Wanted to write a quick post about the printed Duskbirds Comics zines!
Let’s start with book specs:
Zine specs:
- Duskbirds Vol. 1: “Lighthearted Comics”
- Size: 5.5 x 8.5 inches (slightly wider than A5)
- Page count: 28 pages
- Comic count: 23 individual Duskbirds Comics
- Extras: Bonus Duskbirds illustrations and sketches in print for the first time (4 artworks)
- Binding: Saddle-stitch zines
- Duskbirds Vol. 2: “Introspective Comics”
- Size: 5.5 x 8.5 inches (slightly wider than A5)
- Page count: 20 pages
- Comic count: 14 individual Duskbirds Comics
- Extras: Same 4 artworks from vol 1., plus 3 extra artworks at the very end of the zine.
- Binding: Saddle-stitch zines
And a few photos!
Photos of Duskbirds Comics pages
Formatting Duskbirds for Print
For the printed version of Duskbirds Comics, I updated many of the comics to have them work in print. This mainly meant adjusting text formatting in earlier comics to be legible when printed, since they were originally drawn for web resolution (and before I figured out which text style fit Duskbirds). This also helped unify the zine visually, this way all the comics use the same type and typography settings more recent comics are drawn in.
While doing this, I also retouched the art for several of the comics – again, mainly the older ones. Many early comics are quite rough, and giving them a little polish after seeing them again after some time ended up being very satisfying!
At the end of this post, I’ll add some comparisons between the print versions and the original online versions, to give you a sense for how the updated comics look!
Figuring out a layout for the printed zines
I originally planned for these zines have a horizontal layout. I thought this would work because early Duskbirds comics had a rectangular layout, and the comics now being square should work either horizontally or vertically. Once I discovered horizontal printing would have added quite a lot to the cost, I scrapped this idea. Now that the zines had to be in portrait orientation, this left me with needing to figure out what to do with the extra space..
For rectangular comics, I could fit both on a single page. For square comics, however, I could only fit one per page if I wanted them to be legible with my chosen text size. I decided the extra space might be a good place to add some context behind the comics. Most of these are transcribed from the original posts when added to Duskbirds.com, while others are brand-new written earlier this month while I was putting together the layouts for both volumes.
Duskbirds is printed!
I went into this in more detail in the previous post about Duskbirds Comics print zines, about how I had to put together the layouts for these books quickly to have them ready in time for this Saturday’s convention. In my notes, from the day I began the layouts to the day I submitted the print order was only 6 days! It was a good crash-course on formatting a comic book from start to finish. It ended up being a really nice project because it gave me a miniature sense for how formatting a longer book, like The Harbinger’s Path comic, will be. There were a number of things I was very glad I learned during this smaller-scale book, instead of a longer one like Harbinger.
There are also things I would do differently if I had more time, and that I will be able to do for Harbinger, Mainly, I think some of the editing for Duskbirds suffered due to lack of time. I was mortified to find two typos – though thankfully, they are small and in the descriptions, and not the comics themselves. (This isn’t too surprising, as I typed many of the descriptions for the first time right in the publishing software.) This is one of the reasons I’m emphasizing that unlike the print version for Harbinger, which I can devote much more time to – Duskbirds Comics are “zines” – they are bespoke “first editions”! Any errors are charming remnants of the author’s inaugural attempt at printing a comic! Or so I tell myself as my mind internally berates me.
Print Quality!
I am so, so happy with how Duskbirds Comics printed! In my opinion, they look better in print than their digital versions. I’ll show a few comparisons at the end of this post. The colors turned out rich and vibrant, the darks are even and have depth, the text is crisp. It’s everything I could have hoped for!
While the books were being printed but before my printer shipped them to me, I was concerned about how the darks might turn out. As well as the text! My biggest concerns were that the darks would print darker than intended, text would turn out blurry and illegible, or that the dark areas would print unevenly, since the comic borders and zine pages are both dark. To my shock, everything flows together smoothly. When I first saw the books, it was such a relief seeing they printed well – and then it was exciting seeing how well they printed!
