(Patreon Exclusive) Behind the Book: Pt 2

We're back with another installment of Behind the Book... a Patreon exclusive look into the process that went into Worlds Beyond Number: The Official Graphic Novel

Ahoo-hoo, folks! 

Alex Antone here, editor of the first Worlds Beyond Number graphic novel, back again for another feature! Even if you aren’t interested in the incredible hardcover graphic novel by Jadzia Axelrod and Sarah Webb, we’ve still got a ton of awesome goodies that are only available during this campaign, so head over to the page RIGHT HERE and make your pledge before it’s too late! 

Speaking of goodies, before we get into the book, we wanted to share the designs for our final stretch goal, this 8’’ MR. SOUP PLUSH! In the ultimate collab between WBN comic artist Sarah Webb and the incredible Ava’s Demon artist Michelle Fus, we decided that every WBN fan deserved the opportunity to adorn their home with their very own Mr. Soup! And bonus: the plush will come with a detachable bowl! We’re still working on the final sample, but you can see here that there’s a high level of craftsmanship involved in the construction. We hope you enjoy!

Next up, some graphic novel BTS! Since the issue 2 script and layouts were such a hit last time, and since we’re well on our way to unlocking the full second chapter of the book in our SIDE QUESTS, we wanted to share Jadzia Axelrod’s amazing script, and Sarah Webb’s incredible layouts. Check out the PDFs at the bottom of this post and you can compare them to finished product  RIGHT HERE.

And because YOU demanded it, I also wanted to go over Sara Linsley’s incredible contribution to this series--the lettering. Sara comes to us from the manga world, and we were so thrilled when she agreed to be our letterer. (Turned out, she was also a WBN fan!) Below are some of the first attempts at lettering that she put together. We decided on a mixed case font for maximum accessibility very early on, but we couldn’t quite settle on the right font. You can see where we started here:

V3 felt the closest to what we needed, something that appeared hand drawn, but we wanted something that felt a little bit more delicate, something that served Sarah Webb’s art well, and so being the craftsperson that she is, Sara Linsley decided to create a brand new font JUST for this book! How lucky are we? Here’s a little note from Sara about that:  

I couldn't find a font that fit the aesthetic of this comic, so I created an original font for this comic! I hand-lettered the page in the beginning of the book where Suvi's mom fixes her glasses, and then I extrapolated all the missing characters from the ones I'd drawn. I assembled all those characters into a font, and that's what's used for all the regular dialogue in the book. That font is even named after the podcast. At one point in his narration, Brennan says "trinkets," so I named the font Trinketry.

And here’s the final version of Trinketry:

Pretty neat!

Finally, moving out of the book world for a second, I wanted to give you all a peek at the creation of our penultimate stretch goal, this amazing Tarot Card prints from Michelle Fus. For that, I’m going to turn it over to Melanie Bowman from Team WBN! She’ll be taking you the rest of the way… so long and cracke, crackle! 

Until next time…

Alex 

MICHELLE FUS TAROT DESIGNS

Melanie Bowman, Director of Operations (avatar of the people), here.

One of my favorite parts of working on this Kickstarter has been collaborating with Skybound on all of the stretch goals. As the person who spends a lot of time helping keep the wheels turning behind the scenes, I also get to be part of many of the creative conversations, and when the idea of a tarot print series came up, I was so excited. Fireside fans may remember that I pulled tarot cards for the cast on my very first day producing on set. I've been reading tarot for about a decade, so getting to help develop these pieces felt incredibly special. Huge shout-out to Shannon, who runs our social media and collaborated with me on these prints. We recently spent a weekend together at the Los Angeles Festival of Tarot, and we're constantly pulling cards about the podcast, so getting to bring that love of tarot into Worlds Beyond Number in an official way was an absolute joy.

We spent time thinking about which Major Arcana cards best reflected each character, not just visually, but emotionally. For Ame, The Fool felt like the perfect place to begin. The Fool represents optimism, curiosity, and taking that first leap into the unknown with an open heart. That's exactly where Ame finds herself in The Children's Adventure. In the traditional Rider–Waite–Smith card, a little dog tugs at the Fool's feet as if to say, "Watch where you're going!" Naturally, that had to become Taro. Rather than a cliff's edge, I imagined Ame wandering through the woods around Grandma Wren's cottage, stepping joyfully into whatever comes next.

Suvi was an immediate fit for The Magician. It's a card of possibility, learning, manifestation, and discovering that the impossible might actually be possible. We leaned into the classic symbolism here, surrounding her with the four suit emblems: the sword, cup, coin, and wand. I also asked Michelle to visually tie all three illustrations together by weaving little bursts of sunlight and starlight into each scene.

Eursulon was the hardest choice. I considered Strength, but I kept coming back to Temperance. To me, Temperance is a card about balance, restraint, and learning to exist between worlds without losing yourself. That's Eursulon's journey in so many ways. Traditionally, Temperance pours water between two cups, but we reimagined the symbolism with one foot on land and one in the water, reflecting his place between the human world and the spiritual one.

One of the things I love most about tarot is that every card tells a story, and these characters have so much story left to tell. I already find myself imagining which Major Arcana cards they'll grow into, and which beloved NPCs belong elsewhere in the deck. Here's hoping we get to keep making books, because I'd absolutely love to see all 78 cards come to life someday.

I seriously can't wait for all of you to get your hands on these. Seeing these go from little ideas and conversations into real, physical art has been such a joy, and I'm so excited for them to finally make their way into your homes.

In the meantime, tell us in the comments, which stretch goal are you the most excited about?

And as we head into the final stretch, make sure to double-check your pledge! If there are any add-ons you've been eyeing, any upgrades you've been considering, or any questions we can answer, now's the time. We want everyone to be happy with their pledge before the campaign comes to a close on July 15.

Thank you all for making this campaign so incredibly special.