Reflections on Over The River and Through The Woods

(Chapter 1 can be read beginning here.)

There were a lot of things about the world of Against Stupidity that I didn’t really know when I started, like the exact layout of the house. I was getting tired of keeping it all in my head so I drew a map.

[Map updated to reflect Roger Moore’s comments, thanks! -ed.]

This has rendered some of the drawings from chapter one inaccurate, but that’s just the way it goes. Specifically, the scenes at the staircase would be in the Northeast there, and that’s a little off. Then the hallway scenes above that on the second floor have an inaccurate placement of the balcony. But otherwise it’s good.

And this is just something that I knew was going to happen, since I started posting these before everything was fully formed, and I’m fine with that.

By the time I had drawn the cover, I was really itching to start publicizing this comic and telling this story. Part of me wanted to wait until I was totally finished preparing the art, and the story, and the characters, and scripts in advance for the whole arc. But I knew that if I waited for that I’d never get started. So I just got started. I didn’t always know where I was going with things, but, doing one a week, had time to figure it out. Now that I’m firmly rooted in the universe the next arc is going to go much more smoothly.

Hopefully I can get the updates to 1.5 times a week. They go a lot faster when they aren’t big set-pieces. I think, around the house at least, I’ve set the scene for a lot of the rooms, so those will be lighter on the art. So for those of you who’ve whined about the schedule, take heart!

Speaking of which–reception has been very positive, so thanks! Although some jackasses keep giving me one-star ratings on Webtoons, which is mean. (If you have an account there and want to help counteract that, or even feel like signing up to give me a rating (you just click through with google/facebook/etc.), much obliged!)

And now, some background. Continue reading →

Over The River and Through The Woods #13

This is the last strip in chapter one, Over The River and Through The Woods. I’ll have some thoughts on it to share for next week’s update, and then chapter two will start. It will be part one of a three-part arc.

The arc is named Unheimlichkeit. It’s about getting settled into a new town and learning stuff like what the regional stores are called, and all the other things that can be just slightly off about a new place. Jesse will also have to deal with a new way of looking at the world, since that’s what happens when you get settled in to a big university for the first time, or find out you’ve inherited centuries of magical tradition, duties, and incipient powers.

Because things can be just a little off sometimes in life, and part of growing up is learning how to integrate that into a healthy routine.