page 37 – 39
The clean up bit was mostly set up for how Buffy defeats the tiger. It was also to get Willow to contribute a little more to the story, since it’s very Xander heavy.
page 40 – 47
Bakeries opening early enough that Buffy has probably seen a few open during patrol. It would also be a good time for the tiger to attack. Also Just Desserts was one of the possible titles for this story. This fight was mostly to show the tiger’s skin is impenetrable. I’m not so great at fighting quips. So the dialog in this scene took me the longest to write. Fry of the Tiger is also one of the possible names for the book.
page 48 – 49
Buffy describing the fight is a way to make things that the reader might not have picked up on more clear, without 100% spelling it out. I also made sure Xander mentioned how good the pastries were to hint at what will happen to him after he cheats in Mr. Blake’s class.
page 50 – 53
I really like Yishan’s drawing of Mr. Blake eating that cookie. Close ups of people eating are always unpleasant. Xander cheats. When this book was first advertised, someone commented that Xander buying sweats to pass off as his home ec homework is the most Xander thing they’d heard. I was glad to heard that. Anyway, I wanted to make sure Buffy knew Maria was missing in class so she can put things together in the next scene.
page 54 – 57
Since this is aimed at younger readers, I was told it needed a clear theme/lesson. Willow and Buffy basically spell it out here. Kinda how you get lines in Buffy episodes like “I had one drink and almost got eaten by a giant snake”
Exposition time. I also like it when someone suggestions something as a joke solution and that is the real solution. And I always like it when Buffy puts two and two together.
page 58 – 61
Buffy’s fight with the tiger is kinda goofy here. He looks very cute when Buffy boops him on the nose. Here his eye gets injured to hint at the key to getting past his fur coat.
page 62 – 64
Giles suggesting the woods while Buffy remembers the Rain Forest Cafe type place, I thought would be a fun beet. Both are reasonable.
I put in that Maria and Ms. Miller should look really tired while Xander is added to the group.
page 65 – 70
Teamwork makes the dream work. The cutting back and forth between Buffy fighting the tiger and everyone else hiding chemicals in the meal is to make things interesting. Buffy then stabbing in the eye while distracted is the solution. When I first submitted eye stabbing I got the note that this might be too violent, so I suggested cutting to a silhouette.
page 71 – 72
Fun little wrap up with everyone’s hard work getting shown off. Also doubling down on the lesson. Note that no one has eaten Xander’s cupcakes. I love how that middle panel came out on the last page where Buffy and Xander are Willow’s painting which would be were the reader is.