Patch Zircher
@patrickzircher.bsky.social
Writer. Artist. Colorist. Making new Solomon Kane adventures and Savage Sword of Conan stories for Heroic Signature & Titan Comics!
Drawn hundreds of comics for 'the other guys'.
Drawn hundreds of comics for 'the other guys'.
Pinned
Patch Zircher
@patrickzircher.bsky.social
· Dec 17
Writing, drawing, and coloring the adventures of Solomon Kane -- living Sword of Vengeance who wanders a fantastical 16th century.
I am also writing stories for The Savage Sword of Conan magazine, published by Heroic and Titan comics.
I love making these stories.
Thank you for looking.
I am also writing stories for The Savage Sword of Conan magazine, published by Heroic and Titan comics.
I love making these stories.
Thank you for looking.
Rule of thumb: Any story in which someone can murder someone else is a story in which characters can fuck.
February 10, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Rule of thumb: Any story in which someone can murder someone else is a story in which characters can fuck.
U.S. comics have a prudery that has bothered me since I discovered Moebius, Liberatore, Maroto, Manara, Bernet, and a host of other European artists in the 70s and 80s.
February 10, 2026 at 3:29 PM
U.S. comics have a prudery that has bothered me since I discovered Moebius, Liberatore, Maroto, Manara, Bernet, and a host of other European artists in the 70s and 80s.
It's a work-in-progress, and it's a tiny drawing (you can cover both figures with your thumb), and I'll have to shade it (definitely not straight-up flesh tones) but:
hubba hubba
hubba hubba
February 10, 2026 at 3:21 PM
It's a work-in-progress, and it's a tiny drawing (you can cover both figures with your thumb), and I'll have to shade it (definitely not straight-up flesh tones) but:
hubba hubba
hubba hubba
Yep. That's a certainty.
Even as you get more selective, you also become more aware of all the great reading possibilities.
So it never really narrows down :)
Even as you get more selective, you also become more aware of all the great reading possibilities.
So it never really narrows down :)
February 10, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Yep. That's a certainty.
Even as you get more selective, you also become more aware of all the great reading possibilities.
So it never really narrows down :)
Even as you get more selective, you also become more aware of all the great reading possibilities.
So it never really narrows down :)
That can help in a 'blind pick', but a little research into what's out there, what's good, what might interest you ahead of reading, will also help save time.
February 10, 2026 at 3:04 PM
That can help in a 'blind pick', but a little research into what's out there, what's good, what might interest you ahead of reading, will also help save time.
One of the United State's most famous librarians, Nancy Pearl (she's written several books about books) offered this suggestion:
Subtract your age from 100, that's how many pages you should give a novel to determine if you want to stick with it.
#BookSky
Subtract your age from 100, that's how many pages you should give a novel to determine if you want to stick with it.
#BookSky
February 10, 2026 at 3:03 PM
One of the United State's most famous librarians, Nancy Pearl (she's written several books about books) offered this suggestion:
Subtract your age from 100, that's how many pages you should give a novel to determine if you want to stick with it.
#BookSky
Subtract your age from 100, that's how many pages you should give a novel to determine if you want to stick with it.
#BookSky
I also regard a flawed, good book higher than a bad book. A flawed good book isn't a waste of time.
A bad book isn't even an "Almost", it's just nothing-- usually half-assed, dull, cliche, uninteresting, uninspired, amateurish. A book has to have several flaws for me to call it bad.
A bad book isn't even an "Almost", it's just nothing-- usually half-assed, dull, cliche, uninteresting, uninspired, amateurish. A book has to have several flaws for me to call it bad.
February 10, 2026 at 2:54 PM
I also regard a flawed, good book higher than a bad book. A flawed good book isn't a waste of time.
A bad book isn't even an "Almost", it's just nothing-- usually half-assed, dull, cliche, uninteresting, uninspired, amateurish. A book has to have several flaws for me to call it bad.
A bad book isn't even an "Almost", it's just nothing-- usually half-assed, dull, cliche, uninteresting, uninspired, amateurish. A book has to have several flaws for me to call it bad.
Bad books aggravate me because they have temporarily gotten in the way of good books.
If I was 30 years younger I'd feel differently. Time to kill.
Now? I must be entertained or interested or I'm gonna get a little irritated.
If I was 30 years younger I'd feel differently. Time to kill.
Now? I must be entertained or interested or I'm gonna get a little irritated.
Huh, I'm never aggravated at bad writing. Occasionally I get a bit miffed when it's 'almost good' and I feel a few decisions really ruined it. Wasted potential.
