So this is it. Most of you didn't see it coming. Some of you are not going to believe it. And even less of you are going to be happy about this. But it is true, as of yesterday's strip, Piece of Me has come to an end.
Piece of Me has taken me on an incredible journey full of learning experiences, opportunities and friendships that will last even longer than the literal decade of me working on this strip. But, seeing as all good things must come to an end, after long consideration, I've decided to put the series to a rest. Honestly the decision wasn't easy for me to make, but at the end it felt like the right thing to do. Not only did I frankly run out of ideas and material, working on it also lost a bit of its spark. It's a series fundamentally rooted in my own (and my friends') personal life, which took its toll on my wellbeing. Going through life having to almost examine each and every situation through a comical lense in order to find enough funny material to draw two strips a week is surprisingly tough, not only from a creative standpoint, but also from a mental one.
However, not everything about making the comic was exhausting, far from it. I've learned a whole lot about keeping schedules, programming, drawing people and comedic timing, not to mention lettering, writing and distribution. I've been to cons, not as a mere fan of comics and all things geeky, but as a creator, as someone who makes the comics other people wanted to read and keep up with. I've met incredible people and made tons of new friends, many of which I would not have been able to meet otherwise. My comics and, by extension, all of you reading this, have opened so many doors for me and I refuse to let those doorways lie ignored. For all those experiences and everything else I am eternally grateful. Which leaves me with one last thing to say: Thank you all for sticking with me through those last ten years. Thank you for coming back each week for more and more silly comics. Thank you for everything you've given me over the years. And special thanks go to my good friends Spike, for helping me out with storylines and comic ideas, to Mike Girardin and many other fantastic artists for helping out with guest strips, and of course to my beautiful girlfriend Amina for putting up with my wacky ass schedules, livestreams and the occasional creative crisis.
Piece of Me is no more. And while that may or may not be incredibly sad for some of you, fret not. For the end of one series might eventually be the beginning of a new one.
In eternal gratitude,
Lukas „Lu“ Draxl
