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Posts authored by Jey Pawlik

Jey Pawlik (they/them) is a nonbinary comic artist whose goal is to make queer comics for anyone to enjoy! They have been working in comics since 2013 as the artist for Topaz Comics with two completed webcomics “Dead City” and “Gender Slices” under their belt, and is currently a permanent guest artist on Oh Joy Sex Toy. Their specialty is autobio and character-focused short stories. They love tea and sharks. https://jpawlik.com

June 2026 Newsletter

June 2026 Newsletter published on No Comments on June 2026 Newsletter

June’s newsletter is here with art, comic and Patreon updates and previews! Honestly my newsletter is the BEST place to get updates from me. Happy Pride everyone, hope you’ve had a great time celebrating wherever and whoever you are! This newsletter also has a little sale inside~

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Blog | RSS | Mailing List | Patreon

May 2026 Newsletter

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May’s newsletter is here with art, comic and Patreon updates and previews! Honestly my newsletter is the BEST place to get updates from me. It’s always free, sometimes I include coupons, and I’ll only email you once a month (maybe twice if I’m doing an event)!

Want to follow my newsletters? Find ‘em here for free:
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"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic bonus page. The comic is black and white with halftones. Jey is at their convention booth selling their comics. A person comes up holding their phone and looks concerned. They say "Excuse me, I scanned your QR code but it doesn't go to your Instagram?" Jey replies "Oh, we're out of business cards so it goes to our website." The customer asks "But why doesn't it go to your Instagram?" Jey says bluntly "I don't have one." The customer exclaims rudely "WHY?!"

Do You Have an Instagram – Bonus

Do You Have an Instagram – Bonus published on 1 Comment on Do You Have an Instagram – Bonus

A little bonus of a moment that happened at a convention that really happened. OH, make sure you click to the previous page in case you didn’t see the conclusion of this comic.

Want to see read ahead AND see sketches, thumbnails and more? Join us on Patreon!

"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 4. The comic is black and white with halftones. Jey is angry and throwing their hands down as they exclaim "But I did everything they asked!" They explode, raising their hands above them in rage. They say "Bot-like behaviour?! How could a bot give a selfie with my name and handle?!" Note: this story takes place before AI was a thing. Jey, at their computer, shows the meta-suite on their screen and says "All I did was use their stupid META suite to schedule posts" a note above the screen reads "THEY MADE THIS!" Jey collapses onto the ground and their spouse rubs their back. Jey, defeated, says "I hate social media." Time passes with a large gap between panels. Jey is at another gathering, much like the one on the first page and is chatting with someone. The person asks "Oh cool! You do comics? Do you have an Instagram?" Jey grins and has a new response, saying "No, but you should check out my website instead 'cause I actually own it! And have you heard about RSS?"

Do You Have an Instagram – 4

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The moral of the story is corporations don’t care about you. OH, there’s a bonus page after this one so be sure to click ahead!

I have Topaz Comics and my art blog with all my art from 2012 to present. I own those! No one can take that from me overnight.

Oh hey and if you want to know more about RSS, I did a talk and a comic about that!

Want to see read ahead AND see sketches, thumbnails and more? Join us on Patreon!

April 2026 Newsletter

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Somehow April was the fastest month ever? It went by in a blink of an eye! Even still I got my April newsletter up and it’s got all the comic updates I’ve been working on + some previews for stuff on my Patreon, comic recs, NIF announcement and more!

Want to follow my newsletters? Find ‘em here for free:
Blog | RSS | Mailing List | Patreon

"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 2. The comic is black and white with halftones. A black panel with white text. Narration: And you lose all trust in platforms, because YOU don't own anything. Jey and Max get home with suitcases in hand and look well rested. Jey says "We're back!" and Max says "Two weeks without internet was heaven!" Jey laughs as they sit at their computer and say "Gotta see how many emails I gotta sift through! haha" The panel turns dark as Jey looks more closely at their computer screen. An email from Instagram has appeared and reads: Instagram Take action or lose access to jeypawlik Hi jeypawlik, Your account has been suspended. This is because your account, or activity on it, does not follow our Terms of Use. If you think this was a mistake, you have until December 19, 2023 to appeal.

