I am not a detail-oriented artist. After doing the work to put details into an establishing shot for a scene, I do admittedly avoid complex backgrounds from that point on if I can. Such is the case with this scene. But laziness isn’t the only reason for the sparse backgrounds in this scene. I really want to try blocking in setting and depth with the colors, shading, and texture rather than complicating every panel with detail (re: the implication of the beams that stretch across the ceiling in panel 1). I’m not sure it was a success, but it was a fun challenge and I learned a lot. If anything, I didn’t want to distract from the “acting” happening in this part of the scene, the tension and misunderstanding that’s building to an inevitable conclusion. In a sense, I tried to do some “black box theater” for this part of the scene as a way to make it all about the interaction that these characters are making worse with every choice.
The thumbnail for this page. Dialogue notes included. Click for larger version.
With the new chapter beginning to update on Monday, October 27, it seems like a fair point to reveal not only the title of Chapter 6, but also the cover for the upcoming book.
The cover for Volume 6. Click image for larger version.
Admittedly, I have been very lucky over the last few books when the ideas for the covers for “Making Smoke” (volume 3), “Dead Words” (volume 4), and “Parting Gift” (volume 5) came to me rather quickly and early (or, at least, naturally) in the process.
The cover for “Sunza” was a last-minute swing to scrounge together a cover for a book that needed one. I discussed the ramshackle process for that cover earlier, but I can’t emphasize enough that it was not a thoughtful process. The cover for “Bird’s Eye” was also a kind of “time has run out” kind of thing and sketched out that idea in a moment of panicked inspiration.
The cover for the final Long John book is a mixture between the two extremes.
As of this writing, this cover didn’t exist at all three days ago. Part of the delay was surely the enormity of the occasion––the last book should have an incredible cover, right? However, I wanted to keep it of a theme with the design of previous books: simple, austere, interpretive. But I also wanted it to be celebratory and epic. So, I vacillated between ideas of simple graphical designs to a more “movie poster” style idea; however, nothing actually manifested in my sketchbook.
The very first Long John cover I ever did was for the Crocker-Con preview book back in 2014, which was more “movie poster” styled. While it doesn’t match the rest of the books, it became the image I used on my banner and other promotional pieces.
So, during an in-class writing activity my students were doing for a large portion of the class on Monday, I had my sketchbook and just drew shapes, quickly landing the image of the scythe with the banner tied to it and, after a few different ideas, Long John posed in the manner he is in the final image.
It was all really sketchy and I wasn’t sure if it would work, though. So, that night I took my iPad up to bed and decided to work it out. An hour later I had the cover image pencilled. I printed the pencils the next morning and had it inked before going to work. By the end of Tuesday night, it was colored and titled.
There was also a very light pattern I was low-key adhering to throughout the designs that I’ve never talked about before. I really view Long John as two halves, with “book 1” being Chapters 1-3 and “book 2” being 4-6; distinct arcs in their own regard. To that end, the color scheme of the colors of each book for each arc were designed around similar color schemes: Volume 1 & Volume 4 are red-coded, Volume 2 & Volume 5 are blue-coded. So, part of what stalled the design of Volume 6 was the unspoken desire to have it be orange/brown coded like the cover of Volume 3 was. But the drawing didn’t call for that, so I decided to break the pattern and I’m happy I did.
All six of the covers gathered together. They make a nice set, in my opinion, at least.
Looking at the gathered covers throughout the series, despite how seat-of-the-pants some covers were and how inspired others were, I’m really happy with the cover work I’ve done for Long John and, to me, are major parts of the tone and voice of the series overall.
As for the imagery, its meaning, and relevance, that’s for you to find out when Chapter 6 starts updating on Monday, October 27. Three pages will go up a week here on the website (with informative blog posts attached to each), but will also be posted to the Long John Facebook page, my Instagram profile (and its associated Threads account), and Bluesky.
I was very happy to write this note in my notebook.
Eleven years and three months after going live with the first page of Long John, I officially wrapped in the late evening of September 23, 2025.
I’ve already started uploading pages to the website and writing their accompanying posts. Of course, this happened right when a huge pile of essays came in from my day job which immediately demanded my attention.
This was only a few days after this year’s CrockerCon, the first in the show’s history to be an all-day event and, from what I’ve heard from the folks involved, was a wild success. Over 7000 people came out for the show, which blows any previous numbers out of the water.
The view from my table at CrockerCon, just beneath the banner of the poster I made for the 2019 show.
Personally, it was an incredible show, as always. Those of us who have been attending for years often describe it as a class reunion or something similar––getting to see old friends and local creatives all in one place is always a treat.
So, once I get these essays graded (I’m almost done!) the plan going forward for chapter 6 is planning. Figuring out the release schedule, finishing up the book side of things (cover, extra material, etc.) and getting that all set up for preorders (I’m thinking around November or early December).
A lot of people have been asking about Kickstarting a collection. I’m not against it, but I am terrified of running a Kickstarter campaign, especially on my own. We’ll see! For now, I’m more concerned about getting Chapter 6 updating on the site and getting this final volume put together. Then I can worry about the bigger stuff.
Keep an eye out for future updates! We’re almost there!
A cunning mercenary who currently gets his paycheck from Rich Jack Langstrom, Bishop is a man who always finishes the job. He is less a gunslinger and more of a manipulator, who gets his way less through brute force than through his wide network and years of mysterious experience...and getting them to do the dirty work.
Reprinted from an 1879 column published in The Chico Morning Chronicle-Record:
'Famous gunfighter––though currently riding under the guise of a bounty hunter––"Long" John Walker's stoic, monolithic presence draws the attention of every room into which he steps, even in spite of his severe penchant towards laconicism. The apparent contradiction extends to his dress, as his already massive frame is extensively layered beneath strata of wool, leather, and cotton garnished with smaller adornments made of ivory and precious stones. As the ostensible leader of the trio of "bounty hunters" known colloquially as "The Johns" (after the fact that all three members share the name, though the record is unreliable), he commands through nuanced gesture, threatens through twitches of the eye, and famously shoots running targets at rifle-distance with his standard Colt model P (I can personally vouch for this feat and while many of his other popular descriptors are the work of dime novels, this claim is irrevocably true). While his motives are kept close to his dandily clothed chest, there is no doubt that no man alive wants to be on the bad end of his gun's sight-line.'
Jack Langstrom, like his father before him, is the overarching patron of the Basin's largest city, Bodie. His father built the empire, first as the owner of the very profitable gold and silver mines, second as the main employer with the mines, the refinery, and majority holder of the land much of the city was built upon. By the time Jack took over, Bodie was in its heyday, a pulsing metropolis in the middle of nowhere cradled at the top of the Sierra Nevada Range. However, the mines have dried up and people––and their money––are leaving. Doing his best to not only keep his wealth but also his position, Jack suffers no hesitation about using any means necessary to get what he wants, even as clothes go threadbare, wallpaper begins to peel, and the shine begins to dull on this once brilliant jewel of the region.
A quiet and calculating figure who is a master of getting the wheel of whatever enterprise––or machination––turning well enough that she only has to monitor and reap the rewards. This skill has brought her from the lowest of the pecking order of Bridgeport to becoming the behind-the-scenes leader of the town. It's this skill that brought her to the attention of Rich Jack Langstrom in Bodie and is why he actually depends on her more than even he realizes. Who knows how high she has her sights set?
