Tag Archives: Art

Comic Collection Stats: A Year in Review

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Summer is over and the kids are back in school. Everyone is thankful for that. For me, I’ve been working, playing games, drawing, and reading comic books. Its a tricky balancing act, trying to find time for all my hobbies, while trying not to neglect my family.

/ art over the summer
/ inktober
/ comic collection stats
/ video games for the remainder of the year

//

As I mentioned in my last post, I wouldn’t have much art to share, but in less than two months, I actually feel I have more to share than I expected.

First up, can’t go wrong with Spider-Gwen. She has a new number 1 issue on the stands and a new costume.

Next up, the exiled sorceress-warrior Wysta, the Wayward Wytch of the Spider Sect. From my favourite comic book of 2025, Bug Wars.

And a current work in progress piece, currently not shared anywhere else. Kpop Demon Hunters. This has become a new favourite in the house as my young boys enjoy the movie. As its very trendy, I figured I’d draw the 3 main characters. and I’m very happy with the progress so far, so I will likely turn this into a full coloured piece and print it as a poster for the boys. By then it might not be cool – but who knows. So far I have completed Rumi, and sketched out Mira and Zoey. But I’ve been taking my time, which I think shows in the final results below.

As an annual tradition, I like to do the #faceyourart challenge, to make a collage of all the faces I’ve drawn over the last 12 months. Mostly from Drawtober in this collection, but its a cool visual. This is from August 2024-2025.

Speaking of Drawtober, the prompts for this year have been posted. I’ve come up with ideas for all, and the KPOP demon hunters drawing is a good warmup for me, leading into October, as the summer I didn’t draw much. After reviewing the list, I have a general idea for each one, but, if I decide to apply a theme, I also have a backup plan: to do all Batman/DC characters as a theme. As I get closer to the start of the month I’ll decide which route to go.

//

In comic books news I’ve come to the harsh reality that I am collecting too many. I think I’m around 70-75 books a month. So I’ve been slowly cutting back on some titles, and watching the miniseries conclude through the end of the year so hopefully all I have left is the on-going books. My goal is to get the number down to around 50 by 2026. And then get a little more strict. Average 10 a week I think is a good number.

Here are some stats from May 2024 – 2025

+991 comics
+840 read (2023 I had read 85% of my collection. Now its up to 87%)
2024 saw 63% increase annually over 2023 in new books
Batman overtook Spawn as most collected character. And Spider-Man made the top 5, booting out Joker who is now in 10th.

It’s always interesting to look back on the collection stats year after year.

//

In video games, I’ve been a little all over the map.

Doom Eternal, I play a mission here and there, but like the name implies, the missions feel eternally long so I need a break after each one. 18 hours in – although I think that number might be a little inflated. Can’t imagine I’ve actually played that long.

Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition, like Doom, I play for a bit once a week just to make some progress. 5 hours in.

Gears of War Reloaded, playing in co-op every Wednesday. We have finished act II. 3 hours in. We are also still playing Skull and Bones, and have Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on our shortlist.

Dredge. What I thought was going to be a cosy fishing game has turned into quite the time sink. 30 hours in, and I’m nearly done. I’ve completed the main story and 1 DLC, and 1 left to do.

Star Wars Outlaws, just started this, 4 hours in. So far its a pretty impressive game. Big maps, pretty visuals and an interesting story.

Spider-Man 2. Definitely my primary game right now. 10 hours in and starting to get interesting, with the introduction of Venom. As expected, the game has a very good photo mode, so I spend a lot of time taking pictures.

See in you in October with Drawtober.

Rogan

Tools of the Trade

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Another 5 months have passed. Let’s see if I can even recall what’s happened this year. It’s all a blur.

//

In Art, after Drawtober, I told myself I would take a break. Drawing 31 days straight was a test of endurance, and I did finish the month. But needed a break, and told myself I would, for the remainder of the year. That lasted till December 29th. With Jinx.

I also added two more X-Men blocks for my wall to wrap up 2024 Rogue and Gambit. I have one more completed, with Jean Grey, and I think I’ll need to do one for Cyclops to offset. And then maybe the next two will be Majok and Colossus?

I drew Erica Slaughter from James Tynion’s: Something is Killing the Children book, from BOOM. This book was just announced that it would be expected to go to (at least) 100 issues. Which is quite the achievement.

In January I started noticing some of the Marvel Rivals skins, Sue Storm specifically, and thought it would be fun to draw. I had no idea she had an evil side. With spikes and all. This has inspired more Marvel Rival drawings. Currently I’m working on Luna Snow, and might do Emma Frost and Squirrel Girl.

