Writing

This Olympic Games premise is entirely made-up, as it never historically happened EXCEPT as an episode in the Alexander Romance legends (Book 1, Chapters 18 - 20) , immediately following the Taming of Bucephalus story.

It's definitely a Choice to feature this particular fiction when the Romance also includes other fake stories like Alexander being stuck in an all-night battle with a bestiary, his visit to the talking trees and his war with the fairies. Those will be in the comic eventually... but I found the Olympics story a really good opportunity to develop some more character, again with the competitive dynamic between Alexander and his father, his meh attitude towards sports, his relationship with Hephaestion and the budding of his need for conquest...

while introducing another metafictional aspect hinted at in the Prologue and Chapter 3: how would the subject himself react to all of these legends?

Exaggerated stories and gossips of flattery are endemic to royal celebrity. And Alexander himself wouldn't be resistant to the allure of them. Afterall, this is the guy who mostly believed himself to be the Son of God just because someone said so (helps that it also conveniently legitimised his power in the eyes of his newfound subjects of Egypt and Mesopotamia). A personal Olympic win is incorrect, but does it matter? Does it make a difference? Especially if it's a hit story that makes you look awesome to the peasants?

All who wrote about Alexander preferred the marvelous to the true. (Strabo, Geography)

The Rule of Cool applies to ancient propaganda.

The Servant here is taking on the role of an uncritical audience - or simply, a typical modern-day uncle cursed by Whatsapp chats - who trust hearsay and like these fanciful anecdotes. Or people like me months ago with an amateur's understanding of the context, to not realise that a Greek king of Alexander's time personally competing in the Olympic chariot race was way below their rank.

Chapters 4 follows more or less the sequence in the original Romance version. Alexander wants to go to the Olympics, he brings along Hephaestion (this story is also the only time in the original Romance where Hephaestion makes a named appearance), during a trip around town they meet a jerk...

Chapter 5 will continue from that point, on the actual chariot race itself.

Thumbnailing and Sketching

Tools

Thumbnails: Moleskine notebook, mechanical pencil

Sketches: Procreate, iPad with Apple pencil

Time taken

Thumbnails: 15 minutes.

Sketches: (not counting breaks) 2 days, approximately.

Inking and Colouring

I add dialogue on top of the sketches before moving on to the inks (or colours in this case). This is so speech bubbles are better integrated into the layout of the panels, and issues with spacing and composition are fixed. Nobody wants to squeeze a too-big bubble into a tiny space in post!

Tools

Inks: Procreate, iPad with Apple pencil

Colours and Letters: ipad, Procreate, Photoshop

Time taken

Inks: There was no inking involved besides the four pages in the middle. Those took a day and a half.

Colours: A week. One spread took one day, more or less.

I worked on each half in 4-day bursts, separated by a week and a half's break.

Research

The style of the "flashbacks" is a mix of red and black figure pottery, primarily in the Kerch style. The Kerch style is a variant of red-figure that featured multicolour paint and gold foil on clothing, and is contemporary to Alexander's era, beginning in 375 BCE and dying out in 320 BCE).

I wanted to adapt ancient Greek pottery art in a way that's fresh, but still true to the original. Fortunately, my natural style is already very close to the ancient Greek way of drawing (whether that's a good or bad thing, I don't know lol), so it didn't take much effort to tweak my style accordingly.

The most important thing about ancient Greek pottery art is that, like all limited-colour flat lineless art based on silhouette, it requires some planning. You don't want to accidentally complicate the composition - it has to be clear, easy to read and concise. Afterall, these were originally product designs meant for material goods, and it has to depict a story/scenario on top of that. The customer has to know what's going on in the vase they are buying, and the kind of status/value the vase represents beyond its practical usage. And how do they get this information? From the drawings. In that regard, ancient Greek pottery is closer to illustration and product design.

I didn't want to stick to just a red or black figure. I went with a mix, choosing to approach everything like the UPA style of animation with stylised graphics and colour grouping (see Disney's Rhapsody in Blue). Black figures are contained within red figures. Crowds and objects are grouped into red or black, with the main characters being in full Kerch colour. Colours are layered according to composition.

Googling modern takes of ancient Greek art brings up a solid bunch of examples, but the thing I've noticed most of them not doing is honouring the hand-drawn, wobbly, wonky aspect of the linework. A lot of these takes have clean, straight, precise, almost angular, symmetrical lines. But if you look at the original pottery closely you'd see how wonky the lines are. Which makes sense, because these were painted by hand. There's charm. There's an awkwardness that comes from an artist not drawing something properly, either by accident or on purpose. So rather than being so meticulous with my linework, I went loose.

