Category: Blog

KoS 5 Year Anniversary Theme!

Posted on May 11, 2024 by crabbng
scanned marker and pen drawing. chibi hana looks through a large golden telescope with the words "kings of sorts 5 year anniversary" on it. behind him are large windows showing stars outside.

YES, it’s in December, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start planning the 5 year anniversary celebrations! This is more of an announcement of a theme than actually starting any festivities. I just wanted to give people a LONG chance if they wanted to participate.

and the theme this year is……. STARS!

scanned marker drawing. the word "stars" in light blue, with diamond shaped stars on either side.

Hana loves stars. They remind him that he, along with everyone else, is very very small. They also represent endless possibilities! I love them too, and so that’s what this anniversary celebration will be centered on.

There are no strict rules for participation. All that is required is to create some sort of fanwork (an art, a fic, a poem, a doodle, a think piece, a ramble, whatever) relating to the theme of stars! And Kings of Sorts.

And the special prize for participation is… your very own replica of Hana’s special little coin! It’s 1 inch in diameter and I’m so happy with how they came out.

photo of a small silver coin. it has symbols for air, earth, fire, and water on it.
photo of many small silver coins, each in its own clear pouch.

Nearer to the actual anniversary, probably a couple months out, I’ll either put together a form, or put the coin as a free item in the shop, in order to collect addresses to send them out. Not sure which way would be easier (and not make people nervous about giving me their addresses lmao), so if you have any thoughts, let me know!

I will make another post when that happens though. So, in summary, the theme for the KoS 5 year anniversary is stars! You can start making something now, you can share it if you’d like! But I won’t be starting the giveaway portion of it until probably October.

A few other notes to wrap up:

here’s a website that loads a random Palestinian fundraiser when you refresh it [go help some people out] if you can!

the SpiderForest comic collective is running a Kickstarter for the [Immortal anthology] of comics! I have a goofy one in there about Bon dying in various funny ways. check it out if you’re interested!

promo for immortal anthology Kickstarter, ends may 22. spiderforest.com/kickstarter. a panel of bon passing away from eating old spaghetti. a little ghost is flying out of him.

and finally.. KoS returns June 6th with Episode 12! I can’t wait to show you everything I have cooked up >:) see you then!

KoS 3 Year Anniversary!

Posted on December 24, 2022 by crabbng
hana and bonic are dressed in bright orange dragon themed outfits, with teal details. hana has dragon horns on his head and bon wears a big witch hat. they're making a heart with their hands. the text reads: "THANKS for 3 YEARS!!"

3 years and 600 some pages!! what a ways we have come.

i just want to take this moment to thank everyone who’s ever enjoyed KoS, previous version included. your kind words have encouraged me through the bit of a rough year it’s been! i keep them all in my brain to pull out when i need to, lol. (it’s a bit early so forgive my lack of eloquence)

anyways, i look forward to creating and sharing more with you in the coming year(s)! for now though, enjoy the beginning of episode 11!

the rest of the crew got dressed up too! (its a 21+ party so baby is being babysat)

marek, kiigari, teraat, chaarose, and aoife are all dressed in fancy clothing. chaarose and aoife are sitting on the couch and wearing long dresses. kiigari sits on the back of the couch, wearing a cropped jacket, shorts, and mismatched legwear. marek and teraat stand behind the couch, tera has her hand on aoife's shoulder. marek wears a crown and cape with lots of jewelry. teraat wears a little wizard cap with a large vest.

KINGS OF SORTS RETURNS 24-DEC-2022

Posted on December 10, 2022 by crabbng

WOW!! COULD IT BE REAL? COULD KOS FINALLY BE RETURNING?? yes

a promotional image for kings of sorts episode 11. there are pink triangles in the top right and bottom left corners with text on them. the top right is an icon that reads: "KoS", the bottom left reads: "EPISODE 11" "24-Dec-2022". the background is 4 images from episode 11. in the top, chaar stares out at the sky and sea. in the second, tera looks angry and is talking to bon, who also looks peeved. in the third, kiigari is walking through a colorful lab. the last image is just lines. in it, hana is crying.

on KoS’s third anniversary, episode 11 will begin. if you want to catch up or to refresh yourself on the goings-on, now is the time to do it!

there’s also giveaways happening on twitter and tumblr to win a full set (eps 1-10) of KoS books! check those out if you’d like

[tumblr giveaway]
[twitter giveaway]

i’m so excited to finally share this with y’all and i hope you enjoy it!!!

