And this concludes Tears of the Dragon- Chapter One: To Become King.

I really hope you’ve enjoyed this comic so far.  As the old man said, the story has only just begun.  Unfortunately, I’m unable to announce the start date for the next chapter just yet.  I want to make sure the next chapter runs uninterrupted, and that will require making sure enough pages are finished so that there are no lulls in the the update schedule.

If things go well, look for Tears to start updating again in February.

Hope to see you then for Tears of the Dragon- Chapter Two: Torvuld’s Plight.

The Old Man sure does spin a good bedtime story.  And on this page, we finally get to see those titular “Tears of the Dragon” as Sythic returns to find his beloved Mettai not only dead, but beheaded.

Politics, it seems, hasn’t changed much since the days and times of Tears of the Dragon.  Style and buzz (Torvuld’s slaying of a dragon, evoking nostalgia for a long forgotten custom) wins out over substance (The Baron’s stalwart defense of the kingdom.)  Alas, what will be the long-term ramifications?  You’ll have to stay tuned.

Once again, Koko has outdone himself with the detail on this gorgeous page, and new colorist Miguel Marques really shines it up.  And just wait until you see how good next week’s page looks!

The cavalry arrives, and not a moment too soon.  In the most fortunate of circumstances, the Baron’s men happened to pass through and come upon Torvuld in his moment of need.  Seeing their countryman, having slayed one dragon and battling another surely inspired the soldiers to come to his aid.

With this page, we welcome Miguel Marques on board as colorist.  Miguel did a fast and beautiful job coloring the final 4 pages of chapter 1 of Tears.  Hope you enjoy his work.  He’s a great addition to the TOTD team.

You didn’t forget about Thorngill, Baron of Tarone, did you?  Yes, Torvuld’s rival successfully defeated the uprising, and figured that would seal his bid for the throne.  Little did he know that by sending a small legion of soldiers ahead to bring word of his victory, he’d actually be aiding his chief rival Torvuld.

Note: This page was colored by me,  Tyler James.  I really enjoyed coloring over Koko’s beautiful line work, however I’m way too slow a colorist to make it a regular thing.  So I hope you’ll give our new colorist Miguel Marques a warm welcome next week as he begins coloring on page 12.

See you in 7!

I gave Koko an ambitious page here to draw, with a ton of action, not all of it easy to capture or squeeze into the page.  I think he did a marvelous job.

And how about that Torvuld?  He managed to get in at least one good shot in on Sythic.  That sword swipe across the eye is going to leave quite a scar.  A lot of good it’ll do him, though.  Any predictions on how (if at all) he’ll get out of this predicament?

I’m making it no secret that this comic is my love letter to the great fantasy epics I grew up with.  I’m sure most of you caught the nod on this page to “The Princess Bride,” a film that belongs on any short list of the greatest movies of all time.

Of note, there was about a four month time lapse between when Koko finished page 8 and started working on the next batch of pages.  While his first eight were gorgeous, I believe he only continues to improve with every page of Tears he draws.  And Paul is just continually spectacular on colors.

I really love how Koko handled the two children on this page.  I love the dynamic between Cayla and Callum.  As an older brother with younger sisters, I know how much influence we can have on them…and in some cases, we can be flat out manipulative.  (Sorry, Katie, Jenny and Leighann!)  But hey, if it weren’t for Callum’s nudging, we wouldn’t get to hear more of the story, right?