OKAY, I am not dead, as some of you might have thought with some justification. I am working on the video project, and while I fully intend to continue the comic, this (and sundry mental and physical challenges) has consumed my waking hours. I also found that my video can be directly added to a comic page. So look to see more of them in the future.
You all are marvelous, and I hope you enjoy this.
Many thanks and warmest regards,
JED
I want to do that. Believe me I do.
And even with using my own artwork as the reference image, you wouldn’t believe how fucking hard it is to get VideoExpress to render a MAN as being SHORTER than a WOMAN. There is a cultural bias in the training of their model that makes me crazy. Oh, not to mention getting bigger boobs is a fucking struggle. There is a very good reason why I am getting more local apps like ComfyUI to use my own renders and enhance and animate them. Hopefully It will improve in future, and I will have more direct control.
Warm regards,
JED
To make Zona Taller, did you try telling the render something like:
Zone is as tall as a woman with gigantism disease. Meaning her stature dominate her surrounding. But she is still extremely muscular while staying perfectly proportionated.
jedraft
Well, not that specific wording, but I was extremely specific, to the point of, following the advice of VideoExpress Support, telling them the exact measurements, “A foot taller” “Highly muscular” Which, naturally, either the thing will overdo it or ignore it so much of the time that I take the best imperfect first frames and fix them in P-shop. Fuck the whole noise, I’m vibe coding some new workflows of my own to run locally, and using Daz and Comfy to make them photorealistic and other intensive stuff.
I’m happy to use the new tools, but it needs to be my own story, script, character design – MY product.
Don’t worry about Zona’s size; she’s plenty big enough relative to Mentl. And, so far, he’s the only short man–and he is a little on the short side, even by our Earth standards–in the comic. The men in Zona’s tribe and other tribes are “normally” sized relative to women, including Zona.
Also, don’t worry about the size of Zona’s breasts–they’re perfectly sized for her body. And her body is plenty buff.
Eric Hines
E Hines
One more thing: since Mentl is the short one, and everyone else is “normally” sized relative to each other, maybe the trick is to focus on making Mentl shorter rather than Zona, et al., taller. But at least in this clip, you seem to have solved the relative size question.
Eric Hines
Holy Jebus Kristos,
That was slick and sweet. Zona should be larger but I know exactly what you’re talking about w/regards to modeling bias. Still, keep at it, I know you can do it.
I don’t know why, but my computer had trouble loading this; the buffer went very slowly.
You’re not concerned about interrupting the flow of the comic by posting this directly to it rather than on its’ own? Like a page for the videotelling?
I am not overly concerned, because basically I have not been a very good content creator anyway for a long time. As I said, mental and physical challenges, but this has lit the fire for me again, and in addition to the video, which I have wanted to do for YEARS, I intend to continue the pages of the comic, which has been interrupted anyway. Thanks very much for your patience and continued interest in my contribution to the downfall of Western civilization. 😉
Warm regards,
JED
I will only comment once so as not to be perpetually negative; it’s your story & your time, so make the decisions you see fit.
But I am personally very disappointed that the delay in the comic was for you to “work” on a very bad AI video of the beginning of the story. As a fan, a voice actor, and lover of animation. I know how prohibitively expensive and time consuming 3D animation and live action film can be, but personally I would much rather just read the comic, and will now not click on any video embedded in this site.
And, in addition:
This is my site. I’ve devoted decades to this project. This is what I choose to do with it, and I always listen to and appreciate support and honest criticism, but smarmy BS from people who have never given a dime of their money or an hour of their time to something of mine that they enjoy for free doesn’t sit well with me. Don’t fucking click on the videos. It won’t hurt me. I’m retired and lucky enough not to have to work for a living anymore. I am an actor as well, and a VO artist too, so screw off. The voices are performed by people, (including me) not generated. The music is not AI. I admit I am new to this, and don’t put myself up there as the coming thing. Please stop visiting the site if you are SO disappointed that something you get for free is no longer exACTLY what you want.
I like the new version of Zona, her massive boobs in the comic, while fun to look at, were totally oversized for a warrior princess. Not only those juggernauts would be a primary target, they would be an issue with her swing, her own arms would no doubt bruise them up. My late wife with was a D-cup when we married, and before she passed she gained about 80 lbs, about half of that went top-side. So yeah, special bras, and a lot of complaints. And a crap ton of shoulder/back rubs. Mentl sounds exactly like I pictured it, Zona isn’t as deep voiced as I would have guessed. All-in-all, that’s a damned good video. Now I’m curious what Tula looks and sounds like too lol, not to mention the Mom.
