THE RITES OF AUTUMN

-oo5

I hope everyone’s doing awesome out there. It’s been a minute since my last post but I’m still alive. Churning out book pages has been keeping me extra busy but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

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I keep waiting for new developments to develop before I come here to talk about them but the thing about developments is that they keep developing. And so, from Commissions opening and books launching, I have lots of developments for you today!

Firstly however, a little something that’s been dancing around in my head lately: the right to narrate. or rather, to narrate or not to narrate!

Over the last few years, I have fallen further and further down the hole of anti-narrationism. This started maybe 5 years ago, reading a comic that I will not mention here. Going through this massive chunk of work that technically had everything I need from a book, yet, I couldn’t help finding it incredibly painful to read. It took me a while to figure it out but it was this book that helped me understand the bigger issue. The problem was with the narration. It wasn’t that is was bad but more that it was there. Like so many other comics I should have loved but didn’t, through the years, my problem with all of them had always been, the narration. That was the day I started looking into it but Since then, I have gone from finding it annoying to questioning it’s purpose to now being fully against its existence. I’m only talking about stories using comics as a medium here. But within that medium, I think I have become, an anti-narrationist and I will no longer hide it!

I keep thinking there’s something I might not understand. A special taste for it that I just don’t understand since so many American comics are overflowing with narration. Beautiful, captivating scenes ruined, panel after panel by square box narration pulling you out of the story happening before your eyes to fulfil what can only be described as a writer’s itch for prose. I’m not against text in comics. Or even very chatty pages. I just learned a lot on my last 400 pages of story telling and I love text in comics. A reasonable amount, of course. But I find that the most important thing in a good comic is the beat, and text can and should absolutely lead the beat of the page. However, I am now convinced that when it comes to narration, it is never needed. I think I hate it.

There, it’s been said. I would love to get your input on this if you have an opinion. What do you think about narration in comics? Am I wrong to be so harsh with it? Is it an important tool in the comics you love? I’d love to know.

OPENING COMMISSIONS & NEW ORIGINAL ART

For those of you who are interested in such things, I am opening my commission list tomorrow. These are for my 2026 commissions.

I’ll take a handful of them in the next week or so to be done next year. I just want to be clear. I am submerged with work on a few books for the rest of this year and will only be able to start these next year.

I go from A4 to A3 size and can work in black and white or full colour.

Write to me at: ephkmk@gmail.com with the details and questions and I’ll get right back to ya!

I am also trying to find time to add a few new pieces up on my original art site this week. Keep an eye on the EPHKOA if you’re into that.

HARPY

Harpy, as some of you may have noticed, is a few weeks late. Some issues with printing have pushed it back but it is getting printed this week and all of you who have pre-ordered it are about to get their copies very soon! Probably before me even. These will also then magically appear in all comic book shops who have good taste and then, two weeks later, in all book shops in the English speaking world! Yeah! I can’t even find the words to explain my excitement about this thing finally completing its long journey. I am extremely excited to get your feedback on these too so let me know what you think about them as soon as you get yours!

A GAME OF DEATH

FFF is also late. It is getting printed at the end of the month and then shipping will start in November. If you were part of the campaign, please check the last update on the campaign page with details and the latest news with all that jazz.

TI

And so, I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to post these and plan on mostly respecting that promise however, this particular page has already been shared on another quality newsletter and therefore, I feel it’s totally fair game to show you a tiny fraction of what I’ve been busy with lately.

Here’s a spread I really like with all the process shots for those of you who are interested in such things:

TI Page 2-3

The thumbs

The pencils

The finished OA

The clean up/PSD layout

The finished product/Colour & text

I hope you like these! Let me know what you think.

However, I’ve got 113 more of these pages to get done so I’ll cut my ramblings short for today but expect more, quicker updates as both my 2025 books pop up!

Thank you all for your interest!

Stay awesome and stay safe out there!