Sidenote: I didn’t design the text on this job, just illustrated the characters.

The job consists of a bunch of components…a talking Jonah, a jumping Jonah, a couple of Ninevites, the whale (obviously), some other bits and the boat you see here. A totally made up boat that didn’t possibly exist in the time of Jonah.

If you can’t tell by now, between the comic and my other artwork, I’m not exactly a stickler when it comes to historical accuracy in my biblical art. I believe historical correctness has its place in bible art, just not in my bible art it would seem. I do some research at the beginning of every project but it usually just becomes a starting point I branch off of.

I feel free to embellish my biblical artwork because artists like Graham Kennedy keep it real so I don’t have to. I think bible based art has room for both the realistic and the fantastic but shouldn’t be dominated by one or the other. Everything in moderation I say.

The answer is…I just don’t know.

I had hoped to finally solve my updating problem in 2012 but I’ve had a steady stream of freelance work filling my time. And it’s not work I had to find (the biggest hassle of freelancing) it’s work that’s found me. Found me, oddly enough, because of The Saga of Samuel. A kind of Catch-22.

I wanted to stop doing freelance work this year but I find it hard to turn down interesting well paying jobs for my “Labor of Love” i.e. non-paying webcomic. Plus, I literally can’t afford to turn down paying work (non-paying work I can turn down all day, everyday) and therefore my comic suffers because of it.

As of right now I’m finishing up a second batch of illustrations for a project that brings those old felt storyboards from sunday school into the digital age and after that I’m doing work for a board game called Kings of Israel. My hope is to squeeze in some updates when I can. I actually have one ready to go but I’m reluctant to post it and then not post again for another couple of months. I might as well continue to abuse my readers than give them hope that updates will become regular anytime soon.

Sorry folks, that’s the best I can do.

Click to embiggen

What’s this? Could it be? An update not months in the making? Yes! ’cause I plan on being awesome this year. (don’t hold me to that!)

Do to the Chutes and Ladders nature of the word balloons on this page I skipped on having a real background. Would’ve been too busy I thought.

I’m debating on whether or not to continue this particular “Attack on Shiloh” story or make it a stand alone vignette about Samuel and Bethani. I guess we’ll find out next update.

I’ve got some paying work before the next page but I’m going to try and update sooner rather than later. (don’t hold me to that!)

Not only am I the creator of The Saga of Samuel, the swankiest bible-based fantasy comic around, I am also an illustrator/graphic designer of little, to no, renown.

You can view my art website here: www.ArtistXeroCreations.com

Prints of my art are available here: www.zazzle.com/artistxero

My Heroes of the Bible coloring pages are selling like hotcakes, if hotcakes were PDF files you print out and have your kids color. You can find those here: The Heroes of the Bible coloring pages

If you like The Saga of Samuel, perhaps you’d like to donate some of your loose PayPal change. The “Support the Saga” coin pouch, off to the right, will let you do that.

Don’t have change to spare? I hear ya. Instead, please use the “Share the Knowledge” buttons below, and now, above to share on various social media networks. The more people I got coming here the more I’ll feel the need to update (or at least feel extreme amounts of guilt for not updating…either-or).

Thanks for reading The Saga of Samuel!

It is with great sadness that we must now say goodbye to our friend the First Philistine. While we will come across many, many philistines throughout The Saga of Samuel, only one can be the “first”. His morally questionable life comes to an end at the hands of a mysterious masked man but, for us, we will always remember…

I got this page done faster than usual (it would’ve been posted earlier if not for a certain MMO with lightsbers and such) because of Reddit commenter “Sock Goblin” who said “Really liking this comic, just which he’d update more often”. So, apparently, I can be cajoled into updating faster with guilt-inducing commentary. Who knew?

Yes, I know I’ve committed a great sin among my digital art brethren and used the much-derided “Lens Flare” but I polled my people at The Saga of Samuel Facebook page (join today!) and Lens Flare won by a landslide.

I’m going to go back to naming the strips rather than using page numbers and I’ll probably go back and name the batch before this one. Just cause.

I’ve also included below the whole of what is Page 2. Click to embiggen and view it in all it’s glory!

…and that’s all for now.

Not only am I the creator of The Saga of Samuel, the swankiest bible-based fantasy comic around, I am also an illustrator/graphic designer of little, to no, renown.

You can view my art website here: www.ArtistXeroCreations.com

Prints of my art are available here: www.zazzle.com/artistxero

My Heroes of the Bible coloring pages are selling like hotcakes, if hotcakes were PDF files you print out and have your kids color. You can find those here: The Heroes of the Bible coloring pages

If you like The Saga of Samuel, perhaps you’d like to donate some of your loose PayPal change. The “Support the Saga” coin pouch, off to the right, will let you do that.

Don’t have change to spare? I hear ya. Instead, please use the “Share the Knowledge” buttons below, and now, above to share on various social media networks. The more people I got coming here the more I’ll feel the need to update (or at least feel extreme amounts of guilt for not updating…either-or).

Thanks for reading The Saga of Samuel!

It looks really good…let’s not mention the ridiculously stupid dwarf names.