Index and Introduction Pages
Comics included in the zines
I wanted to put together an index page for both zine volumes. I mainly thought it would be neat to see all the comics stacked up at the front there. I didn’t include every comic due to time – many of the earliest comics are quite rough, and I wanted to only include the comics I felt were presentable as-is. Or, that I could touch-up and make presentable within the these time constraints. When i began the zine’s layout, there were 42 Duskbirds Comics posted – the last one being #42, “Pancakes,” all the way back from last year! (I hadn’t posted one since then because I spent last year drawing The Harbinger’s Path comic).
When looking through my files, I saw I had drafts for comics #43 (“Superbloom”) and #44 (“Paddleboarding”) drafted, and near completion. It was ambitious (for me) given the tight deadline, but I decided to see if I could finish both #43 and #44 to include in this print volume. I especially wanted to include these two, because I tried using color for both. Which is something I’ve only done once before (in #28, “Angel Island Dracaena”) – and which I think turned out much better than that earlier attempt.
Print comic count
I somehow managed to finish both comics during this 6-day-portion, where I was also coming up with the zines’ layouts, and touching up the art for several of the already-existing comics. Finishing those 2 made the final printed comic total 37 comics out of the currently drawn (as of this writing) 44 comics. A decent spread, I hope!
Layouting
One thing I hadn’t expected while putting together Duskbirds Comics zine layouts was how much I ended up enjoying figuring out the design for the books. I haven’t formatted a book before, and the most experience I have is The Harbinger’s Path layout, which has mainly been making sure the margins are correct (at least so far – once I start formatting the bonus material, I’ll probably have more in-depth layouting awaiting me).
It ended up being very fun figuring out how to present the context for each comic (because of that additional space I had to figure out how to use – since I again had to go with portrait orientation, instead of landscape). I began having more ideas for little touches I wanted to add. One being those index pages above, and then I also found myself wishing to add an introduction page.
Introduction to Duskbirds
I started a draft based on Duskbirds Comics “About” page. I then ended up expanding on it more, as I reflected back on this project I began on a whim in March 2021. I had no idea how to draw comics when I began Duskbirds, and those early comics are rather messy and rough. My original idea was to sketch these at the beginning of the day, and then post them however they looked after a time limit. I later decided I wanted to take the time to refine the comics more. Even so, I still think many Duskbirds Comics are rough, though each and every one taught me something that made it possible to later draw The Harbinger’s Path. I love having Duskbirds Comics as my “experimental side-project” to play around with. Duskbirds is largely to thank for giving me that practice to attempt something like The Harbinger’s Path, which I consider my first “real” comic due to the longer-form style, and because it was planned in advance.
Back Cover of Volume 2
Cover Layouts + Comic Description
Another thing I found unexpectedly fun was deciding how I wanted the front and back covers to look. With the back covers, I decided to include a little blurb about the comics. It’s both based on the start of Duskbirds.com’s “About” page, and then I thought up a description for how I would describe these comics. Before putting these zines together, I hadn’t described Duskbirds like this before, and it made me reflective about what the comics mean to me and why I drew them.
I hope they will be meaningful to the next person who reads them!
Where to find Duskbirds Print Zines
If you’d like to see Duskbirds Comics in print yourself, they will currently only be available at PLCAF this Saturday, April 4th, 2026. Similar to Manga Ichiba at Fanime, I will be tabling this event in-person!
More info about the event is on their website here. Below is the main info you need to know:
Date: Saturday April 4, 2026
Time: 10 am – 4 pm
Location: South San Francisco Library and Parks & Recreation Center
Address: 901 Civic Campus Way, South San Francisco, CA 94080
If you’re in the area, stop by and say hello! I’d love to see you!
Additional Zine Photos + Print Comparisons
Additional photos of the zines in the full post! Along with comparisons between the updated print versions with their original online versions:
