Home—Patreon Production Schedule and Rewards Changes, Fewer Comic Updates for All

Welcome to September 1, 2021. If you’re a reader of Kique’s Home are you ready to see even less of the comic publicly? Starting this month, the comic will only update twice a month.

**Edit 9/26/2021** Kique is bringing the number of posts on ComicFury up to three per month to match the posting rate on Patreon.

**Edit** Earlier this morning Kique responded on his Instagram noting that these changes aren’t permanent. However, he didn’t say how long the reduced upload schedule would last. Nor has he updated his Patreon announcement or made a new announcement. Additionally, his Patreon post was made on August 7 and there’s no hint of this change being temporary. I suspect the negative feedback on Instagram made him change his mind, but it’s just an empty promise until he actually resumes once a week uploads.

The original article is below:

One of the things that originally drew me to both Asmundr and Home were the quick page updates. At its very best, Asmundr and Home would update twice in a day and at worst, two times a week from 2015 through 2019. The average was about three pages per week. Kique often pumped out so many pages per week that it was a wonder he didn’t experience burnout. This is doubly true because Home is a project that doesn’t have a set script and barely has a story outline.

Unsurprisingly, burnout did start to occur in 2020. Pages for patrons dropped from a reliable two to three per week, to once a week. Since then production has increased and decreased. Breaks have been taken (which are understandable). On the public side updates to Comic Fury dropped from twice a week to once a week.

On August 7 Kique introduced upcoming changes to his paying fans. New pages will go up on Patreon three times a month. To keep paying customers ahead of the public, ComicFury will only be updated twice a month. In short, paying fans have gradually saw updates decrease from ten times a month down to three over the last few years. Fans on the public site will now see pages drop from eight a month to two with a 12 page gap between paywall and public as of this writing. Currently, the public is on page 672 while patrons are up to 684. The buffer here is so large that Kique could update ComicFury three times a month to match what’s behind the paywall and patrons will still have a comfortable number of early pages.

Home’s strongest point was quick updates. Take those away and this mediocre story becomes even weaker. A plot that’s not really going anywhere will be dragged out for God-knows-how-long. I wouldn’t be surprised if fans dropped off because of the double punch of a slow and uninteresting plot combined with bi-monthly updates. Perhaps some fans will take the plunge and join Kique’s Patreon.

On a quick note, if you’re disappointed with the decrease in pages, Kique’s girlfriend, Staz will be there to shame you by falsely telling you that most artists do the same.

(On average, many webcomics update about once a week with breaks between chapters. Some artists update up to four times a week, some artists update as little as a few times a year. Just be honest that you needed the break without falsely trying to speak for other artists.)

Anyway, once you’re caught up with those 12 pages, updates still won’t be much faster as I mentioned earlier. Pages will still only be released three times a month for a comic that used to see updates two to three times a week. So are there any other benefits to joining his Patreon?

Maybe, but I’ve seen more enticing rewards from other artists.

Let’s break it down:

• The Apprentice Tier ($1) gives you wallpaper taken from panels with the speech bubbles removed. You can join the Patreon community, but you can’t participate in anything meaningful. You’re locked out of seeing concept art, new pages, and the monthly Q&A. This is basically a glorified tip jar.
• The Shepherd Tier ($4) does get some boosts since the Warrior Tier ($8) is going away. New pages, access to the Discord server, and the Q&A remain. While sketch bases, script teasers, and tutorials are now available.
• The Warrior Tier ($15) allows fans to watch art livestreams, download Kique’s brush sets (which can be found on DA from other artists some of the time), download bases (which can be customized and sold to others), storyline previews, and bonus pages. The NSFW pages are on the 18+ tier of the same price.
• The Thane Tier ($35) is a slot limited to 25 patrons and includes customization from one of Kique’s available bases or sketch bust. The sketch bust is limited to canines and big cats either from Home or real species—nothing else.

First all, the bulk of what patrons are receiving are bases, custom bases (limited slots, but they didn’t used to be limited), early pages, Q&A, wallpapers, and access to the Discord. Bonus pages haven’t been released in a year. Character concepts and script teasers are rare these days. Granted, these changes in page production could mean that Kique plans to buff up Patreon rewards, but I’ll believe it when I see it in action. In my opinion, the only interesting thing about being a patron is probably access to his bases and maybe the sketch rewards if you were quick enough to grab a limited slot. All and all, it’s not a great effort for the money he’s asking especially when similar artists offer more for your money.

