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PANEL 1: ORLA and NANDO walk to the Grand Council, a brick wall and bushes behind them. ORLA: The Grand Council is going to be a brawl. The Jinyiwei knows of two other factions that will stand their own candidates. PANEL 2: ORLA continues. ORLA: On the banking side, Emiliana Cruz is considered your strongest competitor. She is ex-special forces, and Senior V.P. of Banco Imperial. PANEL 3: Super close in on ORLA’s face as she furrows her brow. ORLA: More importantly, she knows where all the skeletons are buried. She’s got dirt on a billion cousins. PANEL 4: ORLA continues, NANDO stops, terrified. ORLA: On the military side, Admiral Cayetano Cruz is the heavy hitter. 44 years in the Armada with a fiercely loyal following. NANDO: LORD. PANEL 5: NANDO turns, freaking out, while Orla keeps thinking. NANDO: How do I compete against any of that? I’m 16! ORLA: Well, you’ll have one small benefit. Since you’re the youngest, YOU’LL SPEAK LAST. And you can hammer La Familia with the truth. PANEL 6: Close up on ORLA as she encourages NANDO. ORLA: You can tell them exactly what we’re facing…because YOU’VE FACED IT YOURSELF. Many of the cousins serve out Drive Corps in a lazy lunar orbit…while you’ve flown half the galaxy. PANEL 7: ORLA continues, arms out. ORLA: You’ve come face-to-face with the Continuum, the Vinn, the Sill, and the Gannath. PANEL 8: ORLA continues while NANDO turns. ORLA: And you’ve built friendships with Veetans, Grasskans, Fillipods, Rhinn, the Qen, and more. NANDO: That’s all well and good, but what if none of that works??? PANEL 9: ORLA, in the background, holds a glowing vid-pak tablet. NANDO, in the foreground and shadow, looks surprised. ORLA: Then…we switch to Plan B. …AND YOU TAKE THIS VID-PAK CALL ONSTAGE. —— Want to read the full story? Join us at Patreon.com/drive for the *FULL* Tales of the Drive archives, art giveaways, fun community, and more! DRIVE copyright Dave Kellett. Colors by Beth Reidmiller
PANEL 1: ORLA and NANDO walk to the Grand Council, a brick wall and bushes behind them. ORLA: The Grand Council is going to be a brawl. The Jinyiwei knows of two other factions that will stand their own candidates. PANEL 2: ORLA continues. ORLA: On the banking side, Emiliana Cruz is considered your strongest competitor. She is ex-special forces, and Senior V.P. of Banco Imperial. PANEL 3: Super close in on ORLA’s face as she furrows her brow. ORLA: More importantly, she knows where all the skeletons are buried. She’s got dirt on a billion cousins. PANEL 4: ORLA continues, NANDO stops, terrified. ORLA: On the military side, Admiral Cayetano Cruz is the heavy hitter. 44 years in the Armada with a fiercely loyal following. NANDO: LORD. PANEL 5: NANDO turns, freaking out, while Orla keeps thinking. NANDO: How do I compete against any of that? I’m 16! ORLA: Well, you’ll have one small benefit. Since you’re the youngest, YOU’LL SPEAK LAST. And you can hammer La Familia with the truth. PANEL 6: Close up on ORLA as she encourages NANDO. ORLA: You can tell them exactly what we’re facing…because YOU’VE FACED IT YOURSELF. Many of the cousins serve out Drive Corps in a lazy lunar orbit…while you’ve flown half the galaxy. PANEL 7: ORLA continues, arms out. ORLA: You’ve come face-to-face with the Continuum, the Vinn, the Sill, and the Gannath. PANEL 8: ORLA continues while NANDO turns. ORLA: And you’ve built friendships with Veetans, Grasskans, Fillipods, Rhinn, the Qen, and more. NANDO: That’s all well and good, but what if none of that works??? PANEL 9: ORLA, in the background, holds a glowing vid-pak tablet. NANDO, in the foreground and shadow, looks surprised. ORLA: Then…we switch to Plan B. …AND YOU TAKE THIS VID-PAK CALL ONSTAGE. —— Want to read the full story? Join us at Patreon.com/drive for the *FULL* Tales of the Drive archives, art giveaways, fun community, and more! DRIVE copyright Dave Kellett. Colors by Beth Reidmiller
FULL ARCHIVES
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Act 5. Pg 113
Posted on September 3, 2026 by Beth Reidmiller

Did you know I give away a free piece of original art every week on the Drive Patreon? EVERY WEEK! It's just one of the reasons that Patreon is awesome.
Join us on Patreon and get:

  •   200+ pages of bonus "TALES OF THE DRIVE"!
  •   Weekly art giveaways!
  •   Behind-the-scenes!
  •   Pal-times forums!

This Weekend: 17 Years of Drive!

Posted on August 13, 2026 by Dave Kellett

17 years ago this weekend, I put the first DRIVE page up on SHELDON (archive link: https://web.archive.org/web/20120308182707/http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/090815.html ).

Check out this screenshot of the blog post that day! DRIVE didn’t have a website, didn’t have a name…but we started it all the same.

Thanks for 17 years of reading, friends! And thanks even more for your support on Patreon <– that has made these last 17 years possible!



Dave Kellett (free!) signing this Saturday in Columbus, Ohio!

