I hope everyone’s 2025 had more ups than downs! It was a bit of a landmark year for me. For over a decade, I have freelanced full-time, which has brought many blessings but also many challenges. Last year, I landed a full-time contract with Storygrounds.
Going from freelancing to full-time (while balancing freelance projects on the side) has been an adventure. Along with this new opportunity, I’m excited to recap last year’s geeky announcements!
In addition to jamming along with the updated Salty Roos theme song, I wrote Salty Roos: Scorton Creek Marsh Madness! (Creator Erick Anderson, Writer Nicole D’Andria, Artist Diego Toro, Colorist Kote Carvajal, & Letterer Cristian Docolomansky). If you’re a fan of the hijinks the Scooby Gang gets up to, then you’ll enjoy the Salty Roos. This trio of anthropomorphic kangaroos travels the world, enjoys extreme sports, solves mysteries, and takes down (or fights alongside) cryptids.
In this issue, the Roos learn about the local urban legends of Scorton Creek. Quickly, they find themselves biting off more than they can chew when they face off against the Marsh Monster! But there’s more to this urban legend than meets the eye.
The Kickstarter for the issue was successful, and it should be coming to IndyPlanet in the future. For now, you can enjoy several other issues that I’ve written (#6-7 & #9).
The Nightmare Theater Anthology, the first anthology I ever contributed to, was reprinted with a brand-new risque cover by Emanuele Taglietti! The Mexifunk movie poster cover was also offered in trade paperback form for the very first time. The collection includes 32 short horror comics spanning 272 pages and features everything from Lovecraftian monsters to everyday terrors.
My short comic was “The Kill Boat,” with art by Puppet Master artist Michela Da Sacco and colorist Yann Perrelet, and letters by Road Trip to Hell’s Justin Birch. Imagine you’re taking a trip on The Love Boat, but it turns out to be a Hostel situation! And I said it in my newsletter before, but I’ll say it again to manifest it: I’ve been wanting to turn it into a graphic novel for years, so maybe this will be a push to get me thinking about it again!
What Lies Below the Lilies (Creator Jeff Bakalar, Writer Sarah Dealy, Artists Nicole Kim & meighhh, and Editors Nicole D’Andria & Hayden Robel): We completed the first season (20 episodes) of this psychological horror series last year. Peace Officer Jake Mason and the new Park Ranger Sheila Lomas find themselves investigating a woman who no one remembers ever existing. Which is only one thing in a laundry list of weirdness going on in the sleepy little town of Holloway Hills.
The Princess Games (Writer Twoony, Artist Seer Studios, & Editors Nicole D’Andria & Hayden Robel): This action-packed series (with a sprinkle of romance and fantasy) follows an assassin going undercover as a princess to get her revenge. Entering the Princess Games, Aya finds herself fighting, dancing, and (gasp) girl-talking her way through a dangerous gauntlet! The series went on hiatus as of Episode 30.
My Boss is Ghosting Me (Writer Lindorsaurus, Artist Yilun Tang, & QA Editor/Typesetting Assistant Nicole D’Andria): I’m particularly proud of my part in this series, as it’s my first time assisting in lettering! Drama in the workplace continues to run rampant in this webcomic, which focuses on Hana, a game dev and secret live streamer. One of two women working at a prominent game studio, she must balance workplace harassment with a ghostly curse passed down in her family for generations. And will there be love in her future?
Healing (Creator meighhh & Editors Hayden Robel for Episodes 1-16 & 30+ & Nicole D’Andria for Episodes 17-29): A fantasy romance webcomic, this series follows the high school love story of Leon and Sana. In addition to all the usual drama that comes with high school, Leon has a big secret that he’s hiding from Sana: He’s a sorcerer!
The Foxy Doctor Is In (Scriptwriter Cheese, Artist Sleepy Rice, Editor Dawn Cloud, & QA Editor Nicole D’Andria for Episodes 0-28): Zhi Banyi’s life is full of drama, romance, and comedy. He’s fallen for a mysterious woman he’s never met beyond a screen as he watches her livestreams. He seeks help from a psychiatrist to confront his feelings, completely unaware that the very psychiatrist he’s seeing is secretly the streamer. This series tackles sensitive topics related to mental health.
I also teased two major webcomics I was working on that started in 2026, which you can read right now on Storygrounds:
Reluctant Hero Chapter 3 (Creator Alexandra McCarthy): Previously a part of Band of Bards, the psychological slice-of-life manga is now being independently published on Kickstarter! Asta’s friendship with Mallory only grows stronger as they work together on her college film project. However, tensions are brewing between the two and Asta’s childhood friend, Lola. (Reads right to left!) This mature title is a cross between Cruel Intentions and Scott Pilgrim.
Butareba: The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig Manga Volumes 5-7 (Writer Takuma Sakai, Translator Zihan Gao, & Artist Minami): This year saw the release of three more Butareba manga volumes that adapt the light novel’s second volume! Some SPOILERS ahead as we recap:
The otaku turned pig from Japan has landed back in the fantasy world of Mesteria! Together with his fellow piggy companion Sanon, the two must help Ceres rescue the handsome huntsman Naut. But things are never that easy! Naut is forced to fight to the death as a gladiator and must pay a hefty price to escape.
