P78. The End
For those of you who are interested in history, that little bit about Sun Bin’s writings on war, in the original historical record, led a lot of people to believe that Sun Bin was the author of the famous Sun Tzu’s Art of War (the “Tzu” in Sun Tzu is an honorific, “Sun Tzu” is roughly equivalent to “Mr. Sun”). It wasn’t until 1972, when archaeologists discovered an ancient copy of “Sun Bin’s Art of War”, that opinions began to shift. Most people now believe that Sun Bin’s ancestor Sun Wu was the author of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, but there are still a good number of people who argue that Sun Bin was really the author of the version we see today.
And yes, this is it, folks. The story of Sun Bin and Pong Guen is finished. I’ve had some uncertainty about whether this ending is too abrupt. But ultimately I decided to end it here for 2 reasons: 1) although some fictional accounts have more stuff happening after this part, this is where it ends in the historical record; and 2) one of my pet peeves is stories that go on forever, so I’d rather err on the side of ending too quickly, rather than letting things drag on for no reason. As I’ve mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m going to take a brief break from making comics before moving on to the next project. And I guess there’s no reason to be coy about it - I’ve decided to prepare a submission to Zuda. I know the odds are pretty slim, but since I was going to draw the comic anyway, I figured there’s no harm trying. So my next comic will be available on the internet again soon, one way or the other - if/when there are any new developments, I’ll make announcements here.
As I’ve mentioned to a few of you before, this is my first comic. I started this comic partly to see whether I really have the energy and sustained interest in doing a long-form comic, and partly to learn how to draw with a brush. It’s been a phenomenal experience for me, and that’s mostly thanks to you all - the comments and emails from you guys have kept me going probably more than you can imagine. And to all of you, whether we’ve communicated directly or not, I say thank you very much for spending your time in joining my “maiden voyage” into the world of comics. I wish you all the best, and hope to see some of you around again when my next comic starts 
.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Is that Zuda as in Zuda Comics? The best of luck! I’ve certainly enjoyed your work here, so I’ll keep an eye open for future developments.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:09 am
Ugh, I hate Zuda. Good comics, but their viewer is a bandwidth demon, and it disallows me from saving my favorite comics.
Excellent telling of a historical story, though. I look forward to your next project, although Zuda will make it incredibly difficult to read (I’m deployed to Afghanistan, with shit for bandwidth).
October 15th, 2009 at 6:36 am
Huh… I never thought about that… that’s actually giving me some serious second thoughts. I just thought there’d be no harm trying, but if the bandwidth demands make the comics hard to read that’s a major downside I think. I’m gonna have to look into that. Thanks for bringing this up Luke. And best of luck in Afghanistan.
October 15th, 2009 at 7:53 am
Thanks Mercy! And nice new avatar
October 15th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Koad, i think your choice of ending certainly is not too abrupt… after all, a hail of arrows usually puts a fine end to things in a hurry eh? Greatly enjoyed your “maiden voyage” comic! Looking very much forward to your next installment when you are ready to begin it! Will also be looking for you on Zuda!
October 15th, 2009 at 10:11 am
I follow over 20 web comics and I must say that Thursday is a favorite day because I know Tales from the Middle Kingdom will have an update. You are an excellent storyteller and your artwork is always something to enjoy. Good fortune to you now and in the future. Thank you for your hard work.
October 15th, 2009 at 10:32 am
It was an awesome ending, a great story! Will you be offering this in print?
October 15th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Loved the comic! This is also one of my favorites among many webcomics I follow. I do have to say I am not keen on the Zuda reader structure, but I would probably give it a try if you end up there.
Have you thought about T-Shirts or other merchandise? I can’t think of any good images from the first story right now, although I have had the single-tree-on-hill-over-battlefield as my desktop for quite some time now.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Thanks so much everyone! Really appreciate the encouragements. As for print/merchandise, I haven’t really thought about any of that yet. I have zero experience but I’ll look into it and see how it works (i.e. I will comb Kez’s tutorials for info
)
October 16th, 2009 at 8:35 am
I like this ending. Thanks for the great comic, I’m definitely looking forward to your next project. Even if it’s only half as good as this one it’s going to be great. War is not beautiful, but the way you draw it is;)
October 20th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Thanks for reading jj, though I do hope the next project is better than this one
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Alas the end…
Very nice comic Koad! indeed, i too follow quite a few and this one was outstanding to me for a few reasons: black&white when well done is simply great, and u did it very well, also the story flow was well balanced(not sure if this is the best word for it… but it kept me interested all the way).
cant wait for the next one!!
November 1st, 2009 at 3:26 am
hope that you’re enjoy your break. I don’t mean to crack that whip, but how will we know when you have a new comic out?
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Thanks Az, glad you enjoyed the comic.
when then new comic is ready to launch i’ll make an announcement here, so i guess the RSS feed would be the easiest way to stay in touch. and thanks for caring enough to “crack the whip” 
xcal: the break was nice, but now i’m back to drawing again
November 5th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Hey, about a story on Chinese Gordon, the Mandarin hero who died in Khartoum
liberating thousands of slaves of the Mahdi of the Nizarite Terrorists?
November 14th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
My modern Chinese history is a bit shaky… had to google Chinese Gordon
Sounds like a very interesting story tho thanks for the suggestion. Actually I’ve already started on the next story. Just a couple pages in not too much ready yet, but hopefully it’ll be ready to launch in the near future *fingers crossed*
November 14th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Every time i think of Chinese Gordon, i think of the movie Khartoum (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060588/) a fantastic movie and Moses… err… Mr. Charleston Heston… playing the complicated man that is Gordon (and Winston Churchill actually had a very good book describing the disaster that was Khartoum in his “The River War”… anyhoo… looking forward to your next story!
November 14th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
errr… that should’ve been Sir Winston Churchill