out. In the short term, COVID-19 has led to layoffs and unemployment insurance claims in the United States we have never seen (as Doug Henwood details here). A similar situation exists here in Canada.

Comic books have not been spared. Not only are comic shops and book stores closed in much of North America, but Diamond Comic Distributors stopped shipping comics and graphic novels to retailers. Worse (as Calvin Reid reported in Publishers Weekly), Diamond has also halted payments to publishers. This might (I stress might) be catastrophic both for publishers and the creators they employ.

I have had a difficult relationship with Diamond over the past few years. Without going into details, this is partially why WOLF'S HEAD has appeared in so few comic book shops. The good news for both me and Von Allan Studio is that it means that we're not affected by Diamond's recent moves. The bad news is that we've seen the same shrinkage in sales that many others in comics have been seeing.

For the immediate future, I'm scrambling to get WOLF'S HEAD into ComiXology as fast as the process allows. Hopefully there will be good news on this front in the not too distant future. I'm also considering serializing WOLF'S HEAD as a free webcomic (and if you happen to have any thoughts on that, please do let me know). In the meantime, physical copies of WOLF'S HEAD are still available in the usual places throughout the world (Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Chapters/Indigo | Waterstones | Abebooks | and so on). If you are in a position to support the series financially, please consider buying some copies (either for you or for you and for folks you think will like it). If you aren't, please consider "boosting the signal" on social media (here are Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook links).

Please do take care of both yourself, your loved ones, and (maybe especially) strangers in your community.

Lastly, I tend to default to reading through difficult times. Especially poetry, but usually poetry that is usually at least one thousand years old. I find comfort in the fact that these poets, my fellow human beings who died hundreds of years before I was born, shared so many of the same joys and sorrows that I do. That you do.

I'll end this post with one poem that I love:

WINTER NIGHT FAREWELL
by Chia Tao (779-843), translated by Mike O'Connor

At first light, you ride
swiftly over the village bridge;

Plum blossoms fall
on the stream and unmelted snow.

With the days short and the weather cold,
it's sad to see a guest depart;

The Ch'u Mountains are boundless,
and the road, remote.

(from THE CLOUDS SHOULD KNOW ME BY NOW, edited by Red Pine and Mike O'Connor, published by Wisdom Publications).

Crossposted to https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/

The brand new WOLF'S HEAD website is live!

I've been meaning to launch a new dedicated website for WOLF'S HEAD for quite some time. In fact, I've been periodically working on it behind the scenes, but I've finally got it to a status that it can officially launch. It's not absolutely perfect (the press kit still needs work) but aside from that it's good to go.

You can find it at https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/

So what's different about it? The key thing is that each individual issue of the series has it's own dedicated page with purchase links and preview pages. In fact, the first chapter of the very first issue can be read in its entirety. And all issues have a number of images that hopefully give a strong sense of what's inside. In fact, I'll probably be adding more images to each issue over time.

For those who want to follow along, the RSS feed for WOLF'S HEAD is https://feeds.feedburner.com/Wolfs-Head. Alternatively, you can receive updates through email using the following link: https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=Wolfs-Head (just make sure you use Feedburner's ReCAPTCHA system and then, once you receive the confirmation email, please use the link to verify your email address).

As I noted, I've been meaning to launch it for quite some time and this is long overdue. But! It's live now. And, of course, if you know people who you think might be interested in the series, then you now have simple url that you can share: https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/

Nice and simply, right?

Inked pages from upcoming Wolf's Head stories

Really quick post today! Just posting some inked but unlettered pages from upcoming Wolf's Head stories. Plus a pinup, too!

And don't forget that the first three volumes of Wolf's Head are out! Links to purchase them are right over here.

Other Links

• Overview of my Comics: http://www.vonallan.com/p/comics.html

• Wolf’s Head (My Ongoing Comic Book Series): https://wolfs-head.vonallan.com/

• Von Allan Studio Shop Page: http://www.vonallan.com/p/von-allan-studio-shop.html

• RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Von_Allan_Homepage

• Mailing List Sign-Up: https://vonallan.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=f6d06612e90503db886a31a24&id=7642c19478

Some early WOLF'S HEAD reviews

Some early reviews of my comic series WOLF'S HEAD are slowly but surely making the rounds. I've included a few snippets below. If you've read any of the issues so far, please consider rating (and even reviewing them!) over on Goodreads.

WOLF'S HEAD issue 1: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36809058-wolf-s-head

WOLF'S HEAD issue 2: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41562440-wolf-s-head

WOLF'S HEAD issue 3: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43396709-wolf-s-head
 

Review Snippets

The Midwest Book Review: "This new and original, full color, deftly scripted, impressively illustrated comic book series is a fully engaging, page-turner of a read and would prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal reading lists and community library collections."

The Comics Beat:  Philippe Leblanc from The Comics Beat did an in-depth review of the first two issues. It's great, so please go have a look!

Various Goodreads Reviews

Issue 1: "I loved reading this book and recommend you try it out. 1) Really strong female characters. 2) The plot is not just compelling, but highly relevant to what's happening in our world today."

Issue 2: "I bought this issue because I'm a big fan of Von Allan--particularly "the road to god knows"--and I'm glad I did. It was an intriguing and engaging read, with likable (yet prickly and real-feeling) protagonists, big surprises, and some super sketchy super villains."

Issue 3: "After reading the first two issues, I was deeply into the plot and characters--intrigued and invested. In this issue, the story line accelerates and explodes and I reached a new warp speed of page-turning. Can't wait for the next issue!"

Interview with True North Country Comics Podcast

I recently did a Skype interview with the fantastic John Swinimer, host of the True North Country Comics Podcast. John and I covered a range of subjects, including my recent comics work (WOLF'S HEAD!) as well as the documentary film I'm a participant in (I AM STILL YOUR CHILD). We also talked about mental health and mental illness in general and how my mom struggled with schizophrenia, a pretty vile disease.

I love talking comics and creativity and this interview has quite a bit about that, too! There is something about storytelling, and comic book storytelling in particular, that I find exciting. I think the visual language of comics is endlessly fascinating, something I hope that I bring to my own work, not to mention how comics unites words and illustrations in a really neat way.

John was a great host and hopefully I did a good job as a guest. Give it a listen, eh? The MP3 for the podcast can be found at the links above or directly at https://truenorthcountrycomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Von-Allan-Jan-2019.mp3

Pencils for a pivotal scene in Wolf's Head

Busy working away so here are some loose rough pencils from a pivotal scene in WOLF'S HEAD. One of the things I like about working this way is that I can tweak things a bit once I scan the pencils in. In this illo of Lauren, I made her left hand a bit too big so I digitally shrunk it down. I made some other tweaks, too, but I've already started to lose track of what I did! Ack!

Wolf's Head Process

One of the things I love about Manga Studio EX4 is the ability to preview layouts. Below are the final inks for the third issue of WOLF'S HEAD. It's kind of a neat "peek behind the curtain" of what's to come.

WOLF'S HEAD proof copy and pics

WOLF'S HEAD, my new comic book, is slowly but surely becoming a real thing! Okay, okay, in my head and in my art it has been for a long time, but I recently started finalizing the printing of it. So the pics below are from the printer proof. Pretty neat, eh? It's always a bit scary to receive a proof; that's the point that you gulp hard before you look at it, hoping that you don't have to do a large number of fixes. But everything looks great and I think the proof turned out very, very well.

Not quite sure about release dates yet, but certainly by the end of 2017 at the latest.