Posted on August 4, 2026 by Beth Reidmiller

Pals! If you live in or near central Ohio, DO I HAVE A DEAL FOR YOU! I’m doing a free(!) cartoonists signing in Columbus, Ohio!

WHO: Myself and 80 other of America’s best cartoonists 

WHAT: Will be doing a free public signing-and-sketching event! 

WHEN: This Saturday, Aug 8th, 1:00-6:00PM

WHERE: At Ohio State’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum! (1813 N High St, Columbus, OH 43210)

WHY: Because it’s super fun! Also appearing and giving talks: Dav Pilkey (Dog Man), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), Cathy Guisewite (Cathy), and 70 more cartoonists!

MORE DETAILS and REGISTRATION: https://nationalcartoonists.com/ncs-cartoonist-showcase-meet-cartoonists-in-columbus-august-8/

Today: I’m doing a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” with the folks at r/fantasy! Come by!

Posted on May 28, 2026 by Dave Kellett

Drive Pals! Today (Thurs 5/28) I’m doing an “ASK ME ANYTHING” over on the r/fantasy subreddit.

Come on by! Ask anything you’d like about DRIVE, the characters, the world, the creation of it, or any of my other projects.

Here’s the link! See you there! https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1tq8688/im_dave_kellett_hugonominated_cartoonist_of_drive/

The Hugo Awards!

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Dave Kellett

Growing up, the well-read copy of DUNE on my shelf was more than just a book; it was a totem. I spent hours (hours!) staring at that cover. And as a result, the “Hugo Award Winner” blurb became seared into my brain. Through sheer conditioning, I grew up knowing that a Hugo was the ultimate sign that a sci-fi story was worth reading. 

To hear today that DRIVE has been nominated for a Hugo Award (under “Best Professional Artist”) …well, that news would absolutely floor younger me. 

With DRIVE, I wanted to take the serious, galaxy-wide novels I grew up loving…but populate it with the goofy, joy-filled characters that I loved from newspaper comics. A mix of high stakes and hijinks.

To see DRIVE recognized with a Hugo nomination feels like a full-circle completion of that childhood dream. It’s a fun reminder that, if you follow your own weird path long enough, it leads exactly where you were always meant to go.

Thanks for reading, pals! New DRIVE is up Thursday!

– Dave

PS: …and don’t forget to tell sci-fi loving friends to try it! The entire story is free to read at DriveComic.com


==================
[EDITED TO ADD: All members of the World Science Fiction Convention are able to vote on the Hugo Awards, including those who have memberships in the virtual portion of the convention. Information about registration is available at lacon.org/register.]


This week’s ComicLab Podcast is live!

Posted on March 19, 2026 by Beth Reidmiller

Pals! Every week my cartooning pal Brad Guigar and I fire up the mics to talk about comics. It’s half shop talk, half how-to, and half friendship. That’s right: WE SQUEEZED IN THREE HALVES. It’s tips and tricks and all the joys of cartooning as a pro!

———

TITLE: How to Start a Webring

comiclabpodcast.com

Apple Podcasts: https://buff.ly/pmzb68x

Spotify: https://buff.ly/OShfHX4

Cartoonists Brad Guigar and Dave Kellett tackle a surprisingly practical question: How do you start a web ring for comics creators? With social media platforms becoming less reliable for discovery, the classic web ring is making a comeback as a way for creators to promote each other directly.

Dave’s Livestreaming Today, 1-2PM PT / 4-5PM ET!

Posted on February 27, 2026 by Beth Reidmiller

Sheldon pals! If you’re free this afternoon, swing by! I’ll be livestreaming today from 1-2PM PT / 4-5PM ET, taking questions with my pal Brad Guigar about Sheldon, Drive, ComicLab, and cartooning in general!

It’s part of our new tradition where we livestream the last hour of our Kickstarter campaigns, to celebrate and goof around. Join us with questions, here: https://riverside.com/studio/comiclabs-studio?t=3bd3569dd305a30483da

And here’s the link for the Kickstarter, if you haven’t yet jumped in! Just a few hours left! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smallfish/double-dog-dare?ref=8z4y6m

🏆THE HUGO NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN!

Posted on February 11, 2026 by Dave Kellett

Pals! The nominations for sci-fi’s biggest award — the HUGOS — are officially OPEN! If you’re a past/present member of WorldCon, you got an email today [from “LA V Virtual Convention Team” / [email protected]] asking you to activate your WorldCon account and make your nominations. And gang, it would mean the world to me if you considered these two lil’ sweethearts among your nominations:

  • FOR BEST GRAPHIC STORY OR COMIC:
    DRIVE (    DriveComic.com) | Artist: Dave Kellett | Publisher: Small Fish Studios
  • FOR BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST:
    DAVE KELLETT  |  Example of their Work:     DriveComic.com

(NOTE: The “Drive Act 4” book had a copyright of 2024, so that book doesn’t qualify. But the two above do qualify!)

Drive has never been nominated for a Hugo — and I think it would be tremendous fun! Especially since I’LL BE THERE for the first time in a decade! That’s right: With WorldCon being in Anaheim this year — I’ll be at the show, handing out high-fives LIKE THEY’RE GOING OUT OF STYLE!

But honestly, there’s no shortage of amazing sci-fi stories in 2025 — so be generous with your nominations!

Thanks, pals!
– Dave


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