February 10, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Bad books aggravate me because they have temporarily gotten in the way of good books.
If I was 30 years younger I'd feel differently. Time to kill.
Now? I must be entertained or interested or I'm gonna get a little irritated.
If I was 30 years younger I'd feel differently. Time to kill.
Now? I must be entertained or interested or I'm gonna get a little irritated.
I get that.
I'm savoring sentences, paragraphs, pages. I'm savoring all the while I'm reading.
I'll think back on a great book while cooking, eating, driving, walking.
But I'm greedy. I know there are other great books waiting and I want to read them while I have the chance.
I'm savoring sentences, paragraphs, pages. I'm savoring all the while I'm reading.
I'll think back on a great book while cooking, eating, driving, walking.
But I'm greedy. I know there are other great books waiting and I want to read them while I have the chance.
February 10, 2026 at 2:41 PM
I get that.
I'm savoring sentences, paragraphs, pages. I'm savoring all the while I'm reading.
I'll think back on a great book while cooking, eating, driving, walking.
But I'm greedy. I know there are other great books waiting and I want to read them while I have the chance.
I'm savoring sentences, paragraphs, pages. I'm savoring all the while I'm reading.
I'll think back on a great book while cooking, eating, driving, walking.
But I'm greedy. I know there are other great books waiting and I want to read them while I have the chance.
I'm not aiming for lasting acclaim. There are so many factors, beyond any creator's control, that determine lasting acclaim that it's an unreasonable goal.
I am aiming for the best Solomon Kane comic I can make.
And if I were making a creator-owned comic it would still be a fantasy book.
I am aiming for the best Solomon Kane comic I can make.
And if I were making a creator-owned comic it would still be a fantasy book.
As a writer yourself, do you (CAN you) aim for lasting acclaim? Does that kind of ambition come off as the literary equivalent of Oscar bait? Or do you simply write from the heart and let posterity decide?
February 10, 2026 at 2:30 PM
I'm not aiming for lasting acclaim. There are so many factors, beyond any creator's control, that determine lasting acclaim that it's an unreasonable goal.
I am aiming for the best Solomon Kane comic I can make.
And if I were making a creator-owned comic it would still be a fantasy book.
I am aiming for the best Solomon Kane comic I can make.
And if I were making a creator-owned comic it would still be a fantasy book.
A bad book aggravates me (I know, it shouldn't--and I do recover in a day).
I have to be un-aggravated to enjoy a book.
I have to be un-aggravated to enjoy a book.
February 10, 2026 at 2:13 PM
A bad book aggravates me (I know, it shouldn't--and I do recover in a day).
I have to be un-aggravated to enjoy a book.
I have to be un-aggravated to enjoy a book.
Reading a good book will have me reaching for another very soon after.
Reading something so bad I toss it (it's rare) throws me off my rhythm. I didn't pick up another book tonight. Just took a break.
Reading something so bad I toss it (it's rare) throws me off my rhythm. I didn't pick up another book tonight. Just took a break.
February 10, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Reading a good book will have me reaching for another very soon after.
Reading something so bad I toss it (it's rare) throws me off my rhythm. I didn't pick up another book tonight. Just took a break.
Reading something so bad I toss it (it's rare) throws me off my rhythm. I didn't pick up another book tonight. Just took a break.
Btw, I wouldn't put Jaws, the novel, in the top 3000 let alone 781.
The movie is better in every way.
That doesn't happen often but it's the case with Jaws.
The movie is better in every way.
That doesn't happen often but it's the case with Jaws.
February 10, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Btw, I wouldn't put Jaws, the novel, in the top 3000 let alone 781.
The movie is better in every way.
That doesn't happen often but it's the case with Jaws.
The movie is better in every way.
That doesn't happen often but it's the case with Jaws.
I've read hundreds of good books that fall below that 750 most acclaimed cut-off (751. Childhood's End, 752. Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, 758. The Last Unicorn, 776. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, 778. The Swords of Lankhmar), 780. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, 781. Jaws, etc)
February 10, 2026 at 1:25 PM
I've read hundreds of good books that fall below that 750 most acclaimed cut-off (751. Childhood's End, 752. Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, 758. The Last Unicorn, 776. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, 778. The Swords of Lankhmar), 780. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, 781. Jaws, etc)
Looked at a list of the 750 all-time best-sellers since 1950 and the 750 most acclaimed books since 1950.
