You'll have noticed there are flower pictures above, which I will explain in a moment. First, though, a quick PDAP update:
After thumbnailing Chapter Six, I decided to jump into writing Chapter Seven. That led to a little accidental writing on Chapter Eight, which in turn led to a little writing on Chapters Nine and Ten and, well… now I have my whole story plotted out. I hesitate to pop...
2024-11-07 16:45:01 +0000 UTC View Post
While drawing Chapter Five, I had to do a little bit of on-the-fly location and character designing. Nothing crazy, just one character and one small location. Still, I regret leaving the design work until I absolutely needed to have it.
This is business as usual. It is the nature of comics that for most things, we figure out what it looks like the first time we have to draw it in a p...
2024-10-31 16:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostI just finished a complete pass on the thumbnails for Chapter Six! This has been the most difficult chapter yet, and has tested the limits of what I thought was a pretty good process.
This post is relatively spoiler-free unless you can somehow decipher my appalling handwriting. And if so, let me know and I'll send a trophy.
As a reminder of the flawless system I've devised for trans...
2024-10-25 16:02:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I drew the last page for Chapter Five on October 12th! Which means if I started mid-August, it took two months to pencil roughly 60 pages. I think that's good! That's, like, pre-Kiddo speed. I'm happy, especially because the pages look really good.
Speaking of which, this week I have:
a quick update on some recommendations,
thoughts on the ol' Ira Gla...
2024-10-17 16:22:01 +0000 UTC View Post
This week, I accidentally drew a boring panel. Sorry. But look, look, we can fix it together!
[ I have four pages remaining to pencil in Chapter Five — I will share some excerpts soon, but first, this week, a little tangent. Plus, you don't really want to see how Chapter Five concludes yet, it's very spoilery. There are spoilers here, too, but they are lesser&...
2024-10-10 23:36:16 +0000 UTC View Post
Okay, I joke around a lot about "spoilers, tee hee," but let's get serious. This week, if you really want to go into Chapter Five blind, let us just tip our hats to each other and keep moving.
Actually, no — I have two nice things to draw your attention to this week, and then — woo hoo hoo! — then we're really snooping around behind the curtain.
(
This week I have pencils and — if you look carefully — spoilers for you, so consider yourself warned. Though every time I write out a "spoiler warning" I feel like a doofus, because 1) no one around here has ever complained about being spoiled and 2) I suspect you are like me and you just don't care.
I lie, though. Recently Instagram has been serving me ads for the movie THE ...
2024-09-26 18:41:17 +0000 UTC View Post
It's International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day! To participate, all you need to do is speak as you normally would, as pirates are a cosmopolitan bunch and are no more likely to say "arrrr" than the average member of the populace. Peg legs and black flags are optional.
The crew of The Mael...
2024-09-19 17:49:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Huh. It sure is September, isn't it.
This week: a few select panels from my progress on Chapter Five pencilling, and then two recommendations: a very piratey one ("International Talk Like a Pirate Day" is right around the corner on September 19th) and one tiny pro-tip if you have a lot of kids books in the house.
As always, the pencils are spoilery, so if you think that might bug yo...
2024-09-12 17:44:59 +0000 UTC View PostThis week! Why, it's only more of Chapter Four. Plus, click through for a look at some recent book purchases and a tangential slide into the tricks and traps of using coffee-table decoration books as design resources.
If you've been waiting until Chapter Four is all up before diving in,...
2024-09-05 21:46:50 +0000 UTC View Post
HELLO ALL! Just as a quick reminder, the first half of Chapter Four is up publicly right here, right after the public Patron Acknowledgement pages. Just in case you enjoy the comic that way, or in case you have friends who ne...
2024-08-29 16:07:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Come for the hot fresh comics, stay for a personal coda to the Olympic Games!
Happy August, Dear Reader. If your summer has been lacking in a little Mediterranean Pirate Adventure, I'm happy to say that the first instalment of Chapter Four of Practical Defence Against Piracy is up, ready to read, 2024-08-22 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
It's the third (and closing) instalment of the Delilah Dirk Three Retrospective! Come, come, push past those miserable skeletons and dive into this book with me.
Here is the second part of my retrospective look back at DD3, or Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules!
I'm back with my time machine! Jump in and we'll travel back six-or-so years to the release of DELILAH DIRK AND THE PILLARS OF HERCULES, the third book in the series.
To get reading, hit the link above or ju...
2024-08-01 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Chapter Four is all done! If you’ve been reading along as I’ve been posting, I hope you’ve enjoyed it. If you have been waiting until they’re all posted — or if you’re waiting for a print version — I hope you haven’t been bothered by all these spoilery updates appearing in your inbox. 2024-07-25 16:22:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Last week, Alexandra and her father rode out of Archipoli.
