We continue serialization of Empowered vol. 12, which proved to be the final volume of the series in this specific graphic-novel format, though I was unaware of that unfortunate reality when I started work on the book.

Ehh, that's not the worst MAJOR HAVOC logo I could've worked up, but I probably could've done better; note that I felt no urge to use the logo from the old Atari videogame that inspired his supranym, both for aesthetic and legal reasons. Note also that the Wiki link informs us that the full name of the game's titular character was "Major Rex Havoc," which is certainly very manly sounding; coincidentally enough, Empowered Havoc's first name will soon be a (very) minor plot point ere long.

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, work-in-progress updates on developmental projects such as fantasy comics The Chaste and the Chained and The Last Party, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.

We continue serialization of Empowered vol. 12, which proved to be the final volume of the series in this specific graphic-novel format, though I was unaware of that unfortunate reality when I started work on the book.

Ehh, my hand-lettering was getting very, very wonky by this late date (2020-21, or so); while my font quality had fallen off a bit, my spacing between letters, words, and entire lines had deteriorated considerably more. Well before I was done with this volume, I had already decided that any future comics projects would have to use digital lettering (though possibly based on my old hand-lettering, I suppose).

We continue serialization of Empowered vol. 12, which proved to be the final volume of the series in this specific graphic-novel format, though I was unaware of that unfortunate reality when I started work on the book.

See those "glitter FX" around the rings in panels 3 & 5, and the (less conspicuous) hair strands in panels 2 & 4? Those were line art inked in black on overlays, then inverted to white after the scanned layers of original artwork were combined in Photoshop. This was, in effect, an attempt to manually reproduce via analog media an analogue for the "white line layers" that I positively adore using in digital media such as Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop. (In truth, 'tis no joke that I consider digital media's constant access to white linework to be one of the very best parts of working on the ol' iPad or Cintiq.)

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, work-in-progress updates on developmental projects such as fantasy comics The Chaste and the Chained and The Last Party, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.

We continue serialization of Empowered vol. 12, which proved to be the final volume of the series in this specific graphic-novel format, though I was unaware of that unfortunate reality when I started work on the book.

To my chagrin, this version of the title page accidentally used an incorrect draft; the M and W in the EMPOWERED logo were supposed to end in points, as seen in the logo version from the cover illo. No biggie, but still an annoyance every time I spot that detail again.

Note that this title was set up along the same lines as the title for Empowered and the Soldier of Love as well as the just-concluded Empowered and Sistah Spooky's High School Hell. In fact, this storyline was also originally intended as a Guest Artist-drawn project like the previous two, but the artist I had in mind sensibly bowed out of the wildly ambitious effort long before it progressed very far.

We continue serialization of Empowered vol. 12, which proved to be the final volume of the series in this specific graphic-novel format, though I was unaware of that unfortunate reality when I started work on the book.

Next week on the webcomic, stand by for the true title of this volume's primary narrative before the action kicks off in earnest!

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. So, who knows what today's post might feature? Could be Life Drawing or Distressed Damsels content (both of which are featured at least three times per month), or something in the Work Stages, Vintage Con Sketches or Design departments, or possibly something entirely new, such as updates on fantasy test projects The Last Party and The Chaste and the Chained. Golly!

-Adam Warren

We continue serialization of Empowered vol. 12, which proved to be the final volume of the series in this specific graphic-novel format, though I was unaware of that unfortunate reality when I started work on the book.

And lo, vol.12's weirdness kicks in abruptly! Note that I'm still contemplating downshifting serialization frequency to a M/W/F schedule eventually, but didn't want to do so at the start of the volume, given the oddness already underway.

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, work-in-progress updates on developmental projects such as fantasy comics The Chaste and the Chained and The Last Party, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.

We continue serialization of Empowered vol. 12, which proved to be the final volume of the series in this specific graphic-novel format, though I was unaware of that unfortunate reality when I started work on the book.

I'm hoping to address the matter in more detail as serialization unfolds, but vol. 12 ran afoul of many, many challenges and, ah, unforeseen difficulties. I will say that "this Calloused Damsel" is the lone surviving element of vol.12's original vision, which was quite different from the version that eventually saw print.

We continue serialization of Empowered vol. 12, which proved to be the final volume of the series in this specific graphic-novel format, though I was unaware of that unfortunate reality when I started work on the book.

Just lost most of my allotted worktime to a webcomic software glitch, so commentaries will be minimal this week.

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, work-in-progress updates on developmental projects such as fantasy comics The Chaste and the Chained and The Last Party, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.

Wellp, we're starting things off in fine fashion as the sporadically occurring "NO PASTE-INS ALLOWED" software glitch just cost me half a frickin' hour of commentary work on this first page of Empowered vol. 12. Yay!

Colors on this cover illo by my bud Ryan Kinnaird; check out the link below for his many, many color drafts on the piece!

Today’s Patreon update is, in fact, an open-to-the-public post that features the manifold Work Stages on this very cover illo, through rough sketches, inks, and color guides through Ryan's drafts on the piece. Check it out, won't you?

-Adam Warren

We now conclude serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee. Hope you enjoyed the experience, dear readers!

