Pitch story sample of Murder at Mercy Manor.

This was a webcomic pitch submitted for SCAD Editor’s Day in May 2022. The logline is a murder mystery noir story but with fairies. The story is mature, as it surrounds dark themes typically reflected in murder mysteries and noir films of the 1930s and 40s.

Though the pitch wasn’t picked up by Webtoons, a sample of the story is still published on the platform. You can see and read it if you click the link here.

I plan to revise the art and story a little, and publish it myself on Webtoons in the near future. I think the art and themes of the story still have a lot of potential. The rest of this page features early concepts, art direction of this scene, and rough character designs of the cast for Murder at Mercy Manor (MAMM, for short).

Latest illustration concepts of Murder at Mercy Manor.

I produced these illustrations for a winter holiday gallery. They feature moments from the world of MAMM, which was fun to explore and served as practice for the story’s art style.

After creating these pieces, though, I decided that I would alter the style of MAMM. These illustrations were lively and fun but I felt that I could push on the “fantasy” element of fairies more. I hope in future concepts, I can showcase an improved combination of fantasy and historical characteristics.

Environment concepts for the Murder at Mercy Manor pitch.

I had to take on the fun challenge of what a fantasy, noir environment would look like for the story in the Editor’s Day pitch. I created and furnished (most of) the manor in the Sims, and replicated it based on the art style in Clip Studio Paint. I ended up choosing one of the libraries as the setting for the story sample, where the main characters - the detectives - were interviewing a suspect.

It was difficult to figure out the tone of the background, so I included a sample character and dialogue bubble as a test. The final illustration on the right served as an excellent guide when I did the panels of the story sample. As of December 2023, however, I might revisit this and try a different approach.

Character concepts for the Murder at Mercy Manor pitch.

The story follows two detectives as they solve the murder of a billionaire in his own manor. The suspects are either household members or guests that were invited to the victim’s party, where he announced who would receive his inheritance.

The character concepts are heavily inspired by fantasy elements and historical fashion of the 1930s and 40s. To sell on the themes of noir storytelling, the color palette was black and white but with a hint of red for suspicion and drama.

I played with a lot of art styles before landing on one for the pitch, and ended up only using three characters for the story sample (illustration below). I plan to revisit these character designs and art style soon, so names and appearances are subject to change.