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
This title page is pretty on the nose. I think after now I’m more fond of the later pictures I’ve drawn of Danny where he is tangled in ropes of blood. But the knife to his throat worked at the title.
page 1077 – 1080
This whole set up is designed to give you JUST enough info that someone could guess she was running from Seth without saying it. I had fun drawing the run down alley way and I like the detail I came up with that the werepanther lady has her tail disguised as a belt.
panel 1081 – 1087
Seth gets to make his dramatic bad guy enterance. I wanted to show Danny’s face right before I showed Seth’s to make it clear Danny knew exactly who it was. Seth’s face came out really good in that reveal. What came out less good, is Seth casually tossing his knife on the next page.
Seth is intentionally saying think in both sentences. I maybe should have had him say it 3 times to be clear. This whole exchange I had a lot of fun writing. I like Seth throwing a rock at Danny to stop the spell. I like the low angle I used when Seth makes fun of Danny stuttering. I like Danny taking a stand against Seth. I like the tiny panels were Seth pokes Danny’s bleeding head then licks it. And of coarse I like how brutal the panel of him breaking Danny’s leg it.
And while the focus is on Danny and Seth, I made sure we say Eartha getting something out of her pocket. Her whole breif conflict with Seth is about undercutting all his cockiness as he messes up Danny. Her last panel showing her calmly walking away from an unconsciou Seth and Danny is intentional.
panel 1088 – 1092
Danny definatelly has a few broken ribs and arm to go with his severely broken leg. I tried to keep both phone conversations on Danny’s side as much as possible. It gives some distance between him and his friends. Him throwing a rock as Seth is a little bit of pay back for his own rock to the head. Thats one of those little motions that I don’t think it as successful in the comic as I would like.
Danny hearing the big emotion kick while he’s already down is something that need it’s own page. I wanted a page that was just Danny reacting to that news. Also, no one in Sorcery 101 says Fuck until this point. I think if you want something to have maximum impacted you should us it sparingly. So because I wanted this moment where Danny shouts fuck to have more a punch, no one could say it before this. I’m not as careful with the word fuck in other stories.
panel 1093 – 1095
In this scene, I had fun with Kayla testing Will’s vision while he uses his powers. Also, it was important to me that they took care of Danny best they could but Seth is kinda tossed into a corner. And before we get Asagi’s reveal I wanted to hint at how badly this is going to go for Pat before the party starts.
page 1096 – 1100
Asagi’s intro was something I rewrote a few times. Aaron and Loki asking for permission to investagate Seth was the one constant. His whole deal is supposed to be he comes off as nice, friendly, pleasant, and a little fussy. The only hint that Asagi is a bad person is supposed to be his association with Seth. He also is wearing gloves in this first appearance cause I was playing with the idea that maybe he has a scarred up hand from something invovling Suryu which he hides.
But that attention to appearance is something I mantained in the rest of the comic. And him being fussy about appearances and detail is why this is the only scene where Aaron has combed his hair and shaved. He dressed more fromally than usual. No one else gets this from Aaron. Also all of Asagi’s words are carefully chosen. he doesn’t tell them he gives them permission or approval of killing Seth. Just that he won’t interfere and he complement Aaron on being smarter rather than putting them down or expressing his doubt.
Asagi is however just as brutal as Seth. He is just cleaner about it. As show by how he just grabs Pat without a word and procedes to crush his skull under his foot.
page 1101 – 1108
Asagi once again being poliet and nonthreatening. But tilts his hand of being as nice as he seems, cause he does ask to BUY Kayla. And to contrast that, even though Pat does care about Danny he does literally kick him when he’s down. Even though it’s to keep him awake.
So Pat’s little breakdown happens while he is in private cause he buys into all that repressed emotions are manly bullshit. I wanted kinda a slow build up to the crashes in the storage room. I maybe should have put in one panel of Pat’s faces before he decides to leave the room.
Seth awakes to get a slap and a lecture. And just as Asagi is the only one Aaron shaves for, he is the only one Seth apologizes to.
This last page came out well. When Danny gets his leg broken the colors became more red, this scene I slowly do that again. Each panel has a little more red into the pallet. This is a slower injury to Danny. That last panel as Seth walks away I wanted Danny to look as small as possible as Seth takes up more of the panel.