My new webcomic, Kindred Not, has arrived! The themes revolve around loyalty, found family, and romance. So let this heartfelt story whisk you away to the exciting, yet perilous world of Alford. Indeed, it is wartime in Alford, which means the stakes are even higher. As it happens, the royal guards dominate the lands, forcing their hand if citizens do not obey the strict laws.

Truly, the webcomic’s main characters are undergoing various struggles related to the war. For instance, facing a mandatory draft notice, losing a parent to the war, and discovering the true loyalties of family members.

When, Where, & How to Read:

Be sure to return for new webcomic episodes of Kindred Not every other Tuesday at 7pm CST. Currently, the webcomic is exclusively being publishing here on this site, gabriellabalagna.com. And you can always find the latest episode at gabriellabalagna.com/kindred-not-newest.

Also, no need to worry about missing new episodes. Conveniently, you can get a reminder every time a new episode drops. Simply choose your favorite method of following the webcomic: email notifications, RSS feed, Twitter, or Instagram. Next, continue reading below to find out more details about what this webcomic has in store.

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Welcome to Alford…or Not!

Let’s discuss a bit more about the main setting in Kindred Not, which is the fictional country of Alford. On one hand, Alford is a picturesque place to live. Of course, a lot of this charm is due to the time period the webcomic is set in. That is, it takes place in a fictional 1940s. When looked at with rose-colored glasses, the setting is a delightfully simple and slow-paced world to live in.

Truly, the country of Alford offers a feast for the eyes. Not to mention, the first few episodes of Kindred Not start out in a charming, little village. What with cute storefronts, pretty flowers, and vintage cars, you will not want to skip this webcomic. Also lovely, are the cute pets the backgrounds feature, like sheep, horses, and dogs. And of course, all the characters wear delightfully classy, old timey, pastel fashion. It is easy to see why the webcomic’s main character, Amelie, finds Alford very endearing.

On the other hand, Alford is not actually a welcoming place at all. As soon as boys turn eighteen, they must face a mandatory enlistment period and patriotically serve their country. It is regretful to mention, but Alford has been warring against neighboring countries for quite some years, and so, the number of casualties is high. Moreover, the royal guards patrol every border, preventing citizens from entering or exiting their towns. Furthermore, prepare to get wet, rainstorms, which you can see below, are quite frequent in Alford.

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Meet the Webcomic’s Bickering Lead Characters

If one thing is certain, interesting lead characters are what make a good webcomic. The two most prominent characters in this story, are Amelie and Caden. In some ways, these two are total opposites, having nothing in common. For example, Amelie is a proud Alford supporter. Whereas, Caden cannot bear the thought of supporting his country.

Additionally, Amelie is very set in her opinions. Indeed, she is not afraid to be a bit bossy at times towards Caden. As for Caden, he tries to use his charming smile to persuade Amelie. Despite having a handsome grin, she only ever returns him a frown. Needless to say, the lead characters in Kindred Not love to bicker.

On the other hand, Amelie and Caden eventually bond over their similar background. In fact, both characters have been let down by their family members. Truly, they both desire to share the same values with their family members. Nonetheless, their family members are complete political opposites of themselves. As well, Amelie and Caden both long for a strong sense of affection from their family members. However, their family has been quite lacking in that respect too.

As the webcomic continues, Amelie especially becomes a lot more mature, and Caden leans on her help quite a bit. But you will have to keep reading the episodes to find out if Amelie and Caden ever receive the familial love they long for.

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A Baby Holding it All Together

Another character in this webcomic that you will be sure to fall in love with is baby Kenneth. This cutie pie has had it rough. Certainly, it’s true, Kenneth is fortunate to have Caden take him in. But sadly, Caden’s motivations in doing so are not pure. As for Kenneth, he not only becomes used as an alibi, but also a peacekeeper between Caden and Amelie. He is less than a year old, but undoubtedly, this baby holds everything together.

