Demonology 101 — Faith Erin Hicks

by Layla Lawlor

I stumbled across Faith Erin Hicks' Demonology 101 while taking a "short break" from the drawing board, and six hours later, I'd worked my way through most of the archives and was well into the current TPB-length "episode." A webcomic with an ongoing story (as opposed to the episodic format) is a rarity, and Demonology 101 is a stand-out example, skillfully weaving a unique, tangled tale of good and evil, love and hate, obsession and redemption, Heaven and Hell and the mortal world between. Hicks' story is enhanced by her distinctive art that combines the grace and beauty of animation with a loose, gestural quality reminiscent of Paul Pope's brushwork. Faith Erin Hicks is definitely a talent to watch for.

Sequential Tart: What is Demonology 101? What's it all about?

Faith Erin Hicks: D101 is my pet comic. My sort of ongoing personal opus about being young and evil. Or something to that effect. The story basically revolves around a 16 year old girl named Raven, who has pointy ears, and we all know no good will come of that. The comic follows her (mis)adventures as she attempts to attend high school and pursue some semblance of a normal life ... however, (there's always a 'however.' There wouldn't be a comic if there wasn't a 'however') certain elements in the story, such as an evil nuclear family, a handful of psychopathic demons, and an immortal school principal prevent her from graduating peacefully. I suppose that's as close to a straight explanation as I can give you. I started the comic back in my third year of university (I'm now graduated and in my first year of animation school), so it has grown vastly in plot and complexity.

The comic is written/drawn in episodic format, similar to a television show. Each episode has a contained storyline, but all the episodes are linked in an overarching plot. So far I've completed three episodes, and am currently updating the fourth. 'What's it all about?' is a philosophical question which has dogged people far wiser than I. I think the answer is 42. Ten points if you can name that reference.

ST: How long have you wanted to write and draw a comic? What originally got you interested?

FEH: Strange as it sounds, I never really desired to write or draw a comic. It was a bit of a fluke; rather me thinking to myself "Self, this is a medium I've yet to master. Let's try it!" One of these days I'm going to get it into my head to try skydiving or walking on water, and really get hurt. The curse of a Type A personality, I guess. I like trying new things.

I think I started the comic out of curiosity about the medium. I'd never really read comics (although I went through an X-Men period. Everyone goes through an X-Men period. It's just whether or not they choose to admit it) growing up, mostly owing to lack of availability and funds, so stumbling on a few online comics, which were free and accessible, was a good experience. I think I just wanted to give creating a comic a try. I knew absolutely nothing about actually doing a comic, but I knew how to write (this was back when I was in university ... about three years ago), so I thought I'd mesh my meager drawing skills with my love for writing.

... I was probably pretty caffeinated when I started the comic. I think that explains a lot. It was during exams. You go a bit crazy then.

ST: What artists have influenced or inspired you?

FEH: Very few visual artists, surprisingly. Oh sure, I worship at the altar of people like Chris Sanders (director of Disney's new summer feature, Lilo & Stitch), Chris Bachalo and Bill Watterson, but written works had more of an impact on the comic early on. I tend to be inspired more by writers like Lloyd Alexander, CS Lewis ... authors who have a wonderful handle on epic, interesting tales, and three-dimensional characters. Also they're authors who are quite adept at creating strong heroines ... Lloyd Alexander in particular. All girls should read the Vesper Holly series while growing up. They'll increase your self-esteem tenfold.

Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the scribe of a surprising number of good movies) had an inadvertent impact on D101. I remember an interview with him in which he remarked that 'no one ever truly recovers from high school.' At the time I just thought he was being hyperbolic, but the quote stuck with me, as did his interpretation of high school as a supernatural war zone. I don't think D101 is as Buffy derivative as people assume. For one thing, I don't actually get any television stations that carry the show (yes, I'm one of the last holdouts against cable TV. All I have is a coat hanger stuck on the back of a television set. I'm quite the Luddite, really), and to this day the only episodes I've seen are those that have been released to video.

But still, I can't discount the influence of that quote, and the Buffy pilot. So cheers to Joss. The man gives good sound bites.

ST: Do you read other comics or webcomics? Which ones?

FEH: I don't read as much as I should, I'm sure ... Back in the dark ages of time when I first started D101, I read a neat little comic by Mark Sachs called No Headroom. It wrapped up a while ago (I think it's only around 40 pages), but it had a charm and mastery of the storytelling genre that I've yet to see equalled online. Mark's comic was probably one of the reasons I thought I'd give online comicking a try.

