I don’t have a lot to write about this week, as this is a minor update focused on concept art. I think I have Briar’s look down since last time, and she hits the right blend of attractive and cartoony. Ideally, so that people want to commission sexy art of the character. I’ve seen other artists do pinups of fan favorite characters they created, and I think Briar can get to that level if I work hard enough and make her appealing. Gotta have a hustle, you know?

Thorn has an additional design tweak compared to the last time I drew him. The triangular pupil helps to establish that he is an otherworldly presence, and I really like the look of it. What do you think of it, though? I also think the bigger ears are adding a fun feel to the character.

I’ll be writing some strips next month to start developing a backlog. I still don’t know where I’ll be posting these though, at least not yet.

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 #016 – Briar and Thorn appeared first on hpkomics.com.

I am still thinking about the project quite a bit and I am considering moving forward with it a bit, but I am trying to find an art style that suits the project. Briar’s design is very much evolving and I am going to keep playing with it until I land on something I feel I can work with consistently. Especially if I am looking into moving into a comic strip with her and Thorn.

In any case, I am really trying to update the sketchbook more. I don’t want this tablet display go to waste. I felt a little uneven and shaky drawing this one, but that is because I am just out of practice. The tablet display is doing it’s job well. It really comes down to me setting aside more time to draw.

But sometimes it is just easier to take a nap when I get home from work, though. Maybe yell at me on social media to motivate me, I guess? I feel like I need folks to hold me accountable.

Anyway, thanks for checking out the sketchbook.

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 #014 – Briar appeared first on hpkomics.com.

So, here is a fun new Karma illustration for the sketchbook. Plus more info about the hardware upgrade after the image.

New Hardware

So, I have been running the same computer system since roughly 2013, and even that was on the back of other hardware I cannibalized. The past few years have been a big struggle, and I haven’t been able to upgrade. Even worse, the Ship of Theseus I was operating was growing slower and more frustrating to use. It really made comics and illustration a nightmare, and was getting back for grading as well.

The worst part was that my machine would start to chug when I was trying to write. I love writing. I get wiggy when I can’t write. The system issues were starting to interfere with what I need most in my life.

I have a new system now, and though I had to say goodbye to my 2006 Wacom Cintiq 21UX due to compatibility issues, I was able to upgrade to an XPPen Artist 24 Pro. It’ll take me a bit to get fully used to the new pen display, as well as figure out my most useful shortcut buttons, but I think this first drawing shows it’ll be a more lateral process than anything.

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 #013 – Karma appeared first on hpkomics.com.

However, today, I wanted to share an interesting commission that came my way. Felt like a nice addition to the sketchbook.

So last year I did a commission flash sale of Floraran OCs. The process was simple: You answer some questions, pay $10, and I create a plant-alien from Cosmic Dash for you. It was pretty fun and a I liked the variety of Florarans that emerged. The key element is that the character belonged to you. You just had to credit me for the design.

In any case, I had also put this flash sale up on the marketplace at CharacterHub and kind of forgot it existed until someone reached out to commission an OC from that marketplace listing.

So, the character above is named Poe Petalmore, and they are a poet. You can view their CharacterHub profile to learn more about them. I appreciate getting a chance to help in the creation of this character. it is also cool that my little Florarans are sprouting up like weeds. Thank you, Ailo, for supporting me with that.

A Veritable Garden

Anyway, for a treat, let’s look at the characters in the run so far.

I am willing to draw more, at that original rate, so hit me up on Ko-Fi if you are wanting a Floraran OC of your own. I may take longer that 48 hours these days, however.

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 #011 – Floraran Commission appeared first on hpkomics.com.

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.

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.