History of ‘Growtree’: The Frontier

Freeman Growtree, unlike his colleagues, spent much of his governorship abroad. He travelled all across the islands and, upon his return to Hightower City, set up the Terrestrial Department in order to further study and catalogue the variety of plant and animal life. The most urgent matter for Growtree was to halt the felling of massive Taproot trees that could be found singularly on most of the islands. Unfortunately, a lot of the Islanders had already seen them as a quick and plentiful supply of lumber to make boats, shelters, and for firewood. Growtree had theorized that the Taproots were more essential to their respective island environments than the Concord had assumed. Due to the immediacy of colonizing, his protests fell on deaf ears and Growtree became disenfranchised with the Concord.

This attitude of Freeman Growtree’s became more pronounced after the establishment of Central Division, the Concords hub established to collect and relegate goods and supplies from all the islands. This was seen by some Islanders as a power grab by the Concord over the unofficial sovereignty of the colonies, which stemmed from the Concords efforts to oversee the inevitable dwindling of resources. A brief war began when the Mariners joined ranks with the Islanders. The prolonged conflict took a toll on the already challenging lives of the Islanders and they eventually, begrudgingly, acquiesced to the terms of the rest of the Concord.

These events managed to further Freeman Growtree’s frustration and he abandoned his governorship and oversight of the Terrestrial Department. He founded his own colony on one of the few remaining islands, far off from the main cluster of the archipelago and closer to the ominous Edgetide, a vast ocean drop off to empty sky and parts unknown.

History of ‘Growtree’: The Concord

Over the next several years, the migrants had settled a small capital town along the edge of the peninsula, all the while preparing for exploring and colonizing the expanding islands, all under the collective Grand Concord. During this time, the people also implemented a more egalitarian social structure. Democratic elections were the first part to be implemented, followed with a full education for everyone. It was decided that there would be seven governors elected to deliberate over any issues facing the collective, like how to best handle the process of colonization, distribution of goods, and the growth of the peninsula town, later known as Hightower City. This worked relatively well, with skilled laborers (woodworkers, architects, etc.) allowed to control and oversee the output of their respective resources. Those that ventured off to populate the archipelago were known as Islanders, and they found a bounty of habitable land with even more resources. 

Along with elected representation, education was the next initiative. The initial governors elected out of the migrant party were considered proxy governors. The first generation of children brought up under the new structure would be more than capable of being true leaders. These students would study lessons on a myriad of subjects, all in order to make them stronger candidates for governorship. 

As the years passed, and the First Governors had taken office, there was steady progress. Hightower City had grown and officially became the capital, established Islander colonies had started a decent flow of goods, and many institutions were founded at the behest of the governors. The enterprises that were implemented respectively by each of the seven First Governors, and have been the cornerstones of the Concord since: Structural Department (Crafters), Transmittal Department (Conveyors), Navigational Department (Mariners), Commercial Department (Merchants), Colonial Department (Islanders), and the Martial Department (Regulators). The final institution, Surveyors, proved to be just as essential as the others, but eventually the other Governors became at odds with its founder, Freeman Growtree.

History of 'Growtree': The Migration

So, as I was finalizing my characters I was also sorting out a lot of specifics for the world that they are inhabiting. Since I don’t foresee much opportunity to tell the mythology and history of this world, I figured I might as well compile it here, and not just floating around in my already scattered brain.

As mentioned earlier, the setting of Growtree takes place amongst an archipelago off of a main peninsula. This peninsula is cut off from the rest of the mainland by a vast mountain range, which was traversed by the first colonizers. They had travelled from their original country due to its uninhabitability. Upon settling on the peninsula and witnessing the expanse of islands before them, these migrants were united in starting a new social system to coincide with their new homeland. 

These people had collectively suffered under the feudal regimes of noble families, who fought countless battles against one another, with those of lower status often caught in between. The noble Houses utilized destructive magic in combat which eventually culminated in the desolation of the entire land. The main enforcers for the nobles carried the title of Wardens. Wardens were non-family members chosen from a clan’s soldiery. They oversaw the regional affairs for their respective Houses, carrying out their orders and expanding their power and influence. Before the final cataclysm, some Wardens were stationed so far from their masters that they had become more engrained with the cultures of the outer lands, starting families of their own. As survivors of the wars migrated, they eventually made their way to these more isolated territories. Unfortunately, the outer lands were beginning to see the effects of the mystical fallout, and along with a swelling populace, all soon realized that their situation was untenable.

