About Dash Kameku

Dash is, of course, one of my oldest characters by far, only beaten for that position by Eron Cameya, another OC of mine. For the record, Bernell Marken would be the third oldest character. Dash has been around since I was a child.

Right now he’s associated with Cosmic Dash, but I’ve thought about him as a character I could put into other projects in the future, kind of like Karma. That hasn’t panned out, though, yet. I am very much a fan of the Tezuka Star System.

No sense in dropping him into other projects when his webcomic has been the victim of a massive schedule slip. Regrettably I haven’t had a ton of opportunities to continue Cosmic Dash, and it weighs on me heavily.

Upcoming Cosmic Dash News

On the tragic note of me not drawing much of Dash, lately, and the hiatus of the comic, I’ll have an announcement next week. There is a big announcement next week on Jan. 27th, which is, coincidentally, my birthday.

This is a substantial update and not a direction I thought things would head, but it also makes sense given the trajectory of my life. So please keep an eye out for the news.

Oh, and here is a clean render of Dash Kameku from the sketchbook page.

As always, if you are interested in supporting what I do, you can do so through donations on Ko-Fi. I also take commissions.

The post 2026 Sketchbook #010 – Dash Kameku appeared first on hpkomics.com.

Each image in this collection links back to the chapter where the originals were posted. You’ll be able to see them in full in their respective posts. This post will be updated as new images are added to existing chapters.

The Dead Life: The Gallery

About The Dead Life Chapter Images

Much like the Fang of Triseria chapter images, which were based on the Great Illustrated Classics, these images are meant to provide some additional visual interest to the story updates. In canon, these illustrations are drawings by Alicia, a survivor and are meant to be her relaying the story that she has heard from fellow survivors. The style references Pon and Zi and early 2000s teen and pre-teen illustration styles.

Anyway, if you are interested in supporting what I do, you can do so through donations on Ko-Fi. I also take commissions.

The post The Dead Life: Chapter Images appeared first on hpkomics.com.

I’m kind of celebrating the latest milestone in Fang & Bone, and I felt inspired to draw him in a different style. You could say I’ve gone barking mad…

I was combing through retro cartoon clipart, just because that is something I do from time to time, and saw a lot of classic cartoon wolves. Think of classic depictions of the Big Bad Wolf. So I decided to run with it and draw Fang in the style, which I feel turned out to be pretty fun. It’s not inspired by any particular wolf cartoon, but definitely evokes the general retro animation look, I think.

The two moon iconography here being a direct reference to the story itself, of course.

Now on Sale!

This “Two Moon Wolf” or “Two Moon Fang” design had a good look for a shirt, so I decided to throw two versions of the design into my merch shop at TeePublic Clicking an image takes you to the respective design if you want a sticker, shirt, tote, or something.

I really enjoyed the general design and thought it would make for fun shirts and stickers. It doesn’t take a lot of time to throw them up on a shop, so here we are. Just a fun little design that I can offer up if anyone is interested.

Anyway, here is the larger art of Fang without the sketchbook features so you can see the details.

As always, if you are interested in supporting what I do, you can do so through donations on Ko-Fi. I also take commissions.

The post 2026 Sketchbook #009 – Two Moon Wolf appeared first on hpkomics.com.

Kidding aside, I’m “creating” a new character based on a newly freed character from the public domain as of 2026. I’m not only keeping up my trend of public domain adaptations, but I have a new character from one of my favorite settings I’ve developed.

So, let’s learn about today’s new character, Gold Phantom.

Public Domain and Design

I love January 1st each year because it means new characters become available in the public domain for adaptation and repurposing. This year had it’s share of bangers including Nancy Drew and the first pass at a character that would one day become Betty Boop. However, as I was combing through the new characters that were becoming available, I gravitated to one right away.

The Golden Bat (Ōgon Bat) is a character that originates in Japan, and in many ways might be the first example of what we might consider a modern day superhero. The character originates around the 1930s in the form of paper shows (kamishibai) with records going as far back as 1931. That beats Superman by a few years. The character also took off in South Korea and Europe. In Europe he might better be known as Fantomas or Phantoman.

The character is this fun bit of pop-culture that pops up in contemporary anime, but was pretty big in the 1960s with some films and an animated series. Though not recently adapted, there are many references to the character out there.

I guess you might compare Golden Bat to Doc Savage or The Shadow here in the United States. Plenty of references to the pulp heroes, but not much in the way of contemporary adaptation.

