SR 1 PAGE SIXTY-NINE

Not much on this page but a whole lot of mechanical pencil grinding. The text mentions trolls, though, so why don’t we look at some old drawings of Crestfallen critters?

This is probably the first drawing of a troll, ca. 2000. Basically nothing like the final version, except for the hairiness. It reads as more Bigfooty, in a way. (And filthy enough to draw flies, apparently?) All those sinewy muscles make it feel more physically real than the creatures we see in the book, which look more like piles of hair attached to a creepy clay mask. That’s by design. Creatures conjured by witches should have a bit of an ethereal quality to them, right? They don’t use muscles to move. They use MYSTERY.

Still kind of like that goblin design down there, too. The first sketches had them jumping along on these big bony hands instead of their usual leg spikes. Makes them look a bit like plucked chickens with zombie arms. Real Re-Animator stuff going on here!

Another monster sketch from around 2000:

The goblins look almost like they’re tied together with black cords. At the time I was playing with the idea that witches make monsters by conjuring ropes of ectoplasm and knotting them together to build body parts. Interesting idea, but sort of limiting. Would’ve been a huge pain to keep drawing things like that page after page, too. This book is excessively detailed enough as it is.

Really don’t think I did enough with the ogres throughout the series. Look how fun these guys are! The idea was for them to sit like Easter Island sculptures until called upon to haul stuff around, at which point arms and legs would erupt from the sides and bottom. The prominent belly buttons here are raising a lot of questions, though. Are ogres BORN from something? Most spell-cast things are conjured by a witch, but maybe ogres gestate in some vast, horrible womb? Yes, a giant seaside cave lined with ectoplasmic placenta and hundreds of umbilical cords as thick as firehoses. When an ogre reaches maturity it simply starts walking until the cord tears away. Soon another ogre will begin to bud from the glistening, twitching cave womb wall.

Ugh. Glad I deleted the belly buttons so we don’t have to think about such things.

SR 1 PAGE SEVENTY

Imagine spending this much time carefully detailing out a whole freaky supernatural forest in mechanical pencil, then just dropping in a some weird little hocked loogie as a “helicopter.” Yeah, that’s a helicopter up there! Not a flying tadpole in a chef’s hat at all!

Definitely should have put a searchlight on that chopper. Oh well.

I like that those big round plant dealies at the bottom seem to have some kind of studded belts wrapped around them. Not even inanimate objects in the middle of the forest can escape goth culture in this world. Somebody once told me with solemn authority that the number of stud rows on your belt marked you as a member of different subcultures (punk, metal, or “rocker”), but I’m pretty sure that’s nonsense.

I don’t know what the owl-like creature in the tree is, but I’m deciding right this moment that it’s something Sera conjured in her sleep, and is therefore very subtly foreshadowing the events of book two. God, I thought of everything!

BACK TO THE PRESENT!

Spent some time this week making plans for SHOCK CITY’s big debut this fall. Should have at least a couple of events to announce soon. I don’t love all the frustration and lost hours involved in the promo thing, but I do like signing books and meeting folks, so that’ll be fun. Stay tuned and all that!

SO… Last week I said I might share some of my Spotify playlists with you. Gonna try posting a few (click the links if the embed doesn’t work). Two of them are massive, barely curated piles of things I’ve slammed “YES” on over the years, and one is just ODD.

SYNTH-ROCKIN’: These are various synth-rock, electronic, and industrial metal songs that all seem to vibe together. The list has grown so large I’ve been considering splitting the aggro stuff from the “evil disco” stuff, but for now they’re forced to live in peace. (Birthday Massacre, Gunship, Nova Twins, KMFDM, CHVRCHES, etc.)

POST-PUNKERY: A mix of classic old-school goth/post-punk jams and modern artists keeping the vibe alive. (Siouxsie, Bauhaus, The Chameleons, VOWWS, Urban Heat, O. Children, etc.)

SERENITY ROSE 1997-2005: The odd one. Just the stuff I was listening to most from the time I came up with Serenity Rose in the CalArts cubicles to the publication of the first SR book. A very eclectic, almost whiplash-inducing list. Of any interest to humans other than me? Who can say?

Enjoy! And remember, if you fall in love with any of these bands, please support them through their own sites, Bandcamp, or buying tickets to their shows. Spotify is a great way to discover new stuff, but they SUCK for actually getting artists paid, y’know?

NEXT WEEK: SMASHING GOGGLES!