World
World
The world of Wordsmith is very important. It takes place in three different places: Heaven, Purgatory, and Earth. This is a early sketch of Heaven. As you know, music is a HUGE factor of the story. In later chapters you will discover that Lucifer/Satan was the greatest engineer in Heaven. He created the technology of music. This is why music is used as a weapon within the story. If you look closely at the architecture of the buildings you should notice a resemblance to music instruments. The goal is to provide a constant reminder of how important music is to the story.
Wordsmith
This is one of earliest sketches of our protagonist Wordsmith. I remember how the idea for the character popped into my head. A few years back I was watching a TV church program where the pastor was preaching on how the devil uses music to corrupt people. I thought to myself that would be a cool idea for a comic book. I immediately began to write out ideas in my notebook. I was listening to Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt (the track D’Evils to be exact) when a vision popped into my head. I saw an angel, unarmed, surrounded by demons. The angel was bruised and battered and melded into his chest was the Clef note. The demons began to charge, and the angel defended himself by jabbing the demons with the tips of his fingers. Sort of like a musician stroking an instrument. Similar to playing a piano. Upon contact I would hear a piano melody followed by a magical phenomenon happening with the bodies of the demons resulting in their deaths. After the battle the angel was the last man standing atop a carpet of demons. After coming back to reality, I messaged a friend of mine, told him about my vision and he drew this sketch for me. Now notice how the Clef note isn’t as dramatic as we see now, upcoming stories will tell of its evolution. From this sketch I began creating the background story of Wordsmith and here we are. In the words of Biggie “it was all a dream” …. until I decided to make it a reality!
This is the harp design of the protagonist Wordsmith. The reason there’s a ram in the process of destroying the harp plays into a storyline that will be the focus of a future chapter. It goes along with the theme of Wordsmith being labeled a Black Sheep by Heaven.
Michaiah
This is a sketch of Michaiah by Walt Barna (colorist). The inspiration behind her design is to create an angel that gives off a DJ vibe.
Ill
Here is the very first sketch of the antagonist Ill. At the time of creation the character was called Goat-Head due to the donning of a goat head mask. I figured that since our protagonist would be fighting minions of the devil I’d make his arch enemy have characteristics of devil worshipping. Hence the goat and the pentagram symbol on his chest, but I decided against this because I felt it would take away from the theme of music as the antagonist power. I just couldn’t see a goat or any animal as a artist. If you love Hip-Hop like I do I can always envision my reaction upon hearing a dope song, lyrics, or beat. That reaction would be to put this ugly look upon my face similar to me smelling something foul, or being stricken with …. an illness. Ill! Another idea popped into my head and I saw this mask with that same ugly/ill face upon it. I did a little research and I saw that there were African mask used in rituals to cure illnesses. Ill was born.
Good and Bad
These are the first sketches of Good and Bad, drawn by Walt Barna, which represents Wordsmith’s conscious. The goal within these drawings are to showcase favoritism. Good as the homeless man showcases that he is the lesser of the voices that Wordsmith listens to. Hence the reason he’s depicted as a forgotten member of society.