If you have been following Kindred Not on Twitter or Instagram, you can probably guess that this webcomic has a bit of a romance plot. And who is at the forefront of this ship? Little Kenneth. In fact, my nickname for Kenneth is starting to become, “cupid baby.” So if you enjoy fangirl-ing and shipping as much as the average webcomic fan, you will certainly find camaraderie with Kenneth. Yes, not only is he cute, he is good at bringing people together. Below is a sneak peek at a panel from an upcoming episode, featuring little Kenneth in the middle.

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The Hype Is Real

Finally, it is time do a little more shameless bragging. Of course, that goes hand in hand with my sincere gratitude. If you are new to this site, let me first introduce myself. I am Gabriella Balagna, the author of this blog and creator of this webcomic.

Hype Before the Comic Even Released

Truly, I am so grateful for the kind reception Kindred Not keeps getting on social media. It exceedingly warms my heart, the many commenters looking forward to reading this comic, before the comic had even launched. For instance, I made a trailer video for the comic, (which you can watch below), and here are some of the sweet comments it has on Instagram:

• “These characters im in love with already”
• “I can already see the insane amount of work you put into this, I love the concept and your art style, and Ill definitely check this out! ❤️❤️🙌”
• “something to look forward to…😊”

Hype Over the First Episode

Additionally, I am so thankful how quickly people came to view the first episode of this webcomic. In fact, the webpage for the first episode of Kindred Not received over a hundred views in less than twenty-four hours. And that is despite that the webcomic is not on a major comic site or social media platform, but rather a self-hosted website. Regarding the launch of the first episode, here are a few of the lovely comments about it on social media:

• “The first chapter was great!! Can’t wait to read more!! 🤩”
• “Congrats on the launch!! 😍 I really enjoyed this episode and can’t wait to read the others!”
• “Fantastic episode, I love the effort you put in your setting and background!”
• “I already want moooore 😭😭😭”

Moreover, to show my gratitude, I will continue pouring my heart into each and every episode of Kindred Not. I hope that the characters’ struggles can be relatable. Yet my ultimate longing is for this webcomic to bring people a sense of hope and joy.

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New Webcomic Episodes All Year Long!

Another exciting thing about this new webcomic is that a year’s worth of episodes are already drawn and ready to go! This is what comic artists like to call “making a buffer.” You see, each episode is given meticulous care, and takes many days to create. So in order to ensure that the episodes can release at a steady rate, a bunch of them are ready to go in advance. Meanwhile, even if things get busy for me and not as much time can be spent drawing the comic one month, readers can still enjoy a steady reading schedule.

Additionally, preparing episodes way ahead of time allows me to create the webcomic in a more efficient manner. For instance, doing certain steps of the creation process in bulk. For example, take uploading episodes. Uploading involves exporting files, adding images to my website, renaming files, writing episode descriptions, checking for errors, scheduling, etc. Since I work ahead, I can do this work for several episodes at once, which saves times.

Long story short, you can look forward to new episodes of Kindred Not every other Tuesday of 2024. You can screenshot the graphics below for a reminder when new episodes launch. As well, you can get my 2024 Kindred Not Calendar, which has a yearly overview page showing the dates that the comic updates. And of course, the calendar features art of Kindred Not’s main characters on each page. The yearly overview page of the calendar is free, or you can purchase all twelve monthly calendar pages in my online store.

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“Kindred Not” – Read the Webcomic Now!

So, what do you think of this new webcomic? Leave a comment below, and let me know what you are most excited about! Are you ready to traverse Alford, along with Amelie and Caden? Is evading enlistment worth the price Caden will have to pay? Can Amelie bear to give up the homeland she cherishes so dearly?

Kindred Not has so much in store, from the pretty aesthetic, to wholesome jokes, to tear-jerking moments. Find out what happens by reading new webcomic episodes of Kindred Not every other Tuesday at 7pm CST.

Start by reading the first episode, or get back where you left off, by reading the newest episode. As well, get notifications when new episodes drop by subscribing to email notifications, RSS feed, Twitter, or Instagram. Finally, use the social share buttons below, so more people can join in on reading this fun webcomic.