April Open QnA

I also really regret not giving Cio a giant pair of scissors instead of a great knife. It would have been more thematic

ABBADON

To add to this, I think I originally intended Cio to have a bunch of arms in her basic character design, but also had the idea that it was part of the coat she was wearing. When I drew her without the coat on, I drew her with only a single pair of arms without thinking about it, so the latter idea won out unintentionally.

ABBADON

The simple answer is that when you draw 100+ pages of comic that a character shows up in, if you're not careful about it, their design will inexplicably change without you noticing, and you will only realize this some time later. I think I originally designed Cio to be a weird buglike demon and she's kept some of that (and I will bring it back a bit), but my muscle memory drew her at some point with more normal looking limbs and it carried over.

ABBADON

How come Cio's limbs looked insectile in her early appearances but now they don't?

RH

I'd love to put out posters or prints, but I'm waiting on publication to see what the deal is with merch. I'll ask patrons what kind of stuff is interesting though if and when I start.

ABBADON

There's definitely an art/fashion world. We'll go back to the main, central city in Throne at some point, and I want the look of the core of Throne to be a little bit cyberpunk, I'm not going to lie. It's going to be way more industrial and neon than anything we've seen so far. There's a demiurge (Gog-Agog) who's big into art and fashion so I imagine we'll see a lot more of Throne's pop culture through her, probably when we visit Throne again at the beginning of the next story arc.

ABBADON

That's fantastic, thanks for the support! My best advice, which you probably already follow from the sound of it, is to be professional and consistent in your work. I treat this 100% like a job, because it is. My own deadlines I set are very strict and I take them extremely seriously - as well as the bonus content I'm creating for Patreon

ABBADON

Reddit user /u/The_Antigamer: "When can I buy KSBD merch?" edit 1: "I need shirts for all the devil drinking contest drinks in my life. Or a Preem Nand's Gilded Cage trucker hat. Or an 'I visited the blood-red city of Throne and all I got was this lousy <s>shirt</s> blue devil in my stomach' shirt."

Vylus

I'll answer your second question first: we're almost done with the second 'book' or arc of material and I'm pretty sure there's going to be around 5, so I imagine it'll be around 3-4 more years of working on the comic to finish it, which sounds pretty ridiculous (I'll probably turn 30 when I finish it off if I'm still working on it) but I've come 3 years so far so it's not too bad. As for the first question, my best advice to you is that ideas are worth extremely little (to you or anyone else!) - get it out! Even if that means you're just planning, writing, or something similar, start working on it. I often find the production of art (the mechanical, structural side of it - in my case, drawing the comic!) is actually the barrier, and not at all the ideas or planning phase. But once you start on it, it becomes easier and easier, and you become better and better at the skills you need to get to your goal. So start, and not only start, but commit to your project, even when it gets hard, and you get frustrated. It will pay off as long as you are diligent.

ABBADON

I love urban environments and settings of all kinds, especially those with fantasy elements, so the idea of Throne as being just a titanic bowl of all the scum of the universe fascinates me. One of the things I enjoy so much about cities is all the culture they generate, especially with things like high art and fashion. Is there a big art/fashion world in Throne? What's the latest cool thing?

I actually came across you and KSBD's organically. I think I just Googled "Patreon indie comics" and stumbled across your page. I loved the work, so I got behind it. I'm now transitioning from fashion photography, back to my original love for comic book illustration. My Patreon is live, and I've had the good fortune of bringing along some of my following from 10 years of photography, but I'm wondering if you have an advice for reaching the success you've had with KSBD's. Just interesting ways to get what I'm doing in front of more eyes and prospective Patreons.

Lars Kommienezuspadt

I am thinking about creating a graphic novel, I have this idea I've been growing over a number of years, and I would like some advice on how you converted KSBD from concept to reality. Also it seems like KSBD will be of considerable length, what are your thoughts on just how long you project KSBD will take to complete?

One would definitely be Clive Barker's 'Abarat' series (which I highly recommend) about a girl who visits a realm of 13 islands with a weird, surprisingly dark mythology. I also think Madeleine L'Engle's 'A Wrinkle in Time' series was pretty influential on the way I think about angels since 13 year old me reading it was struck by the really cool old-school Christian spirituality in there. Garth Nix's 'Sabriel' got me thinking about interesting depictions of the afterlife. Finally I think Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' is one my favorite fantasy series of all time, and has the whole multiple worlds thing going on while also depicting a heaven and God that is decrepit or absent. All really good stuff, a lot of it is more young adult reading, but I read it when I was a young adult and so it's been hugely influential to me.

ABBADON

I'll also mention a lot of the stuff that the Morrowind lore draws from is Vedic myth and Hindu/Buddhist spirituality, which I also got interested in (at a very superficial level mind you) as a source of inspiration for the comic. I then went full on with the rest of Zoroastrianism and old judeo-christian lore as well. The concept of God as the totality of the universe, spiritual enlightenment being a sort of mystic path, numerology, and self-realization of divinity are hardly new or unique things, there's a ton of great stuff out there

ABBADON

Absolutely. I really adore the spirituality of the Morrowind lore, which was written by the esteemable Michael Kirkbride. 'Reach Heaven Through Violence' is lifted straight from the sermons of Vivec, though I didn't realize it at the time.

ABBADON

What a lovely opportunity! I've always wondered, were you inspired by Morrowind (and its lore) in your works? I can't help but feel that some of the writing, and concepts, seem to coincide with the whole "CHIM" thing and so on. Love the comic and your writing! Glad I can support, even if it only is a little!

Secret Name

I love your mythology, it's very cool feels very organic. What are some of the stories that inspired this blended heaven?