It’s currently 12:16 AM, Icelandic time. I’m on vacation in this wonderful country, exploring waterfalls, drinking whale testicle beer and trying desperately to win over the natives with the joke I spent the last month workshopping: “What’s your favorite American actor? I bet it’s Harrison Fjord!” Bottom line, I should be sleeping. But I can’t because at 1 AM Icelandic time the series finale of BETTER CALL SAUL drops and you best believe I’m watching that sucker live.
So, because I have to keep myself awake somehow, here’s a breakdown of the fifth chapter of WHERE WOLF:
The dream sequence that kicks off this chapter was a pretty late addition to the story. I realized I needed to insert a bit more werewolfery into the story before shit really hits the fan in the second half of the book - plus, I really wanted to write another scene between Larry and Gwen. The two are terrible for each other, but I really do enjoy writing both of them in scenes together.
The original version of the scene had Gwen turning into Loopy De Loop, the Hanna-Barbera French-Canadian cartoon wolf. After talking with a few friends and bouncing the idea off of them, I came to the conclusion that absolutely nobody remembers Loopy De Loop so I adjusted my plans. I do wonder what this panel would have looked like with Larry being menaced by Loopy De Loop, though.
One thing I love about writing comic books is that I have multiple chances to polish dialogue before the page is finalized. My writing style is usually as follows:
I write a plot outline for the chapter, sometimes with rough dialogue exchanges but always with detailed scene breakdowns
I try and spend a single day writing a detailed script for the entire chapter with complete page and panel breakdowns. I don’t worry too much about it being perfect, I just want to have a completed script when the day is over.
I spend the next week editing that script over and over again - refining the dialogue and tightening up the pacing. I’ll work and rework that script until it’s as close to perfect as I can make it.
I send the script to the artist and get to work on the next chapter
As the artist sends back completed pages (usually one or two a day), I go back to work on the dialogue. Even if I was happy with the script I sent to Debora, I know that it can always be better so I focus on taking out lines of dialogue that are redundant because the artwork conveys emotions that I don’t need to be spoken out loud. I also write and rewrite jokes over and over again, trying to find the best possible gag.
The scene where Sophia and Larry chat after he wakes up from the nightmare is a great example of something that was dramatically improved through this process. In the original script I sent Debora, there was was a lot of jokes that just didn’t work - mostly about Cap’n Crunch cereal. Listen, I love Cap’n Crunch but at a certain point, I realized I was just making references to the cereal to make references to something I dug. I realized I could change the cereal they were talking about and have it tie back in with Larry’s frustration with Sophia’s obsession with werewolves. I cheated a bit - knowing Fruit Brute hadn’t been available to buy for years. But then a funny thing happened - in the year between making WHERE WOLF and actually releasing it, Fruit Brute returned to shelves!
Georgess McHargue’s MEET THE WEREWOLF is a real book and it features amazing illustrations by SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK illustrator Stephen Grammell. Track down a used copy - it offers a overview of folklore, legend and myth. The real reason to own a copy, though, is Grammell’s illustrations.
The rat in the claw game is one of my favorite visual gags in the entire book. She returns in the sequel.
People familiar with College Station know that it has a sister city - Bryan. Bryan is where most of the locals live and work, it’s also where the actual local paper, The Bryan/College Station Eagle, is located. In early drafts of WHERE WOLF I tried to address the fact that most people refer to the area as B-CS or Bryan/College Station, but it was way too cumbersome and confusing to non-Texans and I chose to just focus on College Station. I hope those in the know will forgive me for giving Bryan the short end of the stick. That said, I did want to have a few shout-outs throughout the book.
I love this illustration of Reveille so much.
Shout out to Sarah Pitre who warned me that my Babysitters Club reference was off the mark. She informed me that Sweet Valley High books were where all the drama really was - and then I went and forgot to make the change. But hey - that’s what special editions are for, right?
See you tomorrow for Chapter Six of WHERE WOLF. It’s got real big Texas references, some truly gross moments and a proper tour of the first annual College Station Fur-Con! Only at FANGORIA.com.