This week, Chapter Four concludes with Alexandra agonizing between her two awful available options: ride for help by abandoning her mother and friends, or stay and face the impossible task of overcoming Archipoli's threats.
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Thus concludes Chapter Four! I told you things would get worse for Alex...
2024-07-18 16:12:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Last week, Sir Edward is confident that the only way to help the town is to go ride for help from the only other town on the island, Barathron. Of course, that effectively means abandoning Alexandra's mother, uncle, and friends to their fate at the hands of Vignelli and/or the pirates.
This week, the Pirate Captain makes a promise, and Ataraxes is let loose on Istoria's roadways.
- ...
2024-07-11 16:33:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Last week: Alexandra and her father surprised Pii-Pii and his father (and brothers) at their home.
Now, Sir Edward answers some of his daughter's questions and proposes a… bold? course of action?
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Remember when I promised that things would get worse for Alexandra before they got better?
Next week: what about mum?
Until then,<...
2024-07-04 16:51:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Last week, the actual pirates bathed Archipoli in a mysterious, thick, supernatural fog.
This week, Alexandra's familiarity with the town comes in handy as Sir Edward trusts her to guide him back to Uncle Nikos' home. Along the way, mistakes are made.
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I flatted the first of the two Pii-Pii pages on one of my few live streams, 2024-06-27 17:50:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Last week, Alexandra came so, so close to getting what she wanted: an opportunity to apologize to her mother. Instead, her father dragged her down the treacherous slope below the walls.
This week: we learn more about the strange thing that the Pirate Captain was holding, with all the bells on it, as well as the "fireflies" that have been drifting around for a chapter and a half.
- -...
2024-06-20 16:33:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Last week, I made good on a promise about Captain Lear from Chapter One, Nikos took a pointed stand against Vignelli, Edward (Alexandra's dad) made a desperate choice to escape the flames at the gate, and we met an ominous great big green man.
This week, Alexandra finally gets the opportunity to apologize to her mother that she's wanted since Chapter Three… almost.
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... 2024-06-13 17:13:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Last week, Alexandra found herself powerless before the pirate horde. Vignelli fired at the pirates with muskets. The Flagbearer shielded the wounded Captain Lear and was, himself, wounded by a "lucky" musket shot. Vignelli also hurled flaming hay-bales down before the gate, making a very dangerous situation for Alexandra and her father. Alexandra's found her mom, finally, though they are separ...
2024-06-06 16:47:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello Patron Readers!
Here are the Patron Acknowledgements that I'll be posting alongside the public version of Chapter Four. Please take a minute, find yourself (or what might be yourself), and let me know if it looks the way it should.
If you spot any issues, please do not hesitate to leave a comment, shoot me a message, or send an email. In the past I've accepted...
2024-06-05 23:31:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Last week, Alexandra rushed to her father's aid, putting herself in great danger. Can she fend off a pirate horde by herself, armed solely with a single burning torch? Well…
This week things get worse!
… is a sentence that — as soon as I wrote it — I realized will be true for the foreseeable future (of Alexandra's story).
One of the challenges with this week's pages wa...
2024-05-30 18:03:01 +0000 UTC View Post
First of all: a big update this week. I've been looking forward to these pages for a while, building up to them from the very first days, and I'm excited and relieved to finally be sharing them with you.
This is the fight scene that you may or may not remember from this post.
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Second, ...
2024-05-23 17:26:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Practical Defence Against Piracy has been nominated for a Will Eisner award, in the category of "Best Webcomic!"
As a teenager I'd read Wizard magazine (a magazine about comics and ...
2024-05-16 18:02:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Last week, a band of terrifying strangers, armed with cruel implements and a wild jungle cat, planted a pirate flag in the middle of Archipoli's bridge. Scared, Vignelli shut the gates to the Venetian town, and everyone who fled the town is now pinned between the walls and the pirates. What will the pirates do now? What will happen to the villagers?
That is what we will find out this week...
2024-05-16 16:22:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Chapter Four continues, as everyone both within and without swarms toward the New Gate of Archipoli. Those within wish to see the approaching threat for themselves. Those without seek the safety of the gates.
Well, most of them.
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Anyone need some book recommendations?
I've had Michael...
2024-05-09 17:21:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Four brand-new colour pages from PRACTICAL DEFENCE AGAINST PIRACY!
In which we meet what I guess we'll call "Chekhov's Leopard." The anchor around its master's body provides the leverage required to restrain such a powerful animal.
The mist and lighting effects are coming into their own. I thought that A) obscuring everything with mist and B) having strong, consistent directional li...
2024-05-03 17:02:22 +0000 UTC View Post