Hello everyone! How have you been?

I decided it was time to post something since it's been a while. :)

The Din
I still haven't drawn new pages, but the story and characters are still in my mind. Since I don't draw much in general these days I've been thinking of other formats to complete the story. Like combining comic pages with illustrated texts, just to be able to give the story justice and keep up the pace. This is just a thought and I haven't even made up a plan for it yet.

Other news is that I have decided that The Din will leave Hiveworks soon. Hiveworks has been such a great help to me these years, but since the comic have been on hiatus for so long and Hiveworks is scaling down - it feels like the right decision for me to take back control of the hosting, regardless what happens to Hiveworks.

If the website changes or things will be a bit off for some time, you know why!

My Life
I'm feeling much better since last update, although I am still not drawing as much as I used to. Beginning of 2023 I made a short comic called The Passenger together with Jeff McClelland for Planet Comics Book Five. I had a lot of fun and it felt like "I still got it" comic-wise. 2023 November me and my husband got a son, our firborn! He's a really active boy who isn't afraid of anything, doesn't sleep much and keeps us active to say the least! He started walking early and talks a lot for being just 20 months, full sentances and about 500 words. Late 2024 both me and my husband lost our jobs (huge game dev layoffs lately globally), and are still actively looking for jobs while doing a bit of this and that.
Prior to getting laid off, we had to move from our apartment in Gothenburg due to a threatening situation that put our son's wellbeing at risk. We are now happily living in the woods by Sweden't biggest lake. Both small airplanes and trains pass by all the time, which our son loves!

I am not very active on X/Twitter anymore but you can follow me on Bluesky! Not sure why, but social media don't really spark joy anymore - even though I miss posting thoughts and art online A LOT. It was so inspiring back when I started The Din! It feels like that online art/comic community era is kind of behind us (you may correct me if I am wrong).

How have all of you been, if any of you are still here? :D

All the best! Much love!

Hello everyone!

First of all, I apologize for the long silence and I appreciate everyone's patience so, so much!

Here's finally a status update from me and why the comic has been standing still.

In 2019 I was already struggling with keeping up with work and life. Then in August 2019 my father got terminally ill with cancer. I decided to put a lot of things in my life, including the comic on hold. I didn't have the heart to explain the reasons here or on any of my channels online since he would read it. Of course, him getting sick was not the only reason for the hiatus back then, I just didn't want to worry him in any way.

There was a chance he'd live with the cancer for some years if the treatments were successful. Regardless, me and my brothers decided to spend as much time with him as possible. I still struggled to keep up with everything happening, so thanks to friends, coworkers and my boss I was put on a part time sick-leave in December 2019 due to burn-out.

My father unfortunately got worse in March 2020, just as the pandemic hit. From being worried about not being able to see him due to a mere cold threatening his treatments, it got more stressful and harder to visit and help since me and my brothers live 5-15 hours away. In June 2020 he passed away in isolation with his wife, me and my brothers. My father dedicated his life taking care of others, he always put others first and was loved by many. Seeing him fade and go in a time like this right before his retirement was painful and so unfair.

I have been weighing if I should get personal here, but for those who have read the comic this far know that the comic has a reoccuring theme of fatherhood or characters' relationships with their fathers. It doesn't help The Din revolves around a global pandemic, people suffering from injustice as a result of it and airplanes missing from the skies.
The story I have been passionate about telling for so long got a bit too close to home and it's just been so heavy to pick up again.

I am now 100% back to work (theoretically) since last year, but I can't create as much as I used to. Most of my energy is dedicated to my health, my family and my day job. I am thankful I have a job through this pandemic, a job that keeps me onboard even when I am not in top notch shape. I know I will bounce back to creating my own stuff again, but it takes time. I have accepted that and embraced it with patience. :) With that said, my heart feels much lighter today compared to a year ago.

Long story short: The Din is still on hiatus. I don't know when I will be able to work on the comic again due to life changing events. I am sorry I haven't told you sooner, but I have simply not had any energy. I will give you a heads up once I start working on anything The Din-related again!

You can always comment or e-mail me if you have questions.

QUESTIONS:

How come you didn't tell us sooner?
I have simply not had the energy. Just creating this animated splash page took me 7 months and finding energy and courage to write this took me another 3 months. I appreciate your patience, and I am sorry. Sometimes people hit a wall unfortunately.

I saw you post art on twitter last year. Why didn't you post here or work on The Din instead?
If I post something that is not The Din related on my channels, it is simply part of my path to returning to art and comics again. Like I mentioned before, picking up The Din is particularly heavy for various reasons. Both emotionally and it's such a big comic project to dive back into.

Will you ever return to The Din again?
To answer this truthfully: I don't know. I hope I will!
But like I have mentioned in my previous posts: the next chapter will probably be drawn 80%-100% before I start posting anything, to prevent the stress from juggling a day job and this comic. Unless I take time off work to work fulltime on comics for a while, then I might post pages as I make them. If there is any progress at all, I will let you know here on the website. And I will also most likely tweet about it!

