Here is another batch of writer notes on Sorcery 101. If you want to read ahead on these got ahead on these head over to my patreon.
Chapter 4 part 2
Title Page
The original title page has Suryu in it. I removed her since it turns out she doesn’t appear in this part. I didn’t really plan for most of the multipart chapters at first. I decided later that chapters/parts shouldn’t go over 40 pages. But once I figured that out it helped me make nicer title pages for each part. So like here the focus is on what is really the most important part of the chapter.
page 106 – 109
The french fry reenactment of the last chapter is super channeling Xander from the end of Buffy Season 2. Though Xander used fishsticks. But I wanted it to show Danny doesn’t really try to hide supernatural stuff. Later we find out Mel thinks he is joking, but I didn’t want any how could you hide this from me dramas.
We then get some expositions about Danny’s background. The conversation got cut down to stuff that will come up later. Any Danny’s response to Mel’s question on why he’s divorced is cause it’s a story that really doesn’t make him look good. I never go into it cause it’s not really important to Sorcery 101’s over all story. Jackie smirking when finding out Trish is cheating on Danny in the last chapter should give you a hint though.
And I wanted it to be a bit of a running gag that Danny’s dates kept getting interrupted. Both times it’s by someone who doesn’t have sex.
page 110 – 111
I think that I never really successfully made it clear how common supernatural stuff is in Sorcery 101 world. It’s not supposed to be super common, but the cast is just so in the thick of it that muddies the situation. But that’s what demon hunter with a gun is far more likely the cause of dead wolf demons.
page 112 – 115
I think Ally is actually the one who has a post date chat with Danny more than Brad. Obviously since Brad can’t say sex.
I try to put in stuff to show which werewolves are color blind. There are a few drawings by Rebecca where the colors are wrong. I know now that the Brad vision panel should be blues and yellows rather than greyscale.
I changed Rebecca’s reaction to being told to go to bed. Made it more bratty and violent to so it’s a little bit of a hint of her scene with Jeff. In the old version she just whines about wanting to stay up. Dialog is the same but the body laungage and expression are different.
Danny earns his keeps through babysitting.
page 116 – 117
Rebecca doesn’t interact with many people who aren’t Brad, Ally, and Danny. She has a very warped concept of normal. Brad doesn’t like being a werewolf, but he tries very hard to not let Rebecca know. He’s doesn’t want to pass on his hangups. This whole car scene was to get that across.
page 118 – 120
Rebecca’s doll Lenny is a real doll. It’s a lumberjack with a zipper in the back. Then you turn the doll inside out and it becomes a wolfman. Rebecca thinks Jeff smells funny cause his hair is dyed.
I like Jeff’s face while he listens to Danny and Brad.
page 121 – 122
I enjoyed staging this whole scene. Rebecca is pretty independent. She doesn’t see anything wrong with her getting Lenny on her own.
And to go back to her response to being told to go to bed. We have a similar response to being told to get down. The scene is mostly the same. But I changed the biting to a silohette cause I thought that would give the scene more of a punch.
And this whole turn of events is definitely my Buffy influence showing. I just really liked that Oz was a werewolf cause his cousin Jordy “Does not like to be tickled”
page 123 – 125
We have Rebecca realizing she made a huge mistake. She knows she is in BIG trouble. But she isn’t really old enough to be aware of how it effects Jeff’s life.
If you look closely, Jeff’s eyes are instantly yellow. And everyone passes out when they get bit. So Danny basically walked into the classroom and knew immediately that he needed to check what color Jeff’s eyes are.
page 126 – 128
Not much to say about this scene. We get some exposition.
Page 129 – 131
We get a look at Jeff’s house and some exposition about the private school Danny teaches at. For reference Connor lives in the school dorms and Jeff lives at home. Looking at this now I probably could have cut down Danny and Ally’s argument where they pass the buck. I cut it down to about half the length but I maybe should have trimmed it more.
Anyway on to underage drinking.
Page 132
Connor is a bad friend. And vomiting is hard to draw.
page 133 – 135
Jeff’s first transformation shows you that he dies his hair. Werewolf fur mimics be the natural hair of the werewolf. And I tried to be aware of where clothes would rip first. So mostly they are ripping along the seems and places that would get worn out the quickest.
Also to go with wolf form behavior not being immediately violent, I wanted to show drunk can barely stand human turns into drunk can barely stand wolf.
And Suryu’s lackeys make an entrance and never come back after this chapter. All her dudes are disposable. So she didn’t put much thought into wondering where Pat went after he managed to get away.
You also get how someone can tell the difference between a werewolf and a normal wolf/dog. Werewolves stay roughly the same size as a human and wolf. So they are slightly bigger, but the biggest tell will be human things that won’t fall off like Jeff’s earring.
There you go. This chapter was originally made February 2006 through April 2006. I redrew them at the beginning of 2011.