Let’s take a look at an artist who has a similar sized following to Kique in terms of comic style, readership, and patrons.

Panthera Arven, aka Arven92 offers early page access, Q&As, sketches, and even artwork. Let’s look at her offerings:

• Following only- You can still see quite a bit of artwork just by following her account.
• The Skelewoof Squad ($2) gives you access to her Discord, exclusive sketches, works-in-progress, and a Q&A. The Q&A works a bit differently—you ask a character a question and Arven may respond with an answer in sketch form.
• The Zebracal Zone ($5) gives you early access to comic pages and credits in printed work.
• The Servalion Society ($10) gives you a dedicated character sketch, i.e. you pick one of Arven’s characters from one of her three works (Africa, Chakra: Battle of the Titans, Azarian Stories) and a pose. You get your name next to what you requested. Exclusive monthly walkthrough videos are included and access to .psd files for finished paintings/fully rendered art.
• The Azaroo Army ($20) gives you a full-body black and white sketch each month of your personal character—not limited by species. Access to private Discord text and voice channels, a special mention in printed works, and 10% off commissions during pledged months.
• The Bookworm Band ($30) was a limited tier offered in December 2020. It gave patrons the ability to pre-order chapter three of Africa and it included a limited sketch. Anyone who stayed on the tier after in January 2021 received a digital half-body colored sketch each month, plus everything offered for the Azaroo Army tier. Even though this tier is no longer available publicly, it is still being honored.
• The Shiberoth Syndicate ($40) gives you a rendered half-body personal art piece, the ability to choose tutorial topics, and a 20% discount on commissioned art.
• The Feathercat Flock ($60) gives you one-on-one tutoring (including redlines) and a 30% commission discount.
• The Butterdog Brigade ($80) gives you personal rendered half-body pieces with a background and a 40% discount on commissions.
• The Firefox Fellowship ($100) not counting The Bookworm Band, it took a $100 tier to finally get to limited slots. For good reason, those who pledge receive a full-color comic page every other month, which includes three characters. The 40% commission discount is also included.
• The Puppetbunster ($400) this tier was understandably limited to one slot and it’s sold out. However, the sole patron receives two monthly comic book pages, a half-body portrait (rendered), and 50% off commissions.

This isn’t quite an apples-to-apples comparison since Arven offers so much more. So let’s just look at similar tiers:

• Just following Arven gives you access to some art.
• $2 gives you access to her Patreon. Q&As and sketches, compared to $4 for Kique.
• $5 gives you access to early pages and credits in her physical books which is a dollar more than Kique, but not a huge difference.
• $10 gives you some art featuring her characters, while there’s nothing comparable on Kique’s Patreon.
• For something comparable to Kique’s Thane Tier, you’d either have to already be on Arven’s Bookworm Band for $30 ($5 less than what Kique’s offering), be on the Azaroo Army ($15 less) or go to the Shiberoth Syndicate ($5 more) to receive personal art.
• There’s no option for bases, but I’d say sketch or even rendered art is a better deal for your money and there’s no patron limit. As for Kique’s bases, you can actually commission artists like Zeldienne or CMCrusoe to customize one of his bases for you at a fraction of the price.

As for myself, I’ve been a member of Arven’s Bookworm Band since December. I stayed on past January and have gotten eight colored sketches over the months.

As for other webcomic artists on Patreon that offer similar subjects (i.e. animal comics) check out:

• SleepySundae –To Catch a Star (includes early access to pages and the chance at a background cameo for your character).
  Therbis – Tainted Hearts (includes early pages, a special Discord) a Patreon-exclusive comic, stickers, pins, commission discounts, and a loyalty rewards).
  Ratt – Golden Shrike (includes Discord access, sketches, WIPS, cameos, and bonus comics.)
• The CynicalHound – Tofauti Sawa (includes special thanks, WIPs for artwork and videos, polls, illustrations, exclusive sketches, concept art, and early pages).
• Bughs22 – Horse Age (includes community access, early pages, WIPS, sketches, ideas, and Discord access).

To sum it up, unless you’re a die-hard support of Kique, your money and time are better spent elsewhere. Fans who stick to the public pages get fewer pages per month. So have patrons who’ve paid more, but steadily gotten less over the years.