Normally I'd hand-draw my sketches and inks and afterwards go though an almost-mindless, meditative process of dropping colours with the Fill Bucket tool, with additional hand-drawing for the details and decorative elements. But for this Chapter and the next, I hand-drew and hand-painted everything. It's the same process I used for my other graphic novel, Seance Tea Party. I've already described my process and art direction for that particular book on Twitter and in my blog and at the back of the book. That process is a bit of a pain, like, literally, because it actually puts more strain on my hand for some reason. But the end result is always charming, which is the goal.

A page in the middle of being painted. Procreate app on iPad.

A better view of the Kerch style test. Alexander laughs at Hephaestion's teasing as they hurry off hand-in-hand to the races, their horses beside them.

Writing

This chapter is a retelling of the well-known anecdote of a young Alexander taming a horse that no adult could, launching a wonderful tradition of horse girls and their forever steeds.

I based it mostly off the "historical" account, which had Alexander and Bucephalus encounter each other through a horse merchant. However the legends are an important part of this retelling too (for example, in this spread), as a visual-narrative layer that floats above the surface of the comic and in between the panels.

Here is the story from Plutarch's Life of Alexander (Parallel Lives, Part 1.6):

Once upon a time Philoneicus the Thessalian brought Bucephalas, offering to sell him to Philip for thirteen talents,​ and they went down into the plain to try the horse, who appeared to be savage and altogether intractable, neither allowing any one to mount him, nor heeding the voice of any of Philip's attendants, but rearing up against all of them.

Then Philip was vexed and ordered the horse to be led away, believing him to be altogether wild and unbroken; but Alexander, who was near by, said: "What a horse they are losing, because, for lack of skill and courage, they cannot manage him!"

At first, then, Philip held his peace; but as Alexander many times let fall such words and showed great distress, he said: "Dost thou find fault with thine elders in the belief that thou knowest more than they do or art better able to manage a horse?"

"This horse, at any rate," said Alexander, "I could manage better than others have."

"And if thou shouldst not, what penalty wilt thou undergo for thy rashness?"

"Indeed," said Alexander, "I will forfeit the price of the horse."

There was laughter at this, and then an agreement between father and son as to the forfeiture, and at once Alexander ran to the horse, took hold of his bridle-rein, and turned him towards the sun; for he had noticed, as it would seem, that the horse was greatly disturbed by the sight of his own shadow falling in front of him and dancing about. And after he had calmed the horse a little in this way, and had stroked him with his hand, when he saw that he was full of spirit and courage, he quietly cast aside his mantle and with a light spring safely bestrode him. Then, with a little pressure of the reins on the bit, and without striking him or tearing his mouth, he held him in hand;​ but when he saw that the horse was rid of the fear that had beset him, and was impatient for the course, he gave him his head, and at last urged him on with sterner tone and thrust of foot.

Philip and his company were speechless with anxiety at first; but when Alexander made the turn in proper fashion and came back to them proud and exultant, all the rest broke into loud cries, but his father, as we are told, actually shed tears of joy, and when Alexander had dismounted, kissed him, saying: "My son, seek thee out a kingdom equal to thyself; Macedonia has not room for thee."

And a version from the Alexander Romance. (Book 1, Chapter 13, 15, 16, 17) There's a timeskip in between Philip acquiring the horse and Alexander finally claiming him.

Now at that time the princes of the Cappadocians brought as an offering to Philip from their herds of horses a foal of great size, bound with fetters of iron, for, said they, he devours men. And when Philip observed his appearance and beauty, he said to his friends, "True it is what is said in the proverb, for they say, 'something bad springs up by the side of anything good'; but now since the chiefs of the Cappadocians, my friends, have brought me a present, accept it from them, and let him be kept in restraint and guarded in an iron-barred enclosure, and let the dead bodies of evildoers, by whom crimes worthy of death have been committed, and who are appointed to be slain by the decrees of the judges, be thrown to this [beast]." And when Philip had thus spoken, they executed his orders with all speed.

[...]

Then Philip returned from whence he had gone, and sent his servants to Polias the diviner at Delphi to ask of the diviner, that he might know who would be king after him. When they drew near, and came to the fountain of Castalia, they asked an augury. And the virgin Pythia answered them saying, "Say ye to Philip, the father and lord of Macedonia, 'He that shall receive the kingdom, being sent by the gods, the rulers of the world, to this kingdom of the Macedonians, this is the sign that I have seen concerning him ; he shall make the mighty steed which is called Bucephalus (the interpretation of which is Bull-head) run through Pella.' " And when those who had been sent to bring the augury returned to Philip, they told this sign to him, and he, after he had received this augury, used to watch when he might see this sign ; and he used to enquire of every one who made a horse run through Pella what its name was and how it was called.

[...]

