Tag: Writer Notes

I picked this quote for Kimber’s chapter because even though she is the youngest she is the most on the ball and seeing the bigger picture.

Page 21 – 23

Even though this chapter is from Kimber’s POV I hope that someone could make an educated guess about Rae’s motive behind her actions. First she is trying to ditch all of them and then partners up with the person who will  be the most disinterested in what she is doing.

I stuck to down shots for Kimber realizing Rae and her aren’t hanging out to push how disappointed she is.

Page 24 – 26

Elsie having to get her siblings before her and Kimber go investigate was to show another side of her. She’s helping out her family in-between shoplifting and ditching school. And this scene starts what is a lot of what this chapter is. Elsie and Kimber connecting and starting to get used to each other.

Page 27 – 29

So Kimber’s own self doubt and the way Morgan treated her, is why she reacts to Elsie question with anger. Then Elsie doesn’t reach to their shoving match with anger because that is business as usual for her.

I like how Elsie turned out in panel 2 of 29 where she is sitting in the sand.

Page 30 – 34

I liked drawing all their glowy ring while looking around. Also once the search begins both Kimber and Elsie buck up.

The rock continuing to hit Elsie in the head is a hint for how to resolve stuff.

Page 35 – 40

During the fight I liked to pull out when they were yelling and when they were quiet. Cause I wanted the distance between them to be pushed.

Elsie’s reaching out to Kimber with the hair dye starts out sounding insulting so Kimber who is thinking the worst will react defensively. But she wins her over with pissing off parents proposal.

Okay so on to book 2. All the book 2 chapter titles are quotes from the Once and Future King. I read that for research while working on Misfits of Avalon and really enjoyed it. I thought this quote described Morgan pretty well.

Page 1 – 3

So I wanted to return to Morgan’s dream to reenforce that she is more connected to what is going on. Like the last book her dream is a hint at what will happen later. Also these dreams are making this whole mission is wearing on her more than the other girls.

Page 4 – 7

Morgan’s walk in the middle of night, I wanted to show a quiet moment of reflection. Also she is getting drawn to the tree and didn’t intend to walk there. I didn’t know if that was clear during her walk. I hoped that her slowly going to touch it might have shown that.

In this whole bit with Cu I tried to position him above Morgan. So while he is warning her, he is coming off as vaguely threatening. Then once he doesn’t know what is going on with Morgan’s dreams as much as she does, they are on equal footing.

Page 8 – 13

Morgan finding Billy is to mostly give them some alone time and give them a connection that builds in the rest of the book. There are small things in this scene that change as they are repeated later. Like Morgan doesn’t let Billy help her up. Her kicking him to wake him up I felt was very Morgan. I also wanted to give a bit more info about both their family lives.

This scene I also wanted to show something more mystical is going on with both of them. They are both drawn to the tree.

I always try to play with background details when I got time. To show how much time as past since Morgan woke up, made sure to show the coffee shop opening up and some early morning deliveries. So it’s still early but the rest of the world is starting to wake up.

The end of this scene is the first time Morgan smiles when she’s not being mean.

Page 14 – 18

This whole scene I put little lines under Morgan’s eyes to show she is tired. I had to be careful with them cause if they are too prominent she’ll look older.

Elsie being continues to try and be Morgan’s friend by being loud. But she is also including Morgan in her gang. Their dialogue is supposed to give you an idea of what they talk about all the time and how Morgan has no patiences for it even when they aren’t antagonizing her. So even as Elsie is trying to include her Morgan is still isolated. She never engages or responses to Amanda and Lin.

Page 19 – 20

Since we’ve already seen Morgan’s dream I made an abridged version. But also I wanted to show how they happen almost immediately. So Morgan is not getting like any sleep.

Page 119 – 120

These two pages are because I wanted to ease someone into Rae’s thoughts. So to start I just have her focused and competent. Her asking the lady for directions are also to establish she is good at lying, but in a small way at first.

Page 121 – 122

These fighting pages are to show how the monsters were getting made. Since Rae is more on the ball she gets there before stuff gets too bad and we get to see that “Arthur’s” blood is the key to everything.

Page 124 – 127

Here we get full force Rae when dealing with the other girls. Sometimes the captions are a little cramped because Rae thinks more than the other girls and I didn’t want to drag this scene out two much. I did have fun with the acting between Elsie and Morgan as that fight, particularly when Elsie flicks some of her float at Morgan.

