The Mock Witch

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So to make a long story short, my comic is an isekai-style fantasy / adventure where my protagonist finds herself trapped in the world of Trieste (massive forests and giant plants make up the majority of the landscapes) and the main plot revolves around her trying to get home while she grows into a more socially developed person who learns to trust others.

I’ve had this idea for a while that one of the friends she meets is a young warrior who due to a fight with one of the more infamous creatures in Trieste- had their throat clawed at and now can’t really speak without pain. When it comes to the medium of comics I have a lot of wiggle room in how I visually portray this character.

I’m thinking of still using speech balloons, but I’m wondering if it’s better to make them the same as everyone else, or if they should be in a distinct ballon like marching ants / a whisper styled balloon. I was thinking of having the main communication methods be this worlds equivalent of sign language- or pen and paper

Of course face expressions and body language will be key to this character- I’m mainly asking about communication methods specifically outside of body language, especially because I likely don’t know what else there is outside of pen and paper or signing (btw this world is powered more by themes of Druidism and arcana as opposed to actual technology)

Since I’m fully verbal myself I wanted to get the insight of some folks who are a part of that sector to get their take, how would you like to see a nonverbal character portrayed in a comic?

(Disclaimer of course their method of communication won’t be their personality- I just want advice on how to portray nonverbal communication visually. — In addition I’m going to tag as many communities I can think of that have people who communicate nonverbally so I can get a well rounded idea of what would be best)

Did an art style study for my graphic novel and I’m really pleased with how it came out- my own style is kind of inconsistent so replicating some ones that would fit the vibe of my story is really fun!

Bella McGuire (placeholder title) is a young adult fantasy graphic novel trilogy. Bella falls into a magical tree stump and is transported to Trieste (the main setting of the story), a forest-filled dimension with magical plants and monstrous beasts heavily influenced by Italian mythology and folklore. Bella must embrace this world of magic and mayhem in a race against the clock before she’s forever trapped in this unfamiliar place. Take MacGyver and turn him into a female teenage mock-witch; and I mean that literally. Bella fights and survives through a mix of magic, human knowledge, trial and error- and a whole lot of luck. I’m talking her tactic is throw shit together in a bottle and see what happens. Take the vibes of gravity falls and the owl house- but make the protagonist have the chaotic energy of an artificer who can use wild magic.