Well, if you're bothering to read this section, odds are
you've never heard of webcomics before and you have no idea
what's going on. If this is the case, I have no idea how you
found my site, but DON'T WORRY if you're confused right now.
Webcomics are kind of a new thing that's popped up, like blogs
or podcasts. A webcomic is, get this, "a comic displayed
on the web." Very simple, yes? They started in the late
80's, you know, when the internet first came out? Anyways,
webcomics come in many types and genres. The War of Winds
is a fantasy webcomic, based on a novel I recently finished.
There are also humor, mystery, horror, non-fiction, autobiographical,
drama and science-fiction comics too (to name but a few).
Webcomics come in many formats also, such as the single-panel,
strip or long-form comics. The War of Winds is an example
of a long-form, story-based comic.
The things that make webcomics different from say, print
comics or comic books or the Sunday Funnies are how they are
distributed (over the internet), how they are made, and WHY
they are online. Many webcomics are print comics scanned into
the computer and displayed online. Some webcomics are interactive
or are created completely digitally, and cannot be displayed
properly in print. Other webcomics, like mine, have constantly
changing page sizes, and could not easily be printed. Usually,
those comics that COULD be printed on paper (but are not)
are displayed online because it is easier, cheaper and faster
to reach a larger audience. Also, it's extremely hard to get
your comics published in print, even if you self-publish.
Some people like to call webcomics "online comics"
as though calling them by another name makes them more significant
or acceptable in certain social circles. My favorite is "online
web-comic," with the hyphen. There are tens of thousands
of webcomics published online, and most are well-loved hobbies,
drawn and scripted by single individual in his or her spare
time. Other webcomics, ahem, "online comics" are
businesses, and support the webcomicker, excuse me, "online
comic creator."
From the tone I'm using here, you can tell that in some circles,
webcomics have a very negative connotation. Most advertising
businesses on the web look down upon webcomics, because, well,
many webcomics are simply BAD. They're made by amateurs or
young kids or people with just no experience. (Have you seen
my beginning pages?) But webcomics generally evolve and grow
and get better. There are some very awesome stories out there
to read, and I suggest checking out my
links list to find a few.
If you are still confused, here is the wikipedia
definition. If you don't know what wikipedia is, for now,
just consider it a simple online encyclopedia.
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The War of Winds is an epic fantasy/sci-fi story that
spans in total, about 3000 years. The current story featured
by this site details the end of the war between the
Four Winds, hence the title.
This work is available both as an online graphic novel (webcomic)
but its original form is a written novel. The first
book of a planned series is complete at 24 chapters, while
the comic is barely into chapter seven. I am also planning
several prequels to this story, as well as several sidestories.
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The Story
The Four Winds are not a legend as the people have
come to believe. Created by the gods for the sole purpose
of protecting the land and people, even the peace they
brought to the First Days could not last. After all,
peace is only that small interlude between wars, and
there has always been war. Just ask the gods.
The adventure begins in the midst of the battle that
exiles the Wolf, the North Wind-the only one of the
Four whose power and strength rivals that of his brother,
the East. With the Wolf gone, the Dragon, the East Wind,
is free to put his own plan in motion, and bring upon
the second rising of his Empire that the North had crushed
a millennium ago.
The few who survive the battle are doomed to be drawn
back into the fighting, even if the world has forgotten
how it all began. Tired of dodging demons, bounty hunters
and assassins sent by the East, they have no choice
but to fight back, but quickly find out neither humans,
nor the more powerful race of melded man and beast called
the Ayenroki, have a chance of surviving with their
own power. The only way is to find the fourth Guardian,
the North Wind, and once again even the playing field.
Even stalemate is better than defeat.
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There are currently 2 features updating on this site. The
schedules are as follows:
Comic: Monday
Cast Q/A: Wednesday
The Written Story: (No longer public. Check the forum)
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Comic:
The War of Winds was first seen online on
April 26, 2004. The first pages were horrible. Truly
horrible. Seriously. Many have since been redone,
and will continue to be redone as I get to them.
This story has currently has just entered its fourth
year online with more than 250 pages.
The comic is updated in full-color RGB mode in
high-quality jpeg format. While loading time may
be slower, I refuse to sacrifice quality for the
sake of speed (though I do apologize to you dial-up
users). This comic is and never was meant for print.
Pages are not kept to any specific size and style
changes frequently. I have a webcomic, not a print
comic. I like to take advantage of that fact.