While writing Rae’s thoughts I made things colder and more calculated than when Kimber was mad at Morgan and Elsie.

Page 128 – 134

So this is the first really big exposition scene. I wanted to set it up a lot of the questions the girls don’t get answered until the end. Also, I wanted to keep pushing that Elsie, while having the simplest motive, its also the one with the clearest right and wrong.

Kimber’s crush on Rae is subtle through the first book but I also wanted to keep it childish to show her being younger than the rest. So I thought the beat of her wanted to sit next to Rae would be a good beat. Rae’s look at Kimber I thought would be a good hint that Rae is picking up on Kimber’s enthusiasms for the two of them being close.

Cu and Rae are are the two big liars. So I had fun writing Rae trying to trip him up without showing too much of her hand.

Rae completely ignoring the fighting to focus on her own goals is another ways to contrast her from the group and to show she is much colder and detached than the others. But that she is also very focused on her goals and isn’t paying attention to their personal details.

Page 135

I really liked this bit about with Elsie thinking Billy is buying drugs. I wanted them to tease each other but still have it be clear they liked each other.

Page 136 – 140

Once again, Rae is basically ignoring everything the other girls are saying. I made Elsie one of nine and figure it is probably hard for her or any of her siblings to have any kind of private time never mind romance

This whole scene is to show Rae is good at being manipulative and is also away of how she is appearing at all times. She mostly dresses the way she does for situations like this. Because of that she is the only one who can safely talk to a cop.

Page 141 – 142

I think drawing and making firing for fire is one of my favorite things art related. Also I really like the Dimiter Martin joke about indifferent graffiti. So when ever I have a place with stuff written on it I have at least one indifferent graffiti. So “SU 151 is okay.

Page 143 – 148

This whole fight is when they start really communicating. They have a few problems similar to the ones before and that is basically the first half of the fight. It’s a lot of them bumping into each other and them hurting each other’s chances against Arthur. I especially liked that Rae ruins Kimber’s attack twice. So while Kimber, Elsie, and Morgan actively fight a lot, Rae isn’t much better at being in sync with her teammates.

Page 149 – 154

Things start to go better after Arthur’s big attack that knocks everyone down. Elsie and Morgan stop rocks from falling on each other. I tried to use skinny tall panels because those two are still in a cramped space.

Morgan recognizes the alter from her dream which is why she figures out that’s what needs to go. I didn’t want that to be 100% obvious though.

I like big flashy pages of Elsie wrecking shit.

Page 155- 158

As the girls escape I again wanted to push that Elsie is the one that thinks about other people. She is concerned about Arthur even before finding out who he is. Rae on the other hand only cares about number 1.

I wanted to wrap the book of with some quick character beats to reenforce who each girl is before the book ends. So we get some bickering, Rae smoothly lying, and Kimber’s getting excited about Rae agreeing with her. Then Billy coming back with bruises is to make it clear he is Arthur. I didn’t want “Who is King Arthur” to be a big mystery, more “When will the girls realize Billy is King Arthur” Also, Billy is the obvious choice to be Arthur because Arthur was Morgan La Fey’s half -brother. I always wanted Arthur to have that same connection.

I liked ending on the beat of Elsie not hiding their superheroing at all.

Page 79 – 82

To push Kimber’s captions I had her think a lot more. She generally has a lot more she is sitting on. It’s why she is the one who ends up asking the important questions.

Also once again I like drawing/toning fire.

Kimber’s frustration with the team subside around when she starts talking to Elsie more. But that rough start I thought would be a good contrast as the two of them become friends.

Page 83 – 85

Rae’s entrance is 100% cool anime person. I was definitely thinking of when Sailor Uranus first appear. Does something cool and then takes off.

Her cool animeness is what makes Kimber get a crush on her.

Page 86 – 87

Kimber is the most interested in their adventure. This I figured would be good way to seperate her from everyone else on the team. But she’s not mature enough to think of a way to win Elsie and Morgan over her than yelling at them.