Spider-Gwen was my grand finale for Drawtober 2024. Although I knew it wasn’t complete at the time, I needed a break. After a few months off and some warm-up pieces to kick off the year, I felt ready to revisit and finish this piece.

Feeling in the colouring mood, I decided to tackle another drawing from a few years back that I had left in the Ink phase. This happens from time to time, where I like the drawing enough to ink it, but colouring is a completely different beast, and I can go months without touching that toolset. But after Gwen and Malice, I felt the time was now. One day I’ll get around to finish colouring my Hawkgirl.

Absolute Wonder Woman is one of the best comics I’m reading right now. And drawing Wonder Woman is fun.

A quick Lady Thor. I forget why I was inspired.

More Magik because the Darkchild is always fun to draw.

Another favourite to draw, Psylocke.

Heading into May now with a collection. Angela from Spawn. Red Sonja. Blood and Thunder character Akeldama (a new and fun comic), and Hellgirl (gender swapped Hellboy).

Wrapping up the Summer with Rasputin IV, and the current piece I’ve been working on: Savage Land Rogue. Rogue might be a 2 piece as I want to add another section to the right, showing more of the savage land, with dinosaurs and some more X-Men. I think it would create a veery cool 2-poster visual on my wall.

//

In game news, I guess this has been where most of my time has been dedicated, as I’ve been working my way through sequels-a-plenty.

  • The year of sequels:
  • The Last of Us II
  • Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
  • Horizon: Forbidden West
  • Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2
  • Jurassic World Evolution 2
  • God of War: Ragnarok
  • Spider-Man 2 (in progress)
  • Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
  • Mafia II: DE
  • A Plague Tale: Requiem
  • Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
  • Doom Eternal (in progress)

In March I finished Horizon: Forbidden West. 40/80 achievements and 151 in-game photos. I needed to wrap it up as Last of Us II was releasing on PC and I needed to jump on that before the show’s season 2. I will create a separate folder for some of the amazing captures, but here are some of my favourites. The game is truly gorgeous.

In May I finished The Last of Us II Remastered. I wanted to play it and finish it before the second season of the show started on HBO. 14/45 achievements, 23 hours and 138 screenshots. I will create a separate folder for some of the amazing captures, but here are some of my favourites. The game definitely takes an emotional toll – but is a masterpiece.

Non-sequel (but does have a 2 in the title) I also finished Cyberpunk 2077 and the Phantom Liberty expansion. 70 Hrs and 240 screenshots. I could easily spend another 20 hours driving the streets of Night City and Dogtown, totally immersed in their stories. But the sequels won’t play themselves, so alas I must move on.

Also in co-op, Illestrader and I played through Warhammer 40K Space Marines 2 after we finished Atlas Fallen: Reign of Sand. Warhammer was a bloody good time, and I’ve been playing the recently remastered release of the first Space Marines game.

Now we have transitioned into Skull and Bones for some pirate fun.

Making slow progress in Doom Eternal, and I have now started up Spider-Man 2 before I head on vacation. After vacation I’ll have to make some decisions, as obviously the sequels are there, but there’s some newer games that have released that I would also like to try, like the much talked about Clair Obscur Expedition 33, and Stellar Blade is also on my wishlist, and is on PC now. Two games with styles are not typically in my wheelhouse, but I’m willing to try new things. Especially considering that Clair Obscur is looking like a very real Game of the Year contender. And in August, Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta will also be released.

I think that catches everyone up with the latest. I hope to return to the normal monthly wrap ups, as 5 months is just too much. Next month, as I wont have much new art to share, I’ll share more about my recent comic books I’ve been buying and reading, and a recap of my annual collection stats. We’ll also have the #faceyourart annual collage to see all the faces I’ve drawn over the past 12 months. Should be a fun visual.

’till then.

Rogan

What was always expected…

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Hello everyone, and welcome back for another monthly wrap-up. Last update was in July, and we’re, gasp, in September? Where did the summer go? Kiddo’s going back to school, and morning’s start to become a little more hectic again. Life returning to normal.

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On the battlefront, it has been a little chaotic…a lot on the go, but not really dedicating a lot of time to one specific game. Feels like a freefall, and grasping at whatever looks shiny on that particular day.