Each comic page generally takes 12-20 hours to
complete, with 2-4 hours spent sketching, 4 hour
inking, and 4-6 hours coloring. There is a short
and poorly-fashioned tutorial on how I once colored
n' stuff, once upon a time, here.
As of March '08, I bought a graphics tablet (6x11
Wacom Intuos) and am working on the transition to
a truly digital creation. A new tutorial based on
a recent wallpaper can be found here.
There is also a comic guide that summarizes each
chapter in a pseudo-comic form, available here.
Information about the world in which this comic
takes place can be found here.
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Cast Q/A
This feature was first introduced in 2006. I forget
when exactly, but it was a successful attempt to
foster audience involvement. One question is answered
per week as a mini-comic, usually in a comical manner,
though some have been rather serious. There are
currently over 30 Cast Q/A comics available in the
Q/A archive.
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The Novel
It has always been my goal and dream to one day
see The War of Winds published as a novel—never
as a graphic novel. I originally started the comic
as part of a project to teach myself to write better,
because if I could visualize it, if I could see
how the characters interacted, I hoped it would
help me. I think it has. Unfortunately, it has also
made my rather odd sense of humor even worse...And
delayed me finishing the novel, because making webcomics
is very addicting. Seriously.
Currently, The War of Winds is going through
a serious editing process. It is a complete work
at 24 chapters and 500-something pages, but with
multiple locations and characters, there are 66
chapter installments, with multiple parts per chapter.
However, the story is NO LONGER public! If you want
to read it, please register at the forum to view
the private areas. If you don't want to do that,
you're going to have to wait for the comic, or until
it's on the shelf at the bookstore!
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Who is KEZ?
 Ahh,
the elusive, mysterious KEZ. Firstly, I know you're asking—initials?
No. I sign work in all caps. Normally, it's regular 'ol
Kez, which is a nickname I chose for myself. As for the
obligatory information-- I am female and looking for a
job. I SHOULD be attending med school in fall '09, and
I graduated with a biological sciences degree in May '08.
I also enjoy the martial arts very much, and practice
Goshen Jutsu, Seven Star Mantis Kung Fu and Pekiti Tirsia.
I'm a big fan of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis,
and seriously wish RDA hadn't skipped out of SG-1, but
I'm an understanding person and won't kill anything over
it. Though now that SG-1 has ended (please tell me I'm
dreaming), I may go crazy...I'm already insane, but I
may go crazy.
Prince of Persia 2 is my most favorite game because it
has the best fighting EVER, and...lemme see. What else?
I also ramble a lot about things important only to myself,
such as how great my dog is. His greatness beats your
dog up anyday.
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Thesis? For real?
The War of Winds was been my senior honors (creative)
thesis for my undergraduate degree. Specifically, the
thesis dealt with the translation of the written work
into a graphic format specifically for digital viewing,
and why I chose that medium. I strenuously believe there
are not nearly enough webcomics out there that take full
advantage of the digital format and rather, conform to
print requirements. The digital medium is just that--a
medium. This comic was never meant to appear printed on
paper. I do not conform to proper dimensions, resolution,
or colors. I take advantage of "infinite" canvas
and negative space--I absolutely REFUSE to squish hard-won
panels onto small pages, to cut out backgrounds,or to
script to a pre-determined amount of pages.
The digital format is incredibly freeing. My pages can
take any shape, and size. With advances in internet connection
speeds, I can post larger file sizes. With advances in
art software, there is so much available to explore--especially
interactive features and animations. What is possible
and how it's done, or how I go about doing it--that's
my thesis. And as a biology/pre-med major, I'm stoked
about it. Of course, this means instead of studying metastasis
or biochemistry, I am often found fiddling around with
CSS and Photoshop.
So, please think of this site as a gallery for my work--not
as a one-stop shop for a 10-second viewing pleasure on
update days. I'm going to come right out and say it: this
site is about me, my work, my time, my likes. I hope that
those of you reading this who do make a webcomic understand,
and those who don't, that you try and think about the
time and dedication that goes into a project like this.
Those of you who complain about late updates, artist's
rants, begging for donations, those who never ever leave
any message about visiting for encouragement, I urge you
to think about and appreciate the many webcomic artists
out there who entertain you. Because this is real, hard,
work, and most of us never see any money out of it--let
alone any encouragement from those who visit. Please remember
that PEOPLE, not invisible robots, make webcomics. Now
go thither and multiply.
