I feel like I should have done more in that time. I really do. I recall how it was back in July of 2007 when I first started really working on this series seriously. I used to go down to the First Avenue Laundromat at 3-4 in the morning and do laundry while writing scripts or inking or drawing comic pages. I was trying to get hired by White Lightning to draw their “Chocolate Milkmaid” comic. I suppose had I stuck it out, I might be finishing that series instead of Kris Overstreet coaxing EvHor to come back a year or so later. I did get to draw The Magnificent Milkmaid. And, as gunky as this sounds, I’m still fairly proud of what I did for “The Scaling of Mt. Yukiko”, which was a side-story to the main plot at the time (2009-2010). It’s amusing to note that my frustration with the submissions and hiring process at WLP prompted me to “prove I could do better”, and thus, Peppermint Saga was born.
I began with a simple premise: “silly adventures about an elf-y chick and her asshole talking sword”. Truth, as he became known, was meant to be an homage to pervy characters like Happousai from Ranma 1/2 and his ilk. Peppermint was a direct reference to Lina Inverse (even though I had no practical experience with Slayers until about 4 years later). Naturally, I wanted to Peppermint to be short, but “provocatively built”, meaning she had an ass you could bounce quarters off of, but a small chest. But not only that, I gave her a bit of muscle definition. You know, like someone who had to rotate at the middle a lot to hack and slash enemies to make a living. But still a little girly because that’s fun, y’know? And from that moment on, it just kinda went off the rails. The more I wrote down, the more story I wanted to tell. Damn me and my fuckin’ “porn with plot” penchant. I never can shake the inner scribe. But I think if I ever get to finish this series, everyone will be satisfied with the results.
Anyway, this is about the point in the narrative that I start rambling and probably shitting on another artist or writer, so I’m going to call it here. But long-story-short, I have seven of the (potentially) twenty-four episodes of Peppermint Saga written. And what’s really funny is that this is the one series I’ve never wanted to re-write or re-boot. I wonder… is it possible this is the one story I’ve really wanted to tell all along? Fodder for next Blog Tuesday, perhaps.
~Mace
