So, after a longer-than-expected hiatus, I finally have news to report: my new comic is one of the 8 entrants of this month’s competition on Zuda. It’s called “The Rise and Fall of the Three Kingdoms”, and it’s based on the famous “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” (I know, big surprise). I was going to just call it Romance of the Three Kingdoms and be done with it, but apparently for legal reasons that’s not allowed. Hence the slightly awkward name. Anyway, you can see the new comic here. And if it doesn’t win, I’ll continue the comic here, so I’m happy either way (all this time away is giving me a major case of comic drawing withdrawal)

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 .

There was a comment last week about how Pong Guen would end up, and here it is - he cut his own throat under the same tree that Sun Bin predicted he would die under. I can’t help thinking that’s like a very violent version of calling a bank shot

I felt a little bad for the guy even as I was drawing this. I mean… that’s gotta hurt… ugh

This is my favorite kind of update: no words = no typos

The ambush at Ma Ling, depicted in this scene, is perhaps most famous for being one of the earliest written records describing the use of crossbows in warfare (wiki ref). Personally I’m most struck by the “in-your-face” nature of the message. Ambushes are a staple of war, but I don’t know of any other instance where the attacker leaves a note like this to tell the victim he’s screwed.

My wife is taking MBA classes, and one of the things they teach is that if there are words on something, people will want to read it. The more educated the person, the stronger this urge becomes (apparently most college grads feel compelled to read the ingredient lists when they buy processed food - I can’t speak for other college grads, but I’m certainly guilty). So I guess this week’s update is one example that supports that theory.

My wife (she doesn’t read this comic, but I sometimes show her the pictures) thinks I drew the first panel because we just spent a week at Acadia with a lot of trees. I wasn’t consciously thinking of Acadia when I drew, but subconsciously… who knows?

By the way, for those of you who haven’t been there, this is where I was last week :

According to Wikipedia, using the shrug to indicate ignorance is mainly done in the English speaking world, and is “relatively absent from Eastern culture” (yes, I specifically looked this up for this week’s update). I grew up in the East and we shrugged all the time, so I say forget Wikipedia - my characters are going to shrug! XP

And yes, by the time this comes out, I’ll be chillin’ in Acadian sea breeze. Yay for me!

I’m going to the Acadia National Park next week for some hiking, kayaking, and fishing. So obviously I had to draw a picture of people cooking food outside over open fire. *Daydreams about steaks on a grill… Mmmmm Meeeeeaaat….*