Now when Alexander was nearly old enough to reign, he went to a distance to the place [where Bucephalus was kept] ; and he looked and saw from the door, and went out and saw the horse guarded by on iron grating, with its whole body bound with chains; and he saw that the horse was very excited and furious. By reason of the smell of the human bones and skulls which he devoured, the place itself was foul, and the horse emitted a foetid odour from his mouth. When Alexander saw the many human bones lying under him near his feet, he questioned those who had the care of him, saying, "I want to know what is the reason that this horse is bound in this manner ?" And they said to him, "This horse is a man-eater." Now when Alexander heard this speech, he marvelled and drew near to the iron grating, and admired the strength and size and beauty of the horse. He was especially struck with wonder at his being so terrible and at his fierce appearance. And after the horse took no notice of him, he put his hands gently through the railings, and put a bit into his mouth; and the horse licked the hand of Alexander with his tongue. Then Alexander began to rub his side and legs, and he was quiet.

And when he saw that the horse was gratified, he commanded and they took away the railings from him. And he led the horse out, holding the bridle with his right hand, while with the left he stroked the horse's body, and the horse wagged his tail like a dog. And when Alexander saw that he was so gentle, he led him by the bridle and brought him out into the street, and he saw upon the right side of the horse a birthmark in the form of a wolf, a sign that was born with him, and this wolf held a bull in its mouth. Then [Alexander] mounted and rode upon him, and made him run through the city [of Pella]. Now it happened that Philip was sitting upon the wall of the city, making the horsemen pass before him by number, and he enquired of them the names of their horses, if peradventure there might be one who had a horse called Bull-head, for he had learned the augury from the diviner. And while Philip was sitting upon the wall, Alexander came up to him at a gallop; and when Philip saw Alexander guiding the horse with his hand and standing upon his feet, he said, "My son Alexander, the whole oracle refers to thee; I believe that after my death thou wilt reign, and that thou wilt rule the whole world."

The story is the same regardless, but the details!

As mentioned before, I mostly adapted Plutarch's account for my retelling of the taming of Bucephalus, with the Romance appearing in bits and pieces. Where the Romance's influence is strongest is in Bucephalus' character design.

Caption: The first character design sheet of Bucephalus, explanation below.

Bucephalus' design is representational of this mix between history and legend. (Here's the original blog post with the character sheet and design notes plus the follow-up with an updated sheet explaining how I problem solve a design) Similarly to Alexander, I based Buchy’s design on the middle ground between the descriptions in the historical record and the Romance: a black Thessalian horse, with a star on his forehead and blue eyes, with the twist being the dragon-like head and reptilian eyes, referencing the Romantic version of Buchy as a monstrous man-eating creature. His silhouette is rooted more in Greek black figure pottery than any real horse.

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Anyway, the intent of Chapter Three was to build a few character-defining moments that will cascade into later chapters, particularly Alexander's dynamic with his father. To better evoke a sense of rose-tinted childhood nostalgia, I went with a more children's book approach for the tone and some of the visual choices, using more grawlixes than I would normally for the type of graphic novel Alexander Comic is.

Speaking of tone, the chapter also features the return of the narrator/author's voice inside the comic itself (transcript readers will have a slightly different experience) – introducing it as a metafictional element acting beyond the Prologue.

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Since its start, I always wanted Alexander Comic to be metafiction, specifically historiographic metafiction – which is an embarrassing mouthful to say. But frankly, it's the only term that's accurate to whatever I'm trying to do here, intent and influence included.

There are a decent amount of metafiction comics, with most of them experimenting with the format (Asterios Polyp) or going all in on pop culture references (Deadpool) or the legacy of superhero comics (Watchmen). But very few centered on history/literature that's not in the point of view of a character (fictional or real, main or side), but the creator who's actually writing AND drawing AND researching the subject matter.

There's a precedent to this approach of metafiction in prose, like Miguel Cervantes' parody of chivalric romances and supposedly-true translations of stories from elsewhere; Jorge Luis Borges' pseudo-review of a fictional author recreating Don Quixote; and arguably Victor Hugo's sidenote rambles about Parisian sewers. There's a distinctive narrator's voice in these stories, which isn't always possible in a primarily visual medium like comics (unless you want to write a wall of text), or perceptible to readers unfamiliar with comics, as the narrator's presence if done successfully should be loudest in the artwork, similar to how a director or cinematographer frames a scene.

I am working out how to present my author's voice in a way that's unique to comics: not a wall of text, uses visuals, is an interaction between text and art in the way I'm trying with comics as poetry. Basically laying out train tracks in front of me as I go. In the Prologue it's pretty standard, with the text in a custom font framed around the artwork, like a storybook. In this chapter, I switched the tactic, with hand-lettering and captions.

At the moment I am leaning towards using my handwriting rather than a font just for the author's voice, kinda like a scribe's annotation at the side of the text they are copying. (The problem is I don't like how my handwriting looks when I am writing on the Huion tablet vs the iPad or paper) It's very likely that I will update these pages once I establish a solution for this. Right now, at the time of writing, you get to witness the messiness. In the future though, I will be taking advantage of gutter space and wackier ideas. Stay tuned.

