Delayed update 6/19
Hi ya’ll, next update will be 6/26.
To offer some clarity about the update schedule, I’ve had really shortened work weeks recently due to my (very young) kids being out of childcare a lot for public holidays or school development days. This week, for example, it’s Juneteenth (no childcare) and we’re also doing emergency childcare for a friend. I’ve also been working on finishing the recent edition of my role playing game magazine (which is available now!) and didn’t expect it to consume so much of my time this week.
At the start of the year, I grappled with insane burnout. Part of this was trying to pace myself to finish the comic by next year (I figured with around a hundred pages left, it would take me a year and a bit with two updates a week, minus holidays, etc). Every time I’ve pushed myself to do a double page update a week at this time in my life, it’s been very hard to hit the mark without exhausting myself. Being a parent means I’m often up at 6am with the kids (who are both under 5), at work by 8:30/9, cooking at 4, hanging out with the kids until bedtime at 8:30, then having my only time to myself from around 8:30-10. If I have any doctors appointments, errands, personal time, time to eat, or chores to do, they have to fit in my working time from 9-4. Trying to fit what could be 20 hours of ass in the chair drawing in that time was extremely tight and often led to me working late. I was put in an extremely bad mental health state for around a month or so and decided to pull back to 1 page a week, which immediately improved things. That has left me a little time in the start of my week which I’ve used to resume RPG work (which I can work on at a more flexible pace), or take on client work (for professional tv/video game studios most recently) but I’m still trying to find a good balance. If you ever see me doing illustration or role playing games work, that’s because it is (piecemeal) much easier to fit into my week than comics.
I’m also trying to wrap this comic of 13+ years. The pacing has been extremely hard for weekly readers to follow I think, due to this being a prolonged action scene with a lot of movement, that requires specific page pacing that’s going to suck reading week to week. The work has therefore been a little brutal for me at times, especially with the level of detail on some of these pages. I trust the outline and work that I’ve done to carry these part of the comic to its conclusion but I’d ask you to bear with me.
I could take a prolonged break of a month or two, then release 4-8 pages at once (like I did last year), which would help the pacing issues, but does not match how people mostly engage with and consume media content nowadays (as fast as possible and on a regular schedule). When I last did this, it was also intensely stressful to stretch my work over so long a period, so I think that’s a no go for now.
Anyway, I just wanted to be clear about the situation. I would rather consistently update at a pace that’s healthy for me and finish strong rather than self destruct trying to sprint for the finish. There’s a reason not many long running comic series get finished (and not many web comics), and that’s because they are a tremendous, overwhelming amount of work that is an intensely heavy burden for one person. I think that’s partly why they are so unique and beautiful though.
Thanks for reading – we’ll be back next week strong and we will continue until it is done – likely next year or early 2028.
Cheers,
Tom
We all appreciate your regular updates and honest communication!
As all these others have said, take care of yourself – we’re here for the long haul!
I only started following K6BD a year or two ago, but it has quickly become one of my favorite series (in any medium). Take whatever time you need to finish the story in a way that you’re happy with.
We’re all looking forward to seeing everything you have planned! 🙂
Oh no, the person who’s been creating free media in their spare time for over a decade needs to be a dedicated parent and income earner without deteriorating completely in the process.
In all seriousness, take the summer off and go do some fun stuff with your kids if you want. We’ll still be here when you get back.
I’m pretty new to the comic, but I know this has been a massive labor of love. Please take the time and work at a pace that makes life livable for you. I look forward to seeing each new page when it comes out, but I don’t want you to burn out. Your health and sanity and your kids’ well-being are the most important things here. Go at the pace that makes this the best comic it can be, while also giving you the best working conditions you can get.
take the time you need king. we’ll be here
Hi Tom, your health and happiness, and time with family, are more important than keeping internet strangers entertained.
Each webcomic, no matter its length, update frequency, or completion, is a gem! And a testament to the artist(s) who made it.
Take the time you need! We all want you to be happy when making this comic!
Do what you need to do, man, you are a human and you deserve to not be stressed over stuff. I’m happy to wait, this story and your art is amazing. It doesn’t matter if it’s days or weeks: when a new page comes out, let me tell you: the pacing does not suffer. The reason is because (and I think I speak for many) we are just going to flip back a bunch of pages and re-read it from there, to get the context fresh and to experience the new page in its proper pacing. That’s going to happen whether it’s daily, weekly, or monthly. And our lives by the way do not hinge around tapping our foot and looking at our watch, waiting for your next pages. When they come out, they are a bonus and a joy. Thanks for this amazing work that you’ve shared with us so far. Take care of yourself and hang in there. Peace.
while it is kind and considerate of you to update your readers on your life situation, you don’t owe anyone an apology or an explanation for the comic update schedule! I know the internet can be a cold and demanding place but I think anyone who truly loves this comic is happy to wait as long as we need to with whatever schedule is easier on you. kids are a full time job with no pay and mandatory overtime, I can only imagine how exhausting it is to juggle that with client work (which adds pressure & deadlines) *and* rpg stuff *and* this intricate & massive comic on top of that. shit’s hard!
my literal only small selfish request is that at some point, before it is all over, we get to see Myself The King Of Devils again :’)
i’m so grateful to have been reading this work of art for years, thank you for making it! take as much time as you need and please take care of yourself!
it is also very heartwarming to see literally every single comment unilateral in support & patience. we all love you and your art!! the world might be a shithole but at least there’s all of this :’)
They celebrate Junteenth in Japan???
