Ottawa’s Von Allan creates graphic novels as a labour of love. New technology makes distribution easier, but there’s no pot of gold at the end of his Stargazer rainbow. That doesn’t stop Allan from being very excited about the upcoming release of his Stargazer Volume Two. Below we present a nine-panel excerpt from the book.

Released in 2009, Stargazer Volume One received positive reviews from a number of sources, including heavyweights such as the Midwest Book Review.

While the release “didn't set the world on fire sales-wise,” says Allan, he wasn't exactly expecting it to.

“It's an all-ages title with young girls as the main characters and that, sadly, is still a bit of a tough sell in comics,” admits Allan.

Now in volume 2, Allan completes the Stargazer storyline. “The first volume ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and the second volume resolves everything,” the artist says.

“I tried to establish a status quo in the first volume that created the rules of the world.  The main characters—and hopefully the reader—came to expect certain things to work a certain way. That changed in volume two and I think that will challenge some assumptions about the first one.”

The Stargazer story follows a young girl named Marni struggling to cope on her own with the recent death of her grandmother. When a “quirky little object” bequeathed by the grandmother suddenly sends Marni and her two friends into a parallel universe, the threesome embark on a number of very odd adventures in an attempt to return home.

Stargazer Volume Two will arrive in stores worldwide on October 12. In the meantime, there's a bigger online preview than what we’ve excerpted here available at http://stargazer.vonallan.com/2011/07/stargazer-previews.html.