Bad news first: Atomic Heart is no longer on GamePass, so I’ve stopped playing it. To be fair, I never really started, and didn’t really invest a lot of time into it. But I will probably buy it if/when it goes on sale. It’s on the wishlist. I liked the concept, and it felt like a good successor to Bioshock. I just didn’t really give it enough time.

Tried out Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn. The game looked pretty, but didn’t really feel like it had a lot of substance. Like some out of the box mechanics pasted overtop of the Unreal Engine. Maybe that’s a little harsh. It’s on GamePass for now, and once I wrap up a few other on-going games, I’ll drop back in to see it through.

Surprisingly the game I spent the most time on over the summer was The Division 2. Yes the same Division 2 from 2019. I’ve been playing through some of the free seasonal content they added over the years, as well as the Gangs of New York expansion – which I previously bought, but is now tacked on, free to play. The game is still a lot of fun, and you can boost your character with the new season. And I wish Ubisoft would make another. But this dive-back-in was mostly to grab some outstanding achievements. Currently G1005/1420 : 47/60. 54hrs.

Playing Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League with Illestrader every co-op Wednesday. The game feels a lot like Gotham Knights and The Avengers. Mostly focused on combat and traversal. Rocksteady has done a good job with the story thus far, but my complaint is the focus on gear and gear attributes. And it seems like every time we sit down to play, there’s a new combat mechanic added to the mix. I feel like I have to break my hand to try out the different button combinations. Also, the game gets interrupted after every missions with a competition screen, to show who on the team did the best, and unlocks, etc. I wish it played a little smoother and seamless. I’m playing as Harley, obviously, and he’s playing as Deadshot, and then we each share one co-op AI buddy, in King Shark and Captain Boomerang. So far my favourite in the game is Boomerang due to his dialogue. Harley is a little heavy on the accent. G80/1000 : 7/50. 6hrs. Still early in the game.

My main three single-player games are The First Descendant, Final Fantasy, and God of War. All on the PC.

The First Descendant has been a lot of fun. The story is mostly nonsensical, but as I mentioned last month, plays like a Destiny game, only with a lot more gear and weapon mechanics. Its overwhelming and I’m trying to not spend too much time focusing on it, as I’m not in it for the grind. I will play through the story and see if I can 100% the achievements, but if they become a little much, which I’m expecting 2 to be, then I’ll call it quits until there’s an expansion or more content. Free to play means there will be, and I’ll keep playing it as long as its still fun and not a burden. One thing I will say, that I appreciate about this game, is that it has cross-play, cross-save and cross-progression enabled. So if I wanted to, I can switch between the Xbox and Steam, and the achievements unlock for both. G680/1000 : 19/24. 10hrs.

I finished Chapter 12 in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Chapter 12 was a doozy with multiple characters dying. Took quite the toll. But the game is still fun, and I’m taking it slow as I don’t want the wait between me completing it and then waiting on PC version FF VII Rebirth to be too far in-between. 27/63. 20hrs.

Lastly on the list is God of War. This is a replay for me, on the PC. I’d previously played it on release on the PS4. But I haven’t invested in a PS5 and likely won’t, so I’ve been waiting on God of War Ragnarök’s PC release. Which is just around the corner. So I figured I should do a replay of the first one, to get caught up on the story again. I even got a PS5 controller for the new God of War, to take full advantage of the game. But God of War is still so good.

After I wrap up God of War and Ragnarök, and Final Fantasy, I think my next PlayStation games will be the Horizon Forbidden West sequel and Spider-Man replay w/ Miles Morales. Hopefully by that time, either Spider-Man 2 or The Last of Us 2, or Final Fantasy Rebirth will have been ported over.

//

Onto some drawings. Which, as expected, over the summer, tend to slow down a bit with the hot summer nights. But will hopefully pick back up as we switch to fall, and then I’ll have to think about what I’m going to do for Drawtober this year…if anything. We shall see how I’m feeling. How tired I am.

First up, Dazzler. I’m not sure where the motivation came from this, but it was an X-Men character I’ve had on my list, and I guess the planets aligned for one night.

Annually, there is a hashtag that pops up called #faceyourart, and it’s to show just the faces you draw. Facing your art. Always a fun glimpse into what I’ve been drawing, and how many female instead of men I draw. This is the group for the last 12 months, ending with Dazzler:

Over on my Substack, I recently did a write-up for CHU, as a recent series that followed John Layman’s last big series in CHEW. This is the sister prequel series. Here is the quick fan art that I like doing for the column. Saffron Chu.

