MIDDLE PASSAGE: Legacy of Chains

An early sketch of the Middle Passage cover. The story follows Jovan immediately after issue 3. On their way to the Gulf Coast the boat capsizes and Jovan finds himself in the deep dark depths of the ocean. WitchDoctor confronts the Rada spirits - enraged souls left in the wake of the slave trade - on their resting grounds.

Jovan faces a variety of trials that outline his abilities as WitchDoctor - each of which are based on the horrors of the middle passage.

• trial of water - first Jovan must cope with the idea that every drowned or lynched slave breathes through him - so he won't drown or be choked by smoke or gas
• the trial of language - after the souls scream at him (for breaking one of the skulls that tile the ocean floor) he must learn to understand their woes and a variety of languages, cultures, and traditions
• the trial of the whip - as Jovan bears the lashing of his ancestors he recieves supernatural endurance - his body will scar but it will not break
• the trial of chains - Jovan must wear the chains of enslavement and drag all the souls locked within them throughout his mission (the ultimate mission is to save Black people - but that's being esoteric - it will take this story quite some time to get there and remember the LOA aren't always to be trusted).
• the trial of sight - Jovan actually fails this as it is an opportunity to see through the eyes of his ancestors. Unfortunately this ability of vision comes with the burden of experience. You can't have the eye without the mind or soul behind it - where there is traumatic pain (in this case slavery and slaughter) Jovan has to feel that, remember that, and visually face that to see.

The Last Ink

This is one of the last WitchDoctor images I drew in ink before the Tablet PC. This is the cover to Zero Hour - a prequel to the Bootleg series where Jovan wakes up and realizes he can see. The shot derives from a scene where Jovan goes to the mirror in his bathroom and sees himself for the first time in a ling time; the chains and the masks appeared in a series of traumatic visions that follow and create the obstacles of the episode.

The masks always represent the actual spirits (LOA) of the story and the pantheon of ancestral and natural spirits. The cane represents Legba who is Jovan's guide through most of his adventures.

Another important aspect of this shot was to show Jovan's whip scarred back. In the Middle Passage episode WitchDoctor is possesed by the Rada spirits who empower him as he endures the trials of enslavement - ultimately Doc bears the scars and the endurance of his ancestors.

Tales of the Flood

Before Katrina I had written a few stories that brought Jovan to New Orleans in his first appearance as WitchDoctor. In the story he drops onto the port of the French Quarter in the midst of a hurricane and seemingly causes a flood of the city. Through the flood the spirits of enslavement take over the city and wreak havoc on our hero.

Through the relocation/reconstruction effort - widespread chaos and panic feed into the horrow that Jovan faces. Ultimately paramilitary forces, a badly beaten police force and a community of scared civilians perpetuate a zombie myth that encourages the slaughter of thousands of undead people - these victims literally were not dead.

The first story of this series - Voodoo Dawn would be just the beginning of various adventures in the Big Easy. I did some photo research there and found the spiritual energy overwhelming but had no idea what was about to happen.

After Katrina I saw the reality of what I had proposed in my story and the setting became much bigger. Since my fiction was now startlingly realistic I not only had to revisit the stories but get them up to speed with how things actually went down, beyond that I had to be even more careful about addressing the topic.

WitchDoctor can't fly!

BUT HE CAN FALL!

This is the opening shot from Voodoo Dawn. Jovan falls through the sky after Middle Passage and lands in New Orleans during Katrina. WitchDoctor doesn't fly like normal superheroes he is actually flung by Legba and eventually lands in an area of need (WitchDoctor's mission isn't necessarily linear its more like a calling). Even though Jovan suffers minimal (or at least mendable) damage he usually causes massive destruction when he lands - in this case he fears he caused the flood.

WitchDoctor Worldwide!

In this Japanese version WitchDoctor appears in a mountainside hospital where he finds kinship with the restless souls of the Tsunami. This episode visually inspired by Masuiki Okai's INFECTION - the artwork is all based on green paper (and supposedly deters bootlegging). there are a number of different stories that take place in this hospital under these circumstances - eventually the hospital floods entitrely. Ultimately the story manifests the idea that souls drowned in water flow and intermingle like liquid endlessly seeking their own bodies. The Tsunami story has a common link to Rada spirits that are said to have the same nature.

The term ITAKO refers to a typically blind spiritual mystic in Japanese contemporary culture - Itako's are usually women. WitchDoctor translates to DoctorItako in a way that maintains it's roots but helps the Japanese audience understand the title in the context of their own culture.