Neat, though I’m assuming AI?Mentl had man-boobs around the 50 sec mark (when it was shown he was running so could just be the shirt stretching but still; which wasn’t there anymore around 2:10, but came back 2:50), the book seems way too big when it was introduced (got smaller then bigger again when Mentl picked it up, around 1:20-ish, leading it to be more normal sized around 1:55), Urtt’s cut neck was hollow (around 3:19)
Ps. Didn’t the story start after he stole some clothes to blend in; and the ‘before scene’ was Vitol dying and giving him the book, or is this going to be changed?
Neat, though some inconsistencies I noticed:
1. Mentl had man-boobs around the 50 sec mark (when it was shown he was running so could just be the shirt stretching but still) which wasn’t there anymore (around 2:10), but came back for a bit (2:50).
2. The book seems way too big when it was introduced, looked around the trash can’s height, and even blocked Mentl while he was crouched to pick it up (around 1:20-ish). Leading it to be more normal sized around 1:55 (while being carried).
3. The Urtt’s cut neck was hollow (around 3:19)
Ps. Didn’t the story start after he stole some clothes to blend in; and the ‘before scene’ was Vitol dying and giving him the book, or is this going to be changed?
On more thing, in addition to my comments above: I hope, as part of the interspersed videos you have planned, we’ll get to hear the songs Mentl plays over the course of the story. Many of them I recognized from the lyrics and enjoyed when they were current; others I’d never heard, but I’d like to.
Keep up the good work, and don’t let the naysayers get you down.
Eric Hines
E Hines, We totally will.
Working on integrating real vocals, instrumentals and all into my workflow. Creating covers that represent the original and Mentl’s vocals is a real priority.
JED,
You got this. The story is there, and you’re working on the tools with which to tell it. A new endeavor is usually not easy get right directly from the gate, but the struggle makes it that much more satisfying once we get it where we want it. Cheers!!
Hello Jed! Happy to see you’re doing well!
First let me start by saying I have enjoyed this story and your amazing style of both presenting the visual aspect of the comic, as well as your writing. When I found your comic, Mentl was still wearing his weird blue clothes and was having a conversation with Zona. Ever since, I’ve been privileged to see this story unfold, and what a story it has been! When I ran the DnD campaign where I met my now wife, one of my main NPCs existed because Zona was an inspiration for her. That character married my wife before I did.
I am 100% in agreement as it has been said before: as the artist and the writer, your project, your choices. And I hope that beyond a critique or judgment, you see that some of us making these comments are not really trying to make you feel a certain way or trying to feel, seem, or signal superiority in any way. We just see a creator we respect engaging in something that makes us want to comment. You’d get reactions for any big move, hell, I remember the comments when you changed the models you used. So at least as far as some of us go, we are 100% not judging or poo-pooing you or your work, we just feel “disappointed” (and again, that word has a lot of weight), to see AI. You are an artist, you know what AI is based on and does. You can argue it’s just a tool. And you are free to do so. How I *personally* see it (and again, this is me, sharing what I believe with the sole expectation of conveying information) is this: blood has iron in it. You could, in theory, take gallons and gallons and gallons of blood, extract the iron contained in it, and make a hammer out of it. Now say that hammer is REALLY good, but each time you use it, you must repair it using iron sourced from more blood. Sure, there are OTHER hammers, but this one is really good and fast. In my opinion, the fact that the tool is good does not make up for the harm it does. It’s not an ideology, it’s people getting sick, places getting destroyed, companies leaving artists first, and other workers later, with no recourse. It takes YOUR work, and gives it to other people to use for profit even, without requiring your participation or consent. And if that is ok with you, that’s fine, but that should be an opt-in, not an opt-out. It’s not “ew, you use AI so you are yucky and you can’t play with us anymore” it’s “the choice you are making for the sake of your work is directly impacting one of the biggest conversations today”.
