Known for his work on comics like Tomb Raider, X-Men Infinity Comics and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, among other titles, artist and writer Phillip Sevy is taking a decidedly different path with She Comes With Magic, a creator-owned fantasy series that launches on Kickstarter today.
Co-created with journalist/comics writer Christie Porter, the comic features Maeve, a powerful wizard who channels her magic through sex. She embarks on an epic quest to stop the Starving King in an adults-only fantasy that blends action, humor, romance and explicit sexuality, in the vein of comics like Sunstone, White Tree, Sex Criminals and Money Shot.
While the book’s high-concept premise is sure to grab attention, Sevy and Porter are committed to making She Comes With Magic work as a fantasy story first. Building a world with real stakes, memorable characters and emotional weight was just as important as embracing the book’s titilating premise, resulting in a series that aims to balance comedy, epic adventure and sex without sacrificing any one element.
I spoke with Sevy and Porter about bringing the first issue to Kickstarter, collaborating on the story, Porter’s transition from journalism to comics, finding the right tone for an erotic fantasy and more. While the book is definitely aimed at adults and is NSFW, this interview includes SFW artwork from the comic by Porter, Sevy and colorist Gibran Ferdian, along with a variant cover by Stjepan Šejić.
Phillip, readers have recently seen your work on X-Men and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but She Comes with Magic is a very different kind of project from those. What made now the right time to create something this unabashedly adult?
Phillip Sevy: It’s a combination of a few things. I had a gap in my schedule between projects and wanted to fill it with a project of my own. I’ve been wanting to bring a series exclusively to Kickstarter for a few years, so I was watching the market to see what types of books did well in that space. And the world around us, especially America, is trying really hard to police and control bodies, ideas and lives, and telling stories is my act of standing up against censorship, fascism and control. All of those elements culminated in this idea and this series at this time.
Christie, you’ve coming to comics from the world of journalism. Does your background as a reporter influence how you approach character, dialogue or pacing?
Christie Porter: As a journalist, I’ve worked in broadcast news, print news and magazine publishing. The line to comics might not seem direct, but, for me, there’s an immediacy and urgency to the writing that translates through to comics. As a medium, comics require a sharpness and efficiency to say all that you need to say within the limited real estate of a page or a panel. Journalism requires that same shrewdness. You’ll have to kill your darlings when they stand in the way of urgent storytelling and clarity, and that’s something journalism shares as well.
Sometimes, I find myself thinking about those first few moments of a comics story or cover like a TV cold open—I want to give a little bit of what to expect and hook the viewer/reader immediately. Something has to happen or be said on the end of every page to make them turn to the next. It’s a delightful format to play with in terms of using it to inform and support the structure of a story. I suppose it’s a bit like trying to get someone to stick around through a commercial break.
The best works of journalism, in my mind, are also centered on a person or a few people telling their story, and that in turn can be demonstrative of something bigger going on. As humans, that’s what we relate to—people sharing their individual experience, not monolithic groups or labels broadly experiencing something. In comics, I try to do that—use the most intimate and minute moment or visual possible to provoke an emotion, reveal information about a character, move the plot, while symbolizing a much bigger idea. And comics are such a powerful medium to tell stories that pack in so much more than we might realize on the surface.
How did the two of you develop the story together, and where did each of your creative strengths naturally fall?
Phillip Sevy: We’d been working on a variety of stories together for years now. Some have been published in anthologies, and others are in various stages of writing and pitching. When we got talking about wanting to find something adult and queer and fantasy for Kickstarter, I had the initial idea of “A wizard who gets her magic from orgasm.” And we laughed hard and started immediately riffing on the idea. And the ideas just flowed. Within a few hours, we had the entire concept of the series and a rough outline of the first issue (as well as many future issues noted).
Working together, we’ve described our approach as I’m the hammer, Christie is the chisel. Once we’ve got a handle on the theme, characters and plot, I’ll go through and hammer out an outline (and later first draft of the script) before passing it to Christie. They’ll go through and interrogate everything, asking questions, poking holes and looking at it very carefully. A lot of refinement and making it sing. Then we’ll pass drafts back and forth a few more times, cleaning it up, honing it in and making it sing.
Christie Porter: I think we’ve both said that dialogue is our favorite part to write. That’s another part of the process where we really come together to try to make it as sharp as possible. We’re also trying to tell the reader something about the character in the way that they speak, what they choose to say, and what they don’t say. I do like to challenge and scrutinize all of our choices, but it’s all in service of not just telling a good story but telling a story that has something to say.
The book mixes epic fantasy, comedy, action and sex. How challenging was it in finding the right balance between these elements?