Do You Have An Instagram – 2

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I’d gone to the cottage for two week, hadn’t touched my social media accounts that entire time. Sounds sus, instagram!

I’d also been making sure not to ever post any NSFW art over there, it was always the same art I post on Fridays on my art blog.

Want to see read ahead AND see sketches, thumbnails and more? Join us on Patreon!

"Do You Have an Instagram by Jey Pawlik" comic page 1. The comic is black and white with halftones. While at an event with a lot of folks milling around, Jey talks with another person. The two were talking before the comic began and the person says "~ oh cool! You do comics?" Jey happily responds "Yeah, I even have books!" The person asks "Do you have an Instagram?" This surprises Jey, and their smile leaves their face as they reply "Uh, no. I don't. Sorry." The person looks worried and says "Wha-- Why not?!" Jey shrugs it off and says "It's a long story." The person is curious and asks "What happened?" Narration over a black background: "Sometimes a decade's worth of posts, art, followers and comments are just taken right from under you without notice."

Do You Have An Instagram – 1

Do You Have An Instagram – 1 published on No Comments on Do You Have An Instagram – 1

I was inspired recently after someone asked me about why I didn’t have an Instagram, to make a four page comic on why. Maybe I can just hand this out if people ask me.

Stay tuned for more of this little autobio story.

Want to see read ahead AND see sketches, thumbnails and more? Join us on Patreon!

The Ins and Outs of Webcomics comic page "Resources" and Jey in a determined pose saying "Just do it! You're good enough now so just start your comic already!" Jey gestures to a list and says "I'll leave you with these resources." The list reads as follows: The Cartoonist Coop cartoonist.coop - Fonts & Lettering Tips blambot.com sara.pizza - What's RSS? jpawlik.com/blog/tag/rss - Guide to Comic Devices comicdevices.com - 6"x9" Comic Templates jpawlik.com/blog/11/15/11223 - Website and Platform Recommendations wordpress.org conceptartempire.com/make-a-webcomic-site - neocities.org 3mtiae.neocities.org/LittleGuide - comicfury.com - Book Printers in Canada mixam.ca - sureprintanddesign.ca - or print your own zine at home exwhyzed.com/how-to-print-a-zine You can find me at: portfolio jpawlilk.com - webcomics topazcomics.com - patreon patreon.com/jpawlik - email jey@topazcomics.com The bottom of the page reads "Go forth and make the comic of your dreams!"

Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 9

Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 9 published on 2 Comments on Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 9

Edit: if you saw this last week, no you didn’t!

Last page of my Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER! I really enjoyed working on this for my students and printing it for them. I hope you also found it helpful.

Want to buy a digital or physical copy? Check out the Topaz Comics Shop!

Or you can also grab the PDF on Patreon, or itch.io

Want to see sketches, thumbnails, and comic pages early? Join us on Patreon!

March 2026 Newsletter

March 2026 Newsletter published on No Comments on March 2026 Newsletter

March came in like a cannonball and I got a lot of comics and art worked on~ My March newsletter is up and it’s got all the comic updates I’ve been working on + some previews for stuff on my Patreon, comic recs, shop updates and more!

Want to follow my newsletters? Find ‘em here for free:
Blog | RSS | Mailing List | Patreon