Again, your playground, your ball, your rules. We get to enjoy or not what you do for free and I personally am very grateful for that work, I just think it’s fair for us, the people who enjoy your work to communicate to you how your work makes us feel on the section of the page designed to communicate to how we feel. And for the conversation to be had, we need to be able to say these things without people going off on our faces, if you don’t want to have the conversation, then that’s fine too for sure! Like Tim Minchin said on “Storm”: “And if perchance, I have offended / think but this and all is mended: / we’d as well be 10 minutes back in time, for all the chance you’ll chance your mind”.
In all seriousness though, 100% honestly, I love your work JED, we all do. Please don’t take comments on your use of AI as comments on you or attacks to you as a person, but I hope you do get that when people comment about it instead of “just leaving” or “just stop visiting the site” it’s because we care about both you and the story. Not in the “awww poor guy” or in the “uhm actually *lifts glasses* as a fan, the comic is more mine than the artist’s” way. That’s out of the question. The people who really reacted already stopped coming. We’re here because this means a lot to us. The same way loads of people expressed disappointment when James friggin Gurney, the father of Dinotopia, started advocating for AI.
Sorry for the wall of text, and regardless of how this comes across, I sincerely hope you know that I appreciate all the work you do on this project. It’s been a favorite of mine and a staple in my bookmarks for 21 years, so I do hope you don’t think I’m just some loud kid trying to virtue-signal on a random comment section, and I hope your work on the comic continues to give you joy and fulfillment.
Myself and a few others had this issue again just before this latest page was published, but you appear to be the only one who’s mentioned it since.
I’ve just checked the page in Firefox, Chrome and Edge, and not had the issue.
Have you tried remedial action, such as forcing a refresh of the page, or clearing your cache? It may be that your browser still has an older copy which contains the egg-crusade reference.
My people, this is a global ecological emergency. *All* of us need to pitch in as best we can.
So if it helps you get motivated, then Zona, Mentl and all their friends are willing to bare it all for you to get the resources where they’re needed. Send me an email with a forwarded receipt or screen grab of an Australian 10 dollar (or above) donation and we’ll send you a nice sexy pic of the “Challenges of Zona” character of your choice.
I chose these two organizations as being the ones that will help the wildlife and the people, but I am willing to accept any proof of (recent) donation to any accredited relief organization dedicated to assisting with the fight against these horrific bush fires Down Under.
I’m a Californian, and I have seen my share of nasty wildfires, even more and worse in recent years. The Australian fires make anything I had to be evacuated from seem like a grease fire in my kitchen. If you think you are safe from the effects of this disaster because you live on the other side of the world, think again. This is worse than any fantasy world-beater my imagination could come up with. I have given and will give again.
For those of you who just like to click:
WWF:
https://www.wwf.org.au/#gs.razbkt
Red Cross:
https://fundraise.redcross.org.au/drr
I’ve given and will give again next paycheck. How about you?
Just at the moment, we’re temporarily stalled on the animation project. So we’ve taken advantage of the lull to revisit the Gen 8 model of Zona, and I think this time, even more than last, we’ve hit it on the head. So Brian came up with a couple of pinups of her of which this is a closeup. If you want to see more (much more) become a Patreon patron at https://www.patreon.com/JEDraft
That’s right – from now through August 14th, all new rewards will be unlocked for all Patreon patrons of The Challenges Of Zona! This will give our one dollar Erogenians a taste of what they’ve been missing, and hopefully encourage others to become patrons and sample our best stuff!
And as for you others who have already given above and beyond, have no fear. August and September we will have a Double Rewards promotion with biweekly Sexy Stuff, Throwbacks and other goodies to reward you for your patience and generosity.
My heart is heavy tonight. We had to say goodbye to my dear constant companion and the inspiration for all the black cats in “Challenges Of Zona”, my beloved friend, P-Chan. He was very old and finally was very confused and in great pain. So we eased him into Summerland Thursday evening. Nonetheless, he’s still there in the past and in my memories, and in Inky and in Incus and in the one-eyed winged cat from the Otherwhen. (Yes, long-time readers will remember when he lost his eye to an abcess, years ago.)
Over the past year, my Patreon patrons have been generously giving me money to pursue my vision of an animated web series based on The Challenges Of Zona. In return they get early updates, desktops and other fun stuff. But all of it has had one goal. And we have just passed the first milestone on the way to that goal.
I have just made the first payment to a talented young animator who is contracted to produce a 61-second fully animated trailer for The Challenges Of Zona.