Will you ever wrap up The Din?
The Din means a lot to me, so of course it's my intention to finish it some day. The length and form might change a bit from my original idea, but it will still include the main story. I am happy to have Hiveworks as editorial help in continuing creating and wrapping up the comic.
If you feel like you wasted your time reading and now waiting, I am sorry. I sure have enjoyed the ride creating this comic this far, interacting with you all and learning from putting it online. I hope you have enjoyed sharing the ride with me this far as well and I hope you will join me on my future endeavours; be it the next chapter of The Din or other creative things. :)

Enough about me!
How have all of you been doing this past year?
I hope you are all safe and that you and your families have made it through the pandemic this far.
My thoughts are with everyone who struggle out there.

Take care, until I post again!
If you comment, I will do my best replying as fast as I can!

Much love,
Karin.

Bon voyage, brave souls! :D

This is the concluding page of Chapter 3! Thank you so much for being patient with the updates during this chapter! It's been a bumpy ride but I am so happy to finally have all the pages colored and edited! Phew~

Here's some important information: 

The Din is now on a chapter break, until further notice.

I am not ready to draw Chapter 4 yet, which is why I don't have a date on when the chapter break will be over.

I have decided to make some time to rework the rest of the comic's script due to it being a bit out dated. This will take time, but I am getting help from the lovely editors over at Hiveworks! :) 

I'll keep you posted as soon as I have any news or progress! If you have any questions, comment here and I'll reply as soon as I can! :) Thank you for understanding and for being so patient!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

Is going to be a nice trip, with all that bickering! At least the view is nice : D For now!

There is actually only one more page left of Chapter 3 after this one! And a chapter-transition image, that I will add a bit later. After that, there is going to be a break - but I'll post more information regarding that later. :)

See you next week! Thanks for reading!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

Now, is this really helping, Tina?
And that bucket didn't do anything to you, Rosita!

Until next week! Thanks for reading!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

Dead man in the box: "You're welcome!"

Also, for those who are concerned about bringing Fuchsia, I am also concerned! I love that van - that's why I try justify they bring it! xD So I can draw it...

Until next week! Thanks for reading!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

Good thing he didn't keep that a secret for too long... or is it a good thing? We'll see what happens on the next page!

Summer is around the corner and I am really looking forward to summer holiday! This summer I plan to just chill at home, for a change. We'll see! xD 

Until next week! Thanks for reading!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

You sure got the right people for the job, mayor... -sweats nervously-

Not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but the game I have been working on the past year released recently. :)
Check it out: Steamworld Quest. 

Thanks for reading!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

Poor Lorentz, poor Fozt, poor Mayor... poor fate of this world!

(It's going to be fiiine, I... promise?)

How are you all doing? I just got back from being away 3 weeks and starting work again today! :) Feels like I have been away forever, so it's really nice to be back home. Makes you appreciate what you have around you!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

Poor Lorentz, I think he might be a little bit in over his head! A big mix of assistants and/or responsibilities in this group.

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

At least someone's happy...

I really enjoyed coloring in this palette! :) We'll see what Denilou will be up to next week. Will there be a fight or a "friendly" banter?

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

Uh oh, what is her brother up to now. Grab the coat and run, Rosita!

I'm back! How have you been? :) Thanks everyone for being so patient.

I'm good! I'm going away on a trip soon, but I have queued a bunch of new pages now so we should be good with updates for some time!

Really excited to wrap up this chapter and hear what you think!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

Rosita is a person of routine, Denilou is not.

I am also usually a person of routine, but when it comes to posting regular pages lately: not so much! :V I apologize!

I am still a bit stretched thin work-wise and I need of focus on things that does not feel like work on my spare time. The past months I have slowly been wrapping up the last 11 pages of this chapter in a big batch. They are soon all finished and I will start posting these pages weekly in April!

I've had a really helpful dialogue with Hiveworks lately as I've worked on this batch. We decided that finalizing these concluding pages before posting regularly is the way to go, to prevent these long gaps between every page. After Chapter 3 we plan to do something similar for Chapter 4. I'll make an other announcement about that when Chapter 3 is finished!

If you are curious about what I am working on, it's Steamworld Quest, a turn-based card RPG. It's been a lot of fun, but a lot of work!
 

Now, enough about me! How have all of you been doing? :)

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

Lorentz, spilling the beans. As he should!

I apologize for the delay of the update, this took me forever to color. I'm a bit rusty in this coloring style to be honest, it's a bit embarrassing! D:

How are you all doing, btw? I'd love to hear. :) I'm still good at my new work place, but we're crunching for a few months to come. It's still a whole lot of fun, though. Can't wait to show you what we're working on!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

- - - -

Sidenote:

Needless to say, it's been difficult for me to work on the comic lately. The reason is a combination of things, but mainly about the need to prioritize health, life, family and friends after work hours. I am planning an other break from the comic soon, but I really want to wrap up this chapter first! I have all of it outlined, I *just* need to draw - basically. It's another 15+ pages left, and I might miss an update again - but I strive to keep the pages coming before I take a longer break! Thanks for understanding. :)