Another big thing I did with Kimber’s captions is she talks herself up more and repeats her thoughts to show she’s very unsure. It’s why I tried to make her small in that last panel to contrast her telling herself “I can COMPLETELY handle it.”

page 88 – 89

When I designed Kimber’s room I kept two things in mind. What did her mom put there and what did Kimber put there? I wanted it to be obvious when you looked at the room who decided what. So all the big stuff, the bed, the dresser, the curtains, those are from mom and are frilly and flowery. Everything smaller and temporary is from Kimber. So the posters and dresser nicknacks are goth and fantasy based. Stuff I remember for sale at Hot Topic or posters from magazines. This way you are ready for the conflict with Kimber’s mom before she even comes in the room.

Also the fact that Kimber’s mom doesn’t take her to the hair appointment herself and that Kimber can just leave her house without her mom realizing shows how much attention and hands on parenting she is getting. It should make the earlier thoughts of I can only count on myself make more of a picture.

page 90 – 91

Sometimes it’s hard drawing expressions on Cu. I don’t want to go to cartoony or he will stand out compared to everyone else. This scene I looked at a lot of sad dog pictures. I wanted him to look uneasy while Kimber was turned from him and then stiff up when she looks his way.

Again I tried to make Kimber look small as she is all alone to think about what is next.

page 92 – 96

In the diner I managed to get 6 of the 9 kids in Elsie’s family. Two kids at the counter, Billy, and the other two waitresses are Elsie’s siblings. This scene maybe should have been more pages.

Elsie’s non-reaction to her mom’s shouts is to show this is her normal. I think we all have something about our family that we grew up thinking everyone does but then realized is weird as we got older.

The customers leaving and Kimber’s caption are supposed to be the contrast to Elsie shrugging it off. I maybe should have given this another page or so to show Kimber’s face. Her parents don’t yell much, so this is extra scary for her. I only really managed to get a good look at Kimber’s face in page 94’s panel 2.

And speaking of not examining something shitty your parents do, Kimber isn’t immune and definitely picked up some body shamming opinions from her mom.

Kimber pouting wanted her to be really folded up in herself as she is defensive from Morgan making fun of her. I had Billy have a chat with her to just bring him up again in a minor way and so we got a good look at the bandage on her hand. Also cause I thought it would be funny if their King Arthur kept accidentally helping him.

Page 97 – 101

The librarian is a cameo for my former roommate Stef who was the one that told me the correct dewy decimal number for King Arthur stuff.  Also, I put in this bit to make the connection between Emain Ablach and Avalon but also cause Irish words are hard to spell if you’ve only heard them.

I was careful with Rae’s dialogue here.  Notice she doesn’t let Kimber use any of the books first, she just offers the ones she isn’t immediately using.  She also covers her notes/map as soon Kimber brings up the night before.

They are little hints that Rae is 100%. But Kimber misses it cause she is too busy being impressed by Rae.  I also wanted to build up Kimber’s crush thoughts about Rae over the series. So right now it’s just she’s so cool.

Page 102 – 104

Character’s logic needs to follow a logic, even if it’s not the same as the readers. The toast jelly bit is supposed to be Elsie misheard tots jealy and then justified it to her self why toast jelly makes sense. So Elsie logic.

I had Morgan mockingly ask and prop Kimber about her plans repeatedly to make Kimber more defensive. That way it makes sense when she responses angrily to Elsie asking the same questions sincerely in book 2.

All through this chapter I try to push Kimber as the outsider to Morgan and Elsie who already know each other. Pushing the age difference which a sex joke that goes over Kimber’s head would be a way to do it without resulting to them actively mocking her again.

Page 105 – 108

This whole fight you can see they are attempting teamwork but failing. Like Morgan does pull Kimber out of the way of the falling giant fish.

Page 109 – 114

Morgan is the only one who isn’t immediately on board with Rae.  She’s the one that notice Rae hasn’t put herself at risk. She is also the only one who picked up on Rae’s subtle dig. Sometimes being distrustful and jaded can be good?

Then we see them successfully use teamwork. I had fun drawing these action bits.

Page 115 – 118

Elsie does her victory dance again while Rae is quickly headed out. I like the gesture of Elise putting her arm around Morgan and then getting pushed away.

Rae’s expression as she looks over all of them when Elsie suggests a team up is one of her few slip ups in book 1. There is one other.

The last page here, I use this layout once per book when dealing with Kimber and Rae. This first time it’s happy Kimber watching Rae leave.