I don’t mind the pauses in publishing. although you didn’t need to, I appreciate you being open about the stress. Take care of yourself and yours, we’ll be here when you’re ready to continue the story ^_^
Take your time! I am already following along for years so a little bit more is nothing. Most important part is your mental health and family!
Even if were completely selfish and didn’t care that you’re a human being with a family I would still much rather you pace yourself and finish the story strong than flame out because of a self-imposed deadline.
Of course I do know that you’re a human being and this means I want you to take care of yourself far more than I lust for more content. I think you’ve got a good plan here, and I highly appreciate the transparency.
How dare you put being a good dad and taking care of your physical and mental health over a free comic with an astonishingly chill fan-base! Laggard! Layabout! Slothful wastrel! SHAME!
Glad you are gonna take your time; I can’t speak for everyone that reads KSBD, but I think most of us agree that avoiding burnout is the best option, even if we don’t get content as often!
Like, I (personally) do enjoy seeing updates weekly, of course, but those longer drops do work better with the flow of the comic and work better for your health.
take all the time you need, dude, seriously. good art comes with good health!!!
Go at your own pace, it’s my privilege to read it.
Tom,
Thank you so much for sharing your creation with us, even as you work to take care of your smaller, louder, more corporeal creatures. Remember that we are guests in a beautiful world you made, and that you are a fine host. Thanks for the story.
Love the transparency and glad you’re taking care of yourself. Burnout sucks so much ass.
My guy, my dude, my pal gog-agog, wtf man
You need to sleep, you need to pace yourself, and most of all, you gotta do what’s right for your work-life balance. As a father I know how hard it is out here with little kids. You’re doing so much, and I know how easy it is to get sucked into a hellish work-aholic mindset.
Just take it one at a time. If you want to do 1/month or 1/2month schedule, maybe just reconfigure to allow people to get their content via email? Like a comic newsletter.
Take as long as you need, family comes first always. We’re just text on a screen and we can wait as long as you see us to!
Your work is always worth the wait. And family time is non-negotiable. That people constantly want more from you is hopefully flattering, but ultimately a bottomless pit.
Dittoing everyone’s thanks, admiration, well-wishes, recommendations of care and claims of patience.
KSBD is well worth rereading to get a full scene or chapter at once anyway, so getting just one page each time (weekly, or even less, though a regular schedule is appreciated) is not really an issue.
Also, on the balance of things: worst case if you focus on this story too little is your readership wanes and it’ll take ages to finish; worst case if you focus on this story too much is your family life suffers, your health declines, *and* your readership wanes (you’ve mentioned webseries not finishing, but even if you push yourself to finish after a burnout, loss of interest/drive can ruin the tale’s quality, as happened e.g. with Stand Still Stay Silent)
I sincerely appreciate all your work on this webcomic. It’s an incredible feast for the eyes, and is incredibly interesting plot-wise. Please take the time you need. I would rather get a 4 month delay than no updates ever. It’s important to take care of one’s self. Especially with young children.
First-time commenter coming in to say: please be gentle with yourself and take all the time you need, not only for the obvious humane reasons but also because work that’s unpleasant to produce is usually unpleasant to consume. We’re not Pennywise and pain doesn’t make it taste better. Spend time with your family, stay rested up, and return to it without apology when it feels like play again.
I’ll echo everyone. We would much rather you finish the comic at your own pace, as you always intended, with zero burnout while still loving the story. Take weeks off, take months off, we will literally read the entire archive back to back every update to enjoy fight scenes and not care a little bit that there’s “little progress” weekly. Everyone loves you and will always love you, take it easy, enjoy having a family.
Arbitrary deadlines aren’t really important, having a finished story with a cool ass ending that doesn’t feel rushed when read will last for eternity. True royalty.
Take the time you need to get this done in a way that meets your needs and desires both for your health and for this project. Please know the release of each page is a happy event for me but as a long time reader of page by page webcomics I always go back and reread the whole thing throughout its creation every year or so just to keep the context fresh in my mind and also to experience action scenes more as they were intended.
I am always aware I am watching a forest be built tree by tree by shrub by bug – a tremendous undertaking.