Making of "Dark Chocolate" (Patreon)

I used to HATE dark chocolate, but my tastes have definitely changed as I've aged -now preferring more complex flavors to straight SUGAR.

The boon has been I'm able to eat things like dark chocolate in front of my kids, instead of hiding in the pantry like some kind of snack goblin. I thought surely I couldn't be the only one, so maybe it would make a relatable comic?

I wrote quite a few scripts for this one, testing the joke from different angles. One potential direction was to have Joel confused at Fran happily sharing her chocolate with the kids, only to have them disgusted at the taste and her saying something about how they'll never ask to try her candy again. It could have worked, but it had a few more panels to reach the conclusion, so I opted for this speedier direction!

I wanted the kids peeking over the counter, but one of my rules is to have faces showing wherever possible, (because a good expression is priceless!), so at first I had Coop next to the counter looking over. That looked OK, but I ran into a problem when Vincent entered, as there wasn't enough room for them both! I decided to break my rule and extended the counter over. I'm not sure why, but something about just having their angry little eyes was funnier?

We've been enjoying the "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" anime, so I tried to channel it with Fran's eating face. I figured it might be the sort of thing Frieren would do! 😄

I like evening things out with bonus panels, so if the parents get one over on the kids in the comic, it gets flipped in the bonus. I figured Fran might try pushing the "gross mommy food" logic too far and have the kids suspecting her! I made sure to make the ice cream look like something kids would enjoy, rather than a grown up one like pistachio.