Black Cloak: Behind The Scenes Part 3

Happy Holidays everyone! Whether you celebrate anything around this time of year or not, I hope you’re happy and warm and getting some time with friends and family and also some time off to yourself. These are crazy times when we’re all particularly stressed out and busy, but don’t forget to take care of yourself too.

And today, take care of yourself with more character designs from the world of BLACK CLOAK! BOOM!

Panels from Black Cloak - art and colors by Meredith McClaren

We’re getting so close to you guys actually getting to read actual pages, that it’s getting sorta hard to contain my excitement tbh!

For non creator-owned work, it’s very out of my control when or why things get shown, or even WHAT gets shown…so having all the control is fun, but I also have learn/re-learn whole new levels of discipline! Multiple times I’ve had to resist just dropping pages ahead of schedule!

But I digress, let’s see some more badass Meredith McClaren designs and learn a little bit about some more characters from the world of BLACK CLOAK:

Design by Meredith McClaren

This is THE QUEEN.

Taline Sidra, current Queen of Kiros, the last city. Taline is ELF class.

I believe my description to Meredith was “the kind of bitch that steps on your neck in heels and still you beg for more.”

Designs by Meredith McClaren

These are CASTLE GUARDS.

Sort of the most formal and “traditional” aspects of the world of BLACK CLOAK are things that tie directly to the castle and more of the “old world” that the royalty especially clings to. These two guards are HUMAN class and ELF class - as are most (but not all) of the Castle Guards.

Design by Meredith McClaren

This is VASHA ESSEX.

She is ELF class, she’s a royal of very high birth, and she’s also Detective Essex’s mother. Yup. THINGS ARE COMPLICATED. These relationships in BLACK CLOAK are complex and a lot of people are keeping secrets (like any good story there’s lots of scandal just under the surface in the world of BLACK CLOAK).

Design by Meredith McClaren

This is HADRIAN II of ESSEX.

He is ELF class, and if you can’t tell, he’s kind of a dick. He’s also Detective Essex’s brother, though not as far as HE’S concerned. Like I said, guys, DRAMA.

Designs by Meredith McClaren

This is YOUNG PHAEDRA ESSEX, YOUNG FREYAL III of SIDRA, and MISTER STARLIGHT.

Phaedra and Freyal are of course ELF class (those adorable giant ears!) and Mister Starlight is TAKA class.

And as you might guess from this look at a YOUNG Essex, we have some flashback sequences in BLACK CLOAK! And I have to tell you they are some of my favorite that Meredith has done so far. She took what I hoped would be charming and cute in the script and made it FUCKING ADORABLE. I half wanted to chuck the whole book and just make a book about these guys’ young adventures when her first flashback pages came in. I feel truly lucky to have such a brilliant collaborator. <3

You can see more BLACK CLOAK character designs here and here. And there’s also fun BLACK CLOAK process stuff here, here, and here! Pages in January! EEEEEEE!

Okay, it’s back to the family holiday festivities for me (and a whole lot more work, but gonna try to ignore that for now) but I’ll check in with you guys next week with some fun stuff and upcoming plans for 2022.

ALSO, for those of you that REALLY REALLY waited until the last minute for gifts - there are still gift subscriptions available - read more here:

Happy Holidays!

Take care of yourselves, hug someone you love, wear a mask, get your booster, and wash your hands again, can’t hurt!

Love you guys.

~Kelly