All six styles, drawn on the same hero

Every Hero & Ink comic is drawn in one of six styles. The story, the 26 pages, the price and the delivery time are the same in all of them; the style is only the look. The quickest way to see the difference is one hero drawn six times, and that is what the styles page does: Diego, the firefighter from our example book The Ember Guard, in every style we offer.

The six styles

Modern Comic is the classic comic-book look: bold black ink outlines, clean cel-shaded color, dynamic lines. It reads as a comic book from across the room, and it is the style most people choose, especially for a partner. Examples: The Last Page First, a couple who run a bookshop in Lisbon, and The Last Mile, a wedding in Amsterdam.

3D Animation is warm and rounded, with the feel of a big-studio animated film: soft light, expressive faces, polished cartoon proportions. It suits family gifts, kids and heartwarming stories. Examples: The Keeper of Rooms and The Listening Hour.

Cyberpunk is neon against the dark: glowing signs, rain on the street, a city that looks best at night. It suits engineers, gamers and anyone who does their best work after midnight. Examples: The Night Fixer and The Current Captain.

Anime has expressive faces, action lines and screentone shading: bigger emotions, sharper action beats. It suits a hero with a big personality and a story with a real climax. Examples: The Hello Line and The Note Beneath Bologna.

Watercolor is soft and painterly, with visible paper grain and gentle washes of color. It suits quieter stories: grandparents, keepsakes, memories. Examples: The Table That Tells and The Deep Current.

Dark Fantasy is heavy black ink, a limited dark palette and deep shadow. It suits quests, sea monsters and brooding heroes. See Diego in it on the styles page; in the showcase, The Beastbinder and The Harbour Warden carry its mood.

How to pick

• Not sure? Pick Modern Comic. It is the default for a reason: it looks like a comic book, it works for every occasion, and it is what most partners choose.
• Pick for the person, not the occasion. A gamer boyfriend reads Cyberpunk as a compliment. A grandmother who keeps every card will love Watercolor. A family with small kids will ask for 3D Animation again.
• Pick the mood of the story. Big laughs and big action: Anime or Modern Comic. A tender story: Watercolor or 3D Animation. A dramatic one: Dark Fantasy or Cyberpunk.

One book has one style, and every style costs the same: $49 USD for 26 pages, delivered as a high-resolution PDF, typically the same day, always within 24 hours.

Where you choose it

On the order form, the style is the fourth step, "How should it look?", with a real cover in each style to compare. Coming from the styles page, each style's button opens the form with that style already selected, for example Modern Comic or Watercolor.

Every book in the showcase is labelled with its style, so you can see a whole story in the one you are considering before you decide.