We’re both really enthusiastic and I have high confidence that, within the next month or two we will have something to show folks that we’re serious about bringing a new fantasy phenomenon to the web.
I needed all of you, patrons and fans alike to support me in this and you have not disappointed. Eventually everyone will see the end product, but Zona’s patrons will be in on all the latest updates, new character models, tests, renders and everything as it happens, plus any other extras we can give in humble gratitude.
So be not shy. And, if you can, buy into the future of fantasy entertainment. one dollar, five dollars -ten or whatever you can afford. You won’t be sorry! This is happening!
We’re doing it. We’re moving forward. We’re bringing Zona to life.
You remember when our intrepid adventurers were stranded in Hollywood, California for awhile and the bored Zona would spend her time in the pool? Well sometimes she would forego the bathing suit. And your faithful storyteller did record the event.
My generous patrons at Patreon can see the whole thing in a high resolution desktop.
Do subscribe if you can, not just for the boobs and fun stuff, but to help Zona get to our goal and make an animated demo which, naturally, my patrons will be the first to see!
Sorry kids. I am working on a largish crowd scene for page 1052. It will probably not be ready until tomorrow at earliest.
However, for my Patreon patrons, there is a scene with our lovers that takes care of one of my little loose threads. Alas, I got tired of
being clever so there’s no attempt to hide their nudity, so I had to put it on the Patreon site. Don’t worry, though. It’s not necessary to enjoy the next regular page.
But it’s just one of the things I add every week to reward those who help Zona out. 🙂
You people are wonderful, and today we crossed a bit of a threshold and have now more than fifty patrons who are helping us get to the ever-nearer goal of ten thousand bucks for the Zona animated demo and then beyond to a series!
Thanks so very much. All of you are important, and as an artist I feel everyone’s support, whether you can afford to be a patron on Patreon or not. But because I’m feeling jaunty I thought I’d share something from the past that had not been posted before.  Going through my archives I came across a render of the luckless Ginsha I’m pretty sure I haven’t shared before. Half-urtt woman, now masterless and mostly insane, I promise that there is a resolution in her future.
38 thoughts on “The Challenges Of Zona: Latest version of the Opening – VIDEO”
jedraft
OKAY, I am not dead, as some of you might have thought with some justification. I am working on the video project, and while I fully intend to continue the comic, this (and sundry mental and physical challenges) has consumed my waking hours. I also found that my video can be directly added to a comic page. So look to see more of them in the future.
You all are marvelous, and I hope you enjoy this.
Many thanks and warmest regards,
JED
John
Glad to see you’re all right! Cool video, when i remembered to turn on my sound system.
jedraft
OK, the first file I popped here was the old one, and very jakey. I edited it, and NOW you can see the very latest iteration of the, etc, etc.
Warm Regards,
JED
SamDragon2
Great.
I am very happy to see more of one of my favorite stories.
L'Espion
Great video, and yes I am still reading Zona even though I have pretty much stopped writing.
Pat D.
Great start. Shouldn’t Zonna be taller and more buff? That version of her doesn’t look like she could rip out Conan the Barbarian’s heart.
JEDraft
I want to do that. Believe me I do.
And even with using my own artwork as the reference image, you wouldn’t believe how fucking hard it is to get VideoExpress to render a MAN as being SHORTER than a WOMAN. There is a cultural bias in the training of their model that makes me crazy. Oh, not to mention getting bigger boobs is a fucking struggle. There is a very good reason why I am getting more local apps like ComfyUI to use my own renders and enhance and animate them. Hopefully It will improve in future, and I will have more direct control.
Warm regards,
JED
Maxime Mercier
To make Zona Taller, did you try telling the render something like:
Zone is as tall as a woman with gigantism disease. Meaning her stature dominate her surrounding. But she is still extremely muscular while staying perfectly proportionated.
jedraft
Well, not that specific wording, but I was extremely specific, to the point of, following the advice of VideoExpress Support, telling them the exact measurements, “A foot taller” “Highly muscular” Which, naturally, either the thing will overdo it or ignore it so much of the time that I take the best imperfect first frames and fix them in P-shop. Fuck the whole noise, I’m vibe coding some new workflows of my own to run locally, and using Daz and Comfy to make them photorealistic and other intensive stuff.