The Ins and Outs of Webcomics comic page "Printing" an illustration of an open book. "You never know if you'll want to print down the road. So here's where you're 300dpi (or more) pages will come into play." An example image of 600dpi versus 72dpi using the same illustration. "DPI (Dots per inch) is how much information is in your image. The more DPI, the more info." A screenshot of the colour interface in Clip Studio Paint, showing where one can find RGB, CMYK, and Gray modes. "Colour modes need to be changed depending on if you're posting online vs. printing. RBG is for online and CMYK is for print. B&W can use greyscale for all purposes!" "Import your pages into a program like inDesign to export it as a PDF and send that to your printer of choice." A screenshot of a comic page in inDesign. "Most printers have templates or required sizes to follow so be sure to inquire about those!" "But don't be scared to try printing your comic yourself at home! This gives you the most control over paper, look, etc." "1. Format your pages into signatures" example of a signature with pg 2 on the left and pg 55 on the right. "2. Print the signatures double-sided" showing a little laser printer printing out the pages. "3. Fold the signatures" a bone folder running along the fold of the signature. "4. Staple the signatures" a sample of where to staple the booklet. "5. Cut off any excess" Using a ruler and an exacto-knife cutting the excess off the booklet. "6. And you're done!" a finished home-made comic. "Tip: Colour is way more expensive than B&W. To print a comic in colour was double the cost of the same comic in B&W!"

Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 8

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Page 8, I really like printing and I could do a whole comic on printing alone but always remember 72dpi images are for web and 300dpi or more is for print!!! Never try and print a 72dpi image okay? Just work in print sizes and you’ll never be floundering to redraw things when you do decide to print your comic.

Want to buy a digital or physical copy? Check out the Topaz Comics Shop!

Or you can also grab the PDF on Patreon, or itch.io

Want to see sketches, thumbnails, and comic pages early? Join us on Patreon!

The Ins and Outs of Webcomics comic page "Posting & Promo". Jey is walking over a string of bubbles with various social media platform logos as they say "The whole point of a webcomic is to post it on the web. You can post your comic on your own website, a comic platform, or even social media." Jey is framed by the day box from a calendar that says Tuesday, 5. Jey holds their finger up to point at the date and says "Pick a day(s) of the week to post your pages and keep it consistent so your readers can anticipate updates. And if you need to skip an update, let your readers know!" Much smaller, Jey is very tiny in an example of a self-hosted comic site. They look excited and are saying "Having your own website gives you full control. You won't have to worry about drastic changes without your consent, or a site going under and losing all your pages." Now in a mobile layout, Jey is framed in a social media post with clear navigation a description and url looking like comic.platform.social and Jey says "Platforms and social media let you post your comic for free and there's a built-in audience!" but next to this, the social media site has completely changed, the image section is much smaller, the url has changed to platform.social/comic, the navigation is harder to understand and a super intrusive ad is covering the description. Jey complains "The downside is they can change, go under, or suspend your account with little or no feedback from you." We see the same row of file folders we saw on page 3. Narration reads "Remember your folder with your 72dpi pages? Those are the pages you'll want to post online!" A mouse hovers over the folder titled "Online". Narration reads "Tip: Include a watermark and/or website link on your 72dpi pages. If your page gets reposted then folks can still find you!" "Lastly you gotta tell your readers when your page is up! Post a preview on social media with links to the page. Post regularly and folks will find you." Readers flock to the social media post where Jey posts a crop of the comic page and writes "Hey y'all, my comic updated! Latest page: mysite.com/latest First page: mysite.com/first with the hashtags Webcomic and MyComic" Narration reads "Also be sure you have RSS enabled! https://jpawlik.com/blog/tag/rss"

Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 7

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Page 7, posting and promo has become a bit of a discussion point as of late with social media being what it is. So you should go check out my talk and comic on RSS~

Want to buy a digital or physical copy? Check out the Topaz Comics Shop!

Or you can also grab the PDF on Patreon, or itch.io

Want to see sketches, thumbnails, and comic pages early? Join us on Patreon!

