Wolf Girl of Hope Street -- Behind the Scenes
Okay, so, I had initially hoped to put together this sort of...process post...thing much sooner, but. Work and general laziness threw a wrench in that plan, and it’s only because I was cleaning my desktop and stumbled across the .jpegs I’d saved that I was like: ‘hmmmm...I should do this...so that I can delete this folder. It’s cluttering up my screen.’
THUS, here we are, about to embark on a truly magical journey through the weird process that is comic-making.
(Well. My weird process.)
ONWARD!
Step 1: Script Step 1: Outline Step 1: IDEA
So last year, I did a 30 day countdown prior to the premiere of Supergirl’s second season, the theme of which was basically...all the different costumes (and by extension sometimes, different versions) of Supergirl. I sort of went back and forth on whether or not I wanted to follow that up this year, and was largely undecided until...about a week before the countdown clock was set to begin. (Another thirty days, because...IDK that just seems like a good number.)
The reason for the indecision was mostly due to the fact that I knew I didn’t want to do more costumes (though there are more) but I didn’t really know...what else to do.
I considered doing favorite moments from the comics/show, but I deemed that too complicated. (In hindsight: Ha. Ha HA.)
So the brainstorming that led to COMIC went something like this:
- Okay I should draw something. - What should I draw. - ....I like to draw comics. - ....Silly comics. - ....Maybe I’ll draw a silly comic. - Like a newspaper strip. - One page per day.
And lo, t’was decided.
Step 2: Outline
Once I was like: COMIC PAGES. LET’S DO THIS. I...kinda had to come up with an idea quickly because I had under a week to 1. write a script 2. get some buffer pages finished 3. make sure this was even possible wrt how long pages would take to complete + work schedule + SECOND work schedule + addressing basic life-sustaining needs like sleep and eating.
So I wrote up this very broad outline at my desk at work within like...fifteen minutes.*
*I’ve had an idea/desire to do a werewolf Kara comic since I drew the OG ‘Wolf-Girl of Stanhope’ a year ago. So some elements I had ready to go, like the basic running gag of ‘she acts like a dog.’ But OTHER elements, like Krypto and Bizarro, came out of that frenzied fifteen minutes.
Oh, yeah: I drew exactly ONE exploratory sketch to see if this would work for TV!Kara. (Again, also at my desk at work. On my lunch break, though, obviously.)
(I was like: ...Yup okay that’ll work.)
Step 3: ‘Script’
Can we even call this mess a script I really don’t know.
Honestly it’s probably more along the lines of a revised outline than it is an actual script. There’s no dialogue or panel descriptions, just the main story beats each page needs to hit in order for the plot to move forward. That’s kind of how I work in general--I figure out the panels/layout as I draw, working off a sort of...’we start here and we need to get HERE’ thought process. As for dialogue, I have a basic idea of what they’re going to say, but it’s kind of left until the end.
(Below are some notes I made as I was going along--changes to pages and actual text/dialogue I did write down because I wanted specific wording, and I knew I’d forget if I didn’t save it.)
Step 4: Art
(Not much to say here, other than I never did get that cache of buffer pages. These were drawn the day before, and often times finished the day of, hence the inconsistent posting times.) (Also if this endeavor has taught me one thing, it’s that I am not a letterer.)
And heeeeere’s the original crayon drawings I did for Bizarro’s explanation:
Step 5: Interwebs
This is pretty self explanatory, I feel. Once the pages were completed...OUT ON THE INTERNET THEY WENT. They were specifically designed ‘for the web’ as it were, and not for print. (Which is just code for: I like to work horizontally and that SUCKS for printing.)
But yeah that’s...that’s basically it. Oh, no, wait! Couple more things:
The Science Montage
This was one of those changes that came about as I was drawing the pages. There was always going to be some sort of DEO montage wherein Alex and Kara would work on making a cure. The musical aspect, however, was added in because...you know. Why not?
A big shout-out and thank-you to @tallgaycroquembouche and @winnstonchurchill who both did REAL LIFE renditions of the Science Montage Song.
And on the topic of shout-outs and thank-yous, @nieladasdenani needs ‘em as well, for adding links to previous pages on some of the posts.
And, really, a big shout-out and thank-you to everyone who read this goofy thing. Hopefully it was enjoyable, and hopefully this (very long) process post was also...somewhat enjoyable? Enlightening? If nothing else, now you know how incredibly slapdash this all is. XD
Anyways. THANKS :D