Beyond the Western Deep

Writer and Co-Creator

Beyond the Western Deep is an ongoing all-ages fantasy webcomic that I've been publishing with Rachel Bennett, Jerome Jacinto, and Leah Briere since early 2012.

Taking cues from everything from Game of Thrones to Robin Hood and Redwall, our goal was to recapture the feeling of 1980's animated films like Secret of NIMH and Black Cauldron—back when an animated movie could feature both talking animals and a grim storyline while still being all-ages appropriate.

After self-publishing a hardcover edition of the webcomic's prologue and first chapter, we were picked up by Action Lab Entertainment, which published paperback versions of books 1 and 2 for national distribution.

We ended up re-purchasing the distribution and merchandising rights from the publisher in 2017, allowing us to create an LLC to protect the interests of the IP (Western Deep, LLC) and launch two increasingly successful Kickstarter campaigns to print gorgeous hardcover editions of Volume One and Volume Two, along with bonus merchandise like enamel pins, iron-on patches, and art prints. We were fortunate to be able to partner with the independent animation team Knights of the Light Table for our most recent campaign, and look forward to bringing Beyond the Western Deep to more readers with each new release.