Tag: trahearne - Page 2 - Landy’s Sketchblog

The Harbinger’s Path: Bonus Booklet Preview! | May 19, 2026

Posted on May 19, 2026

Photograph showing one of the interior spreads from the booklet. This is from the booklet's "extra artwork" section. — Photograph: “Bonus Booklet” for “The Harbinger’s Path” | Interior from the “extras” section

Earlier this month, after finalizing the main print book for The Harbinger’s Path, I was contemplating whether it was possible to put together a “bonus booklet” with some extra material I ran out of space for in the main print volume.

I thought it was a low possibility, because ~1 month before the convention was a little too close scheduling-wise for my taste. However, thanks to fellow artists also tabling at Manga Ichiba later this month, I learned about a new printing company, MCE Printing. Like my main printer I used for the The Harbinger’s Path (Fireball Printing, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), MCE is also a domestic, NA-based print shop.

Photograph of the back cover for a "supplementary booklet" to "The Harbinger's Path" Trahearne & Malyck fan comic. — Bonus Booklet for “The Harbinger’s Path” | Back Cover

MCE prints from Kirkland, Washington, and they have a specific focus on NA-made doujinshi! How cool is that!

To my amazement, they were able to both print and ship my “bonus booklets” in record time. Even better, I am so pleased with their print quality. Thank you so much again to Mike for shipping my booklets out in record time, and with such beautiful print quality! I am beyond pleased with their print quality, especially as this was the first time printing with them, and there wasn’t time for me to check a physical proof before having them printed.

Above are two preview photos!

More photos (including the front cover) + info added to the full post for the interest-check group from earlier this month! (Scroll down to the new “Bonus Booklet” section.)

Booklet Specs

Original black & white version of The Harbinger’s Path: Chapter 1, plus “even more extras!”
- Extras include additional bonus art I wanted to add to the main print book, but ran out of space more due to page count.
Book Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 inches (slightly taller and skinnier than A5).
- Same as The Harbinger’s Path main print book.
Page Count: 36 pages + Covers (16 comic pages, centerfold artwork, front/back/interior covers, front/back matter, and bonus art)
Binding: Professionally Saddlebound (high-quality saddle-stitching – I love how the thickness of the covers turned out!)

May 28, 2026: Added booklet specifications.

The Harbinger’s Path: Print Update #3 – Book Final + Proof Photos! | May 6, 2026

Posted on May 6, 2026

May 19 & 21, 2026: Updated with photos of the final book and bonus booklet!
- Click here to jump to additional final book photos.
- Click here for additional photos + info about the new “bonus booklet!”
- *Note: Links above only work if you’ve joined the “interest-check” email group and can see the full post.

Photograph of a spread from the physical printed book for "The Harbinger's Path." Shows a variety of panels featuring Trahearne and Malyck, the main artwork showing Malyck encased in glowing vines. — The Harbinger’s Path | Chapter 2, pages 3-4 *(Printed proof – not final)*

I spent much of the tail end of April finalizing The Harbinger’s Path print version, and wanted to share some photos of one of the book’s proofs from during this time! I ended up spending much more time than I’d planned refining the print version, and despite telling myself not to do this excessively – I ended up manually adjusting or making art refinements to every single page, haha. On the plus side, I’m pleased with how it’s turned out! I think the extra time was worth it, and I hope this comes across to anyone who holds the final book in their hands!

All photos in this post are graciously taken by my printer (many, many thanks to them again for being so wonderful to work with!).

The rest of the photos & post are below, along with one or two higher-resolution photos:

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

Posted on April 9, 2026

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!

The Harbinger’s Path: Print Update #2 – First look at print samples! | April 2, 2026

Posted on April 2, 2026

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!