Lore and Setting

For my purposes, this character will one day be used in my setting, Aurin, from Fang of Triseria. Aurin as a whole has become my big, pulp-themed setting. This will also kind of adapt part of the lore of The Golden Bat – him being displaced from time and ancient Atlantis. Not that I’ll be using those elements exactly for Gold Phantom, but there is an influence.

As far as any lore, I am still in the early stages of figuring out what this character is. I don’t know how he might interact with Fang, Leezle, or Nitz. I do have some ideas about the region he occupies on the map and how he might figure into long term plans, though.

Just don’t expect to see much of him right away.

Public Domain

In the spirit of the public domain origins of the character, Gold Phantom is also fully in the public domain. You are welcome to use the design and repurpose it however you wish. You’re also welcome to adapt the character into whatever forms you wish – he is a public domain character.

If you need a characterization to start from, in the simplest terms, consider him a showy, mysterious and noble character with a golden skull motif.

Or do whatever you want with the character. That is the point behind all of this. Just please let me know if you do something based on this version of the character. I’d love to see it.

Oh, and be sure to read Fang & Bone, the first part of the novel is complete as of next week!

As always, if you are interested in supporting what I do, you can do so through donations on Ko-Fi. I also take commissions.

The post 2026 Sketchbook #008 – Gold Phantom appeared first on hpkomics.com.

Anyway, here is a bit about why this image came about – but we’ll start with the sketchbook page itself.

Seasonal Celebration

Around the holidays I have tried to make sure I put together some sort of celebration illustrations. It may not always be consistent which holidays are covered, though. However, there is an attempt. Last year there was Anda Bandit in a cute Christmas look. This year I decided to turn my attention to Fang, the titular character of Fang of Triseria, which has ended up as my project of the year for 2025.

The werewolf has accomplished a lot for me this year and really given me an outlet for myself in what has been a kind of uneven, but busy chapter of my life. I am definitely better off now that I was earlier this year. Part of that I attribute to this dumb werewolf.

In any case, if the outfit looks a little familiar, it is the coat the Beast wore in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991). I just switched some colors around to make it a little more in-season. In any case, I hope you like it.

Oh, and be sure to read Fang & Bone, the first part of the novel is complete in a couple of weeks!

As always, if you are interested in supporting what I do, you can do so through donations on Ko-Fi. I also take commissions.

The post 2026 Sketchbook #007 – Yule Ball Fang appeared first on hpkomics.com.

I adore Smiling Friends and it is one of the best shows to come out of Adult Swim for a long time now. It’s a great absurd cartoon with a mishmash of visual styles. There is some fun animation and it ranges from the hilariously simplistic to the very complicated – but it all works really well together.

As for the main reason I like the show, it’s the dialogue. I am more of a writer than an artist, so I just love hearing character lines and conversations because they feel so real. My favorite episode is still the one where they go to Brazil and are stuck in the airport, trying to figure out what to do. The dialogue is just so natural and can feel heavily improvised. You get these moments of absurdity in an episode, juxtaposed with statements that sound like something I’ve heard out of my friend circles.

Smiling Friends is real good stuff. My favorite character is Alan, the red guy.

Smiling Fight 64

Anyway, as I had mentioned at the top of the sketchbook post, the drawing composition I went with for this Smiling Friends art reminded me of game box art. Something like a mascot fighter like Super Smash Bros.

So… that is what I decided to run with as a little photobash element. Pretty basic but has that late 1980s licensed game feel to it. A horribly misguided licensed game. You know that without the M-rating it’s not going to be as good.

Anyway, some credit: The Smiling Fight 64 logo is a bash of the official Smiling Friends logo, and the font HVD Steinzeit. Additionally, I used two box art sources. The first was located here, while the second was located here.

Anyway, with that gag done, here is the full art you’re looking for.

As always, if you are interested in supporting what I do, you can do so through donations on Ko-Fi. I also take commissions.

The post 2026 Sketchbook #006 – Smiling Friends appeared first on hpkomics.com.

For now, though, take a look at the illustration for this week’s sketchbook.

The Errant Apprentice is a concept my buddy Kevin Hayman, who I do a podcast with, has been working on for a long, long time now. It’s just like any of us creators posting these things online, they have been cooking for a long time. The general concept is a post-1970s emergence of real magic and creatures into the world in the form of “Fantastics” and the reemergence of Rome as a central power in the world. Inevitably this leads to the return of knights and the introduction of mages. The webnovel is set in Mississippi and introduces a contemporary America with all of the old tensions of the U.S. South, but now with goblins and dragons, and a religious conspiracy.

