I’ve just completed the third pass on the comic, and with it the final cover for Bloodbath on Unholy Island. As I get ready to submit the book for its final print preview, I’m feeling that familiar mix of nerves and relief that comes with reaching the end of a project.
I’m always very critical of my own work, and there are things I know I’ll want to push further next time. But at a certain point you have to recognise the moment when the work represents the best you can make it right now. Any lessons I’ve learned while working in this style will carry forward into Book 2.
The cover itself brings together several elements from the story. Rom is the central figure, staring directly out past the fourth wall. I wanted that gaze to feel slightly confrontational, as if the reader has just stepped into his world. Off to the upper right of his head is a sketch of Frank, shown from the knees up, while below sits Frank’s car alongside a portrait of Rom — fragments of the characters and objects that orbit the story.
On the back cover there’s a rough sketch of a new character who will appear in Book 2: Loz M, a detective hunting Frank and becoming part of the second arc of the storyline. It’s intentionally loose — more of a glimpse of what’s coming than a finished introduction.
Now it’s time to send the book off for its print preview. It’s always a slightly tense moment, but also an important one — the point where the work leaves the studio and becomes a physical thing.
Whatever happens next, this first book has laid the foundation. The next chapter is already waiting.
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