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The ending scene with young Alexander, Bucephalus and Hephaestion is completely my invention. That's all I can say without going into spoiler territory, but the choice will make sense more immediately in the next chapter, and who knows where in the comic. ;)

Thumbnailing and Sketching

Tools

Thumbnails: Moleskine notebook, mechanical pencil

Sketches: Procreate, iPad with Apple pencil

Time taken

Thumbnails: 1 hour.

Sketches: (not counting breaks) 24 hours.

Inking and Colouring

Tools

Inks: Procreate, iPad with Apple pencil, Photoshop

Colours and Letters: Photoshop

Time taken

Inks: A week-ish.

Colours: Less than a week. The one that took the most time was the Bucephalus medieval page.

Research

Macedon was/is northmost of Greece, on the other side of the mountains of Olympus. One of the details that struck me while I was looking up the Macedonian landscape was how densely green it is (which lines up with the historical record of Macedon's timber being in high demand for ship-building and whatnot). So that was the first thing I wanted to depict.

I love material culture and mundanity, so those two take the stage in the establishing pages with the small details. I gave the transcript similar treatment in the description of the marketplace.

The next two chapters are going to be the most challenging I've ever done. I can only hope the amount of art and practice I have done in the past, especially of horses, will be up to task.

Writing

You may have noticed the appearance of a couple of ancient Greek words. Originally I had Alexander yelling 'WOOHOO' then replaced it with the vernacular 'EUAI-AI-AI'. Small details, but they mean a lot to me in regards to immersion.

Thumbnailing and Sketching

Tools

Thumbnails: Moleskine notebook, mechanical pencil

Sketches: Procreate, iPad with Apple pencil

Time taken

Thumbnails: 15 minutes.

Sketches: (not counting breaks) Around 3 hours.

Inking and Colouring

Tools

Inks: Huion Kamvas Pro, Photoshop

Colours and Letters: Photoshop

Time taken

Inks: A week and a half of intermittent work. Recovering from minor burnout and juggling that with the remastering of The Carpet Merchant Book 2.

Colours: Around 7 - 8 hours.

Research

Recreating and exploring the historical past through material culture, art history and vernacular folk tradition has always been my niche interest in historical comics. The past feels more alive when I see the things our ancestors used to live their life, express themselves, and find comfort in their favourite foods or trinkets. So I try to evoke that same feeling of wonder and connection in my comics.

In my opinion, material culture is something that is done more effectively in visual storytelling than prose. There is only so much an author can do when presenting the sentence 'Alexander drinks wine from a kylix' to a reader, who may or may not understand what that action looks like... or even what a kylix is. (You can read about my descent into madness when I had to find the answer to this 'How Does One Drink From a Kylix' question) As someone who can present that sentence in the form of an image beamed directly to the reader's mind, I am able to show them how Alexander holds his wide-brimmed cup between his ring and middle fingers (the right hand, because the left is unclean). And that image alone does a lot of work to tell us how interesting their cups are with the individualised designs and how mundane people treated those cups back then. The past then feels lush, with that detail and many others.

In Chapter Two, I wanted to achieve the same goal of immersion in Babylon and its surrounding landscape.

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I'm a little bored and frankly, annoyed at the standard depictions of ancient Mesopotamia, and in general the Middle East past and present, through the dry yellow-filter lens of Hollywood. Where are the plants? The colours? The green?? Like, I know that part of Iraq (where Babylon city is) has an arid climate and desertification, but there's a concept called land cultivation and apparently, the Mesopotamians of the Ferticle Crescent created this really cool thing called civilisation based off their mastery of agriculture which they also invented. So again, where are the crops and trees that supported and fed the cities? Where is the human touch?

But I'm also annoyed because a big part of why so much of the region looks so dry right now is because of war, sanctions and politics (not to mention the passage of time and climate change, hahahaha). And it's actually the consequences of those factors, and not the land of Babylon as taken care of by its people, that is exported in the form of imagery to the global north. Not to mention the present areas of modern-day Iraq with farmland and gardens... further emphasising the yellow filter as yes, a choice, yes, an artistic license, which displays the decision-maker's laziness of thought and incompetence in making alternative choices.  #hottake

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I wanted a Babylon that was lush and rich, to honour its reputation as a grand, old city in the Fertile Crescent (though at the time of Alexander's reign the place was at its decline... then again, Alexander had been Great King for a while and if I recall correctly, there wasn't any destruction of crops or livelihood to the ordinary folks in Babylon...). If not lush, just enough to show that life was still happening, that food was still being produced. So here's a date palm orchard, a barley field... two of the stable crops of the city. And of course, people who were cultivating and harvesting these crops using their knowledge and labour. The sort of people who are lost to silence while the king and his military hog up the spotlight.