The first book is The Errant Apprentice – Book One: Mo Ghile Mear. It follows a knight errant named Terry Lingal, who is a fantastic protagonist. Kevin has created a modern day Arthurian knight out of a shy, honest, and broken kid from of Mississippi. Terry is charming and noble – kind of like a human Labrador Retriever. Sometimes you just want to stare into his eyes and tell him to “wake up, dumbass.”

And, like all fantasy epics, he has a destiny before him. Please make sure you give it a read. The book has done a lot to develop Terry in comparison to the original comic. I had followed the original comic, of course.

Watching The Errant Apprentice Grow

You can still find over 700 pages of the original comic online, but the current version of The Errant Apprentice is greatly expanded. I have known Kevin for a long time. More than twenty years, in fact. I knew him before he already started making the comic, and long before he started writing this novel. This isn’t even the first time I’ve drawn Terry Lingal, either.

Here is an older drawing, one of many. it is still pretty moody, too. Must be like, a decade old at this point.

It’s been fascinating to see the concept evolve over time. I am extremely excited that this current prose-based version feels like Kevin really finding his voice for the concept. He’s used the unfinished comic as a framework and greatly expanded the world with plenty of depth and nuance. It has been a pleasure to read it anew and occasionally provide advice.

Hell, I’ve even declined reading early chapters of his spinoff novel, Goblin Bistro, simply because I find everything so compelling.

Anyway, please be sure to check out his work and support him on Patreon. Here is the Terry Lingal key art without the sketchbook format:

As always, if you are interested in supporting what I do, you can do so through donations on Ko-Fi. I also take commissions.

The post 2026 Sketchbook #005 – Terry Lingal appeared first on hpkomics.com.

Anyway, here is… the creature toy that is all the rage right now. My wife loves it. Also, in case you missed the last sketchbook post, long ears seems to be the current theme.

Some people have a straight up hatred for these things, which I find silly.

First off, I do think the general idea of the Labubu is cute. The design reminds me of the creatures from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, only by way of kawaiification. Second, they are like any other fad. There is something in human nature where a thing makes a lot of money and seemingly sweeps in from nowhere that causes people to rage. Probably sour grapes. Give it next year and I think Labubu products won’t be as a big of a thing, as we’ll have collectively moved onto something else. For now, just let people enjoy things, humbugs.

In any case, this little thing was fun to draw, but I did mess up one detail. Real Labubu dolls/figures have nine teeth showing. I only drew eight. It happens. It’s technically a knock-off now.

In any case, to the illustrator who created the Labubu character, Kasing Lung, I genuinely wish you get that bag and you make so much money off of these things. You nailed the collectable character vibe.

As always, if you are interested in supporting what I do, you can do so through donations on Ko-Fi. I also take commissions.

The post 2026 Sketchbook #004 – Labubu appeared first on hpkomics.com.

So yeah, here is the main character, Lauren Ipsum herself. I really love the classic cartooning look of this character, and the overall comic. It has always given me a warm, nostalgic feeling. I grew up reading a lot of newspaper comics as a kid, and I feel like Brubaker’s work would have fit right in alongside some of the comics I loved.

The other thing that I think makes Lauren a good cartoon character is that she is easy to draw. I do not mean that in any dismissive way, rather, the shape language is very strong and you know right away as you draw the character that you’re on the right track or not. The overbite and the ears are particularly key in the look, I found. When I was happy with those I felt I was on the right path.

As always, here is the key art without the sketch. Charles, if you are checking this out, let me know if you want to full resolution image.

As always, if you are interested in supporting what I do, you can do so through donations on Ko-Fi. I also take commissions.

The post 2026 Sketchbook #003 – Lauren Ipsum appeared first on hpkomics.com.

This is Domingo “Sol” Cruz, a champion wrestler. He was abducted by a cruel alien fighting championship promoter. Now he is forced to wrestle all sorts of strange alien combatants.

It was nice to revisit the character. Next time I’ll need to draw his alien handler who helps him between shows and becomes his friend in this weird, intergalactic journey. Here is the key art without the sketch material.

Anyway, something I have been doing is banking some of these sketchbook posts. I figure if I bank a few I can make a more consistent posting schedule, which should help with grabbing some attention on the site. I’m still very much trying to follow he principles of that initial post I opened this site with, way, way back.

Even if I mirror stuff elsewhere, I want this website to be the main hub for what I do. If you’ve been clicking through social media posts to come see the website directly and to read these posts that accompany the art, I thank you.

Anyway, thanks for checking out the luchador character. What do you think of him?

As always, if you are interested in supporting what I do, you can do so through donations on Ko-Fi. I also take commissions.

The post 2026 Sketchbook #002 – Domingo “Sol” Cruz appeared first on hpkomics.com.