Latest Posts

Take cover! We’re on Twitter

Posted on August 31, 2018 by eczarnik
Tiqwah watches a speech balloon hit the ground beside her.
Let’s hope Twitter will be less dangerous than incoming speech balloons outside the Holy Tongue Society’s base.
In its quest for more eyeballs and readership, “Milhamah: Fighting Words” now has a Twitter account, @MilhamahComic. Feel free to follow me! It makes sense for a comic named after the Hebrew word for “war” to enter the Internet’s verbal free-for-all. However, the plan is to stick squarely to marketing the comic and posting links, not using the account as a soapbox. Still, I appreciate your prayers! Anyway, I’m more than halfway done with comic No. 5 and plan to finish it over the weekend. I’m adding more Photoshop effects and punching up the colors to make the episode more appealing. If I get compliments, I’ll go back to my old episodes and reformat them.

Personalities clash in “High Steaks” (#2)

Posted on August 21, 2018 by eczarnik
Tiqwah invites Shem to dinner. Shem hopes his steak won't be as tough as her odds of keeping promises. Tiqwah's glare scorches Shem, but he taunts with a second pun. Tiqwah gives up, offering extra food in exchange for silence. (See this comic and the others at Tapas or Webtoon, and please subscribe! ) Which has more fiery intensity: Tiqwah’s wrath or Shem’s provocative puns? In the end, Tiqwah pays for her past broken promises, using beef as legal tender. (How did Shem miss that one?) Besides inching the plot past the prologue, the goal of this comic was to highlight a bit of the characters’ personalities and watch them clash. As the Holy Tongue Society’s tactician, Tiqwah likes to think of herself as a long-range planner, though she doesn’t always succeed. As the group’s overall leader, Shem likes control and order, but even he has a silly side. Soon it will be evident that Shem has many sides to him, including those he wants to keep hidden… In the comments below, tell me what you think about the characters and how they might develop. Questions, suggestions and other constructive feedback are welcome!

A salute to your savlanut! (Patience!)

Posted on August 20, 2018 by eczarnik
Shem is busy. Tiqwah is unreliable. I'm both.
Shem ‘Etzem scolds Tiqwah Tawit about being unreliable. She and this blogger have something in common.
Sorry about the neglect. It’s been awhile since I last updated the blog! To anyone who stumbled here and came back, I congratulate you for your savlanut — your patience! Let me take time to update you on  how I kept busy with comics and game production. So I just completed my fourth “Milhamah” comic strip, as you can see on my Instagram. I’ll post the latest strips one by one in the following days and explain a bit about the backstory. In the meantime, I’ve also been programming a roguelike game based on the “Milhamah” universe. It’s about halfway to a very basic, playable state. When it’s ready for a beta, I’ll link it here and keep building it. Like most roguelikes, the “graphics” are basically made out of type. While the goal is to eventually roll out real graphics, letter glyphs are still a decent fit for the universe’s linguistic setting. In the meantime, check out my social media, or subscribe to my comics on Tapas or Webtoon!

Prologue preview

Posted on May 29, 2018 by eczarnik
Censorship. Dystopia. Mystery cults. Ancient alphabets. Apocalypses. Goats. This is an eight-panel Prologue Preview of “Milhamah: Fighting Words.” It debuted at the Motor City Comic Con May 18-20. Over the next few months, I’ll be alternating between backstory and skits featuring a few of the main characters. Before going too far in telling the story, I’ll perfect the series’ voice while acquainting the audience with the characters and background world.  Soon I will be putting this webcomic up on Tapas and Webtoons. You may also follow me on social media on Facebook or Instagram. In the meantime, enjoy!    

Ancient Egypt may spell out clues about the alphabet.

Posted on May 19, 2018 by eczarnik
A main theme in my artwork is language, particularly how people use it to perceive the world and relate to one another. So it’s intriguing that a researcher apparently found the earliest known example of an abgad (aka abjad). That basically refers to an alphabet pattern found in many Semitic languages:
The alphabet that we use today is derived from that used by the Phoenicians, a civilization that flourished between roughly 3,500 and 2,300 years ago in the Eastern Mediterranean. They used what scholars call a Semitic language, a term that refers to a branch of languages that trace their origins to the Middle East, each sharing some similar words. The early forerunner to our alphabet was written in Semitic languages. Few texts that are written in Semitic languages date back 3,400 years or more, however.
To go along with the Tower of Babel themes in “Milhamah,” some of the characters, superpowers and scenarios are tied to the Hebrew alef-beit, or alphabet. So as you read this comic series, expect to learn more about those letters over time!