This project takes place in the Iron Archipelagos, a dimension just off the border of the origin world, [ x ], in the “modern” part of Era 10 (2033 onward).
SYNOPSIS
Catie Davis and Jason Alder were primed from a young age to take over the Lycanthra Syndicate, the legacy of Jason’s late father. After completing the last segment of their initiation/training/apprenticeship(s) prior to their official takeover, they reunite at their home for one last night of fun.
Unfortunately, fate has other things in store for them. Something sinister has risen from an old sigil circle uncovered during renovations. Something everyone at Lycanthra had hoped to put to rest, which has everything to do with the ominous “curse” members of the community claim the syndicate is beholden to. Everything goes dark, the building goes on lockdown, and everyone but Catie is overcome by a dark, cryptic power with a thirst for vengeance.
Except Catie isn’t used to not being part of a team. Now, everyone she thought she could trust has turned against her in the name of a foreign entity she’d rather leave in the distant past. Horrors she’d all but forgotten rear their ugly heads and she’s left without refuge or allies, followed by the ghosts of people she lost. Can she survive this mess on her own, or will the dark forces that have haunted her for ten years finally take her life?
MAIN CAST
Art from December 2023, retouched Lycanthra main cast lineup. Not recently updated.
MEET THE CAST
Catie Davis, she/her — a strong-willed, genius Lionan (Archian lycanthrope) with a reckless heart set on bringing Lycanthra back to what it once was—before the curse, before Wilson Alder and her twin brother, Lou Davis, were killed. Catie was raised by the Lycanthra Syndicate in the absence of her nomadic, aloof parents, and she fully intends on dying for it someday, or living so long she gets to see it move on without her. Her found family just wishes she would focus on the latter option more, and quit getting into back-alley knife fights.
Jason Alder, he/him — the counterbalance to Catie’s reckless conviction, and the genetic and intellectual legacy of Wilson Alder and Laura Deenheart. Jason grew up playing with blasters set to stun and spare parts in a workshop—and with a giant, affectionate family who loves him. Lycanthra is more than his home, it is who and what he is. He has every intention of helping Catie push the Syndicate back to its former glory—as long as his dad’s crazy curse doesn’t get in the way. (He’s always been a little superstitious…)
Harper Alderheart, he/they — a charismatic Living Android, and loyal member of the Lycanthra Syndicate for over 30 years. After the death of former Syndicate Director Wilson Alder, Harper took on two separate but equally personal roles: the head of Lycanthra’s public outreach and relations programs, and stand-in parental figure for Jason Alder. They take their roles very seriously, but unlike their twin, Harper still knows how to have fun.
Pitch Alder(heart), he/they/it — the sensible twin with a rougher exterior and that odd glint of mischief in his eyes that never quite goes away. Pitch was the one who convinced Harper to join the Lycanthra Syndicate, and Wilson Alder was the one who convinced him. Pitch was the chief security officer when Wilson was killed… and they were the one who found him. They carry that with them wherever they go. However, while he retains his position as CSO, after Wilson’s murder Pitch dedicates himself to keep both remnants of his friend’s legacy alive. Jason, Will’s son and technical prodigy, and Catie, the future of Lycanthra’s plasma weapon design and development programs. He has killed for them.
NOTES FROM THE CREATOR
The Lycanthra Syndicate has been my pet project for… a very, very long time. While Fractal Alliances and its past iterations have consumed my creative life for several years at this point, causing me to focus on developing Fin, Ev, and their cohort, The Lycanthra Syndicate (or rather, its original version) is celebrating 10 YEARS of work and development in 2025!
(It actually might be 11 but I’m not going to pour through 13 years of sketchbooks to check. Close counts!)
Furthermore, The Lycanthra Syndicate in its current, most refined form was in fact my senior thesis project during my last 2 semesters of college! Some of you may recognize the characters, concept art, and title page from my presentations in 2023! Now, almost two years after its overhaul for a story and concept class, I finally get to present it to you all—and I cannot be more excited.
…that said, I have some news:
THE COMIC
Because Lycanthra was my senior thesis project, I worked on it for approximately 3 months straight—and prior to that, I had spent half a semester and most of summer doing concept dev as well. Given everything else that happened in my personal life in 2023, and the stress of my final semester, I ultimately got burnt out on the project.
Now, at the start of 2025, I’m picking it back up again—for real, this time. I’ve had a couple false starts in which there was concept art, and more sketches, and starts on a couple more comic pages, but it wasn’t until January that I began to feel like I could touch Lycanthra again without taking instant mental damage.
So, what stage is the comic at now?
- There are 8 complete pages—fully lined, formatted, illustrated, and recently touched up with new text bubbles and clean lettering.
- The entire first installment of Lycanthra, working title “Overrun” (formerly “Demon Strike”), is outlined. In total, 15 pages have been drafted. Two are being worked on as of 03/20/2025.
- The entire series planned for Lycanthra, stretching from 2033 to 2050 E-10, has been very loosely outlined.
- Side characters are being given official/new designs (i.e. “actually outside my head” designs).
- Official release of pages is… TBD. “:D
Working on Lycanthra is still a slow process for me. The way I started out the comic, with 8 fully illustrated pages… was a lot! It was pretty complex, comprehensive work, which was why I got burnt out on it creatively. I’m taking good care to not let that happen again. So, we have a few potential ways this could go:
- I continue to fully color, shade, line, and letter each comic page the way I did the first 8, and the process just takes a while. This means I will wait longer to begin posting the comic itself, so I can build up a substantial buffer of finishde pages. (I’d prefer to get at least halfway done with “Overrun.”)
- I change the style of the comic, limiting the color palette. This will take less time than the first option, and color could still be reserved for prominent action scenes, SFX, and spreads. I would feel safe with less of a buffer in this scenario (3-7 pages ahead of whichever goes up each week).
- In terms of updates, the comic could be released weekly, with more of a buffer and more time spent building it. Or, I could release multiple pages in bursts on a monthly basis, which means more content all at once for you guys, but spread out much more.
Right now, the process is still up in there air. However, I will be hosting discussions about it over on Patreon, Bluesky, and Tumblr in the second quarter of 2025, so some progress may be made on deciding!
Until the comic is live, though, you can read about its progress and see WIPs and concept art on Tumblr and Patreon!
Broken Dimensions 