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.
Title Page
I always struggle to try to make a title page that isn’t me resting on the same tricks over and over. One day I’ll put some time aside to practice stuff like this. But I liked how this one turned out. Figuring out how to do the reflection in the eyes was a little tricky at the time but I like how it came out.
page 955 – 958
I try to keep flashbacks not only one color but try to color code them to which character is the focus or explaining the flashback. Seth flashbacks are always red.
Anyway, you get a glimpse at younger Ally and her sister. I had fun looking at 80s work out clothes for it. You also get to see a hint of her relationship with Mr. Tamura when she was younger. He was her mentor and also the closest thing she had to a stable parent figure. Unfortunately, now that I’m sitting down and writing these notes I realize I drew Ally too old in this scene. I should have made her like 12-13. I forgot how much older Shannon is from Ally.
Seth’s 80’s outfit is basically Christian Slater’s outfit in the movie Heathers. Also teenagers shouldn’t be left alone with Seth. And I wanted to make it clear that Ally’s home life is a wreck. Ally focused on training with Mr. Tamura. Shannon went to Seth for comfort. Also, Seth’s shush and then kiss is reflective of when he kissed Trish in that flashback. Remember his caption then was “I figured it would shut her up”
Page 959-967
Shannon looking for liquor while waiting for her target to arrive. She sure learned a lot from Seth. I like this whole exchange and how it turned out. I like that it’s cold but familiar on both sides. Then fighting. I like that last facial expression on Shannon in page 961, right before she gets hit. I didn’t want Sarah to be helpless in this scene. She used to fight demons and has been in prison for over a decade. She can hold her own.
This is the start of Aaron trying to apologize. I wanted to make it clear he almost knocks but then chickens out. I mean there isn’t much he can do to make it up to her. He can
This fight was super fun to plan out. I like when Shannon grabs Sarah’s ankle and pull. I try to make sure my fights have a nice flow to them. But whoops Shannon’s stab wound switches legs. Sarah has had her full of vampires for the evening.
A little bit of world building from the TV. I didn’t want people to forget Damien during his long absence. I like two things a lot on this page. Ally’s body language during the phone call and King triumphantly leaving with the tug of war rag.
page 968 – 977
I like Seth’s acting/body language in this whole scene. Especially when he just casually steals from the bar. The fact that Shannon was in Terra is a little bit of a hint of who she has been talking to.
Tapping fingers on a table is something I always like as a nervous/impatient character action but I never know if I’m doing it justice in comics. It’s one of those small motives that can do a lot but is hard in a static medium. Much like nodding. Ally’s cell phone is I had to look up what to draw. It is still 2006 in Sorcery 101 some I the further I got from the start of the comic the more I had to look up to be sure any tech they use wasn’t too recent.
Cal’s returns and continues their streak of terribleness. I like that Seth is just laughing at Cal and Ally’s whole exchange. Seth’s comment is cause I wanted to keep hinting that about Cal probably not on the firmest ground with the rules they should be following.
Seth’s phone call is from Asagi. During Asagi’s first appearance he mentioned warning Seth. This is the warning.
page 978 – 982
Once again, everyone except the vampire in the scene can see their breath. That is a detail I always love putting in. Seth saying “Trust me” never goes well. Also, big full moon in the background incase anyone wondered where Brad was during all this.
I always like drawing street scenes and putting lots of passersby around. It also makes for nice visuals on talking scenes like this. And you get some back story of Seth and Shannon. The mechanic daughter is Suzanne.
I like all of Seth’s expression in this scene where Ally is calling him out. Especially when he laughs and then says “No.” Around this time I started trying to get mouth shapes to match a word in the speech ballon. Then I wouldn’t be drawing the same smirk smirk smirk that Seth always has. But I will say drawing someone laughing is kinda hard. However this whole scene I had a lot of fun with both the dialog and the drawings.
page 983 – 988
Fight times. This whole chapter is when I think I started to plan fights better in general. I figured Ally is better at her mage powers than Shannon so she is good at holding off all the fire. Shannon makes a similar mistake to the fight with her mom, where she’s not paying attention to opponent when she has the upper hand.
Shannon’s stammer and expression even while Seth is saving her and being gentle is to show she basically knows what’s next.
Getting knocked on the back of the head that hard is never good. She has obviously been out for awhile, since it is morning.
page 989 – 991
Seth is a bad bad man. I figured Shannon probably passed out from being nailed to the table. Also Seth would 100% put emphasis on “sunny” when she wakes up. I like how this scene turned out. Usually Seth’s crueler moments are off screen. This is when we see a more planned out cruelty from him rather than his blow shit up and see what happens destruction. The panels with him in silhouette against the window are my favorites.