The Wardens offered a solution: migration. All nearby coastlines consisted of sheer cliff faces and turbulent oceans. The only option was to trek through the bordering Hightower Mountains and make their way to the peninsula beyond. It took several months and not everyone made it, but eventually they found themselves in a new land, unspoiled by the horrors of war and ready to provide a worthy home.

Making of 'Growtree': Glen and Dale

Initially, I was going to have Growtree Island be an abandoned colony, to give it an air of mystery, like the mythology surrounding the lost Roanoke colony. But I decided that the story really didn’t need it because it is essentially about characters working for the benefit of all and improving lives, which is a message served best by having other people around.  I then started getting inspiration from shows like Northern Exposure and Twin Peaks, imagining a cast of unique and eccentric individuals. However, after finalizing the main characters, there wasn’t a lot of room left for a bunch more Growtree natives, but on the other hand, I needed someone for Donovan to connect with on the island (other than Owl, since she has her own backstory to contend with). So I decided to utilize a character I had been sketching for awhile: A big burly, lumberjack looking guy with a bushy mustache named Glen Underwood. 

Glen never really changed much from his initial look, mostly because he was always fun to draw. He was inspired by characters like Hagrid, Totoro, and by one of my favorite character actors David Morse. I wanted him to come across as immediately likable despite his seemingly intimidating size. He would be kind, welcoming, and a little dim. Glen would also prove to be an integral part of the secrets of Growtree, in a conspiratorial sense but not necessarily nefarious. As he became more and more of a wealth of information, I found that I was pulling his character in a lot of different directions without much explanation. To help with this and take some of the burden off Glen, I came up with Dale.

Dale came out of wanting to show other residents of Growtree, and to also be a counterpart to Glen. He could offer a more serious tact when Glen would be goofy, more focused when Glen would go off-topic, and grounding when Glen would be confused. I decided that Glen would be the proxy Marshal of Growtree (essentially a sheriff), Dale would be the doctor, and imagined them as the old codgers who would bicker constantly but be the best of friends. Then as I began needing Dale to be closer to Glen and more concerned for his well being, I thought they could be siblings. But that’s when I almost immediately realized that they were spouses. 

Proper representation in stories, media, and pop culture in general has been important to me for sometime, as a creator and a consumer. As their characters developed in my head, I knew that the level of intimacy between Glen and Dale was an essential part of their story and that it needed to be properly conveyed. They should not simply be alluded to or hinted at as a gay couple (which is often the case in a lot of stories), and not just for the sake of a narrative but because that kind of underrepresentation stems from the erasure of LGBTQI+ life in mainstream culture, and I did not want to contribute to that.

Making of 'Growtree': Owl

With the rest of the characters reaching their final forms, more or less, I found myself with a character void after turning Volo into Lux. I saw Volo as an opportunity to contrast Donovan’s bookish, professorial vibe. Lux had become an essential part of the story, but is non-verbal so it limited the levels of interaction between the two. As I pondered this new character, I decided that I also needed someone to inject some action into things. In the spirit of my initial Miyazaki influences, I didn’t want my story to be particularly violent, but not necessarily devoid of conflict. And I love action. I was also immensely inspired by the animated series Samurai Jack, not just by its superb action sequences, but the pacing and visuals as well. Earlier on, when contemplating Volo’s background, I thought of having other characters like him, all part of an enigmatic Jedi-like group, with names of different animals. As I went back to this concept, and thought about what kinds of personality would go with someone named Eagle or Wolf, I decided I didn’t want them to be another young man. Another influence I’ve mentioned before, the comic series Bone, had its most formidable character in the form of Grandma Ben, an elderly woman who was at times a warm, loving mentor and a bare-knuckled brawler. Going down the list of animals, I fell upon Owl as a proper name for this character. And as I started making preliminary sketches, I thought about other influences in mind, such as Dola in Castle in the Sky, Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter and actor Lily Tomlin.  

