Happy New Year! I hope your year is starting off well.
I have exciting news! Earlier this month, I learned I was accepted into Manga Ichiba at Fanime this year, the first-ever doujinshi-focused (“indie fan comics”) event for NA.
I applied with The Harbinger’s Path, and I’m pleased to announce I will be self-publishing a very limited print run of my “Trahearne-Malyck doujinshi” comic for this event. It will include all 3 completed chapters (50+ pages), and I hope to also add some bonus material for this print version. (More about this to come.)
If you’d like to learn more, I’ll be sharing more info through email updates. You can receive them by joining here.
Below is an overview:
What is Manga Ichiba?
This is an event officially affiliated with FanimeCon, specifically designed to encourage NA-made indie fan comics (or “doujinshi”).
Fanime’s official description:
“A brand new event is coming to FanimeCon this year! Manga Ichiba is America’s first original English-language doujinshi market.”
More info on their official page here.
Fanime is one of North America’s largest anime conventions – I remember first hearing about it from the artists I followed tabling at it. I was able to visit for the first time a few years ago as an attendee! They have a plethora of events going on, and I had a wonderful time with people I met there. It takes place during May in Northern California for a few days over a weekend.
How is this different from an Artist Alley?
One reason I’m excited about this event is because it aims to be distinct from Fanime’s existing “Artist Alleys.” Today’s Artist Alleys – in general, not only at Fanime – tend to focus primarily on selling commercially. These is nothing wrong with this, but commercial incentivizes tend to push artists toward selling prints and merchandise over doujinshi comics. Doujinshi both take more time to make, and tend to have smaller potential audiences.
Doujinshi has a well-established community in Japan, while this type of community hasn’t historically been as nurtured for NA-made doujin comics. Manga Ichiba hopes this might begin changing this!
Manga Ichiba aims to cultivate more of a doujinshi community in NA by shifting the focus less on commercial selling, and more on encouraging artists who are creating doujinshi comics primarily out of their love for their fandoms.
What is “Doujinshi?”
You might have seen me refer to “The Harbinger’s Path” as my “Trahearne-Malyck doujinshi” in places since starting this project. Doujinshi is a Japanese term which refers to self-published comics, especially fan comics (but it can also refer to original works).
I have always thought of The Harbinger’s Path this way, but I wasn’t sure how widely-known this term was to western/GW2 audiences. I started also calling it my “fan comic,” in case this was more clear.
Final Note
Quick reminder that this project is entirely fan-made and unofficial, and not sponsored by ArenaNet. If you are affiliated with ArenaNet and have questions or suggestions about The Harbinger’s Path, you are always welcome to reach out!
Email Updates (Mailing List)
Want to stay updated, but wish there was an easier way to keep up with this site? I've set up an "email updates" or "mailing list" for this very reason. Check it out below!
New sign-ups currently receive a free PDF for The Harbinger's Path Chapter 1, from my Trahearne & Malyck GW2 fan comic. This version is exclusive to this email list, containing bonus art not currently available anywhere else.
I might change the sign-up bonus in the future, so if you're interested in seeing this PDF, consider joining soon!
You can unsubscribe anytime. Your inbox, your rules!
Or, perhaps RSS is more your style? There exists an RSS for this sketchblog, as well as an RSS for comic projects (currently page updates).
My aim is setting up ways to connect that's more stable than the whims of social platforms. If this interests you, consider signing-up.
Either way, take care and I hope to see you again!
Recent posts:
GW2 Illustration Work-in-Progress | March 19, 2025
The Harbinger's Path: Ch2, page 2 Process | June 26, 2025
The Harbinger's Path: PDF "Process" Preview | May 9, 2025
Malyck Pencil Drawing | May 22, 2025
Trahearne Animated Panel Test | August 8, 2025
"The Harbinger's Path" on Hiatus until January 2026 | December 8, 2025

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