I also get a kick out of Kellilla Yarwood's Sundowner comics. They're nuts and hella fun. They're still occasionally updated, so that make me happy. Huzzah for updated comics!

On the published front, the only comic I absolutely adore and repeatedly harass the local comic book shop for new issues of is Jeff Smith's Bone. I really love that comic. It has a wonderful use of humor and an epic scope that's pretty rare, both online and off. I really wish I could say Jeff's storytelling ability and artwork inspired me in some way, but I didn't start reading Bone until I was well into D101.

ST: Do you want to work in comics for a living? Why?

FEH: I can't say I'm leaning towards a career in comics, mostly because I'd like to be able to afford groceries. That's my joking response, of course, but on many levels what little I know of the industry isn't very appealing. I'm frustrated by the domination of flashy art and very poor stories over books that are genuinely well plotted and written. There are a few bright spots, but I think it would take a real revolution in the industry for me to truly want to delve into the comic book world. I get a broader audience for D101 on the internet than I ever would've had it been published.

ST: Why did you decide to do D101 as a web comic rather than a traditional, printed comic?

FEH: Well, my type A personality demands full creative control, so that was probably a big issue. But like I mentioned before, I just sort of fell into doing D101, so when I first started, the thought of publishing never crossed my mind. I wanted to see if I could actually do a comic, and the internet was a willing and useful medium to facilitate that desire.

ST: How do you think working on a web comic is different from working on a printed comic?

FEH: For one thing, you don't have editors breathing down your neck ... oh, but the biggest issue is money. You just don't get paid to do a web comic. Sure, back in the glory days of the dotcom revolution, there was supposed gold in the internet hills, but we all know what happened with that. When you do an online comic, you don't do it to support yourself, you do it because you want to, because you have a story to tell, or because you think you have something interesting to say. Personally, I think those are rather noble reasons for doing comics.

The greatest thing about doing an online comic is the fact that it's all you. You write, you draw, you control pretty much every aspect of the comic, so you have total freedom. Now the downside is that I've seen some people go absolutely mad with this creative power and write the most self-indulgent, narcissistic pieces of online crap (if I read another comic about some poor guy getting dumped by his evil girlfriend, I'm going to stick a fork in my eye), but what's great about it is that you'll sometimes have free comics of incredible insight and humor produced for the internet realm ... comics that would never have been published, because they're either too weird or the art isn't a J Scott Campbell ripoff.

ST: What are some of the things you've learned (or learned NOT to do) from producing a comic on a regular schedule? Anything you'd do differently if you could go back and start over?

FEH: Ohhhhh ... I wish I could redo the entire first episode ... heck, I'm going to re-do it, come hell or high water. Ahg, such bad art! Ye gods ... I can't think of the bloody thing without flinching ... Yeek. I'm just going to dig a hole over here and crawl into it ... Oh, the pain!

Okay, tangent over. Other than the bad art (which I couldn't really do anything about, since that was the best art I could do at the time. Obviously my skills have improved muchly ... drawing over 300 pages of a comic will do that), D101 was a really big learning experience. I pretty much taught myself how to do comics all by my lonesome, but I don't think there were too many early screw ups. I kept the schedule consistent, I kept my readers interested .... That's the big thing I always mention to people who want advice on doing online comics: keep updating. No matter what (I mean, unless you die, or get a life or something). Especially at the beginning. Stay committed and keep updating. It's the only way to really build your readership. Unless you're one of those freak comics that gets popular on the sixth page or something. Those comics annoy me in the way the Spice Girls annoy me: it just isn't healthy to have fame handed to you on a platter.

But oh! The pain of that early art! Egad ... I must re-do that episode ... I suppose that's something George Lucas and I have in common, though I don't think I have it in me to create something like Jar Jar Binks. Thank God.

ST: Unlike most web comics, D101 is updated with a batch of pages every two weeks, rather than adding one page at a time. Why did you choose to do your updates this way? How do your readers react to it?

FEH: Originally, back when I was in university, I updated weekly with a batch of pages. Now I'm attending Sheridan College (for classical animation), and I can't keep up that kind of pace (the workload here is very heavy. People die during crunch week), so I've moved the updates to every-other-week. I think readers were disappointed when I moved to the every two weeks updates, but I didn't see any other option, short of actually quitting the comic.

I don't like comics that update with one page every now and then, even if it's weekly, or every other day. It jerks the story around, like watching a movie for five minutes, then turning it off to watch another five minutes in a week's time. I find with my 'updates in chunks' method, I can keep the story consistent and flowing ... I stop the pages where there's a lull in the story.