Dec 16 Update: hello everyone! Still working very long days and having it hard finding time to draw. But holidays are around the corner and I might find some time to finish a page or two then. :) Thanks for being so patient! It means a lot! Don't hesitate to comment and I'll try replying as soon as I can! <3

Wow, Lorentz - about time... ! Also... about time I updated. This page has been 90% finished for about 3 weeks and I finally had the time to wrap it up. :) 

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

- - - -

Sidenote:

Needless to say, it's been difficult for me to work on the comic lately. The reason is a combination of things, but mainly about the need to prioritize health, life, family and friends after work hours. I am planning an other break from the comic soon, but I really want to wrap up this chapter first! I have all of it outlined, I *just* need to draw - basically. It's another 15+ pages left, and I might miss an update again - but I strive to keep the pages coming before I take a longer break! Thanks for understanding. :)

Here's finally an update!

How has your summer been? Mine's been pretty great! Haven't been home much, thoo!

I've been to London, seen the Hamilton Musical, been to Dalecarlia and France - - and next week my brother's family comes over to visit for a week. Looking forward to that too! I miss my lil nephews a lot!

What else? I've switched jobs! And office - twice!

It's been a very eventful spring and summer for me. It took some time for me to get myself together and make up my mind, but after 5 years I decided to leave my colleagues and good friends at the studio I used to work for (Hello There Games) to join the team at Image & Form Games (also good friends of mine). I've helped them out with animation-work before on Steamworld Dig 2, so it's nice to be on board on their next project.

Anyway, I will hopefully be up to speed with comic work in a few weeks so I can wrap up this chapter before a real break. Thanks for your patience, everyone. <3

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

- - - -

Sidenote:

Needless to say, it's been difficult for me to work on the comic lately. The reason is a combination of things, but mainly about the need to prioritize health, life, family and friends after work hours. Thanks everyone who showed concern! I am planning an other break from the comic soon, but I really want to wrap up this chapter first! I have all of it outlined, I *just* need to draw - basically. It's another 15+ pages left, and I might miss an update again - but I strive to keep the pages coming before I take a longer break! I'll let you know otherwise! Thanks for understanding. :)

Here's finally an update! Thanks for your patience ! :) 

Seems like Fozt chooses to throw away the bottle for once! Even though someone had to "pay" for it... whops.

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

- - - -

Sidenote:

Needless to say, it's been difficult for me to work on the comic lately. The reason is a combination of things, but mainly about the need to prioritize health, life, family and friends after work hours. Thanks everyone who showed concern! I am planning an other break from the comic soon, but I really want to wrap up this chapter first! I have all of it outlined, I *just* need to draw - basically. It's another 15+ pages left, and I might miss an update again - but I strive to keep the pages coming before I take a longer break! I'll let you know otherwise! Thanks for understanding. :)

Hello everyone! Only a couple of days late this time, phew. :) I really enjoyed coloring the last panel in this one - I love drawning clouds! See you next update, where there will be a scene change!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

- - - -

Sidenote:

Needless to say, it's been difficult for me to work on the comic lately. The reason is a combination of things, but mainly about the need to prioritize health, life, family and friends after work hours. Thanks everyone who showed concern! I am planning an other break from the comic soon, but I really want to wrap up this chapter first! I have all of it outlined, I *just* need to draw - basically. It's another 15+ pages left, and I might miss an update again - but I strive to keep the pages coming weekly before I take a longer break! I'll let you know otherwise! Thanks for understanding. :)

I'm back with an update! Sorry about the delay, was really struggling to find time to wrap this page up. :) Thanks for understanding!

I always love coloring pages like these! Also, Edmund, that's not how you hold or read a book? Makes one wonder, hmm!

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

- - - -

Sidenote:

Needless to say, it's been difficult for me to work on the comic lately. The reason is a combination of things, but mainly about the need to prioritize health, life, family and friends after work hours. Thanks everyone who showed concern! I am planning an other break from the comic soon, but I really want to wrap up this chapter first! I have all of it outlined, I *just* need to draw - basically. It's another 15+ pages left, and I might miss an update again - but I strive to keep the pages coming weekly before I take a longer break! I'll let you know otherwise! Thanks for understanding. :)

I'm back from Stockholm International Comics festival - thanks everyone who stopped by! Got some new inspiration and energy! Will try to get my hands on a table next year as well and I will probably have Chapter 3 books with me then!

And here's the rest of the spread and establishing shots. Enjoy! :) Next update will have more content/dialogue!

See you soon! 

If you got time to spare, please vote for The Din over at TopWebComics!

- - - -

Sidenote:

Needless to say, it's been difficult for me to work on the comic lately - which is the resason why I missed two updates this year! The reason is a combination of things, but mainly about the need to prioritize health, life, family and friends after work hours. Thanks everyone who showed concern! I am planning an other break from the comic soon, but I really want to wrap up this chapter first! I have all of it outlined, I *just* need to draw - basically. It's another 18 pages left, and I might miss an update again - but I strive to keep the pages coming weekly before I take a longer break! I'll let you know otherwise! Thanks for understanding. :)