Page 3-3 is up and our heroes got that dawg in them. Did this decisive first strike put the distortion beasts on the back foot?
Issue 3 is coming along nicely, I’d like to think.
As you might have noticed (assuming you’re not new here), I’ve placed a few ad boxes from ComicAd Network around the site. I did my best not to make them too terribly intrusive and they help with marketing the website in a small way. Don’t worry, though. I’m still holding myself to the promise to not place more invasive ads on the site for the sake of funding.
I’m also looking to host the comic in another location. Right now, Issue 1 up through part of 2 is available on Tapas, but I’m thinking of finishing it out and expanding our reach to Webtoon as well. Cast a wide net, right?
Electric Fencer is LIVE once again, and with the return to weekly posts comes the Cover Page and Page 3-1. I have high hopes for this issue of Electric Fencer, so I hope it’s worth the wait!
In addition to the comic’s return, I’ve also reinstated the merch page over on RedBubble and the link to our Ko-Fi. We’ve got a few new pieces since the last time it was up, including the print you see above on quite a few products. Admittedly, I have been absolutely awful about making use of monetization or subscription services like these and I can’t promise I’ll get drastically better at it, but the most I can say is that I’ll try.
With regards to progress on the series, Issue 4 is currently in production and is so far looking even better than I could have hoped for. In addition, I’m planning on putting in work for Electric Fencer Shorts! Issue 2 and will drop that on the Ko-Fi for subscribers. Shorts! Issue 1 is already there, so if you want to read it and Issue 2 when it goes live, consider subscribing. You could also leave a tip if you like what you’re reading! Or not. No pressure. If financial support isn’t your thing, the tried and true method of voting for Electric Fencer on TopWebComics is still plenty.
In any case, welcome back to Electric Fencer, and here’s hoping we can keep this ride going for a long time!
Here’s the cover for Issue 3! I’ve had the Paper Mario series and JRPGs in general on the brain for a while now so I was feeling inspired to make an illustration for Electric Fencer in a similar vein. I was originally planning on adding the HUD elements as I’m a big fan of mockups, but the cover itself was already pretty ambitious and I later felt all of the added bits and bobs of the battle HUD would ultimately clutter the cover, so I decided against it. It’s a little bit of a shame because I had a few things I wanted to do with it, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Actual story work on Issue 3 has been completed and all that’s left to work on is the cover. Here’s a little something to give you an idea of how I’m going to approach it. Really looking forward to seeing how the final product will turn out 👀
Once the cover has been updated, the placeholder image for it in the bookshelf will be replaced accordingly.
Also, with regards to posting times for the comic going forward, we’re considering having the comic show up later in the day as opposed to early morning. Maybe around 5:00 EST/GMT-5?
That’s the date. Issue 3 will launch on October 4, 2023.
I’m currently touching up the last page of the issue. I’ve got a few other bits of things to prep for the new pages, plus some other obligations to handle, so it’ll still be a while. It took a year and quite a few revisions, but I’m proud of what I’ve been able to put out.
Hopefully it won’t be much longer now, but I’m wrapping up work on Issue 3. As continued proof that the comic is, in fact, NOT dead, here’s a panel of a confident Jiro from page 22. What’s he got cooking? You’ll find out soon enough.
Since the last update, a lot has happened and it’s really taken a toll on my ability to work on the comic. I’m currently between jobs, so I’m trying to make sure I can keep things in order so I can get back to doing what I enjoy. I’m not going to ask for money (I’m not in dire straits), but if you’ve read and enjoyed what you’ve seen so far of Electric Fencer, could you maybe consider telling people about it? The comic having gone dark for upward of a year now hasn’t really helped its reach, and admittedly that’s on me for overestimating my time management skills, but I assure you that it’s being worked on. Life has just been a little difficult and FAST as of late and I’ve been trying to keep up.
So I think it’s only fair that I announce that upon talking with my team and beta readers, there’s been a change of plans.
Issue 3 of Electric Fencer will no longer be a 36-page issue. I thought that I could make it to 36 in a relatively short period of time given what’s changed in my life recently.
I got to what would have been the halfway point of the issue and my brain just said NOPE.
So looking at where I am now and discussing plans moving forward with my team, I’ve decided to cut Issue 3 back to a 24-page issue. There’s a huge tonal shift in the original draft of the issue that could essentially make for an entire issue by itself, so what was once the back half of Issue 3 has now been relegated to Issue 4. We also had Issue 4 originally planned out, so that’s been moved to Issue 5. Basically, we pushed our current slate of issues back by one to make this work and to keep me from losing my mind at what feels like an insurmountably high wall of content for me to produce.
That means that the new Issue 4 will also be 24 pages long. This ends up being better because I can better compartmentalize the plot structure for each issue, and you get a whole issue more than we originally planned. I think that’s a pretty sweet deal. Additionally, as the original script for the current slate of issues were written back in 2019, this gave me an opportunity to reevaluate the writing and thumbnails done so far to better fit them into a 24-page plot structure. The new Issues 4 and 5 will be a little more exposition heavy so there won’t be nearly as much action (there hasn’t been much in the two issues present and that’s something I plan on addressing going forward), but there’s some good character development and exposition going into the first big outing our heroes will have and I’m really excited to bring all of that to life.
As proof of progress, here’s the full version of the page the panel from the last update was taken from. I’ve removed the dialogue to avoid narrative spoilers, but looking at it, you probably get the gist of what’s happening here. If you follow me on social media, you’ve probably already seen the full dialogue for this page anyway.
With the new page count, hopefully the finished version of this issue won’t be too far along. Once Issue 3 goes up, I’m also considering queueing up each individual page to go live so there’s a steady flow of content. Until I find myself in a better headspace, I can’t promise that there will be multi-page update weeks, but I will make a better effort to stay on top of this series. I really love what I’ve been able to do with it, and appreciate those who’ve stuck around, even during this prolonged hiatus.
Never a dull day for perpetually exhausted parental figures.
Pretty much what it says on the tin. I added the About section.
Issue 3 is still coming along. It’s about half of the way done and I’d venture to say it’s looking great so far. I’m working out a good time to start posting again but I feel like we’re closer to that time than not. The post image is from the current page I’m working on!
A lot’s been happening with the comic in the background (and that’s the part that’s relevant!) as of late and for those of you still reading, I’ve figured that instead of simply telling you about it, I should probably show you:
There are still a lot of warm colors and outlines, but now I’ve also opted for punchier colors and hatch shading, giving the visuals some volume while also cutting down on how long it takes to illustrate each page. Ironically, with the time saved, I’ve started going in on more diverse and flashier visual effects, so it’s still taking me some time to get Issue 3 done. Currently, the plan is still for this to be a 36-page issue, but I’m considering posting again once I’m about halfway through the issue and posting one page a week, giving me time to finish the remaining pages, while also scheduling them to go up as they are completed.
It’s been nearly a year since Issue 2 finished, but I feel that the time taken to go back and reevaluate the direction I was going with Issue 3 was definitely the best call, as this really gave me the opportunity flesh out the pacing a lot more and give everyone a chance to really shine.
I’ll be back with another update soon…ish, but until then, please enjoy the new screens!
Issue 3