It's just my preference (some people still want weekly updates, even if it's only one page), but I think that's the best way to update an online comic.

ST: About how much time do you spend on D101 per week?

FEH: Too much time entirely. That's all you need to know. Er, seriously, I've never really counted the hours. I'm too afraid to think about it.

ST: Describe the process for drawing an average D101 page. Do you draw it with traditional art media or on the computer? What tools do you use?

FEH: The whole idea behind the art process is to do the maximum amount of art in the minimum amount of time ... and somewhere in between try not to go crazy. So I do have a system by which to do the comic, but it's probably a little strange ... I'm quite sure it's as far from how professionals work as is possible, but hey, it works for me.

I don't thumbnail the pages beforehand, mostly because I'm one of those freaks that can do that in my head. When I have a general internal plan of what I want to draw, I crack open my darling 9 by 12 sketchbook (60lb paper, 100 pages. I go through about one a month) and sketch out the new pages. Due to the scanner restrictions, and the fact that I hate piecing together things in Photoshop, all the D101 pages are about 9 by12 in size. I hand draw the speech bubbles and panels, mostly because it saves me time. If you're doing a free online comic which you actually want to keep regularly updated, you'll find that time is your greatest enemy. It doesn't pay to be a perfectionist. Sometimes you just have to live with artwork you're only seventy percent satisfied with.

After the page is drawn, I ink it with ... well, whatever pen I have on hand. I like using either a Berol Dart or Faber-Castell brushpen. Both are nice, crisp, and give you thicker than normal lines. I don't much like skinny little .005 micron pens. Evil things.

After I've inked, if all has gone well and I haven't consumed too much caffeine, I scan the pages into my trusty computer, and shade them in Painter Classic. The lettering is done on computer (Photoshop) as well. Handy things, computers.

Then, after I've uploaded the pages to the D101 site, I try and catch up on all the sleep I've missed.

ST: Do you want to eventually publish D101 in print form? Why or why not?

FEH: Oh dear, I never quite know how to answer this question .... The only answer I can come up with is a big, fat "I don't know." It would be nice to see the comic published, but on some levels I like the idea of it being a web comic. On the internet it's much more accessible to those who don't like to visit comic book shops. But it would be so nice to have something tangible that I could hold in my hand .... So ... I don't know, really. At this point I'm not pursuing publishing, due to my schooling commitment, but maybe someday, if the time is right, and I feel that the comic might benefit from being transferred to paper.

ST: Where did the idea for D101 come from? How did it evolve from there into its current form?

FEH: I'm pretty sure the original D101 concept came from me not paying attention in my university religion classes .... Funny how boredom seems to prompt creativity. Imagine what the literary world would be like if Victor Hugo had a hobby. I've absolutely no idea where the original 'teenagers as demons' concept came from, actually, but the evolution of the comic often comes from personal sources. My own experiences with friends, family and university, for example. My interest in mythology (both Biblical and otherwise) often plays a part in shaping the comic.

ST: How much of the D101 story did you have planned out when you started on the comic?

FEH: When I first started, I'd planned out practically none of the story. And it shows. Which is another reason I really want to re-do that first episode. I had the basic concept of 'high school is hell, literally' written down, but the ideas behind the comic evolved as I wrote/drew the first episode, so by the end of it, the D101 world was fairly concretely established in my mind.

I find there are some real benefits in starting a comic like that. I get emails from many people telling me about their wonderful ideas ... and how afraid they are to actually sit down and draw/write their ideas. Basically, it's the fear of screwing up something that is pretty magnificent in your mind, and that's why a lot of comics fail early on. People start, and the comic doesn't live up to their expectations. So they quit, and the wonderful idea they had is never realized. Kind of sad, when you think about it that way.

ST: Religion is a topic that a lot of people feel strongly about. Have you gotten any strong positive or negative reactions from readers based on the religious elements in the storyline?

FEH: I like to think that D101 isn't an exclusionary comic and despite its storyline dealing with concepts of spiritual good and evil, readers can still enjoy it even if they don't have a particular faith, or have one different than mine. And for the most part, my readers have confirmed that thought. So, y'know, hurrah!

But seriously ....

I was worried I'd attract the odd Harry Potter hater, people who judge a comic on its surface subject matter (such as what's happened with those silly JK Rowling books. They really aren't going to corrupt our youth, people. Trust me on this!), and don't bother to actually read it. However, for the most part, people have been quite tolerant.