Phillip Sevy: We worked really hard on finding that balance. It was a constant discussion and work. The question long before SCWiM was “Is there a way to integrate story (plot, characters, themes, and emotions) with explicit sex?” Without intention or balance, one can throw the other off. If your story is sex-focused, the plot can get in the way of the sex. If your story is plot/narrative focused, the sex can be a distraction or side quest from the main energy. We wanted to take everything seriously in that there’s stakes, characters, emotions, goals, and themes, while also acknowledging there’s a silliness to the situations. You have a sex wizard. That’s hilarious. You have all sorts of other sexual situations that are quite funny. And that’s life and sex. Sex is an often integral part to our lives, and it can be serious, and intense, and powerful, but also very silly at times. Being open and deliberate about viewing all aspects of sex and life and death has allowed us to strike the tone we want. It’s a fun book, with big moments, sexy moments, and silly moments – that we can enjoy while not breaking the emotions the characters experience throughout the story.
Christie Porter: I mean, yeah—the concept of a sex wizard is kind of hilarious. Sex itself can be hilarious. And intense. And magical. And, you know, really hot. She Comes With Magic was built to have room for all of those things about sex to still be true. And, like sex, we didn’t want the story to be vague or boring, but as exhilarating as it could be. The shape of the story needed to mirror all of that, and a high-stakes fantasy adventure allowed for that sort of balance.
What else can you tell us about Maeve, the main character?
Christie Porter: Maeve really began with the idea, “What about a wizard who channels magic by orgasming?” And around that we built the world, the magic system and Maeve. By nature of her power alone, I wanted to avoid the romantacy and fantasy smut trope of an inexperienced ingénue being accosted and claimed by a 1,000-year-old vampire/dragon/fairy/whatever. Maeve became this more mature, self-possessed character who is confident in her body and sexuality. It was important that she really owned her magic, and in order to do that she had to have autonomy. It stands to reason then that she’s a resourceful, powerful wizard who has studied and trained for years and has a lot going on between those horns as well.
Early on in the process of creating She Comes With Magic, Maeve was more cynical and abrasive. After all, she’s often in danger and has experienced great personal tragedy. I realized I have such fatigue from consuming stories about characters who are dark, jaded, nihilistic, reluctant anti-hero types. I wanted Maeve to be someone earnest—someone who cared and cared deeply about what was going on around her, partially because it had affected her so personally. That earnestness became another core pillar of who Maeve is. I think that choice also allowed the character the freedom to engage in sex with more enthusiasm and eagerness and still feel true to who she is. It opened Maeve up to have and build genuine connections and trust with her partners, which felt like an organic way to also deepen her connection to her magic and to the world.
What made you decide to launch this series through Kickstarter rather than through a traditional publisher?
Phillip Sevy: We originally had another series that we were going to Kickstart, but we realized the genre and tone wasn’t right for the platform. And we wanted to be smart about using Kickstarter. You get one shot, more or less, so did we have an idea that better suited the environment of Kickstarter. And this idea seemed perfect for backers and supporters of Kickstarter projects. So there was never an idea to simultaneously pitch She Comes With Magic to traditional publishers. It was always a Kickstarter-only book. And that’s not to say we wouldn’t want it to be released on the direct market, but it’s first and foremost a book for supporters of art and stories on Kickstarter. They love NSFW books, they love fantasy, and they love finding creators and supporting their unique visions and ideas. And that’s amazing.
You’ve said you hope to release oversized issues quarterly. Did you build the story around that release cadence from the beginning, or did it evolve once Kickstarter became the plan?
Phillip Sevy: From the beginning we knew we wanted this as an ongoing. It’s very very hard to do a monthly book on Kickstarter (12 campaigns a year for two people!?!), but we wanted regularity. So making the issues bigger and releasing them consistently and regularly felt like the best of both worlds. And having a new issue quarterly will give us the time to make each one as good as possible, while keeping us on a regular release schedule. All this, of course, depends on the first one doing really well!
Christie Porter: As we started putting together She Comes With Magic, we realized we had more story for Maeve and the world of Vauratis than even a few oversized issues could contain. The dream always was a fantasy erotic epic. Emphasis on epic. I hope that readers fall in love with it and we can pull it off.
For the Kickstarter, what kinds of rewards can backers expect? Is there anything you’re particularly excited about?
Phillip Sevy: We’re working hard to keep it streamlined and simple. While we’d LOVE to add all sorts of bells and whistles, in the end, the most important thing for us is to get the book to people. We’re offering three covers – the standard cover I drew (and Gibran Ferdian colored), an INCREDIBLE variant by the legend Stjepan Sejic, and a wraparound NSFW limited edition variant that I drew (with colors by JP Jordan). There are bundles available to get all the covers. We’ve got a few sketch commission opportunities at different tiers. We’ve also got naming rights to the city we start our story in (for those who want to leave a mark in this story). There are also two opportunities to have yourself drawn into the comic for those who really want to live in the world. There’s also an option to get a sketch of Maeve on the issue you order. So it’s really fun with some cool rewards, but all are focused on getting you the book!
Check out the Kickstarter page for more information. The campaign runs through Aug. 5.