I’m happy to use the new tools, but it needs to be my own story, script, character design – MY product.
Warm regards,
JED
E Hines
Don’t worry about Zona’s size; she’s plenty big enough relative to Mentl. And, so far, he’s the only short man–and he is a little on the short side, even by our Earth standards–in the comic. The men in Zona’s tribe and other tribes are “normally” sized relative to women, including Zona.
Also, don’t worry about the size of Zona’s breasts–they’re perfectly sized for her body. And her body is plenty buff.
Eric Hines
E Hines
One more thing: since Mentl is the short one, and everyone else is “normally” sized relative to each other, maybe the trick is to focus on making Mentl shorter rather than Zona, et al., taller. But at least in this clip, you seem to have solved the relative size question.
Eric Hines
Xerxes Aragon
Yes, I noticed she appeared a little less busty in the video than in the strips. Hopefully you’ll be able to correct that shortcoming.
Pat D.
I look forward to the improvements.
Miha
A woman with a right attitude can rip a mans heart out, much easier than Conan or Korgoth.
Please continue with your GREAT work.
JEDraft
No argument. 😉
And Zona has always had attitude …
Warm regards,
JED
Wiccat
Holy Jebus Kristos,
That was slick and sweet. Zona should be larger but I know exactly what you’re talking about w/regards to modeling bias. Still, keep at it, I know you can do it.
Lora
I don’t know why, but my computer had trouble loading this; the buffer went very slowly.
You’re not concerned about interrupting the flow of the comic by posting this directly to it rather than on its’ own? Like a page for the videotelling?
JEDraft
I am not overly concerned, because basically I have not been a very good content creator anyway for a long time. As I said, mental and physical challenges, but this has lit the fire for me again, and in addition to the video, which I have wanted to do for YEARS, I intend to continue the pages of the comic, which has been interrupted anyway. Thanks very much for your patience and continued interest in my contribution to the downfall of Western civilization. 😉
Warm regards,
JED
Disappointed! /Hercules
I will only comment once so as not to be perpetually negative; it’s your story & your time, so make the decisions you see fit.
But I am personally very disappointed that the delay in the comic was for you to “work” on a very bad AI video of the beginning of the story. As a fan, a voice actor, and lover of animation. I know how prohibitively expensive and time consuming 3D animation and live action film can be, but personally I would much rather just read the comic, and will now not click on any video embedded in this site.
jedraft
By all means, you work on your projects and priorities, and I will work on mine.
Regards,
JED
JEdraft
And, in addition:
This is my site. I’ve devoted decades to this project. This is what I choose to do with it, and I always listen to and appreciate support and honest criticism, but smarmy BS from people who have never given a dime of their money or an hour of their time to something of mine that they enjoy for free doesn’t sit well with me. Don’t fucking click on the videos. It won’t hurt me. I’m retired and lucky enough not to have to work for a living anymore. I am an actor as well, and a VO artist too, so screw off. The voices are performed by people, (including me) not generated. The music is not AI. I admit I am new to this, and don’t put myself up there as the coming thing. Please stop visiting the site if you are SO disappointed that something you get for free is no longer exACTLY what you want.
JED
JED
Sean
I found the sound in the clip to be way too loud. I had to turn the volume way down and even then it was distorting badly.
jedraft
Gotcha – and I agree. We’re working on the sound design. Will take your feedback into consideration.
Warm regards,
JED
Scarsdale
I like the new version of Zona, her massive boobs in the comic, while fun to look at, were totally oversized for a warrior princess. Not only those juggernauts would be a primary target, they would be an issue with her swing, her own arms would no doubt bruise them up. My late wife with was a D-cup when we married, and before she passed she gained about 80 lbs, about half of that went top-side. So yeah, special bras, and a lot of complaints. And a crap ton of shoulder/back rubs. Mentl sounds exactly like I pictured it, Zona isn’t as deep voiced as I would have guessed. All-in-all, that’s a damned good video. Now I’m curious what Tula looks and sounds like too lol, not to mention the Mom.
JEDraft
Well, you will see Ipola next week, I think, in a short teaser.