Cover Contest Spotlight #8

Posted on November 12, 2022 by crabbng
kiigari stands, aiming her bow towards the left, looking very concentrated. behind her a sunset is shining, lining everything is warm yellow light. text reads: "kings of sorts episode 2" "jacki @crabbng" "cover by victory @bronzeflower"

BACK AGAIN!! with a gorgeous cover from bronzeflower on tumblr! original post here

i love love LOVE the painterly feel of this one. so very cool seeing all the little strokes going into making up the full picture, a lovely effect. beautiful setting sun lining everything with light…. i love it THANK YOU for this lovely entry

there’s only one more week of kiigari entries! which is good, because i’m becoming worse and worse at posting them on time… at least now they’ll be up on the site for people to peruse. i’m happy to be able to archive these because they really are lovely. and im pretty sure i’ve said this, but its so cool to see people entering multiple contests, and watching as their art changes and improves… you love to see it

anyways. as was the case last time, i have two bon pics that will be featured in the BATTLE DAMAGE zine! an anthology of ppl getting beat up, there’s some mini prints as well and maybe some secret stretch goals if we get there 😮 check it out [here]!

a promo image for Battle Damage: a beat 'em up anthology. green circle shape with text reads: "KICKSTARTER". text reads "BATTLE DAMAGE: a mini artbook zine". in the back there is a split image. first half is a lava form bon, you can see his bones through his lava parts and his eye is messed up. second half is a very bloodied bon, looking very pleased and licking the blood coming out of his nose.

other reminders: kos ep 11 is starting dec 24th! the kos 3rd anniversary <3

also a reminder to check out the store!

BOOKS FOR SALE ONLINE 9.24

Posted on September 23, 2022 by crabbng

it’s my beautiful boy’s birthday!!! so happy for him.

but the actual news is: i got the box of books i shipped back from SPX! so, books (and other things) will be going up for sale online TOMORROW! around noon CDT.

there’s 9 outfit tomes left so if you want one…. grab one.

also a note, there’s like 5 of the ep 6 and 7 books left so if you want one of THOSE, do grab one.

SPX IS DONE AND I AM HOME

Posted on September 19, 2022 by crabbng

I really should have announced here that I was going to be at SPX, shouldn’t I. Regardless, it’s done. Hopefully I will have more time to focus on actually making comics, but with work and school starting out again… I can’t promise things will come quickly. Ep 11 is about 2/3 done though, so you will not have to wait forever.

With regards to the shop: books and extras will be added after I’m able to take stock of what is left after the show! I have some books at my sister’s place, so I’m guessing I’ll have everything by this weekend.

SPX was super fun!! It was absolutely terrifying the first half of the first day, but I got more comfortable and (somewhat) better at talking by the end of the second day. It was a fast track to learning how people respond to different pitches haha. So: scary, but extremely useful.

I’d love to do more stuff like that in the future! After a little while though, I have to recover from all that. Also I’d like to focus on comics fairs……………… near me lol.

I’m rambling but TL;DR: books (including the outfit tome) will likely be in the online shop this weekend and I had a good time.

EP 10 COVER CONTEST WINNER!!

Posted on August 7, 2022 by crabbng

cover for episode 10 of kings of sorts. the priomh is seen on a winding white pathway. hands are clinging on the side and she is disintegrating on of them as she looks forward, uncaring.

