Tag: Sorcery 101

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 17

Title page

This is a real experimental chapter art wise. I wanted to try something different. I also tried to make the cover more designy. I always like covers that are more design focused.

page 730 – 734

Werewolves are handy to have around when you are moving. Around this point I started to get a better handle on when Danny and Ally talk to each other. They don’t very often get to have a solo converstation, so took me awhile to get a handle on it.

page 735 – 738

I tried to make it clear how much Seth towers over Danny in this whole scene. I also started to try and start to establish the Trish and Ally on top and Seth and Danny on the bottom set up for the pages the rest of this chapter here.

page 739 – 752

So I tried to keep all of Trish’s panels as just shapes rather than lines mostly to contrast Seth’s panels. Seth’s panels are supposed to be all scratch and messy cause his whole life is chaos. Trish gets blue cause she is connected to Frost while Seth gets red cause blood murder etc. The usual Seth related things.

I also tried to keep Frost’s face out of the panels. Because he’s not important. Trish’s reactions are. I like the whole idea of two characters telling the same story and how that effects how things come off. So Seth made a lot of money off saving Trish. I think I like how the Trish panels came out more than the Seth ones. I especially like how the house came out. Seth getting hit by the rear end of the bottle probably lines up with me seeing Pan’s Lybrinth for the first time.

I keep thinking someone should probably throw up after this, and then I try to draw it and it’s such a pain to draw. And then it’s hard to find good reference for it. Turns out people don’t like to take pictures of other people throwing up. In hind sight I should have just cut that part. Or at least had Seth’s caption comment on the fact that he is kissing her shortly after she threw up. The US part of Seth’s last line is important. He fully expects Frost to kill her but not him.

I do like the panel that is half Trish’s POV and half Seth’s. Also Seth only tells Danny shit that isn’t helpful and makes Danny feel bad.

Danny thought about what he learned all day and probably grumpy about it the whole time they helped Trish move.

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 16

Title Page

Since this whole episode is about Brad and father/daughter relationships, I went with a drawing by Rebecca. Like Brad, she is colorblind and so the drawing is all the wrong colors but the correct value (value meaning the black and white ratio).

page 701 – 708

Right off the bat this is something different for Brad. Why else would he need contacts? A lot of this scene is just very quickly establishing facts about Brad’s family. Brad’s adopted; his mom’s loves Jesus; they don’t know he’s a werewolf. One thing I didn’t want to push the religious part too far because that would be too much of a cliche.

page 709 – 713

Brad’s very bad at selling himself. He’s used to just handing people off to Ally. And once again I like having that beat of silence as a realization hits. And this whole party is so Mr. Ackerman can over hear Brad and his dad talking.

page 714 – 719

Brad doesn’t get interveiws often so they both kinda drop everything to let him go to one. Brad picks up quick that this isn’t quite right. I didn’t want to say what Mr. Ackerman was gonna ask right away. But his first question being about healing and them pulling up to a hospital is a big clue.

page 720 – 725

I gave Brad that shot that is him with no background to play up how being a werewolf makes him feel isolated. I like all these silent panels. Also Kayla’s room is mostly dark and blue to push the somber and dramatic nature of the choice. I wanted to make progress on Brad’s angsty feelings about being a werewolf. Part of that is just seeing that it hasn’t completely ruined Jeff’s life. But this chapter was a big part of it. I wanted him to do something he consider good and since he’s not the type to go out and fight crime this worked well. But I wanted to leave it as vague about what choice he made.

page 726 – 729

Because Brad was gonna feel bad regardless of what he did. Ally’s diolog is mostly to set up stuff in the next few chapters. Rebecca and Brad getting a nice scene is an on theme note to end the chapter on. It’s such a nice note I thought it was a good place to end the first omnibus.

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 15

Title page
So the title is from a Willie Nelson song. That was a hint to what this chapter was gonna be about. But everyone got it pretty quick anyway. A bunch of folks got frustrated while this chapter was going up. This is sometimes the problem with webcomics going up a page at a time.

page 673 – 674

The Coach is intentionally awful. Jeff’s comment is supposed to be why Connor is uncomfortable and why Connor thinks maybe Jeff is gay too. Cause why else would be bring that up? At least that’s Conner’s thought.

page 675 – 678

Jeff is super bad at secrets. Note that Danny is the one who thinks to close the door. Also, I wanted to make it clear Danny knows both boys’ secrets but isn’t blabbing either to the other this whole chapter. I know when the full moons happen cause they are every 3 chapters. That’s also how I kept track of when the seasons change. And there is his nice yellow bruise to let everyone know he’s not recovered from the last chapter.

page 679 – 682

I think this is the scene that frustrated most people was it went online. It’s so clear what is going on. But I thought it was important that both their paranoias of being found out were feeding into each other. I tried to keep it short though.

page 683 – 686

Danny and Pat are slowly becoming friends but this is the first time that have a personal talk that doesn’t end with Pat defensive of his privacy. Danny follows Pat’s advice less because he agrees with it but because he took Brad being a werewolf so badly. So Pat comparing Jeff and Connor to Brad and Danny is a push in the right direction. But he is still an outsider so he doesn’t understand why Danny is a terrible example of people taking werewolf news well.

page 687 – 690

I thought it was very important that Danny not out Connor. It’s not only an awful thing to do in general but he is trying to keep a distances between him and his students. So I gave him a good cover for talking to Connor in the hall. Connor’s late enough that this is all fairly possible.

page 691 – 700

Werewolves eat A LOT is a running thing. Jeff is bad at keeping his cover. Someone who knows what to look for would see a big ass neon sign about Jeff’s head that says WEREWOLF.

