almosthomefree

Art & Design of Nickolej Villiger ko-fi

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Hard Boiled - Tribute to Geof Darrow

A huge thanks to Erik Zawadski and Taylor Stauft over at the InkXscribes Podcast for inviting me on to guest interview the legendary Geof Darrow , the artist behind Shaolin Cowboy, Bourbon Thret, Hardboiled, and a little film some of you may have heard of called The Matrix!

Which was a genuinely surreal experience.

You spend enough years staring at someone’s work thinking, “How in God’s name did a human being draw this?” and eventually you forget there’s an actual person attached to it. Then suddenly you’re on a podcast talking shop with them, hoping you come off at least somewhat coherent.

Geoff was incredibly generous with his time and stories. We got into comics, process, storytelling, deadlines, European influences, industry insanity, and the sort of artistic endurance usually reserved for marathon runners and ancient stoneworkers.

Honestly, talking with Geof just made me want to draw more. Which is both inspiring and in my case financially irresponsible.

You can watch the full interview here:

InkXscribes Podcast featuring Geof Darrow

Thanks again to Erik and Taylor for inviting me to take part. It was an honour to be involved.

And a very special thank you to Geof Darrow for his words of inspiration and for sharing his gift with the world!

Hope you all dig it.

Warm Wishes,

Villiger

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Here’s a quick teaser for my cover design for a new independent comic called ‘Tge Forgotten Five’ from the minds of Alex Segura & Sara Century—

What happens to the “Gifted Ones” when the world moves on? In the early 2000s, five teens in Miami were abducted by a shadowy organization known as The Contingency, hoping to weaponize their latent abilities. They escaped—barely—leaving behind their childhoods and carrying powers they never asked for.

Now it’s the present day. They’re not kids anymore—they’re middle-aged, out of practice, and still very much haunted by what happened. When a cosmic threat tied to their abduction returns, the Five have to reunite—not to save the world, but to reclaim the lives that were stolen from them. (A slightly more personal goal. Also, one suspects, less paperwork.)

Why back this project?

The Forgotten Five is a love letter to the 80s & 90s: if you miss the Outback-era X-Men, the “Five Years Later” Legion, or the character-driven depth of Love & Rockets, this is the book you’ve been waiting for.

Full cover reveal soon. The more support this comic gets, the higher the chance of all the variants being printed—which feels both thrilling and faintly mysterious.

Support the comic on Kickstarter:

THE FORGOTTEN FIVE

Alex Segura, Sara Century, Pat Kennedy, and Dean Kotz bring you the first 60-PAGE chapter of The Forgotten Five.

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It’s my birthday today, and I can think of no more responsible way to mark the occasion than launching a Patreon and releasing a comic that has been percolating for years.

So here it is: Radio Daze.

This is my new independent comic strip, written and illustrated by yours truly, and it’s finally making its way out into the world.

At its core, Radio Daze follows Astrid Ames, a Calgarian teenager who inherits her grandfather’s old ham radio equipment and starts broadcasting a pirate radio show from her basement—completely unknown to her family and classmates. It’s a coming-of-age story built out of static, records, and the very normal teenage impulse to broadcast your inner life into the void without asking permission.

Each strip will feature a song, and the final collected version will somewhat resemble a mixtape of sorts—something for folks to connect to or scoff at.

Getting to this point has been… let’s say “arduous,” in the way that only long-form creative projects can be: years of writing, drawing, rewriting, second-guessing, and occasionally arguing with myself about whether a panel needed to exist at all (it usually did, but not at 2 a.m.).

Alongside the Patreon launch, I’ve also produced a limited print run of Issue No. 0, which collects the first four strips. Only 50 copies exist. That’s the full run. A small, slightly unreasonable number that sits somewhere between “collectible” and “I simply cannot store more of these in my house without consequences.” If there’s demand, I’ll do another run—but for now, it remains a finite object.

Note: These are not being sold on my website (yet), nor are they available for preorder but feel free to message me if you wanna lock down a copy. For now these will be sold to folks attending Calgary Expo 2026.

This Patreon is the home for all of it: Radio Daze, early strips, process work, and a broader look at both my professional illustration work and independent comics under the Almosthomefree moniker.

And I’ll be honest in a way that feels slightly improper for a public announcement: I do need support to keep this going. Not in a dramatic “art must suffer” way—more in a “turning drawings into rent and coffee without collapsing the system” way. So if you like what I’m doing, subscribing or supporting is genuinely what makes it possible to continue.

If you’re into indie comics, strange late-night ideas, and stories about trying to find your place in the world while mostly improvising your way through it, I’d love for you to check it out.

Thanks for being here.

https://www.patreon.com/cw/almosthomefree

Almosthomefree Art & Design | Patreon

Creating Illustrations and Sequential Art

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To my friends and fans,

My apologies for stepping away from my socials for such a long period of time. I have been quietly working on some big projects over the last year that I hope to share with you soon! But in the meantime, I’d like to share a small something that I think you folks may dig:

I was fortunate to get the opportunity to contribute a variant cover for Issue No.9 (June 2026) of one of the hottest modern comics available today: Assorted Crisis Events (CAMP/ZAWADZKI/BELLAIRE/OTSMANE-ELHAOU). ACE is published by none other than industry titan, Image Comics! If you have not had an opportunity to read this book, I highly recommend you pick this up. Some of the most dynamic, fresh and interesting work being produced in comics today.

This variant specifically is inspired by early 1960’s Gold Key Science Fiction books. This is an early preview and once the printed version w/ corresponding typography is officially released, I will be sure to share that as well! Big thanks to Camp and Zawadzki for allowing me the opportunity to contribute to such an amazing book.

More information on ACE can be found in the link. :

Assorted Crisis Events

Image is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by 7 of the comics industry's best-selling artists, and is the 3rd largest com

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Merry (triple) X-Mas!

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Happy Halloween!

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“When you stop trying to force the solution, it’ll happen on its own.”

Green Arrow print available in 8x10 or 5x7. DM if interested.

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If you have not had a chance, I highly encourage that you check out the June issue of Fusion Fragment magazine. This is my cover contribution! So glad to be involved in this amazing ongoing project.

Check it out here:

https://www.fusionfragment.com

#fusionfragment #illustration #speculativefiction

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”Im the joker, I kill people when it’s funny, why would killing you be funny?”

Joker print in 5x7 and 8x10. DM if interested!

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‘J.A.R.V.I.S., make a note. Remind me not to wake up in the morning ever again.’

Iron Man Print in 5x7 or 8x10. DM if interested!

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‘I'm not a bad person. Just had bad luck.’

Sandman Print 5x7 or 8x10. DM if interested.

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‘So let them thunder, for I am lightning!’

Storm Print in 5x7 or 8x10. DM if interested!

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“People can change and not change at the same time.”

John Constantine Print 5x7 or 8x10. DM if interested.

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Remember The Beach Boys - Love You ❤️ #RIPBrianWilson #beachboys

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‘Hulk Smash’

Incredible Hulk Print 5x7 or 8x10. DM if interested!

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‘We come into this world alone, and we leave the same way, the time we spend in between ... time spent alive, sharing, learning ... together ... is all that makes life worth living.’

Marvel Girl AKA Jean Grey print 5x7 or 8x10. DM if interested.

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‘Nevermore shall men make slaves of others! Not in Asgard—not on Earth—not any place where the hammer of Thor can be swung—or where men of good faith hold freedom dear!’

Thor print in 5x7 or 8x10. DM if interested!