(anyone interested in reading my 83-page thesis may feel
free to email me. Open source, FTW!)
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Commissions:
You've seen my art and what I'm capable of. I'm open
for art commissions. My prices range from $10-$100 USD.
I do not quote blank prices before hearing what you would
like, but I will say that $10 covers a quality sketch
(mailed to you), and $100 a full-color poster. Email
me if you'd like to commission or discuss prices.
I also make comic websites on the side. My own site pretty
much features my capabilities. I do not know PHP, but
I can implement other codes including the updating codes
of ComicGenesis, Keenspot, Drunkduck, SpiderForest, SomeryC,
Wordpress and Comicpress. I build sites using HTML, CSS
and Dreamweaver. I AM NOT FLUENT in CSS, but I can use
it well within HTML. If you want a professional, then
fork out the cash to pay for one! :P
- If you have a design but don't know how to put it together,
I'll code it, cut it, and put it up for $20-50 (example).
Please provide your design in the form a SINGLE template
image that is 100% the size at which you want the image
displayed, layers included. Full Comicpress mods are on
the upper range of this price, since it can take hours
to make sure everything is installed, working correctly,
and viewable cross-browser. HTML sites are very easy to
build, and are on the lower end of this scale.
- If you know how to code but want someone else to make
you a design, this is also $20-50, depending on the level
of design necessary (example).
- If you don't have a design and want a site, I'll make
you something functional and tasteful for $50-100 (example).
You MUST supply me with graphics and images for me to
use if you want images, because building/designing sites
doesn't cover drawing for your site too. Whether these
images are from comic pages or character art, it's all
good. High resolution if possible, please. And I can of
course, be commissioned to draw graphics for your site,
but that is extra.
My requirements:
- I must have access to your FTP and/or site admin area.
I also will supply you with templates so you can insert
your own material after the site is made if you want more
pages. I myself will do a maximum of 5 pages for the prices
shown, ie, main page and 4 satellite pages.
- I cannot be long-term webmaster of any sites, though
advice and tinkering is completely free if you need it,
even if I have not done a commission for you. If you want
to commission me for a long-term project, the answer is
NO. I'm already involved with too much long-term stuff
as it is. I define long-term as "you will need me
for more than 2 weeks."
- Payments should be made with Paypal to warofwinds@gmail.com
Email me at warofwinds@gmail.com if you're interested.
"Resume" of site templates I've built and designed:
Reaper 7, property
of Brian Brock
Health
and Wellness Resources, property of Janet Eichas
Tales of Pylea,
property of Aimee Chow/Matt Summers
Xylia, property
of Barb Jacobs (title graphic by Barb Jacobs).
Zevonprice.com,
property of Zevon Price
Ravenwood,
property of Sylvia Baker
Canterrain's
Webcomic Reviews, a satellite of Xylia, content
by Canterrain
Hikousen Enterprises
Comic Gateway, content property of respective comic
creators, site property of HeavyCat Multimedia
Cat Legend, property
of Katrina Santoro (title graphic art by Kat)
Cooties,
property of Nick Perkins (title graphic art by Nick)
"Resume" of sites built or installed, but not
designed by me:
Lady Tygry
Productions (Elect
Reprobate and Hardly
Keeping), property of Lady Tygry
Talismen, property
of Barb Jacobs and Steven P. Jones
Fuzznuts,
property of Chris W. and Zack G
Caricatures, property
of Barb Jacobs
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Email KEZ at warofwinds(at symbol)gmail.com or contact via
AIM "kezhound;" via MSN "kezkay(at symbol)hotmail.com;"
via forum, "KEZ."
I'm a busy kinda person, so, regardless of how dickish this
may sound, DO NOT contact me to chit chat. I'm not good at
it. I may just ignore you because I don't have the polite
words to tell you to scram. I'm a senior, pre-med student
working on a thesis, taking 3 martial arts styles and often
completing website/art commissions. When I'm not doing those
things, I am molding the impression of my backside into an
EXTREMELY comfortable couch, because my brain is often on
"overload" setting. I WILL ignore you to play with
my dog.
If you want me to make a tutorial on something, go ahead
and send an email, and I'll get to it when I can. Fan letters
make me extremely happy. Hate mail will be posted on the site
publicly so that people will diss you. At least, that's the
plan. Who knows? They may agree with you.
Link exchanges are A-OK with me, but I will not link X-rated
sites.
Umm...I think that's it!
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