The Ins and Outs of Webcomics comic page. "Lettering" with a small Jey with their arms up and out saying "Comics are art and words working together to create stories. Lettering matters just as much as the art does." "Use neat and tidy bubbles, and use clean and clear fonts. The tidier the lettering, the better the reading experience." Two examples of speech bubbles are show with an X over a messy crooked bubble, and a checkmark over a bubble with a clear font and clean lines. A bubble is shown with the text "neat and tidy bubbles." in the middle and showing how far the bubble itself should be from the font. "Tip: Keep your bubbles roughly a letters width away from your dialogue." showing a letter between the font and the bubble. "Using your bubbles can help guide the reader through the page" An example of one of Jey's comic pages with a long arrow starting from the top left and zig-zagging through the page, hitting each speech bubble until the bottom right of the page. "Use this to your advantage!" An illustration of an older person with a huge wall of text behind them as they tell a story from their childhood. What the text says is unimportant, and the size of it makes the reader want to skim over it anyway. "Don't overload your page with words. 200 words MAX. Your art will take a backseat if there's too much dialogue so try showing instead of telling!" An illustrated version of the childhood story, where a young child is running through a field, sun on their skin, wind in their hair, as they throw their school papers all about and yell "FREEDOM!"

Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 6

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Page 6, and hey did you know lettering is actually SUPER IMPORTANT?! Don’t skimp on lettering and go read Nate Peikos’ book “The Essential Guide to Comic Lettering” already!

Lettering is something I only started to take more seriously around six years ago and y’all. IT’S SO IMPORTANT. It can honestly make or break a comic. I know this after re-lettering all of Dead City, okay?

Want to buy a digital or physical copy? Check out the Topaz Comics Shop!

Or you can also grab the PDF on Patreon, or itch.io

 

The Ins and Outs of Webcomics, comic page. "Art" with a drawing of Jey as the Iron Giant meme where Dean yells "ART!" "This is the good stuff, but how good does it need to be? You can draw as simple or as detailed as you'd like, but it's good to know how long a page takes you to do before you start scheduling your comic." "What do you want to prioritize? It's great to learn to draw backgrounds, but it the comic doesn't call for it you don't have to draw a background in every panel." This text is over top of layers of comic pages and Jey on a time limit while looking at their watch with a grimace. A clock illustration with the text "Time Yourself. How long does it take you to make a page start to finish? If it takes you a week to finish 1 page, you probably don't want your webcomic schedule to be twice a week." A greyscale version of the CMYK and RBG venn diagram with the text "Will your webcomic be in colour or B&W? Does colour add anything? Colour doesn't equal better. B&W can save you a lot of time (and money if you end up printing.)" A pen on paper icon with the text "Does is better than perfect. Having a finished page is better than a page that's never good enough. Because it will never be good enough, and you just have to be okay with that." "Fall in love with the process! You should enjoy every step of the process most of the time. Yes sometimes scripting is a slog, and sometimes sketching can feel like pulling hair. But ultimately the process of making the page should be the most enjoyable part."

Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 5

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Page 5 and let’s get to the good stuff. The stuff you WANT to do!

Want to buy a digital or physical copy? Check out the Topaz Comics Shop!

Or you can also grab the PDF on Patreon or itch.io

Want to see sketches, thumbnails, and comic pages early? Join us on Patreon!

The Ins and Outs of Webcomics, comic page. "Layouts" Four panels where Jey starts off far away and gradually gets closer until their hands are pressed up against the panel. As they get closer they say "This is a very important part of comics-- and the panel choices you make-- can change-- the reading experience!" "Simple layouts are easier to read than complex ones. Don't make reading a chore." Jey is giving a thumbs up beside a simple, easy to read comic page where the eye zig zags through the panels with ease. Jey is dizzy and shrugging confused beside a complex comic page where the eye isn't sure which panel comes next. "It's okay to reuse layouts. Don't feel like you have to do something new every. single. page." Three comic layout examples are shown, and then the same three layouts are shown below just in a different order. "Use gutters to your advantage to establish pacing and time." A panel of a sunny day, with a big gutter between it and a smaller panel with a light to dark gradient, another big gutter, and a panel with the moon and stars in the night sky.

Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 4

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Page 4, let’s talk layouts! I always struggle with big artsy layouts. Where is my eye supposed to go? Sometimes simple is better.

Want to buy a digital or physical copy? Check out the Topaz Comics Shop!

Or you can also grab the PDF on Patreon or itch.io

Want to see sketches, thumbnails, and comic pages early? Join us on Patreon!

