We continue serialization of Empowered vol. 12, which proved to be the final volume of the series in this specific graphic-novel format, though I was unaware of that unfortunate reality when I started work on the book.

Continuing a thread from yesterday, the main reason for vol.12 being the end of this version of Empowered had to do with the gradually cratering sales figures for the years-apart graphic-novel releases. Almost as critical, though, was the demise of the pencil-based workflow I used on the series, which largely came about as I ran through the last of my once-massive stockpile of the one specific batch of 2mm pencil leads that enabled the artwork's production. I tried to find replacements for multiple decades, but never found a workable alternative.

More tomorrow! 

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, work-in-progress updates on developmental projects such as fantasy comics The Chaste and the Chained and The Last Party, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.