Tag: gw2 fan comic

Print Progress + Typography Updates (The Harbinger’s Path) | February 19, 2026

Posted on February 19, 2026

Updated typography | Ch2 Title Page | The Harbinger’s Path
*Link to live page here.*

I’m here with an update about The Harbinger’s Path print book’s progress!

As of this writing, I have finished the first edit pass for all of Chapter 1, all of Chapter 2, and I am now up to pages 5-6 in Chapter 3. These edits include adjusting the pages to factor in margin, bleed, and trim, for when the pages are cut for printing. I have also retouched the art for certain pages along the way (one of them might even be live on the site!).

Book Dimensions and Page Count

I can also share some of the physical attributes of the book. It will be 5.5 x 8.5 inches, which is slightly wider than A4 Correction: A5. (I always mix these two up, forgive me.) This is a standard size for US printers – a size below the standard 6 x 9 in for many US comics. This made figuring out some of the cost logistics easier. The current page count, including the cover, front and back matter, and bonus material, is 84 pages. This version will also be perfect-bound (like a standard book/not like a magazine).

With the comic pages themselves adding up to 55 pages, this means the remaining pages are bonus material! This page count will likely change as I continue working on the book’s layout, but increasing the page count from the original ~60 to the current 84 had a negligible effect on cost (to my surprise and delight). And, it is giving me an excuse to refine and polish several illustrations of Trahearne and Malyck I’ve started over the years – some I’ve shown before, but a few I never have!

Typography Updates (Live)

In addition to the above book info, one of the updates I wanted to show are typography updates!

Below are comparisons of the updated versions with the previous typography, as I’ve updated the title pages for all 3 chapters on the live site now.

Link to live Chapter 1 title page here.

Left is the updated version, right is the previous version.

One of the changes that’s always been in the back of my mind was updating the typography for the chapter title pages. I don’t know why I didn’t think to try this before, but I tried out using the same font I used the the cover (“Gloucester MT Extra Condensed”), and I much prefer the look of this one compared to the previous version.

I remember I spent a good amount of time with the typography in the original, as I was never quite satisfied with it. I should have realized it was my choice of font face! Once I changed it to this Gloucester font, it fell into place quickly.

Updated typography for chapter 2's title page. — Updated typography

Link to live Chapter 2 title page here.

I’m fond of that previous edgelord font, but after trying it for 3 chapters, I’ve realized it isn’t the best fit for the tone I want to convey in this comic. I still love the font, but it’s better suited for a different project.

In addition to font changes in these comparisons, you might also notice the slight adjustments made to account for page trim and bleed.

Link to live Chapter 3 title page here.

Additional Notes

Very luckily, it turns out the dimensions I used for the pages spread layout is the exact same ratio as 5.5 x 8.5 in. I am not sure how this happened, because this entire time, I was formatting the pages only with web in mind. I specifically remember originally starting with a 6 x 9 ratio, and then manually adjusting the dimensions to be taller, to fit better for web and mobile. I don’t recall specifically formatting the page dimensions for 5.5 x 8.5, but I either must have and it was so long ago I no longer recall, or this is an incredibly very fortunate coincidence.

If you’d like to know more about this print version of The Harbinger’s Path, click here or the banner below for January’s announcement post which has more info!

“Avatar of Mordremoth” Concept (GW2 Fan Art) | September 14, 2025

Posted on September 14, 2025

I meant to post this at some point, and why not now. This is one of the concept drawings I did for the “Avatar of Mordremoth” we see in Chapter 1 of “The Harbinger’s Path” GW2 fan comic, seen most prominently on page 13 in Chapter 1: The Firstborn’s Stand. I drew one or two concept designs before this, and remember not being satisfied with those earlier attempts, until drawing this one.

I sketched the pages for chapter 1 first, and did placeholder drawings for my fan-version of the “Avatar of Mordremoth” in the early drafts. I believe I tried to figure out a design on the page initially, but wasn’t pleased with the results I was drawing. This caused me to try concepting some ideas for how this “mind-avatar” for Mordremoth might look like in the comic.

I knew I wanted him to be a foil for the Pale Tree – who Mordremoth initially impersonates during his infiltration into Trahearne’s mind in my comic. I am also partial to the idea – inspired by the Mordremoth canon design that Mordremoth “is the jungle” – that Mordremoth might take different forms for his “mind-avatar.” This is why I wanted him to first appear to Trahearne as the “Pale Tree” – as a way to try and weaken Trahearne’s resolve, by wearing the image of what is almost a deity figure for the sylvari people. This is also why, to me, my design for this version of the “Avatar of Mordremoth” is not necessarily the “final” or “true” form of him (within the lore of my fan comic).