Next week begins serialization of Empowered vol.12, the final published book in the series both written and drawn by me; I didn't actually realize this would be the last book in the existing format until quite late in the volume, as a number of factors converged rather late in production to make that conclusion abundantly clear (as I will discuss in the commentaries).

One thing I am strongly considering for vol. 12 is eventually downshifting serialization of the book to a Monday/ Wednesday/Friday posting schedule, which I really should've done years and years ago; I'd want to do that both to extend the webcomic's viability (such as it is) as an active property but also to (quite belatedly) bring the serialization frequency closer to the actual production speed of the final few volumes, as I was never able to write and draw more than 15 pages per month on Empowered vols. 11 or 12.  

We continue serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee.

In Carla's bio, note the large number of times that she has collaborated with other writers, even though she's an extraordinarily accomplished writer/artist herself; this is, interestingly enough, not uncommon among comics' writer/artists, many of whom are flexible enough to switch roles from writing to writing and drawing to drawing from another writer's script. Alas, I boast no such flexibility as a creator, and would never even attempt to take on solely the artist's role, as Artist Me can barely cope with drawing for Writer Me, let alone anyone else.  

Quick miniseries wrap-up: Carla and Jenn did fantastic work on this miniseries, but in retrospect I truly wish that I had worked up an entirely original project for us to collaborate on, rather than a spinoff anchored to the sinking ship that was (and is) Empowered as a whole. Even by 2017, when the miniseries pitch was originally made, I should've been able to divine how badly Empowered sales were dropping off, and hence chosen a different option for collaboration. (Oh, well.)

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, work-in-progress updates on developmental projects such as fantasy comics The Chaste and the Chained and The Last Party, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.

We continue serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee.

These were my early roughs for issue #1's cover art (which was later reused for the collection's cover), which bear little relation to the finished version; just thought I'd feature these unused images as a post to round out the final week of High School Hell updates before Empowered vol. 12 serialization gets underway. 

We continue serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee.

Behold, my thumbnails for the last few story pages, seen in their original "quad" format of four wee roughs per sheet of letter-size paper. For the record, I initially lay out the roughs on big ol' sheets of legal-size paper trimmed down to roughly comic-page proportions of 8.5" x 13" or so, then recopy and redraw them in this much smaller "thumbnail" format after I've written the script and final dialogue. The red and blue colored pencil work was originally done to add clarity to the roughs, but I kept doing so mainly 'cause I found the results aesthetically pleasing.  

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, work-in-progress updates on developmental projects such as fantasy comics The Chaste and the Chained and The Last Party, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.

We continue serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee.

And lo, our miniseries' final story page, as the story wraps up quite abruptly. As noted earlier, I really should've cut back on, say, hellblonde ranting from Ashley and Ashlee to reserve pagecount for a less rushed ending; then again, I made many less than ideal choices on this project, at least one of which I'll address as we wrap up serialization of the collection this week and prepare for Empowered vol. 12 next week.

We continue serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee.

Panel 1: Note that "KRAK KOOM" has long been my favorite sound FX for conveying the sound of a thunderclap, despite the now meme-able aspects of the second half of that onomatopoiea. (Dig the sweet flames that Carla added wreathing said lower part of the FX, by the way.)

Next week on the webcomic serialization, the miniseries wraps up in a hurry; I might end up padding out the week's posts with several days of bonus material so that I can start off Empowered vol. 12 on a Monday. Yay?

We continue serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee.

Speaking of Jenn, dang if she wasn't killing it with her excellent work on the series as a whole, but her color art was especially striking and beautiful in this concluding issue. (Panel 1's wonderful shot is my favorite from this page, by the way.)

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, work-in-progress updates on developmental projects such as fantasy comics The Chaste and the Chained and The Last Party, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.

-Adam Warren

We continue serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee.

Panel 4: Wellp, that's one last "EXPELLED" for the road, folks! Note, of course, the neat detail of Ashlee's crossed-out name, which I'm not sure was in my original script.

We continue serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee.

Dang, but this page features some truly excellent lettering by Carla, definitely better than anything that a "kinda-sorta" letterer like myself could have pulled off. In addition to the sweet font work, check out how well she handled Ashlee's final word balloons. Great stuff!

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, work-in-progress updates on developmental projects such as fantasy comics The Chaste and the Chained and The Last Party, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.

We continue serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee.

This page's riff regarding self-loathing and the suddenly superpowered was, in fact, not originally part of the miniseries' planned climactic act; rather, this insight occurred to me rather at the last minute as I was figuring exactly out how Ashlee would be defeated.

We continue serialization of the collected edition of the six-issue 2018 miniseries Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell, written and laid out by me and featuring art and lettering by Guest Artist Carla “Speed” McNeil and coloring by Jenn Manley Lee.

Panel 2: Note that the image within Ashlee's memory shard is from this page that kicked off vol. 5, which was intended to fake out the reader into thinking the not-quite-seen girl addressed by the ISP was Young Theresa:

TBH, no idea if anyone ever noticed this fakeout back in the (2018) day.

Next week on the webcomic, stand by for one final, arguably somewhat nasty twist as the finale approaches!