This chapter is basically what the original idea for Misfits was. A short story about two jerky magically girls breaking into a gated community and then getting arrested at the end.

Page 41 – 42

This scene wasn’t originally in the book. I added it because my editor told me if I started it on page 43, then the captions wouldn’t be clearly Elsie’s since her and Morgan’s voices are similar. There are slight differences but those weren’t clear in the first few of page 43. Generally Morgan stews on things more. Elsie are more right no thoughts and she doesn’t think as much.

So I used this opportunity to show more of Elsie’s friends and how she fights with them in a similar way to the way she fights with Morgan. I worked very hard on Elsie’s face in page 41 panel 4. I thought doing that over pulling on her face as her hands have run down it would be perfect. There are a lot of dumb photos save on my computer to get it right.

page 43 – 46

I liked the visual of Elsie just climbing out the window. I like how all the action in this scene came out. I wanted to make it be them immaturely hitting each other during all the exposition cause it solidifies their dynamic but also it’s more visually interesting than just talking to Cu. Elsie thinks she wins the bet because she just bet Lin that Morgan won’t do better than her, if both her and Morgan get zeros then they are equal and Elsie wins the bet. Lin definitely doesn’t agree.

page 47 – page 54

Elsie just flopping over is one of my favorite things for her. Her body language is always over dramatic. Those bikes are definitely stolen. You can tell cause they are boy bikes aka there is a high bar which doesn’t let you ride then with a skirt.

My favorite type of humor in comics is when there are similar panels to show a time beat. So Elsie’s Uuuuh… then thinking for two panels is an example of that. I also like how her guesturing came out when she says she is super hot.

I love the idea of the girls wacking their rings to turn them on. I thought it was perfectly in character for Morgan and Elsie. Here I wanted to show Morgan is a bit better at figuring things out than Elsie. She realized her punches had a bit of a kick last time. Plus I got to use the fun super tall and skinny panels again. I also enjoyed playing with the angles of all the shots with Morgan mocking Elsie while sitting on the wall.

I just had a lot of fun drawing them trying to climb up the wall.

page 55 – 57

I mostly wanted to establish some scenery and build a little tension here. It was a lot of fun to draw and block out. I also wanted to show Elsie having a harder time being sneaky since she’s got the big ass hammer to worry about.

The last panel of that last page should have been pulled out maybe a little to stress there are a lot of houses on the grid her. But hey! You can tell which house is Kimber’s.

page 58 – 61

Elsie is not good at stealth. This is also the biggest difference between her captioning a chapter and Morgan. Elsie is basically saying everything she thinks. Morgan is mostly being quiet and leading the way.

page 59 is something I felt would be important. Elsie starts her usual mocking of Morgan. Since usually Morgan takes off. She usually isn’t this close to Morgan as the anger visibly builds up. See that does make Elsie feel bad. I love the first panel of page 60 where Elsie feels bad and Morgan is her usual angry self. Why Morgan struggling to hold Elsie’s hammer I thought came out well that that last tear of panels could have worked better. Elsie is slipping after showing off and holding on 1 handed.

page 62 – 63

I use buttfaces as Kimber’s go to insult because I wanted to ensure that she came off as younger than the rest of the cast. I also don’t have her swear at after this first time. I decided to ditch the bandana after this scene cause it was annoying to draw.

page 64 – 67

I always like drawing stuff that is on fire. It’s fun to play with the lighting.

page 68 – 71

Again this is driving home the point from earlier that Elsie is the one who can make friends. Morgan just attacks Kimber verbally or with her powers but Elsie is the one who tries to reach out.

Page 72

This page is my favorite Misfits of Avalon page. I like doing the trick where the thought captions cover the dialog they aren’t paying attention and I like Elsie’s freak out at learning a dog is talking. I had fun drawing her face a lot during this scene.

Also, this is the first hint of how Cu finds them. He always appears after they say his name.

page 73 – 74

I liked drawing Morgan and Elsie sprawled out on top of each other.

This joke was basically how the original Misfits of Avalon pitch/short would have ended.

page 75 – 78

Billy makes his first appearance to show one of the other big differences between Elsie and Morgan is Elsie has a support system. As soon as Billy shows up I always put Morgan lower in the panel or looked down on her to make her look smaller.

Someone like Elsie is not going to believe in secret identities.