The rest are still in various forms of completion. Like my games list, these drawings are just on a continual rotation of work-in-progress. So this is actually the first place these have been shared. Maybe the only place. First up is Savage Land Rogue. I like where this is heading. Still need to fine tune some things. Like the belt, and the back arm I think is a little short. And then decide if I want to add colour and some background elements.

Catwoman and Batman. The wife recently watched The Wolf of Wallstreet for the first time, and there’s a classic scene between Margot Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio in the bedroom. I wanted to mimic that for the Bat and the Cat. WIP. This one has been fun. Might turn it into a poster if it turns out well.

Bunny. 2022 was the last time I had done a webcomic on my StrangerThanFriendship site. And I have a new idea focusing on The First Descendant, and just how unnecessarily sexy the female costumes are in the game. I get that its a F2P and they want to get as much money out of their targeted demographic as possible. But its a bit much at times. Here’s a quick sketch of Bunny for the comic – or maybe just an excuse to draw the Bunny character from the game ;).

Lastly is Jinx, which is another addition to the GI Joe drawings I’ve been doing. Ink is done – just need to find the time to colour.

//

Over on the Substack, I finished The Hard Switch, by Owen Pomery, CHU (see above) and Fatale, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, and did a nice little write up for each. Next up is Far Sector, which is a DC Green Lantern book, and then rounding out #30 with The Watchmen. Then I gotta buckle down, as I got roughly 16 more weeks left in the year to see if I can read and write about 22 more books. Can I meet my 52 book goal. Not likely, but worth a shot.

And with that ends August. Remember to go outside.
Rogan
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Silence is Golden

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Welcome back, we missed you. A little bit of an absence here and there but at least I’ve been productive. Just not here…

My last update, from what I can recall was in November, post Drawtober. Since then I’ve played a lot of games. I’ve drawn a lot of pictures. I’ve been writing…elsewhere – and I feel guilty about that. But enough of the delays. Let’s talk about the last (gulp) 5 months.

We’ll start with the games first:

Starfield.
We first things first. I beat Starfield. Clocking in at just over 90 hours, finishing in December (started in September). 740/1000 gamerscore. I didn’t do all the completionist type stuff like visiting all the planets or Star Systems. I didn’t reach the max level or anything like that.

Spoiler warning: I didn’t even play any further than stepping through the stargate and becoming a Starborne. There is apparently an expansion coming, and I’ll step back in then, but for now I can comfortably say I’m done.

I played and beat Crysis 1 Remastered, in one sitting. 10 hours, 820/1000 GS. I still have two and three of the trilogy to play as well.

Illestrader and I beat Redfall, finally. 18 hours. 617/1000GS. I’m really annoyed that this game had some uneven GS achievements, and I’ll either need to play with other people, or go through the story again to complete those, but I’m honestly not interested. The game was decent overall as a co-op shooter. I’m glad I played through it as it had some good ideas.

Illestrader and I also went through Outriders and the Worldslayer expansion. I had previously gone through this game, initially in co-op but then finished it alone. With the replay I was able to 100% the main game and play the expansion. Finished 1260/1305 after 56 hours. The last two achievements will require more hours of grinding and I’m not interested in that.

I started playing Baldur’s Gate 3 with the wife. We played about 8-10 hours which is not a lot. She complained that I was holding her back – not making decisions in combat fast enough, so we’re not playing that anymore. I might still go through it some time. But I have a lot of other games so chances are low.

Finished Star Wars Jedi Survivor, 48 hours, 885/1000 GS. The remaining 3 achievements are collectible types and completionist stuff. Great game overall. Very good looking and fun combat.

Currently working my way through Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and nearing the end. 92 hours, 70% done the main story and already wrapped up one expansion. I want to wrap this game up before I tackle Horizon Forbidden West, which released for the PC a few weeks ago.

Alongside AC Valhalla, I am also playing through Final Fantasy VII Remake on the PC. I recently purchased this as it was on sale. It is my first FF game I’ve ever played, and for the most part it’s been a lot of fun. Even resulted in a Tifa drawing or 3, for obvious reasons ;).

I jumped into Helldivers II for a bit when it released. And I play a random game here and there and continue to follow the news about it. Fun satire game with good mechanics. Even spawned a Stranger Than Friendship comic idea that I might work on.

Now that Redfall and Outriders are out of the way, the next co-op game Illestrader and I have moved to is the Saints Row reboot. So far it is nothing great. Ugly city, feels like there hasn’t been much modernization over the last versions. Which is a shame. But it could be fun in co-op so we’ll see.