Meanwhile, the real meat of the issue is Mister Pig’s reunion with Jess, which doesn’t go as planned thanks to her missing memories! And even worse, Mister Pig needs to find a way to protect Jess from the bloodthirsty rogues and hideous monsters of the Nothen Faction. However, Jess might just have some magical tricks of her own up her sleeve!
Butareba -The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig- Seventh Bite (Novel) (Writer Takuma Sakai, Translator Zihan Gao, & Artist Asagi Tohsaka): The seventh volume of the English translation of the light novel released in 2025! Chaos continues in Mesteria, with supernatural phenomena getting even worse!
And the solution is unthinkable: Kill Ceres?! Mister Pig and Jess escape with Ceres, seeking another way. Now on the run from the royal court, the pair might need to turn to an unlikely ally.
We’re so close to the end (two volumes to go, to be exact!), but will this volume set the stage for it to be a happy one?
Thirst (Creator Asami): Another landmark achievement from last year is that the first series I ever edited for Tapas, Thirst, concluded its third and final season (92 episodes long + Bonus episodes). This was also Tapas’s first exclusive mature dual release. Two actors find chemistry off-screen together. But things are more complicated than they seem as one of them is half-vampire and the other one is a vampire hunter!
Comedown Machine (Writer Amapora & Artist Saza): The romance webcomic series Comedown Machine returned for a mini three-episode (129-131) run in November. Of course, romance doesn’t come without some drama in this series. Even in the third season, while Tommy is living the start-up lifestyle, she’s finding herself pulled in a couple of directions. Which way will she go? Stay tuned as more episodes are currently in production.
Glarien and Thane Vol 1 (Creator/Publisher/Story Charlie Stickeny, Creator Conor Hughes, Story/Writer Layne Morgan, Artist Giulia Lalli, & Colorist Vittorio Astone): The mature fantasy graphic novella features the first couple of White Ash experiencing adventures that get about as explicit as Game of Thrones. Or, as described by Kickstarter, it’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith... if it took place in the world of Vox Machina.”
The Game #1-5 (Creator/Publisher/Writer Charlie Stickeny, Creator Conor Hughes, & Artist Mauricio Mora): This sci-fi thriller follows the unwitting Eli, who becomes “Player Number 3” in a 1,000+ year old game. The set-up is: “Think Quantum Leap (the original series, not the remake), if Sam happened to jump into the body of The Highlander, and then got dragged into a sexy noir thriller.”
Villains Seeking Heroes #1-8 (Writer Louis Southard & Various Artists): Available for free on the Loutopia Substack, Villains Seeking Hero follows the hilarious adventures of a veteran super-villain as he trains a group of reckless misfits. The series plays with superhero tropes and has a few twists along the way.
Battle Panda #1-4 (Writers Farhan Qureshi & Melissa J Massey and Various Artists): This action-packed mini-series follows Kai and his anthropomorphic friends, the underdogs in a fight against a powerful monster. Will the power of friendship, courage, and self-discovery be enough for them to succeed in this Karate Kid meets TMNT style story?
Paterfamilias (Writer Grant Stoye & Artist Don Cardenas): This horror thriller is part Taken and part Something is Killing the Children. Adam is searching for magical power to take on the demonic entities that have abducted his daughter. While the campaign was unfortunately unsuccessful, I encourage you to follow creator Grant Stoye on Kickstarter for future updates.
Ruination #1-11 (Writer Ryan Bis & Various Artists): One of the longest-running fantasy adventure comics that I’ve been a part of, this series follows a chaotic crew of characters from different walks of life who must work together to survive a world that has been destroyed by generations past. It’s been compared to video games like Final Fantasy and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Sadly, the Comic Frontline website was shuttered this year (though you can still find their old Blogspot with my “Kickstart the Week” interviews from pre-2019). I’m currently working on compiling the ones that have disappeared on my personal website. But using the Wayback Machine, you can check when Erick Anderson (Salty Roos) interviewed me about my own work on the series. A big part of the interview focused on the two stories that I recently wrote, which were successfully funded on Kickstarter: Salty Roos #9: Moonbat from Hell! and Salty Roos #10: The Twelve Nights of Krampus!
More writing: Behind the scenes, I’ve finished the script for Road Trip to Hell #4. However, I’m ideally trying to finish the scripts for the next story arc (#4-6) before beginning the art stages. I also still have plans for expanding stories, like The Kill Boat.
More events: I did FCBD at Comic Fusion, Diop Productions’ First Annual Artist Showcase, and Final Boss Comic Fest last year. I’ve already participated in FCBD this year, and while I don’t currently have plans for more shows, I am considering more opportunities, either this year or next.
And if you’d like to take a trip down memory lane with me to 2024, you can check out my in-depth update about it here:
2024: Pigs Flew, Roos Went to Space, and an Epic Food Fight Ensued
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April 6, 2025
Last year was full of new series and returning favorites (although every series I edit or write is my “favorite” in some way). If you’ve been enjoying my geektastic announcements throughout the year, thank you for sticking with me on my comic book (and beyond) journey! And if you’re new, I hope you find your next favorite series below!
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