Warm regards,
JED
C-R*
Neat, though I’m assuming AI?Mentl had man-boobs around the 50 sec mark (when it was shown he was running so could just be the shirt stretching but still; which wasn’t there anymore around 2:10, but came back 2:50), the book seems way too big when it was introduced (got smaller then bigger again when Mentl picked it up, around 1:20-ish, leading it to be more normal sized around 1:55), Urtt’s cut neck was hollow (around 3:19)
Ps. Didn’t the story start after he stole some clothes to blend in; and the ‘before scene’ was Vitol dying and giving him the book, or is this going to be changed?
C-R*
Whoops, accidentally double post. orz accidentally posted the roughdraft as well.
C-R*
Neat, though some inconsistencies I noticed:
1. Mentl had man-boobs around the 50 sec mark (when it was shown he was running so could just be the shirt stretching but still) which wasn’t there anymore (around 2:10), but came back for a bit (2:50).
2. The book seems way too big when it was introduced, looked around the trash can’s height, and even blocked Mentl while he was crouched to pick it up (around 1:20-ish). Leading it to be more normal sized around 1:55 (while being carried).
3. The Urtt’s cut neck was hollow (around 3:19)
Ps. Didn’t the story start after he stole some clothes to blend in; and the ‘before scene’ was Vitol dying and giving him the book, or is this going to be changed?
JEDraft
Yep. all these are noted, and we’ll try to address moving forward with the video project.
E Hines
On more thing, in addition to my comments above: I hope, as part of the interspersed videos you have planned, we’ll get to hear the songs Mentl plays over the course of the story. Many of them I recognized from the lyrics and enjoyed when they were current; others I’d never heard, but I’d like to.
Keep up the good work, and don’t let the naysayers get you down.
Eric Hines
JED
E Hines, We totally will.
Working on integrating real vocals, instrumentals and all into my workflow. Creating covers that represent the original and Mentl’s vocals is a real priority.
🙂
Warm regards,
JED
Teri
Enjoyable surprise. That is all.
SanBernInATL
JED,
You got this. The story is there, and you’re working on the tools with which to tell it. A new endeavor is usually not easy get right directly from the gate, but the struggle makes it that much more satisfying once we get it where we want it. Cheers!!
Descartes
Glad to see you are still with us, JED.
The Old Hack
Glad to see you, Jed. And this looked cool 🙂
TehOvermind
Hello Jed! Happy to see you’re doing well!
First let me start by saying I have enjoyed this story and your amazing style of both presenting the visual aspect of the comic, as well as your writing. When I found your comic, Mentl was still wearing his weird blue clothes and was having a conversation with Zona. Ever since, I’ve been privileged to see this story unfold, and what a story it has been! When I ran the DnD campaign where I met my now wife, one of my main NPCs existed because Zona was an inspiration for her. That character married my wife before I did.
I am 100% in agreement as it has been said before: as the artist and the writer, your project, your choices. And I hope that beyond a critique or judgment, you see that some of us making these comments are not really trying to make you feel a certain way or trying to feel, seem, or signal superiority in any way. We just see a creator we respect engaging in something that makes us want to comment. You’d get reactions for any big move, hell, I remember the comments when you changed the models you used. So at least as far as some of us go, we are 100% not judging or poo-pooing you or your work, we just feel “disappointed” (and again, that word has a lot of weight), to see AI. You are an artist, you know what AI is based on and does. You can argue it’s just a tool. And you are free to do so. How I *personally* see it (and again, this is me, sharing what I believe with the sole expectation of conveying information) is this: blood has iron in it. You could, in theory, take gallons and gallons and gallons of blood, extract the iron contained in it, and make a hammer out of it. Now say that hammer is REALLY good, but each time you use it, you must repair it using iron sourced from more blood. Sure, there are OTHER hammers, but this one is really good and fast. In my opinion, the fact that the tool is good does not make up for the harm it does. It’s not an ideology, it’s people getting sick, places getting destroyed, companies leaving artists first, and other workers later, with no recourse. It takes YOUR work, and gives it to other people to use for profit even, without requiring your participation or consent. And if that is ok with you, that’s fine, but that should be an opt-in, not an opt-out. It’s not “ew, you use AI so you are yucky and you can’t play with us anymore” it’s “the choice you are making for the sake of your work is directly impacting one of the biggest conversations today”.
