Blogue

Holiday Break (12/1/2018)

So here we are, the « intro arc » of Ellan’s Lair is complete and we have started « arc 1 ». That’s 36 pages of comic — plus some bonus content. We’ve had a lot of fun writing these stories and I’ve enjoyed drawing them (and improving technique over time). Hope we’ve also done a good job of entertaining you and piquing your interest… because things are about to get serious (by which, of course, I mean silly, weird, science-y, intense, and eventually we hope to hit you right in the feels).

But, before we get to all of that, we’ll be taking a one month break from posting new comic pages while we write the next few chapters, get a head start on drawing, and enjoy the holidays with friends and family (artists are people too, you guys). That means… *gasp!* the first page of the next chapter will be posted on New Year’s day!

Until then, do not despair! We’ve got plenty to keep you occupied. With that in mind: be sure to follow/like/[insert internet lingo of the future here] us on Facebook, on Twitter, and now on Instagram as well — and share with your friends — because we’ll be sharing sneak peeks, bloopers (a.k.a. amusing drawing fails), updates (like when old pages are re-posted in colour), and bonus sketches (when we have the time). In fact, we’ve shared a pole for you all to tell us which is your favourite Lair character so far — and the lucky winner will be featured in a special « season’s greetings » drawing (our gift to you)!

So enjoy! Take care of yourselves, take care of each other. Be generous, if you can (personally, I’ll be participating in the geek-powered charity fundraiser Worldbuilders — which is going on until December 11th)… And we’ll see each other again in 2019!

Otakuthon and other things (8/8/2018)

Hey all, readers old and new!

I was in Montreal this weekend, attending Otakuthon and recruiting for the Lair. So if you were there and spotted a wild Caitlyn, well, that was me!

(Friday, in the manga library)

(Saturday, on the way to the convention)

Bubbly and outgoing Caitlyn was the perfect character to cosplay while meeting new people and promoting the comic. It was a lot of fun. My Saturday cosplay was actually comic accurate (school girl skirt and all, though you can’t see it here, since I am not good at taking selfies)… well, except for the glasses. I actually had bought myself a pair of dark blue contacts for this cosplay but it hurt so much to wear I decided to skip that part. Heck, we could always decide that the blue eyes are the colour of her corrective lenses and that Caitlyn actually has brown eyes; it would give me an excuse to wear my big manga-like glasses while cosplaying (and I know at least one fellow artist who would approve of inserting a character with glasses in my comic, *cough cough*).

On the last day of the convention I cosplayed as another, yet-to-appear character, a dark and dour fellow… which fit the level of energy I had left by then, heheh.

(aforementioned character, seen here reading a newly acquired comic)

Over all, it was quite a good time (despite the scheduling issues and technical malfunctions). I got to meet a bunch of fellow geeks and otakus, attend some interesting panels, and converse with some friendly artists and authors in the merch room and artists’ alley (though in some cases I might have hung around for way to long and made everyone feel awkward — sorry about that).

Highlights:

  • Bothering my friend Dez at his own table in the artists’ alley while he worked on commission art in that distinct Frivolesque style (another webcomic, taking place in Québec city).
  • A manga-drawing session with the lovely April Petchsri (who also has a webcomic). Caitlyn and Ellan had a cameo there:

  • TWO panels discussing and recommending webcomics! One of which resulted in a long list (on which the Lair makes an appearance!!). Yes, I shamelessly plugged Ellan’s Lair during the discussion… but I recommended a lot of other cool ones as well! And shout-out to the person sitting in front of me during the Queer Webcomics panel who perked up when I mentioned the variety of characters we are eventually going to put in the Lair’s story: it was super nice to meet you!
  • A panel on the « hidden gems » anime of the 2000s (because apparently we already need a refresher — great, now I feel old 😛 ) by the guys of the Nadeshico Club (they’re my Québec peeps!!) which reminded me how many good shows I should catch up on one of these days. There were technical difficulties with the sound (at one point the speakers in the room started broadcasting the frequency used by the security staff instead of the microphones… good thing the guys hosting this panel have loud voices).
  • A panel analysing the music of the excellent anime Cowboy Bebop (a classic which you should watch, like, now).
  • and finally a Rakugo demonstration: not every day you hear traditional japanese-style comedy performed in French. That was a hoot!

Anyway, I’ve returned from my travels tired but inspired — ready to get back to work with my co-creator on the next part of the Lair. 6 more pages left of the intro chapters (since Ellan’s intro is a bit longer)… and then we’re diving into dystopian Montreal shenanigans for real in September. We’re also planning to have character profiles up for our « main 4 » in the About the Lair section ready by then.

Until then, enjoy (and leave us a comment if you want to encourage us)!

— R.K. Magali

Nadeshicon!! (and other announcements) (3/26/2018)

Hello all! A few quick announcements today…

First, some of you have expressed interest in reading the comic in French. As to that, never fear! We have been writing this story in both languages from the start — as both of us here in the creative team are bilingual and so is Montreal, the city in which we have set our story — and plan to make the pages available in both languages on the site… as soon as we figure out how to configure the site to our liking, that is. In the meantime, we have printed out a French edition of the 6-pages prologue (as you can see)!

Which brings us to our second announcement, that we will be attending Nadeshicon, in Quebec city, on the weekend of the 7th-9th of April! As in past years (for those of you familiar with this convention) we will be staff at Nadeshicon’s famous flee market, selling ALL the 2nd-hand geeky goodies your pocket change can buy. Aaaand among said-goodies, you’ll find our exclusive 6-page Prologue booklets (French edition, as previously stated), on sale for $2.50!

You’ll be able to spot us easily enough… you know, in case you want to come say hi. Joel looks a lot like Ellan, hairstyle and all (though not quite so orange) and I myself will be cosplaying as Caitlyn.

Apart from that, we remind you that, starting tomorrow, the comic will be posted in its regular schedule: one page per week, every Tuesday.

We thank you so much for reading our comic! It’s been wonderful to see so many of you visit during our launch week. We hope you’ve enjoyed what you’ve seen so far and will continue to read and be entertained by the adventures and misadventures of the Lair. Don’t be shy if you have comments — we artists do appreciate encouragement and constructive criticism. And of course, since we are just starting out, we’d also appreciate if you helped us spread the word about this webcomic (so the whole world can enjoy it)!

See ya later!

— R. K. Magali

 

 

Welcome to the Lair! (3/20/2018)

Hello and welcome to Ellan’s Lair! We’ve been working on this project for quite a while now and hope you will enjoy your time with our quirky cast as they make their way in the world (that is, in our near-future dystopic vision of Montreal).

Just a quick announcement/clarification: the first 6 pages of the comic (the Prologue) will be posted daily — so keep checking back with the Lair for the first week for the full story! After that, our regular publication schedule of one page per week will begin on Tuesday, March 27th.

New announcements will always be here in the blog section, including details on which conventions we hope to see you at this year. Also, feel free to check around the rest of the website for other “assorted goodies” as we go.

 

Thank you for reading!

— R.K. Magali

Well, hello there comic readers… (3/12/2018)

Well hello there, you eager people! Our comic hasn’t started yet and you’re already here? We’re flattered (and thank you)!

So here’s the official announcement for ya: we will be posting up the first pages of Ellan’s Lair next week, starting Tuesday, March 20th (at midnight)! You’ll get 1 page per day for the first 6 days (lucky you)!

After this, we will begin the regular publication schedule of the comic, that is 1 page per week.

Stay tuned here (in the blog section) for future announcements.

— R.K. Magali