What I Learned After Publishing Over 100 Pages of Comics
June 24, 2026
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There’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately as I continue building The Realm Ethereal.
I think people are hungry for genuine creation again. Not just content. Not just trends. Not just whatever the algorithm decided was popular this week. But actual creation — the kind that comes from years of ideas, sketchbooks, experimentation, failures, revisions, and slowly building something because you genuinely care about it.
As artists and storytellers, I think we can feel the difference. And I think audiences can feel it too, even if they can’t always explain why.
If you spend any amount of time online as a creator, you start noticing the pressure almost immediately. Post shorter videos. Use faster cuts. Follow trending audio. Draw what’s currently popular. Talk about whatever topic is getting attention right now.
And honestly, I understand why people do it.
Social media platforms reward speed and repetition. The faster you react to trends, the more visibility you often get. For many creators, especially those trying to make a living from their art, it can feel necessary just to stay visible. But there’s also a downside. At some point, you can begin creating for the algorithm instead of creating from genuine interest or passion.
When that happens, something starts disappearing from the work. The soul of it.
One of the things I’ve realized while building The Realm Ethereal is that authentic creative work usually develops slowly. Very slowly.
This universe didn’t appear overnight. Some of the ideas, characters, and designs I’m using today actually began years ago as paintings, sketches, notes, and experiments. Characters like Baldor evolved over time. Entire story concepts shifted. Some artwork from older projects eventually found new life inside the current series.
Even now, I’m revisiting older pages and adding new “talking head” narration panels to help deepen the storytelling and make older material more relevant within the larger world I’m building. That’s not trend chasing. That’s worldbuilding. That’s long-term creative investment.
I think there’s real value in allowing ideas to mature naturally instead of constantly abandoning them for whatever performs best in the moment.
I honestly believe audiences are far more intelligent than platforms give them credit for. People can tell when somebody genuinely cares about what they’re creating. You can feel it in the artwork, the storytelling, the pacing, the imperfections, the consistency, and even the way creators talk about their work.
One of the reasons I continue working traditionally with ink on paper is because I enjoy the process itself. I enjoy the physical act of drawing. I enjoy the mistakes, the texture, the unpredictability of the brush pen, and the discipline required to commit lines to paper.
Could I speed certain things up digitally? Absolutely. But speed isn’t always the point. Sometimes the process itself becomes part of the identity of the work, and I think people respond to that honesty.
We’re entering a strange period creatively. There’s now an overwhelming amount of content online: AI-generated imagery, recycled trends, copied formats, reaction-based content, and endless algorithm optimization. Some of it is technically impressive, but a lot of it feels interchangeable.
Because of that, authenticity is actually becoming more valuable, not less. Ironically, the more artificial the internet becomes, the more human sincerity stands out.
That doesn’t mean creators shouldn’t use modern tools. I use digital tools myself all the time for coloring, editing, publishing, and video production. Technology itself isn’t the problem. The problem happens when tools completely replace intention — when creators stop exploring ideas because they personally care about them and instead only pursue what appears immediately profitable or viral.
Long term, I don’t think that creates memorable work.
One of the realities of building a creator-owned comic universe is that there are long stretches where almost nobody is paying attention. You’re building anyway. You’re drawing pages anyway. You’re refining characters anyway. You’re writing lore anyway. You continue because you believe in the project itself.
That’s probably one of the biggest differences between authentic creation and algorithm chasing: authentic creation can survive periods without attention. Trend-based creation often cannot. If the numbers disappear, the motivation disappears too.
But when you genuinely love building worlds, drawing characters, telling stories, or experimenting artistically, the process itself remains rewarding even during slower growth periods. That mindset is incredibly important for long-term creative work.
One of the things I appreciate most about comics as a medium is that they reward long-term investment. Readers don’t just connect to single images. They connect to worlds, characters, lore, history, and growth. The longer someone spends inside a universe, the more meaningful it becomes.
That’s one reason I continue building The Realm Ethereal piece by piece instead of constantly reinventing myself around trends. Every new page, illustration, or story arc adds another layer onto something larger. That kind of cumulative creative effort matters, especially now.
This is another important reality creators sometimes forget: algorithms change constantly. What works today may completely stop working six months from now. Platforms rise and fall. Formats change. Reach fluctuates.
But meaningful creative work can continue living far beyond whatever platform originally promoted it.
That’s why I still believe in websites, books, long-form storytelling, newsletters, creator-owned IPs, and building direct audience relationships. Those things have permanence.
It’s also part of why I continue investing in my own website, my hardcover books, and The Realm Ethereal itself. I want the work to exist independently of whatever social platform happens to dominate at the moment.
Now with all that said, I don’t think artists should completely ignore marketing or presentation. Presentation matters. Titles matter. Thumbnails matter. Communication matters. Learning how to present your work professionally is valuable.
But marketing should support authentic creation — not replace it.
The goal shouldn’t be becoming an algorithm machine. The goal should be helping people discover work that genuinely means something to you. That’s a very different mindset.
At the end of the day, I continue building The Realm Ethereal for one simple reason: I genuinely care about it.
I care about the characters. I care about the world. I care about the atmosphere, the mythology, the dreamlike themes, and the slow expansion of the universe over time.
I’m not building it because a trend report told me to. I’m building it because I’ve spent years imagining these worlds and I still feel creatively energized exploring them.
Honestly, I think people are searching for more of that now. Not perfection. Not manufactured virality. But creators who are sincerely building something real.
If you’re an artist, writer, musician, filmmaker, or creator of any kind, I think it’s important to remember this: algorithms may help people discover your work, but authenticity is what makes people stay.
Trends come and go. Genuine creative identity lasts much longer.
So keep experimenting. Keep improving. Learn the platforms. Learn presentation. But don’t lose the original reason you started creating in the first place.
Because in a world increasingly filled with artificial noise, genuine creation has become one of the most valuable things an artist can offer.
If you’d like to explore more of my creator-owned comic universe, you can read The Realm Ethereal online here on my website ReneArreola.com, including The Dream Awakens and the ongoing story arc The Sky Dreamers.
