Tristikov

Has Avania really been running for 5 years already? Time sure does fly… I would have liked to celebrate this milestone with some kind of cool new illustration or such, but as I am also just now celebrating my son’s first birthday, I will more than likely have to wait until I have regained the free time for such luxuries!

To be honest, I would have also liked to be announcing the next chapter of Avania soon, but alas that will also have to wait a bit longer than in previous years. I am making progress on completing chapter 17′s pages, but with an energetic, inquisitive, and highly-mobile baby, producing comic pages is very slow going at the moment.

As I mentioned in the Post-chapter 16 Status Update, I am considering splitting chapter 17 into two parts so as to not make everybody wait so darn long before getting another chunk of story. There is a natural break for it, and given how things have gone in the past few months, I believe this will be my course of action… How long it takes to get to that halfway point, we’ll see, but I will be sure to keep these little updates coming in any case.

Until then, keep an eye out for more Avania Mail and whatever else I can squeeze in to liven the site up. Thank you for bearing with me, and hope you all have a wonderful summer!

Whew, back on the ground once again... And with the arrival of the White Knights at Frontier HQ, the ever-increasing cast of characters is finally assembled at this story’s principal location! There is a lot of excitement yet to come of course, and a bit of drama too... I’m very happy to already be this far into the first season-arc of Avania. Even if “already” has taken the course of nearly 5 years now, time sure is flying by!

Chapter 16 was the first chapter I have finished while a new father, and the production experience was more challenging than for previous chapters, to say the least... Never the less, I think the result was fantastic and worth all the [additional] time it took! From what I can estimate based on my current situation, I expect the upcoming chapter 17 will take a bit longer by comparison, owing to the balance of the total page count for Issue No.8 skewing slightly heavier for this next chapter. Sadly, I’ve also received some not good news that may affect my priorities and available time for a yet unknown duration.

As much as I would prefer to adhere to my previous self-imposed production schedule, I must put the needs of my family first and accept that I will have to be both flexible and perhaps a little creative with my production and release format for the time being... With that in mind, I am strongly considering posting chapter 17 in two halves so as to not go for too long without any updates to the comic.

The layouts for the chapter are all complete, and given the structure of the scenes, I think splitting it roughly in the middle would work out fine for pacing. Once I get further into drawing the chapter and am closer to the halfway point, I will make an announcement to confirm my plans for posting the pages.

Thank you to everyone for reading the comic and showing your support, whether by commenting, sharing, or contributing financially (you can purchase printed issues of Avania No.1 - 6 on IndyPlanet, and full-resolution digital copies on Amazon)!

In the meantime, stay tuned to the Avania Blog for more news, art, and Avania Mail posts. Speaking of which, expect a separate status update I intend to make regarding the increasing backlog of Avania Mail questions I hope to answer in due time!

You’ve finally arrived, but our records don’t show from where.

This year--particularly the latter half--has certainly been a journey for me! In my Post-Chapter 15 Status Update, I mentioned that not only was July 8th Avania’s 4th anniversary of going live, but now also the date which I became a father... I’m writing this year’s-end update a little over three months later, and way over three months tired-er, to let everyone know how things are going.

First and foremost, Avania, Chapter 16 is nearing completion, with the Issue No. 8 front cover, and 8/10 interior pages completed! Despite a bit of a shake-up in my preferred working habits, the overall polish and quality of the art is as good, if not better than ever too!

That said, I had hoped to be wrapping up the chapter at the end of the year, in keeping with the average pace I had set in preceding years of producing Avania.

Learning how to both get enough sleep to survive and then pursue a time/labor-intensive hobby like producing a webcomic, has been quite the ongoing challenge, to put it mildly. So with that said, I’m happy to have been able to create as much as I did over the last 6 months, despite the ever-evolving demands of being a new parent!

I would like to have Chapter 16 completed by the end of January, but I suspect that unless circumstances quickly improve, I will finish at some point in February (the last two pages have a lot going on--You’ll see when we get there). No matter what the pace ends up being though, you can be certain I am still chipping away at it as much as time allows!

Thank you for your patience, comments, and Avania Mails. I hope you all have a wonderful new year, and are looking forward to more Avania in 2023!

We’re through issue No.7 now--Hope you don’t mind a little cliff-hanger to cap off the aerial action! It was a lot of fun to draw a flying chapter again. Not since the very first issue has there been an extended sequence in the air... The encounter between the Black Lanners and the White Knights isn’t over yet, of course, so look forward to an exciting climax in chapter 16 when Avania Issue No.8 begins!

After this latest arrival, the principal cast of Frontier HQ will be assembled and ready for the rest of the story to come. As with every issue, there are scenes I’ve been planning for years now, and once this last series of introductions happens, there will be even more room to devote to character interactions and drama!

Reaching 150 completed pages (not counting covers and credits) is very exciting for me, but this milestone isn’t the only one I’m celebrating this year... This July 8th was not only the 4th anniversary of Avania going live, but is now also the day on which I became a father. It is quite an incredible coincidence that two things I care so much about would share this date, but that makes it doubly special to me now and forever more...

The next chapter of both Avania and my life are underway, and I look forward to the coming years with more anticipation than ever! Thank you to everyone for your support, and for joining me on this journey (the artistic one, anyway). As always, I love to read your comments, questions, and feedback on the comic, and I hope to see you around as we sail ever onward!

The latest chapter of Avania has started and you can read the first page at https://worldofavania.com ! Updates will be every Sunday night at 7:00pm EST until the chapter (and issue) concludes.

Of course, I'll also be posting the new pages here as well a few days later, so check 'em out and leave a comment--I love to hear what you think!

I have some new sketches again, and more Avania Mail answers as well, so look forward to those too.

Thanks, and hope you're having a good Summer!