This form, since I wanted to try a version which is more directly opposed to the Pale Tree design-wise, clearly takes much of its inspiration from the Pale Tree’s design herself. Many aspects are similar. I tried to add more malevolent features, influenced from Carlyn Lim’s Mordrem Commander concept designs, as well (mentioned in this post from last month). I will admit some of my drive to try this design is also because I found the canon design for the “Avatar of Mordremoth” in-game to be somewhat comical, haha, and always thought it would be fun to see different takes on this design that are a bit less goofy, and have a bit more of that dark fantasy visual flavor that I love so much in Carlyn’s Mordrem concepts.

The Harbinger’s Path: Panel Previews + Release Date | June 4, 2025

Posted on June 4, 2025

Panel preview from "The Harbinger's Path" Guild Wars 2 fan comic. Malyck, one of the main sylvari characters in the comic, extends his arm as he becomes wrapped in thorned vines. — “The Harbinger’s Path” | Panel preview (in-progress / artwork not final)

Wanted to post a few panel previews from the current stage of Chapter 2! I have the majority of chapter 2 blocked out now – what feels like the bulk of the work for me. Progress is going smoothly, more than chapter 1, as I’ve been able to apply everything I learned from doing chapter 1 to chapter 2. Chapter 1 had sort of a haphazard workflow, because I didn’t really know what I was doing – the way I drew the pages was very inefficient. But necessary, I think, for figuring out a workflow that works for me and feels natural. I estimate new pages should be ready later this month.

Above and below are color tests from yesterday. Below was the initial color test. I liked the contrast of the warm colors, but comparing it with the cooler version (above), I thought the color version was a better fit for this page’s tone and dialogue.

More colorful version of the previous image. More warm tones are added. — Initial color test for the previous panel preview (in-progress / artwork not final)

I’m using a different method for coloring this chapter’s pages, which I tried on some practice pages for a different project alongside doing The Harbinger’s Path first chapter (Nightmare’s Embrace – a short side-comic about my personal sylvari characters, which I haven’t shown anywhere yet). I really like how the colors for those pages are turning out – they give me a little more control compared to the workflow I used in Chapter 1.

Monochromatic line drawing with strong light and dark contrast. Malyck extends his hand to the side of Trahearne's jaw, the latter bound by thorned vines. — “The Harbinger’s Path” | Panel preview (in-progress / artwork not final)

This is a panel early in Chapter 2 I like – the composition for this preview is the full panel.

Detail close-up of the previous drawing. — Close-up of the previous panel (in-progress / artwork not final)

Close-up of the previous panel.

The workflow I’m using right now is loosely: Layout >> Block-out >> Color or Refinements (order is interchangeable) >> Final Refinements

Layout = Very loose, messy sketches. Likely only understandable to me because they are incredibly loose (maybe I’ll post examples in the future, though they aren’t anything to look at because they likely won’t be very readable)

Block-out = Changing the loose layout sketches into readable forms and shapes. The color tests above are the block-out stage with very loose color just added, while the panel below is a little before I’d consider a block-out “complete,” because the shapes for Trahearne’s hair are not fully defined/decided on yet. But I also sometimes leave this to the “refinements” step, when they are smaller details like these, and if I think they will not take me too long to figure out during refining.

Color = Initial colors.

Refinements = Refining the block-out lines, as well as any color changes. Maybe this should be two steps, but I’ve been thinking of them as a combined step.

Final Refinements = Fix anything I’m dissatisfied with in the page at this stage. This is arguably the most important step, in some ways – Harbinger Chapter 1 hovered in the “Refinements” stage for a long time. It was “mostly presentable,” but there were many things on all the pages I saw I wanted to fix or improve. It wasn’t until doing a second “refinements” pass that the pages began to look more finished to me. They’re small changes, but ones that make an impact disproportional to what I’d expect (at least, it was surprising to me how much adding this step improved all the pages for chapter 1).

Above is just a personal favorite of mine – I really like how Trahearne’s expression is turning out. Doing these pages is forcing me to learn a lot of things about line weight which (to my detriment) I’ve never had a strong interest practicing with very much before, but which has become endlessly interesting to me for some reason this year.