Posts Tagged with malyck

Manga Ichiba Circle Cut + Table Info | April 9, 2026

Comics, Digital Art, Guild Wars 2, Sketches & Studies
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Circle cut showing Trahearne and Malyck from "The Harbinger's Path" fan comic.
Circle cut for Manga Ichiba @Fanime 2026

Finished my circle cut for Manga Ichiba! These are used as a way for the convention organizers to show who the participating doujin tables are. It’s carried over from Comiket (“comic markets”) in Japan. In JP, doujinshi are much more commonly created and shared – compared to here in NA, where we don’t have an established doujin culture (…yet!). 

I spent far too long deliberating on which artwork to use for my circle cut. I tried several, before ending up doing the least efficient option – refining a very messy sketch from this past October. I saved it knowing I’d like to refine it at some point, but hadn’t until now. This isn’t finished – it’s still quite messy in places – but perhaps that is even more appropriate for a circle cut. From my understanding, they are often sketches done for the specific convention (though correct me if I’m mistaken). 

I wanted to do something a little more playful, without being misleading about what the doujin is about. This is what I landed on – hopefully it’s a good compromise! :p 

Date, Time, & Table Number for Manga Ichiba @Fanime

Oh! And as you can read from the image, this also shows info about where and when I will be at the convention. The convention is 3 days, but every doujin table will only be tabling 1 of the 3 days (unlike traditional artist alleys). Below’s the summarized info: 

Table Number: B16
Tabling Date: Saturday May 23, 2026
Time: Day slot, 10 am – 4 pm (“General Audiences”) 

I’ll have with me The Harbinger’s Path, of course! 

The history of Comiket

I saw a very insightful post on Bluesky the other day, linking to resources detailing the history and ethos of how Comikets in Japan were first established. Much is new information to me! I wanted to link it here, both as a reminder to myself to peruse more leisurely when I have a chance, and in case you might also be interested in reading. 

Let me also link directly to the sources, in case Bluesky ever vanishes in the future. Posted originally by the user “saba sabaton” (sabato-n.bsky.social): 

Comiket slide deck presentation from 2007/2008

“Comic Market’s Ideals and Vision” 

May 4, 2026: Slightly updated the the circle cut art! 

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

Comics, Digital Art, Guild Wars 2
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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. 

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! 

Trahearne & Malyck Practice Animation | February 14, 2026

2D Animation, Digital Art, Guild Wars 2, Sketches & Studies
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2d hand-drawn animation showing Mordrem Lieutenant Malyck greeting a corrupted Trahearne.
Current version.

Spent some hours last night seeing how much I could add to this small animation practice! 

I did the early draft for this one at the end of January. I had a vague notion of potentially finishing it for Valentine’s Day for fun, but before I knew it, the day was upon us! Yesterday became practice to see how much I could add, or how presentable I could make it, by today. 

The version all the way at the end of this post is how the file looked when I opened it yesterday. I wasn’t sure whether I’d add color – I could have spent much more time on the lines – but I learned a lot in this one from how I added the color this time. 

Line version of the previous animation.
Lines only.

I have to confess I’ve always not understood cell-shading well. But I am quickly growing an appreciation for it after trying it out here. 

Early draft showing the keyframes.
Early “keyframe” draft.

One thing I noticed recently is there’s a “messy” stage when going from the early “keyframe” draft to adding the in-between “breakdown” frames (below). It’s a bit counterintuitive for me, because when adding the breakdown frames, it almost looks like the animation is reversing its progress – at the same time, I can start to see more of how the final motion might look. And seeing that potential is what makes adding these breakdown frames so invigorating to draw!  

Version when I opened the file yesterday, where I had started adding the “breakdown” frames. 

 

The Harbinger’s Path at Manga Ichiba this Fanime 2026

Comics, Guild Wars 2
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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!

Copyright © 2026 Landylachs (Liz Liu). All rights reserved.