JQ: Rise of Abyss Lord Comic Book
Original comic book series - Issue #2
Client: Personal project / Original
JQ is an original superhero comic book series - one issue written, illustrated, and produced solo each year. Issue #2 pits the hero against Krallax, Ruler of the Abyss, in a story set across the coastline of Cape Town. Every panel, character, and visual effect drawn by hand.
Role
Concept & Writing
Character Illustration
Art Direction
Graphic Design
Illustration
Print Production
Year
2025
The Goal
Each issue of JQ sets the same challenge: build a complete, publishable comic book from a blank page - solo, within two months, with no brief and no client. The goal is not just storytelling but full creative ownership: character design, visual language, panel composition, lettering, and print production all under one hand. Rise of Abyss Lord pushed that further - introducing a new villain, a power-awakening arc, and a multi-timeline structure, while keeping the series' visual identity consistent with Issue #1.
Process
The process begins with narrative development: building the plot, establishing the antagonist, and designing the emotional through-line that runs beneath the action. For Rise of Abyss Lord, the story was structured around themes of resilience and purpose, with Cape Town as the setting - a deliberate nod to the protagonist's roots.
Character illustrations and visual effects are drawn entirely by hand in Adobe Illustrator, with each panel composed individually before assembly. Backgrounds are developed from reference photography or imagination, rendered to complement the flat comic style of the figures. AI-generated imagery was used selectively on two to three pages where atmospheric environments required a level of photographic detail that would otherwise exceed the production timeline. All lettering, sound effects, panel layouts, and typographic elements are custom-designed per issue.
Final assembly and print preparation are handled in Adobe InDesign, with the spread format designed to work both as a physical printed object and a screen-readable document. Across issues, consistency in character likeness, colour language, and visual tone is maintained without any style guide - held entirely through the artist's hand.
Final Design
JQ: Rise of Abyss Lord is Issue #2 of the series. It follows JQ as he faces Krallax, Ruler of the Abyss, who threatens to sink Cape Town beneath the ocean. The issue introduces a new power-awakening sequence, a dual-timeline structure between hero and civilian, and closes with a teaser arc establishing the next antagonist. The result is a 20-page comic book produced to commercial print standard - cover, interior spreads, cliffhanger, and next-issue hook included.
