Commentary: Descendants Annual #3

I use all the annuals to basically touch base with the characters and remind the readers where all the pieces are on the board. It also lets me set up teasers for later plot points. Annual #3 also had the added duty of doing all this while getting the reader ready for a volume that looked like it had no general direction.

Discussion on the hows and whys under the cut.


To understand what was going on, you have to know what came before and what's coming up.

Volume 1 was a single story: the heroes meet, get to know each other, face their first major villain, then defeat Tome and the Academy. It was really just setting the table, establishing the rules, and getting to know the characters.

Volume 2 was about the team becoming a real team, establishing the world outside of Mayfield, and returning magic to the world. It also helped usher in and shape some of the more important relationships.

In Volume 3, the driving force was the school; finding the kids on the Tome list and getting the school up and running. Aces High got it's feet under it, and Tome tried to make some moves but failed. The theme was one of the team trying new things and getting moments on their own.

And then I came up with the Game of Kings. The idea here was that most of Volume 4 would be standard comic book fare with the major villains working on consolidating their power in the background. It would all lead up to... well that would be telling; but the point was that Volume 4 wouldn't have a driving plot or a mega-arc (Mystic Spiral, Devil Came down to Mayfield) in it.

To counter this, I knew I had to keep up the promise that something big and plot shaking was coming. Thus, Annual #3 teases no less than three (four if you look fast!) major villains. If you've read ahead, you notice that I've advanced both the plot with the Gold siblings, and the Morganna plot. I am ignoring Warpstar on purpose and for very good reasons.

The Gold plot reminds me of something I didn't add to the commentary on #36: Tome has been shown to be recruiting a lot lately and a lot more in the near future. Originally, this was going to be Thunderhead recruiting these people and not Colt, implying that Brother Wright was bringing in all these new people.

I scrapped that because I like the Aces as they are (I might need to do something about Fellgaze though) and didn't want to screw up their chemistry with new characters. This ended up dove tailing nicely with what I was doing with Tome.

What is it that I'm doing with Tome? Well you'll have to wait and find out.

Until then, I shall continue to create as I speak.