Just a couple doodles from when I was tabling yesterday at the Sacramento Gamers Expo.
THEY ALWAYS DIE page 14
Following the death of the first (nameless) adventurer, we begin a new journey starring Funston. Funston is tweeting as @theyalwaysdie.
Support this multiplayer choose-your-own-adventure comic with $1/month and access the secrets of the patrons blog. More at www.theyalwaysdie.com
THEY ALWAYS DIE page 9
Support this improvised adventure story with $1/month and access the secrets of the patrons blog. More at www.theyalwaysdie.com
THEY ALWAYS DIE page 7
Support this improvised adventure story with $1/month and access the secrets of the patrons blog. More at www.theyalwaysdie.com
Looks like I’m going to be at the San Francisco Comic Con, at a table, selling things, talking to people, being a leaf on the great tree that is comic artistry and fandom. I will be there tomorrow, Saturday the 3th of September. Come say hi! Get a signed copy of my graphic novel, Second Quest. Get a t-shirt. Get a map poster. Ask me a question. Tell me what’s been bothering you lately. (This is a two-way street.) Bring a friend. Have lunch when you get hungry. Come back and look around some more. Should be good.
THEY ALWAYS DIE page 6
Support this improvised adventure story with $1/month and access the secrets of the patrons blog. More at www.theyalwaysdie.com
Introducing THEY ALWAYS DIE, my new improvisational adventure webcomic! Hapless explorers venture into a cursed valley and contend with the hazards and horrors within. As mysteries unfold, the only thing that’s certain is the explorer’s eventual demise.
I have some ideas about where the story is going, but in a lot of ways I’m really making it up as I go – but that is part of the fun! This is an extension of my work last year doing off-the-cuff hasty comics.
If you’re into this, I invite you to toss me a buck or two (however much you like) monthly via my Patreon, and join the exclusive patrons blog where I post development work, process videos, and listen eagerly to your notions about where the story is headed (since I actually don’t know)!
Now let’s get adventuring! Until we die.
NPR covers Ryan North’s Romeo And/Or Juliet and my art tops the piece!
Ryan North’s new chooseable-path adventure book based on a Shakespeare classic is out today and it’s full of great illustrations by many different talented artists. I’m happy to have a couple in there myself! Check it out, I got the book in the mail yesterday and it looks great!
Romeo And/Or Juliet by Ryan North
Finally you can experience the ending where Romeo and Juliet high-five in mech suits, or the one where Juliet is annoyed during lunch by religious followers! Shakespeare is rolling around in his grave with glee!
This three-minute animation is our tribute to Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, who died last year. He left us far too soon, only 55 years old. His relatively brief tenure as president was marked by bold innovations and a warm, welcoming communication style.
Perhaps Mr. Iwata’s greatest legacy was to expand the gaming population beyond the traditional audience. To this end, Nintendo took huge but well-calculated risks by introducing consoles built around accessible input methods like touch screens and motion controls. The Iwata Asks interview series revealed Mr. Iwata’s warm rapport with his staff, and demystified game development.
To me, Satoru Iwata was a fellow creator. I relate to all my favorite artists this way, no matter how much I look up to them. All of us who make things know what it’s like to work hard converting the spark of an idea into a tangible thing, how it gradually forms piece by piece through our own efforts and those of our collaborators. We hope the fragile creation has survived the process and that it will mean something to our audience. And then, we just have to let it go.
Those common feelings of nurturing something (carefully, patiently, rigorously), and then letting it go, provided the context for our tribute.
Storyboards for our Satoru Iwata tribute. I drew the last few pages sitting on the edge of Buena Vista Park, facing east as the sun went down.
It was a rare privilege to create this tribute to the brave, gentle Satoru Iwata of Nintendo for the Game Developers Choice Awards. Thank you to Raber Umphenour for animation, Shawne Benson for music, Chris Kohler for story consulting, and Simon Carless and Meggan Scavio for entrusting us with this honor.
Update (3/29):
The YouTube video linked above was posted immediately after the animation’s debut at the GDC Awards on March 16, and today (almost two weeks later) has been viewed over 509,000 times. The comments section is full of touching tributes from people moved and affected by Mr. Iwata’s life.
Since then, GDC has posted a “high quality” version, which includes some subtle final touches missing from the video hosted on YouTube. If you want to link or embed the movie somewhere, I encourage you to use the final, “high quality” version, which can be seen here.