The Fifty Seventh Kidney (2024) is just a ‘lil diary of my longsuffering D&D group’s two year campaign, told through a short comics poem. Kat Hirigoyen and I drew it together and Rachel Evangeline Chiong (the author of Dark Magic and “Celestine” in Words Plural #1) provided the wonderful words. You can read it in print (my first colour comic!) or, because we’re such nice folks, online here for free.
Kirby said that comics will break your heart
And, well, yep they certainly do that.
Hopefully they’ll help put it together again too.
Here are my attempts to do both.
Who Are You Supposed to Be?
Who Are You Supposed to Be? (2023) came about as an October drawing project in 2022 (mostly). I’m a big fan of studying my favourite artists’ work to see what makes it tick, so I decided to write my own story where on each page I would try to emulate a different artist’s style. You can read this story as a zine (my preferred version) or, because I’m such a nice guy, online here for free.
Index
To semiotician Roland Barthes, an “index” is a sign which does not look like the thing it signifies. Think of a fingerprint showing that something has been held, or the sound of an ice cream truck bringing kids out of their homes before they even see it. Index (2023) is that for my comics career, or at least its beginning. Collecting five years of comics and zines (Starbound, Dark Magic, Porch Lights, and Words Plural #1&2), as well as the entire Broken Mirrors drawing challenge that started my comics career, and retrospective essays and ephemera from along the way, this volume seeks to be, as my Dark Magic partner Rachel Evangeline Chiong puts it in the foreward, “a time lapse…an accumulation of real days, months, and years of an artist’s coming up that you can now witness between your own two hands.”
Words Plural #2: Finders Keepers
In this second issue of the Words Plural anthology (2022), find four stories all about the things we lose, the things we find, and the things that find us. Travel to snowcapped peaks of desperation in “Excelsis,” the murky depths in “The Custodian,” the subtle battlefield of a little league baseball diamond in “Slugger,” and the shifting dreamscape of “Flying Dogs,” written by the incredibly talented Joyce Jodie Kim, writer of Caterpillar Portraits. See what treasures you pick up along the way ⚾
“I am mouse no longer. I am amphibian. I am frog.”
“It must have been some sort of bird. Some terrible bird.”
“After all, what else did you have?”
Porch Lights
Porch Lights (2021) is the sleeper hit of my back catalogue, if by sleeper hit one means “the one Sven likes a lot but nobody ever buys.” I get it. It’s a zine, not a comic. There’s a lot of text. You could read it on my Instagram if you scroll back far enough. But I think if you let me cook for a few pages, you’ll at least…have read it.
Look, it’s got monsters in it. What more do you want? Read it at Halloween.
Words Plural #1
Words Plural #1 (2021) is the first issue of an ongoing anthology series featuring myself and some of my most talented friends. In this issue, you’ll find one of my oldest comics, remastered for the modern age, a chiaroscuro horror story of misplaced identity, and a return to the stratosphere, penned by Dark Magic writer, Rachel Evangeline Chiong.
“I don’t remember grandma’s house.”
“They’re just like us.”
“Do you think we’ll feel older after this?”
Just Keep Talking
Just Keep Talking (2021) is a single page experimental comic based on episode 170 of The Magnus Archives.
“I am not lonely any more.”
Dark Magic
Dark Magic (2019) adapts the poem of the same name by stellar spoken word artist Rachel Evangeline Chiong. The original printing is sold out, but the bigger, better, and better-lettered Re-Enchanted Edition (2024) is available as a 29-page comic both digitally and in print, measuring at 7.5″ square.
Many creation stories begin when light brings life to a sea of darkness. But what if it happened the other way around?
Hebrews
Collecting 13 reflections from my Broken Mirrors project, Hebrews (2019) explores the Biblical book of Hebrews, documenting my thoughts and illustrations for each chapter. The original print run has run its course, but you can see the original posts on Instagram.
Float
Float (2019) is a single-page comic available in print as a poster-sized print (roughly 11″ x 13″)