Dear Readers,
Did you know that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the creative minds behind the band Nine Inch Nails, also composed the soundtrack for the most recent animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie? I haven’t seen the movie, but I love using Reznor and Ross’ soundtracks as as a personal soundtrack while writing. And so, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is what I’m listening to right now as I write this note to you.
It’s actually really beautiful at times and what it makes me think about is Trent deciding he wanted to finally write music for a film his kids could watch. At least that’s how I picture the decision making going down.
As you may or may not know, part of why I decided in 2023 to make The Blood of Seven Queens my next project was out of a desire to create something my kids could read. They’re getting older now anyway, but it’s still been a fun exercise in seeing if I can keep the edge of my typically R-rated work in a more PG-13 environment. And so, in a way, this whole comic book making endeavor is really just one big experiment.
When I remember that, that’s when the comic is the most fun to make. Case in point: the panels I’m sharing with you this week. Above, two characters argue with each other from across the page—from across a visual representation of what they’re fighting over. And just below, I experimented—in a way—with letting Writer Chris get to have all of his many words of narration with very few, if any, cuts.
There is a point where all of this experimentation slows me down and the more impatient parts of my personality come out, asking why I don’t just hurry up and move along. I’ve been having quite of a few of those moments over the past few days. And yet, when I get to a set of panels like this next set I’m going to share with you, I feel like it’s all worth it. I feel like the visualization of Glinda’s magic wouldn’t be as satisfying for me if I hadn’t played around with it for a day or so before settling on the effects you see here (and the next effect, which you only catch a glimpse of because I cropped this for maximum teasing).
That’s all for now. Paid subscribers, keep on scrolling for your full sneak peek at pages 13–16. Everyone else, I’ll see you back here next week.
Yours,
Chris
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