Again, your playground, your ball, your rules. We get to enjoy or not what you do for free and I personally am very grateful for that work, I just think it’s fair for us, the people who enjoy your work to communicate to you how your work makes us feel on the section of the page designed to communicate to how we feel. And for the conversation to be had, we need to be able to say these things without people going off on our faces, if you don’t want to have the conversation, then that’s fine too for sure! Like Tim Minchin said on “Storm”: “And if perchance, I have offended / think but this and all is mended: / we’d as well be 10 minutes back in time, for all the chance you’ll chance your mind”.
In all seriousness though, 100% honestly, I love your work JED, we all do. Please don’t take comments on your use of AI as comments on you or attacks to you as a person, but I hope you do get that when people comment about it instead of “just leaving” or “just stop visiting the site” it’s because we care about both you and the story. Not in the “awww poor guy” or in the “uhm actually *lifts glasses* as a fan, the comic is more mine than the artist’s” way. That’s out of the question. The people who really reacted already stopped coming. We’re here because this means a lot to us. The same way loads of people expressed disappointment when James friggin Gurney, the father of Dinotopia, started advocating for AI.
Sorry for the wall of text, and regardless of how this comes across, I sincerely hope you know that I appreciate all the work you do on this project. It’s been a favorite of mine and a staple in my bookmarks for 21 years, so I do hope you don’t think I’m just some loud kid trying to virtue-signal on a random comment section, and I hope your work on the comic continues to give you joy and fulfillment.
Phoebe
My antivirus is freaking out when I come to your page – something about an egg-crusade page.
RBZ
Myself and a few others had this issue again just before this latest page was published, but you appear to be the only one who’s mentioned it since.
I’ve just checked the page in Firefox, Chrome and Edge, and not had the issue.
Have you tried remedial action, such as forcing a refresh of the page, or clearing your cache? It may be that your browser still has an older copy which contains the egg-crusade reference.
Latest Comics
#1348. Dang, that usually works. Page 1306
96 46882 Apr 18, 2024
#1347. Flying To Battle – Page 1305
108 69453 Feb 19, 2024
#1346. Kicking Ass – Page 1304
108 30367 Jan 27, 2024
#1345. War Dawn – Page 1303
94 38984 Jan 12, 2024
#1344. Arm Yourself – Page 1302
91 63097 Dec 19, 2023
#1343. A Midnight Snack – Page 1300
97 17028 Nov 19, 2023
#1342. Page 1298 – Enter Yatta-Ta …
95 14051 Nov 04, 2023
#1341. Details, Details … Page 1295
99 21503 Oct 11, 2023
#1340. The Whole Truth – Page 1294
95 15389 Oct 03, 2023
#1339. The Truth – Page 1293
91 12783 Sep 27, 2023
Latest Chapters
The Challenges Of Zona: Latest version of the Opening – VIDEO
HELP AUSTRALIA NOW
My people, this is a global ecological emergency. *All* of us need to pitch in as best we can.
So if it helps you get motivated, then Zona, Mentl and all their friends are willing to bare it all for you to get the resources where they’re needed. Send me an email with a forwarded receipt or screen grab of an Australian 10 dollar (or above) donation and we’ll send you a nice sexy pic of the “Challenges of Zona” character of your choice.
I chose these two organizations as being the ones that will help the wildlife and the people, but I am willing to accept any proof of (recent) donation to any accredited relief organization dedicated to assisting with the fight against these horrific bush fires Down Under.
I’m a Californian, and I have seen my share of nasty wildfires, even more and worse in recent years. The Australian fires make anything I had to be evacuated from seem like a grease fire in my kitchen. If you think you are safe from the effects of this disaster because you live on the other side of the world, think again. This is worse than any fantasy world-beater my imagination could come up with. I have given and will give again.
For those of you who just like to click:
WWF:
Red Cross:
I’ve given and will give again next paycheck. How about you?
Warmest regards,
JED
Zona G8 Mk2
Just at the moment, we’re temporarily stalled on the animation project. So we’ve taken advantage of the lull to revisit the Gen 8 model of Zona, and I think this time, even more than last, we’ve hit it on the head. So Brian came up with a couple of pinups of her of which this is a closeup. If you want to see more (much more) become a Patreon patron at https://www.patreon.com/JEDraft
Warm regards, all!
JED
JULY PATREON PROMOTION! $1 UNLOCKS EVERYTHING!