The Ins and Outs of Webcomics, comic page. "Setup" Jey gestures to multiple comic hosting platform logos: tapas, comicfury, wordpress, webtoon, and also physical books. "Let's talk page sizes. Where you post will effect this. Will it be on your own website, or a platform with specific requirements?" Jey holds a piece of paper with a template on it, showing margins and bleed. "6x9 inches is one of the more common sizes for graphic novels and a good starting point. Templates can be found on the last page (or in the description of this page)" An image showing the size different between a 6x9" @600dpi page and a 1000x1500px @72dpi image. "Even if you don't think you'll print it, it's a good idea to work in print sizes then scale your page down to post online." "Start your page at 6x9in plus 0.125in bleed." "If you're working in B&W set your dpi and 600." "If you're working in colour use 300dpi." A sample of the 6x9" template. "Bleed, extend all splash art to this line" this points to the bleed on the template. "Margin, where page gets cut in print" pointing to the margin lines. "Safe zone, all important art goes here." "Do all your art, lettering, and colouring at this size or larger." an illustration of a digital art program, showing the size of the page as 6.25x9.25" and a dpi of 600. The art is being worked on at this size. "When you're done the art resize the page to 1000px wide and 72dpi to post online to ensure the page isn't too big for online readers." Showing the 1000px wide comic page fitting well on a phone screen. "Save your print pages and online pages separately in their own folders. Stay organized and it'll help you in the long run." An illustration of different folders on a computer: Print, Ink, Online, CSP, and thumbs. The 600dpi image being put in the "Print" folder and the 72dpi image sent to the "Online" folder. "Rule of thumb: 72dpi images you post online, 300 or more dpi is for print."

Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 3

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Page 3 and we’re talking a bit about set-up. You can find my 6×9″ templates that I mention right here!

Want to buy a digital or physical copy? Check out the Topaz Comics Shop!

Or you can also grab the PDF on Patreon, or itch.io

Want to see sketches, thumbnails, and comic pages early? Join us on Patreon!

The Ins and Outs of Webcomics, comic page. "Writing & Scripts" a dip pen writes out the text "There are a few different ways you can be the artist for a webcomic, each with different levels of writing and workloads." Three consecutive panels in a row showing the different ways to be the artist. "Co-Author Collab, when you and a co-author work together to create comics" where Jey and Max are in a high five and carrying different workloads. Bullet points read "Able to bounce ideas off one another" "Shared responsibility and work load" "Shared profits" "Client Work, when a writer commissions you to do art for their story." Jey is shaking hands with a writer and money is being passed over. Bullet points read "Writer takes on everyone except for the art" "Not much freedom" "Paid for your labor" "Do it yourself, when you do it all yourself." We see Jey buried in the work load of it all but giving a weary thumbs up. Bullet points read "You have complete freedom" "You have to write, thumbnail., sketch, ink, colour/tone, promote and print all by yourself" Jey gestures to two samples of their scripts and says "When scripting I use Obsidian, a text editor that allows for multiple plugins." A thorough script is shown with the text "For professional paid work I write full scripts." An outline is shown with the text "For personal work I just write outlines and work out dialogue on the fly." A text written tip is at the bottom of the page that reads "Tip: Always be sure you're getting paid accordingly if you're working for or with someone else. Write up or ask for a contract and ensure you're getting fairly compensated for your work."

Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 2

Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 2 published on 3 Comments on Ins and Outs of Webcomics REMASTER – 2

Page 2 and what scripting and writing a webcomic can look like. I’ve done all three methods here and all have their pros and cons.

I switched this page around quite a bit and added what scripting looks like for me when I do it. I’m quite pleased with this new version of the page!

The scripts used as examples are from my OJST comic on T-Gel and The Curtain Falls.

Want to buy a digital or physical copy? Check out the Topaz Comics Shop!

Or you can also grab the PDF on Patreon, or itch.io

Want to see sketches, thumbnails, and comic pages early? Join us on Patreon!

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