I had one charming lad email me to say that in "honor" of my comic he was going to paint "demonic markings" under his eyes while he played guitar, and give himself the stage name "Demon." I hadn't the heart to point out that there's no such thing as 'demonic markings' in the comic. Anyway, he gave me a big laugh. I think you just have to laugh when you get the odd remark like that.

I would probably find it hurtful if people of my own faith attacked the comic for its subject matter (as some Christians are wont to do ... sadly. It bothers me when people who profess the same faith as I act in such a manner ... such as how Madeline L'Engle was treated due to the fantastic nature of her books, even though she was a Christian) but so far I've been lucky, and haven't had that.

ST: Which character(s) seem to be most popular with readers?

FEH: Raven is probably the most popular, but that's not surprising, considering she's the main character ... I'm often baffled over the apparent popularity of fairly minor characters, like Isaac, for instance. Just what is it about a good looking evil guy that female readers seem to like so much? Oh, wait ... I think I just answered my own question: he's good looking and evil. Case solved. I call it the Alan Rickman Syndrome.

Male readers seem quite drawn to Mackenzie, which I take to be a positive sign indicating the acceptance of smartass female characters on the comic page.

ST: Do you have a favorite character? Favorite scene?

FEH: For various reasons, I am quite fond of Raven. Probably because despite all she's been through, and what she is told about her own inherent nature (that she is a literal incarnation of evil), she still believes in the good of mankind and the potential power of forgiveness. She's a better person than I could ever hope to be.

I like John quite a bit too, as he's grown a lot as a character. Originally I was just planning to use him for sidekick purposes, but he evolved into someone quite three-dimensional and interesting. That's one of the greatest joys of having a long running comic ... you can watch your characters grow and evolve right before you. They become like your children.

.... That sounded really strange, didn't it? No, I do not hear voices!

As for favorite scenes, I like the museum sequence at the end of Episode 3, mostly because it was a massive feat for me to pull off, both artistically and storytelling-wise. I remember at times I'd be updating with seventeen page chunks ... just a huge amount of pages, because the story literally did not pause. And this was all while I was working a full time job and partying hard on the weekend. I still don't know how I did it. Caffeine probably played a large part.

Oh, and dammit, I also like Gabe. Nobody likes him, poor fellow, but he's the backbone of the comic. It would be very lacking without him.

ST: What do you like best about working on D101? What do you like least?

FEH: I don't like the fact that the comic infringes a lot on my personal and school life. I have so little free time, and much of that is spent on the comic ... I don't like the fact that sometimes it feels like the comic is forcing me into the public eye, where all my screw-ups are magnified to the nth degree. Like most human beings, I have the habit of putting my foot in my mouth.

But I love it when people say that they enjoy D101, when they say they care about the comic and its characters and are inspired by it. I love it when people love my characters. That's pretty much the greatest reward you can receive from doing an online comic. It makes it worth my while.

ST: You've said on the website that you're thinking about ending the comic after its current storyline. Can you go into details about what brought you to that decision? Do you intend to leave the story open enough that you can pick up the characters and do more with them later?

FEH: Ah, this is a painful question, one I don't like to dwell on.

When I was in university, there would be times when things would get busy, but never to the point where I was in danger of handing an assignment in late, or failing something because I was spending too much time on the comic. My current school is very different from university, and the workload, I'm finding, is much harder. There isn't actually more work, but it tends to take me twice as long to do. I guess I'm just better at writing essays than I am doing animation. It's been very hard to keep up with the comic this year, even with moving the updates back to every two weeks. I can't ignore school, which I'm hoping will open many fascinating doors for me within the artistic world, in favor of a free online comic .... My life has come to the point where school commitments must start to take precedence over D101.

However, I'm not going to abandon the comic after Episode 4. There are plans for an Episode 5, even though Episode 4 will end on a more concrete note than Episode 3, but I think I'm going to have to play it by ear, and see what happens in my second year of The Great Experiment (my nickname for 'Faith goes to animation school').

I still want to re-do the first episode, so after Episode 4 ends, I hope to work on that off and on. I may not follow any sort of schedule, instead just upload pages whenever I finish them.

D101 is sort of strange in that I don't have a completely final ending to it all. As each episode edges towards its finish, new problems and characters tend to emerge, and I find that I very much want to continue the story, to find out what happens.

I can't say for sure one way or another, whether or not I will continue the comic. But rest assured it has been too much a part of my life to end completely.

ST: After D101 ends, what do you plan to do next?

FEH: I'm going to Disneyworld!

http://faith.rydia.net