That’s right – from now through August 14th, all new rewards will be unlocked for all Patreon patrons of The Challenges Of Zona! This will give our one dollar Erogenians a taste of what they’ve been missing, and hopefully encourage others to become patrons and sample our best stuff!
And as for you others who have already given above and beyond, have no fear. August and September we will have a Double Rewards promotion with biweekly Sexy Stuff, Throwbacks and other goodies to reward you for your patience and generosity.
Just sign up for one thin US Dollar at:
https://www.patreon.com/JEDraft
Warmest Regards,
JED
Zona Wants You!!
Warm regards,
JED
R.I.P – P-Chan
My heart is heavy tonight. We had to say goodbye to my dear constant companion and the inspiration for all the black cats in “Challenges Of Zona”, my beloved friend, P-Chan.
He was very old and finally was very confused and in great pain. So we eased him into Summerland Thursday evening.
Nonetheless, he’s still there in the past and in my memories, and in Inky and in Incus and in the one-eyed winged cat from the Otherwhen. (Yes, long-time readers will remember when he lost his eye to an abcess, years ago.)
He was a very very very good boy.
Warm regards,
JED
GRAND ANNOUNCEMENT- ZONA ANIMATED
Over the past year, my Patreon patrons have been generously giving me money to pursue my vision of an animated web series based on The Challenges Of Zona. In return they get early updates, desktops and other fun stuff. But all of it has had one goal. And we have just passed the first milestone on the way to that goal.
I have just made the first payment to a talented young animator who is contracted to produce a 61-second fully animated trailer for The Challenges Of Zona.
We’re both really enthusiastic and I have high confidence that, within the next month or two we will have something to show folks that we’re serious about bringing a new fantasy phenomenon to the web.
I needed all of you, patrons and fans alike to support me in this and you have not disappointed. Eventually everyone will see the end product, but Zona’s patrons will be in on all the latest updates, new character models, tests, renders and everything as it happens, plus any other extras we can give in humble gratitude.
So be not shy. And, if you can, buy into the future of fantasy entertainment. one dollar, five dollars -ten or whatever you can afford. You won’t be sorry! This is happening!
We’re doing it. We’re moving forward. We’re bringing Zona to life.
In the word of the great Stan Lee:
EXCELSIOR!!
Watch this space!
Warmest regards,
JED
https://www.patreon.com/JEDraft
Patreon: Sexy Sunday Update
You remember when our intrepid adventurers were stranded in Hollywood, California for awhile and the bored Zona would spend her time in the pool? Well sometimes she would forego the bathing suit. And your faithful storyteller did record the event.
My generous patrons at Patreon can see the whole thing in a high resolution desktop.
Do subscribe if you can, not just for the boobs and fun stuff, but to help Zona get to our goal and make an animated demo which, naturally, my patrons will be the first to see!
Warmest regards,
JED
Patreon – Sexy Saturday update
This week’s Sexy Saturday features (as some might have predicted) our resident priestesses of the Sun and The Moon, Chera and Tula.
If you’re not a patron, please consider helping us out at Patreon.com/JEDraft!
Warm Regards,
JED
Next RegularUpdate on Wednesday – But …
Sorry kids. I am working on a largish crowd scene for page 1052. It will probably not be ready until tomorrow at earliest.
However, for my Patreon patrons, there is a scene with our lovers that takes care of one of my little loose threads. Alas, I got tired of
being clever so there’s no attempt to hide their nudity, so I had to put it on the Patreon site. Don’t worry, though. It’s not necessary to enjoy the next regular page.
But it’s just one of the things I add every week to reward those who help Zona out. 🙂
Enjoy!
Warmest regards,
JED
Over Fifty patrons! Awesome!
You people are wonderful, and today we crossed a bit of a threshold and have now more than fifty patrons who are helping us get to the ever-nearer goal of ten thousand bucks for the Zona animated demo and then beyond to a series!
Thanks so very much. All of you are important, and as an artist I feel everyone’s support, whether you can afford to be a patron on Patreon or not. But because I’m feeling jaunty I thought I’d share something from the past that had not been posted before.  Going through my archives I came across a render of the luckless Ginsha I’m pretty sure I haven’t shared before. Half-urtt woman, now masterless and mostly insane, I promise that there is a resolution in her future.
Thanks to all my patrons!
Warmest regards,
JED
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