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 is when the redos stop. Mary’s coloring stops. This is the oldest art still up on the website.
page 453 – 458
Big park. I had so much fun drawing it. I don’t usually have time to do big over heads like that.
Natalie is already quite the little misanthrope. Also, every scene with Rebecca and Natalie just reminds me of how in like early elementary school there was like expected that you would be friends with the kids of your parents friends. I liked drawing Rebecca’s little fight in the background.
Baymick is very clean because the rules are very strict. If you don’t follow them, you aren’t allowed back in Baymick. Which doesn’t sound harsh but most of the residents live their because they need protection and because it’s free to live there.
page 459 – 463
This whole scene is pretty straight forward because Mr. Tamura is. It does give you some hints that Mr. Tamura sees Ally as more than just an employee. He could have given someone else this job or simply not helped them with the money for the kitchen. Also, we get start with Brad’s general dislike/discomfort with Mr. Tamura.
464 – 465
This is what Loki and Aaron do when the sun is up and they are awake. Loki understands Spanish, Aaron doesn’t. Seth explains later that vampires can get the thoughts of those they feed off of. So most vampires do know more than one language if they have done any traveling. Originally, I had that demons called Mr. Tamura, Darkfire since he controls black and purple fire and his human alias changes. Later, in the series I dropped that idea to avoid confusion and because it’s dumb.
466 – 470
Brad and Danny are not really cut out for these types of missions. They don’t know how to not attract attention or how to make sure their story is straight.
471 – 476
We get more backstory on Ally here. Her dad died when she was 6. It was Aaron’s idea to charge Ally’s mom with assault, because he used to be friends with both her and Ally’s dad. I thought maybe I’d make it a comic one day, but it never not completely formed. But I wanted it to always be clear that Aaron isn’t very happy with how things went down, hense him telling Loki to be quiet.
And to make sure people didn’t forget Seth’s in trouble there is a small hint about it. We now have Mr. Tamura putting a block in their investigation. He is direct about both that and when dealing with Brad hanging back. Mr. Tamura being left handed was an accident. But after realizing I accidentally drew him writing with his left hand, I also realized I hadn’t drawn him writing before this. So the rest of the book he’s left handed. This scene might make people think Mr. Tamura doesn’t like Brad, but he’s actually indifferent to him.
477 – 478
This is a close call for Danny. Seth really should have clued him in sooner. Mr. Tamura sure does help the gang a lot for someone who in theory is neutral.
479 – 482
Lots of exposition. Loki and Aaron are sleeping together. I thought it was obvious after this scene. Because they live together and Loki getting all cuddly while they talk about the rock and the hard place they are between. There are still some folks I’ve seen try to argue Loki is just touchy cause he hugged Seth. In hind sight Aaron and him should have entwined fingers while during this seen. And I tried to make that last panel vaguely ominous to hint at what happens when our heroes return.
483 – 485
Ally clearly takes after her mom. When confronted with mysterious disembodied voices and bars bent by an invisible force she gets ready for a fight. I like the 4 panel bit of the bars getting sorta straightened and then re-bent.
486 – 490
And everything now goes to hell. The 6 tiny panels on page 489 was something I was proud of at the time. I wanted the whole thing to be tense during the stand off.
491 – 492
Mr. Tamura is once again straight to the point. Ally’s mom kinda became obsessed with revenge and missed out on a lot. I like that sort of angle on a revenge story, which is why I expanded on it in As We Were.