Ok, on to drawings. Over the past few months I’ve put out quite a few, which I’ll share below.

Here’s the list:

  • Wonder woman
  • Huntress
  • Black Canary
  • Fallout Vault Girl
  • Psylocke
  • X-23
  • Captain Marvel
  • Jessica Rabbit
  • Poison Ivy
  • Harley Quinn
  • Inked Red Sonja
  • AndrAIa
  • Inked Hawkgirl
  • Rose Wilson
  • Birds of Prey
  • Widowmaker (incomplete)
  • Lara Croft (incomplete)
  • Red Sonja
  • Tifa
  • Red Sonja again…
  • Spider-Gwen
  • Nightcrawler

Lastly, in January, I started writing about comics more, in a different format. I looked at my shelf and it dawned on me that I had accumulated over 200 graphic novels that I had yet to read (did a full count and I have 650 graphic novels / hardcover collections in total, and currently counting my single issue books which is 1500+). So I gave myself a homework project to read 1 every week. 52 a year, to help work down those numbers, because it’s not like I’m going to stop buying new ones. So since the first week in January, posting a new “review” every week, over on Substack. It’s been a rewarding venture thus far, and I can show proof that I am indeed reducing the amount of unread books.

https://andrewrogan.substack.com

Alright, that’s all for now.
Rogan
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Post-Drawtober

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I really should have been updating this area with weekly posts during Drawtober, but I guess I was just focused on the art that it didn’t happen.

But that’s why I’m here, posting now, mostly. During Drawtober I was able to fully complete 10 character drawings. Fully rendered in colour. I’m very happy with the final products which are shared below. I had one final piece planned to end the month right on Halloween, drawing, appropriately, Hallows Eve, but it didn’t happen. Saved for another time I guess. As I had discussed in the last post, I spread it over 9 sets of 3. Sketch, ink, and colour.

In order:

  • Dove – Dawn Granger, who took up the mantle from Don Hall
  • Zatanna Zatara
  • Fire & Ice – Double helping for thanksgiving weekend. Fire and Ice.
  • Mystique
  • Katana
  • Batgirl
  • Mr Sinister – Nathanial Essex
  • Deadpool – Bad Deadpool. Good Deadpool.
  • and Madelyne Pryor – The Goblin Queen

Also during the month, I played Starfield (of course), finished Remnant in coop, started Redfall in coop, played Cocoon, also got Spider-Man Remastered, Dead Space Remake, Alan Wake Remaster, and started Star Wars Jedi Survivor, and Jusant. So I was busy all around.

Redfall has been a perfectly adequate coop game. You are a team of vampire hunters, and the story takes place in a large town surrounded by water which has been frozen in place. Not like ice frozen, but frozen in time. We have to take down vampire nests and bosses. Upon release the game was poorly reviewed. Repetitive gameplay, easy A.I. enemies, etc. It’s received a few quality of life improvements and visual upgrades and it plays fine. I think some people were expecting a game of the year contender like Arkane’s last release, Deathloop, which this game is not. But it’s still perfectly serviceable.

Star Wars Jedi has been fun, but story has started off pretty slow, but it appears to be building to more so I reserve any further judgements till later.

Cocoon was a fun indie game, like Limbo or Inside. Cool art style and decent play time length. I do enjoy me these arty simple indie games.

And I’m currently playing through Jusant where the gameplay loop is climbing. It’s a relaxing type game. Straight forward puzzles. Collectibles. Another good looking arty indie game.

The rest of the games I mentioned I bought but haven’t played yet, except Dead Space and Spider-Man. Dead Space, just half an hour on the PC to verify if I get XBOX achievements or not, which I don’t, so I’ll be playing it on the good ol’ Xbox. After I finish Star Wars. Probably.

And Spider-Man I’ll probably leave till after Starfield. I got the Remastered version for the PC with the Miles Morales DLC. it was on sale to celebrate the release of Spider-Man 2.

In comic book news, I got to meet Dan Slott, Spider-Man writer, which was pretty cool. He had a signing at one of my local stores. So I got some books signed. NBD.

And I’ve gotten a few too many books as of late. But what else is new?

Books for week of Sept 27

Books for week of Oct 4

Books for week of Oct 11

Books for week of Oct 18

Books for week of Oct 25

Books for week of Nov 1

I think that catches me up for the month of October. I think I’ll take a drawing break through out November. Catch up on sleep, and watch TV shows. And then December I’ll start looking into the comic book again with a renewed energy.

Good night,

IROGAN
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