The Anatomy of Page 11

in which our COVID-addled hero dissects the eleventh page of issue 2

Dear Readers,

My youngest tested positive for COVID over the weekend, then I tested positive myself on Monday. But, I’ve had the comic to keep my spirits up, and I’m very happy about that. So, let’s get right into this week’s sneak peek at issue #2 of The Blood of Seven Queens.

On page 8-9, I wrap up the flashback which kicked off the issue. On page 10, we get a big, old-fashioned splash page to reintroduce our hero Frieda (plus some narration to connect the flashback and the main story). Then, on page 11, which we’ll be looking at today, we get into the primary action of the issue.

The first panel is a widescreen shot of Frieda running through the forest, meant to cast her as a hero and a person of action. I also wanted to convey a sense of her in her element—the woods—before she’s thrust out of her comfort zone at the bottom of the page.

I’d hoped to give her cape more of a flowing, superhero feel, but I ran out of time. And I’d say that’s the big lesson from this panel: pick your battles. I accomplished almost everything I wanted in this panel, and I knew that it was now time to move on. As a wise person once said, “perfect is the enemy of good” (or “the enemy of done,” depending on which wise person we’re talking about).

The second tier of images on page 11 was designed to illustrate the transition from wilderness to the edge of civilization. I’d originally planned on extending the stone road out to cover the area where we now see a path through the thicker grass, but this was a case where I looked at it and actively decided to abandon an idea (rather than being pressured into such a decision by the constraints of time). I just liked the look of the grass better as it was, and I liked that it made that hint of stone in the second panel all the more ominous—and all the more an invitation to move to the next panel to see what’s next.

As for Frieda breaking out of the confines of the third panel with her sword, hand, and foot, the initial impulse was just to make something that looked cool. But as I look back on it and consider why I allowed myself to keep it, I do think that the breaking of the panel’s barriers helps to illustrate the shock that Frieda’s feeling as she sees what we’re about to see in the page’s final panel.

Oh my god, this panel. For months, I’ve been experimenting with how to best portray the town of Yonder. And when I look at this panel now, I feel equal parts pride and relief. Figuring out how to create establishing shots has been the bane of my existence since I started work on the prologue back in October 2023. And while I think I have a handle on the process now, I know I have an even bigger establishing shot to tackle in issue #3 and that one, I’m sure, will be just as much of a challenge.

At any rate, aside from crafting the look and feel of the distant town, there was also a fair amount of work to be done in re-establishing the threat of the Witches of Oz. We’d only glimpsed them in a seated conversation in issue 1, so this was my moment to give them each a bit of character. We see Glinda tending to the injured Wolf, we see Locasta standing her ground but not in a particularly threatening way, and then we get Baccata crouched with broom in hand and ready to strike.

Needless to say, I’m pretty pleased with how it came out.

As for where the fourth witch is, you’ll have to wait a couple of weeks to find out what she’s up to.

Alrighty. That’s all for now. Paid subscribers, keep on scrolling for a full look at pages 9-12. Everyone else, I’ll see you back here in a week.

Yours,
Chris