Another character design consideration from Pixar was making characters immediately recognizable form one another by giving them diverse silhouettes. Using this, I wound up giving Owl big, bushy, Sideshow Bob-like hair. I kept the cloak and wide brim hat from Volo, throwing a little Clint Eastwood in there, as well as the long staff. After all this was in place, I was able to give Owl an air of pastoral laid-backness, with her working as a shepherd on Growtree, while at the same time being able to use her long staff against any foe unfortunate enough to cross her path. Her age, tired eyes, and humped posture would also be indicators of a weathered life, reminding me of a line from the film The Way of the Gun, where James Caan’s character is verbally sparring with a younger cohort: “The only thing you can guess about a broken down old man is that he is a survivor.”

Thinking more about the group that Owl would be a part of, I didn’t want anything referring to some ancient language, again keeping the mythology in the background. I decided to call them Wanderers, referring to their nomadic lifestyles and giving them a sense of mystery. They would all be distinguished by their wide hats, cloaks, and staffs, and with more of them out in the world, they might be able to make their way into the story later.

Making of 'Growtree': Lux

I remember looking at a big ‘Making-of’ Star Wars book and reading about the evolution of the characters. There was stuff like Chewbacca originally being a lizard-like creature, more obnoxious versions of Threepio, and the singular protagonist splintering off into Luke, Han, and Obi-Wan. That last example always stuck with me as a good way to avoid putting too much baggage onto one character, expand the character roster, and having the different personality traits make for varied interaction between characters. This came up for me a couple of times, but mainly with the character that would eventually become Owl and Lux.

Initially I was going to have Donovan meet this character on his way to arriving at Growtree. Originally named Volo, and later Vox, he was going to be stranded on a rock and picked up by Donovan. Volo/Vox had a lot going on: He was a fantastical creature, an immediate representation of the otherworldly mythology of the story’s setting. He was also a formidable ‘man-of-action’ type, and a troubled soul with a complicated past. Once I started outlining the story arc, I decided that, while this all took place in an extraordinary ‘other’ world, I didn’t want the extraordinary to be overly pronounced. I wanted those kind of moments to be varied, delayed, and, hopefully, more impactful as a result. But I also wanted Donovan to have a trusted companion, someone to interact with until he met more people on Growtree. That’s when I decided to make Vox a non-verbal dog, or dog-like animal, at least. I still wanted the character to possess abilities of some sort, to aid Donovan in his adventures. As I started to finalize the dogs look, and powers, I realized I didn’t like the name Vox too much. I liked the monosyllabic length of the name, and the dynamic ‘x’. I asked my friend, and roommate at the time, Gina, about my thoughts on it and she came up with the name Lux, after (I think) Kirsten Dunst’s character in the film Virgin Suicides. The name stuck right away, and Lux became an avatar of Growtree, the story and the island: a seemingly ordinary concept that would eventually prove to be something much more. 

As I contemplated what Lux was going to be like, I drew a lot of inspiration from some of my favorite dog characters: Snowy (Tin Tin), Hosehead (Strange Brew), Nanook (The Lost Boys), Digby (Pushing Daisies), White Fang, Dynomutt. Lassie always stuck with me, both in personality and the sleek look of collies. Eventually, Lux became a collie/fox hybrid with the uncanny ability to communicate with their human companions, like most of the previous examples. And, like all those other dogs, I wanted Lux to possess special powers that would not just be cool looking but also lend a practical aid to Donovan. While watching The Sword in the Stone, specifically the scene where Merlin changes himself and Arthur into different kinds of animals. This gave me the idea of Lux changing into other animal types to interact with different environments. She could change into a dolphin-like animal to go underwater, or an insect to access some place small.  

Even though I had a pretty good bead on Lux, I still wanted the other aspects of Volo/Vox, the more action/complicated past parts, to be represented. And that’s where Owl came in.

Making 'Growtree' part 3

At some point between 2007-09, I had settled on my comic story being set amongst a series of islands, inspired from playing The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker game. It seemed like it would be a good structure for short stories involving a single main character traveling around. The idea of this more anthological storytelling was reinforced from two particular anime series I had watched, Mushi-shi and Kino’s Journey. I later came up with the concept of my main character utilizing bizarre plant life endowed with special properties, and different specimens would be the focus of individual stories. I decided to forego this approach in favor of a more continuous, streamlined story, and to also avoid borrowing too much from Mushi-shi, which remains a tremendous influence on Growtree.

