Well, I'm up to page ten of Arzra. Not a milestone by any means, but it tells me a few things. First of all, since this is a weekly comic, it tells me I can hold interest in it over a longer period of time. This is important because I have a very bad case of Burnout Fever Repeat (BFR).

Arzra's been in my head for maybe a year and a half. He hit me one day when I was trying to come up with a new idea that could address some of the frustration I was feeling about the world. I was a new father and I was on a journey to learn and understand this crazy place. Arzra was meant to be a character who could move in and out of situations and environments and be a sort of neutral party observing a lot of different things and responding to them in his own way. This was supposed to allow me to explore stuff like social issues, alternate political systems, religion, sex, etc.

And I'm pleased its off to a good start. I've had a few bumps in terms of regular updates but that's ok, I expect as much. The website design is not perfect either, and that's ok too. I'll tweak as I go. Maybe a year from now I'll have the design where I want it and a good, healthy archive of cool pages.

Right now I'm in the infancy stage of this comic. I'm still feeling it out. The format is nice and I'm allowing myself a ton of room creatively to shift the setting around and play with different techniques but I'm keeping a few things standard. First, the format should not change. I draw in a 10" x 10" live area using brush pens, markers, and colored pencils. I often use cotton swabs, watercolor pencils, and spit. I want this to be a very raw comic, so when I scan it I don't do any kind of digital FX. What you see is what you get. That's why you can see all the brush strokes and little imperfections. I draw as rapidly as possible, letting myself enjoy the mark making and building of mood, texture, and character.

Thanks to the folks who are reading. I'll try my best to give you a good page to look at every Sunday. I shoot for early morning but in many cases (last night, for example) the update comes late.

I hope Arzra stays with me over the long haul. I'd like to see him reveal more of himself while exploring his crazy world.