Connor coming out is one of the few times he is vunerable as a character. Him slumping down in his chair is to emphais that. He is pretty tall and cocky usually. I maybe should have been closer to them when Connor actually says he’s gay. Like just them the table, no other background. That would have given it more punch. Then I should have pulled out of the silence panel. Connor sits up right when Jeff apologized for the silence.

Like I said, Jeff has a neon sign that says werewolf above his head. He is so bad at keeping that secret. Connor is back to his confident self when he can put Jeff on the defensive and he feels like he’s not the most at risk. Connor has a crush on Danny, it’s why he mouths off to him so much. Jeff’s dumb question is I asked some queer friends what questions they have gotten about being gay that were offensive, but clearly came from stupidity rather than malice. This one won because it was the easiest to think of a snarky come back for. I always knew I was gonna have them trade questions that would start broad and then get to more personal. Then Jeff can transition from surprised to stupid to sincernly trying to be a good friend.

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 14

Title Page
Here we get what is probably the cover I like most out of the title pages so far. I like it when I can make the title part of the art rather than just slap it on there.

page 641 – 642

Since this is Danny and Mel’s last nice scene together I wanted it to be kinda mundane and sweet. They get a nice night before everything goes wrong. Clearly my Buffy influence is showing here.

page 643 – 645

Damien’s publists has a very very hard job. I wanted to establish how much political power he has and just how he is generally perceived. I think this whole scene would be pretty different if I made it today. I know about how the world works in general.

page 646 – 655

I wanted to set up that Jeff is on his way to Danny’s class shortly after Danny finishes his smoke break. He should probably be further from the school while taking it. Jeff and pals talk is setting things up for the next chapter.

Danny getting threatened by Damien is a scene where I probably should have played with the colors more. Just to push the drama. Danny’s O negative. I looked it up before writing this chapter, then forgot, then relooked it up after this chapter to be sure. Group of pages Damien was just fiddling with the stapler to give him something to do while being intimating. He was gonna punch Danny at the end of the scene. Danny and Damien are related so they know some more personal buttons. I focused on Damien’s blind eye because his dad was responsible for that. It isn’t super important backstory and never gets brought up but I wanted to at least imply it. A friend saw the pencils and said, “Someone better get his with that stapler or else what’s the point?” And this is the first of 3 times Danny gets choked. Damien’s hair gets messed up when ever he snaps. He’s out of control and not thinking things through. So Danny is getting some oxygen cause he’s not being completely choked by Damien. So the other two times he’s choked Danny’s face changes color. Seth is much better at choking people. Then Jeff saves the day though.

page 656 – 662

This type of ominous lighting is probably what I should have gone for in the Damien threatening Danny scene.

Danny bruise is something I’m proud of. I wanted to always make it clear that Danny doesn’t get up/recover from fights quickly. He has an old yellow bruise next chapter for the same reason.

page 663 – 669

Damien spills some Danny backstory. He used to be quite the slut despite being married/engaged. I also like background details a lot so this whole scene is more about what Damien isn’t paying attention. Danny always needs a plan cause most characters in the comic can beat him up. Also I thought it was important that Mel at least try to save herself. This is the most badass Danny will ever be. He will never top this. It’s important he get this before the next scene.

670 – 672

This whole scene I thought it was important to keep distance between Mel and Danny. That’s why we are far away from them before the conversation starts. Danny bringing up the weather is basically to show how strained they are right now compared to the beginning of the chapter. I wanted this to be quiet. No shouting. No drama. No fight. Their whole relationship has been kinda light. So this goes with the last chapter where the story shifts to heavier stuff, certain characters aren’t coming a long for the ride. Mel is probably better off. Also, why does no one tell superheroes “This is weird, I’m out.”? Those last 3 panels I wanted to emphasis Danny being alone as he walks away.

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 13

Title Page

This chapter is reintroducing things, most of which is at school. It wasn’t intentional but I realize now this new school year is when all the “serious” stuff starts to build and the goofier stuff resolves.

page 617 – 620

So first few pages are just making sure some stuff is clear about the start of the new school year. So Natalie’s back with her mom and Danny has to get back to work. When we get to see Jeff’s sister for the first time cause I liked that joke.

Then we reintroduce Connor because he’s gonna be more important in the coming chapters. At this point in the book he hasn’t shown up in the comic for a few years.

page 621- 630

Danny gets a his second confrontation with Ramon. I held off saying Ramon’s name until this point so Danny wouldn’t connect the dots here. Also, this shows their dynamic showing. Danny is clearly in a possition of power. And after about a day of being annoyed, Danny realizes he can’t stoop to Ramon’s level. It’s basically the start of the shift to the more serious stuff. He can’t engage with someone as silly as Ramon.

It’s very fun to write Ramon’s over dramtic speaches though.

page 631 – 633

The cemtemary scene has a grave that says Spotty. So this is partly set up to where Ramon’s final chapter will end up. Also, at this point Ramon has to go to Meg everytime he’s tried a spell. So it needs to be clear that he needs her to cast any spells, which is why he doesn’t act sooner. Also, Ramon’s clearly never seen Road to El Dorado or he would have known Meg’s excuse is a movie quote.

page 634 – 640

Danny trying his best to not engage, but since Ramon isn’t gonna stop Danny lets him know what is going on. Again, there isn’t anything Ramon can do. But fortunately for him, Jeff is a bad lair and his werewolf cover story sounds bad.