The actual title Growtree came about after I was watching the Futurama episode “Time Keeps On Slippin’” with the audio commentary on. One of the atomic supermen characters, with long stretching limbs, was called what I always heard as Growtree. I had thought that was a really cool name and was bummed that I couldn’t use it, but listening to the commentary informed me that the name was actually Growtreant, taken from a brand of piano apparently. I became energized with this name and knew then that I wanted to use it for my title. With the island setting, it naturally came together that the main setting would be an island called Growtree, named for its founder. This also gave me the idea to have the characters in the story possess similar compound last names, such as Armstrong, Ironside, and Cloudbright.

Visually, I started drawing Growtree Island as a small colony, consisting of small houses and farms all surrounding an enormous tree lying at the islands center. Then, I needed to come up with the people to inhabit those houses.

Making ‘Growtree’ part 2

In the time since graduating college, a strong sense of the comic I wanted to make was beginning to take shape. It was nothing tangible, and but were certain moments of little aspects coming together and I made sure to keep a note book of any meandering ideas I had. 

I found a good comparison for compiling these snippets together while reading Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. In the third book The Wastelands, the character Eddie Dean is compelled to whittle a certain piece of wood into a final form he is unaware of. It eventually starts to resemble a key that he dramatically finalizes at the last second to rescue another character by using the key to open an inter dimensional doorway. It’s a pretty crazy story, but whenever I would take time to sift through my notes and assemble them like some kind of puzzle, I would always think of Eddie carving out that key, not knowing exactly what it’s final form would be, but assured that he would know when he was done. Another good analogy that helped me out was one by Andrew Stanton, the writer/director of Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo. On the audio commentary for Nemo he talks about the story building process and how it’s like an archeological dig. To paraphrase Stanton, you start uncovering a number of bones little by little, and start to see them as a whole, thinking you have a triceratops. But then, as you dig more you start to discover that it’s a tyrannosaur and you have to go back and rethink your approach to the whole project. These kinds of considerations assured me about how long it takes to conceive my comic, work on it, and eventually finish it. I will recognize the directions to take when I see them and I will know when it is complete, but I will need to remain aware of when I should step back and see if I need to take a different path.

I had made a series of short story mini-comics post-graduation, the first one actually being my senior project. I decided to make them ‘silent’ by strictly using visuals to convey the story without dialogue. The results were mixed. I successfully utilized sequential imagery and was quite satisfied with the final layouts. Communicating the theme and message of the story was not accomplished as well. I never received in particularly negative feedback on these stories, but it put the concept in my head of the connection with an audience. I always realized the importance of a storyteller to tell a story that they would like to hear, that one should always make what they themselves would enjoy. Now, an audience obviously plays a part in any form of art and media, but in comics it is a crucial role. The reader is the one that completes the process of panel transitions and what is meant to be conveyed in the space between them. So as I concentrated on developing the story that I would enjoy, I also sought out how to make the theme easily communicated to the reader.

Making of 'Growtree' part 1

So I have decided as a way to be better about keeping a blog, I am going to start recording my process of coming up with Growtree.

During my adolescence, I enjoyed reading (and still do) mainstream super hero comics, mostly the Image/Wildstorm titles. Eventually, after reading some Vertigo stuff, Sin City, etc. I started just picking up whatever looked interesting and delved into the wide selection of indie comics. After that, inspired by cartoonists like Jeff Smith, Seth, and Adrian Tomine, I knew I wanted to make my own comic, and not just illustrate other peoples stories.

In 2003, I was attending my second year of art college. I was finally starting to overcome my initial cynicism in regards to art college. Most of the basic intro classes were beginning to stick, some were definitely paying off (like figure drawing), and I was looking forward to beginning my concentration courses in illustration. I was also wanting to finally explore why I really wanted to make comics, and what I wanted to make them about. Unfortunately, while I spent plenty of time honing my drawing skills and developing a personal style, I was not as focussed on writing. I started examining what it was that I enjoyed in particular comics/movies/books/tv shows and directing those aesthetics into my own story.

It was around this time that they began releasing Hayao Miyazaki’s earlier films on DVD in the US. I was always a big movie buff, ever since I was a kid. I remember being profoundly inspired by Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, and I experienced that same level of inspiration when I watched Kiki’s Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky for the first time. What really resonated with me was Miyazaki’s knack for making a compelling story while not having the main focus of the narrative be a strict conflict between good and evil.

As I developed my skill, earned my BFA, and gained experience in freelance illustration, I simultaneously began assembling the tone and style of the comic I wanted to make.