The results are what I'd expect of myself & of how many bestsellers have lasting acclaim.
I've read:
7% of the 750 all-time bestsellers since 1950.
24% of the 750 most acclaimed since 1950.
The results are what I'd expect of myself & of how many bestsellers have lasting acclaim.
I've read:
7% of the 750 all-time bestsellers since 1950.
24% of the 750 most acclaimed since 1950.
February 10, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Looked at a list of the 750 all-time best-sellers since 1950 and the 750 most acclaimed books since 1950.
The results are what I'd expect of myself & of how many bestsellers have lasting acclaim.
I've read:
7% of the 750 all-time bestsellers since 1950.
24% of the 750 most acclaimed since 1950.
The results are what I'd expect of myself & of how many bestsellers have lasting acclaim.
I've read:
7% of the 750 all-time bestsellers since 1950.
24% of the 750 most acclaimed since 1950.
You got it.
Mary Stewart handled it deftly in her Merlin series.
Mary Stewart handled it deftly in her Merlin series.
February 10, 2026 at 11:36 AM
You got it.
Mary Stewart handled it deftly in her Merlin series.
Mary Stewart handled it deftly in her Merlin series.
Yeah.
But I'm not talking about forsooth or alas or trow or dole or even ergo. An author can write convincing period fantasy in plain English without sounding like Sir Walter Scott.
And if they can't, "Beshrew the ronyons and woodcocks, I'll not blow my nails 'til they correct their charactery".
But I'm not talking about forsooth or alas or trow or dole or even ergo. An author can write convincing period fantasy in plain English without sounding like Sir Walter Scott.
And if they can't, "Beshrew the ronyons and woodcocks, I'll not blow my nails 'til they correct their charactery".
Though I try to avoid 'forsooth talk', when I'm writing sword & sorcery, I drop most contractions and give everyone more formalized speech patterns. Regency or Victorian England I can get mostly right just from years of reading the stuff. You want something that invokes 'the past'.
February 10, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Yeah.
But I'm not talking about forsooth or alas or trow or dole or even ergo. An author can write convincing period fantasy in plain English without sounding like Sir Walter Scott.
And if they can't, "Beshrew the ronyons and woodcocks, I'll not blow my nails 'til they correct their charactery".
But I'm not talking about forsooth or alas or trow or dole or even ergo. An author can write convincing period fantasy in plain English without sounding like Sir Walter Scott.
And if they can't, "Beshrew the ronyons and woodcocks, I'll not blow my nails 'til they correct their charactery".
I rarely give up on books but I'm out. This one also had a tired village policeman, filing reports and knocking back cups of coffee-- I had to keep checking if it was an actual fantasy setting but it is.
Just no effort to make it feel like it.
Just no effort to make it feel like it.
Reading a medieval fantasy, one character says to another, "Are you asking me on a date?"
Feels too contemporary-- because it is.
Much closer to the Victorian era than the medieval.
At the very least, say "Have you come courting? (or romancing)?"
Feels too contemporary-- because it is.
Much closer to the Victorian era than the medieval.
At the very least, say "Have you come courting? (or romancing)?"
February 10, 2026 at 10:49 AM
I rarely give up on books but I'm out. This one also had a tired village policeman, filing reports and knocking back cups of coffee-- I had to keep checking if it was an actual fantasy setting but it is.
Just no effort to make it feel like it.
Just no effort to make it feel like it.
Agree. I feel key words and phrases, anything that's a beat or draws attention, should be checked to see if there's a more 'fantasist's' approach.
February 10, 2026 at 9:50 AM
Agree. I feel key words and phrases, anything that's a beat or draws attention, should be checked to see if there's a more 'fantasist's' approach.
According to Word Reference: Date, noun, as an arrangement between two people is first recorded in the late 19th century.
It isn't hard to stay a little closer to time and setting.
It isn't hard to stay a little closer to time and setting.
February 10, 2026 at 9:19 AM
According to Word Reference: Date, noun, as an arrangement between two people is first recorded in the late 19th century.
It isn't hard to stay a little closer to time and setting.
It isn't hard to stay a little closer to time and setting.
Making a story feel a little more 'of its time', is not the death knell some contemporary writers think it is.
On the contrary, it earns a little more respect from the reader.
On the contrary, it earns a little more respect from the reader.
February 10, 2026 at 9:11 AM
Making a story feel a little more 'of its time', is not the death knell some contemporary writers think it is.
On the contrary, it earns a little more respect from the reader.
On the contrary, it earns a little more respect from the reader.