ISN’T SHE COOL??? i love the grasping hands, i love her just disintegrating one without a second thought, mmmm…. truly i feel threatened and i think that’s lovely. and the little patterning detail on the sleeves and such? you love to see it.

big congrats to @/space.beanss on instagram! for this creepy entry.

all of the priomh entries were lovely (completely unsurprising), the backgrounds on a couple of them were just phenomenal, and then the other with the snakes?? like.. yes??? canonically now i’m giving her a pet snake. thank you for all the work you all put in drawing this evil woman. i just love them all. someday i’d like to make a (free) artbook of all the entries i’ve gotten, like.. full pages for all of them. bc they are so amazing to see.

anyways, thank you for blessing me and for continuing to allow me to have great covers that i could have never made. YOU (pointing at you) make these books as lovely as they are

but, getting down to business.. i probably won’t be opening actual preorders for these. things are… PRETTY STRESSFUL around here getting ready for SPX and stuff for my actual work job. (which is how i can afford not to run preorders, tho.. gonna have to possibly dip into savings initially lol)

most likely books will be available to order online after SPX, with the extras being a variety of sticker sheets i’ve made and… outfit design book?? and a reprint of ep 1 so like. AS YOU CAN SEE. A LOT GOING ON.

regardless, thank you for all your support, thank u for taking the time to draw such lovely covers, and thank you for reading!

as you can see (if you’ve been keeping track of the cover contests on the sidebar of the website) i’ve switched them around a bit! next up for ep 11 will be our favorite AI? robot? mystical magical being? AYA!! i did this for a reason. just wait and see. you will understand. the colors? cool pastels. want some aya inspiration? check out [her tag on my tumblr].

i’m thinking? hoping? ep 13 will be the last of ‘season 1’. CROSSING MY FINGERS

other than that…. thank u again for reading! and creating! <3 <3

EP 10 COVER CONTEST!!!

Posted on June 21, 2022 by crabbng

KINGS OF SORTS COVER CONTEST FOR EPISODE 10!

ENDS 31-JULY!  

the ep 10 cover will feature .. ms PRIOMH DRAOIDH aka ZEYNAH ZAFRANI and the color is…. greyscale! that’s right, no colors here, only GREYS!! and blacks and whites, you get it.

RULES:

1) i want these to be easily sourced to the artist so please post it on whatever social media you use, tag me and use the tag #koscovercontest (i’ll be reblogging/rting all of them)

2.1) when you’ve done that please email me a link to your post and the actual pic to [crabbng(at)gmail.com] so i dont miss any! (and also so i can contact you easily if u win!) 

2.2) email me the background you’ve made! (just the pic without the character)

2.3) please include how you would like to be credited for your work! i.e. name or @ or both

3) submit your own work (obvi), multiple submissions are just fine! and if you won last time, go ahead and enter again!

REFERENCES/TEMPLATES: there are templates available to show you where the title/author/cover artist name will be for the final version, these are just for your reference only! please ONLY submit your artwork. 

references can now be found in the same place as the cover templates! (if you’re reading this on ig: templates/refs can be found linked on the cover contest announcement on the website)
templates/references can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GCBZB80zON_VEu28RCB3Ct2Vt9s7A8EK?usp=sharing

for Zeynah specifically, if you are looking for outfit inspiration.. just look at victorian gothic. you’ll find what you need.

SPECIFICATIONS:

the cover (plus trim) is 8.75”x11.25” (300 dpi), the end result for the cover will be trimmed to 8.5”x11” by me, but keep that in mind while deciding on how to design your cover. PLEASE adhere to these specs! wrong specs can lead to an otherwise perfect piece not being chosen. 

TIMELINE:

starts now, ends 31-July! so get them posted and emailed to me by then. it doesn’t matter if you send it in earlier or later in the timeline, all will be considered equally

WINNER:

the winner will (obviously) get their pic to be the cover and i’ll send you a free printed copy of Kings of Sorts Episode 10! and whatever is in the preorder pack. (there may be a large hana standee.. (eyeballs emoji))
all entries will receive a free PDF copy of episode 10 when the book is formatted!