Prior to taking a class in Comics Theory, I never would have been able to rightly appreciate some of Scott Snyder’s fascinating and intriguing techniques in Wytches. His intense art style captivates a more mature audience, illustrating dark and obscure imagery to highlight his admirable horror theme. The chaotic placement of paneling and specialized use of colouring help the reader to symbolically uncover Snyder’s true intentions in constructing this comic.

One of the first techniques I noticed in Wytches was Snyder’s use of a neutral and dull colour palette throughout. It seems that he does this to contrast against the times he includes bright and vibrant colours for emphasis, such as sound effects. He also uses washout paint splashes of colour on top of his images whenever the witches are present to impose a sense of evil. Because of his use of arthrology, and the way the reader is able to make these associations between panels, we know the witches must be present when he includes the splashes of paint on his pictures.

The beginning of the comic uses square or rectangle frames with fairly regularized paneling to demonstrate the normalcy of the main character’s ordinary life. After the introduction of the witches, however, the panels are never regularized and are always scattered about to depict the crazy and chaotic distortion of the remainder of the story. Snyder purposely allows the spatio-topia to deliver an overwhelmingly chaotic impact during his action scenes.

For some of the more dramatic instances, he allows for one widespread image to encompass an entire page. 

With such a dominating image, the intensity he includes in his art style almost gives off the impression of sound. Readers can almost hear the violent blows this image intends to exude. It is, furthermore, capable of getting the whole intention across without using text. Considering this idea, Wytches relies on telling its story solely through the character’s word balloons. Excluding a narrative voice makes it difficult for the reader to determine which character can be trusted without the guidance of the omniscient voice. The idea of questioning all of the characters’ motives, however, certainly adds to the suspense and eeriness of the story that Snyder intends for.

There are some techniques used in the comic that can be likened to methods used in film. After Synder’s violent and chaotic introduction, he chooses to slow down the progression of the story with a calmer and more relaxed second title page. 

This second title page embodies many of the same techniques that can be seen in the introduction of film. He changes the scene to a bright and sunny day and uses word balloons to depict a background conversation, while focusing on a neutral setting. He also implements a complete change in colour palette to happier and brighter colours to suggest a safer and more cheerful scene.

Snyder concludes Wytches with a personalized note to the reader, written in first person, offering background information about the comic. 

This immediately establishes a relationship with the reader and almost creates the desire to continue to support him throughout his series. Although it is not placed directly in the comic, the insertion of reader and authorial awareness still reminds the reader that they are, in fact, a reader. This relates to Jones’s idea of reflexivity and how authors will often try to be transparent so that the reader gets lost in the story. In this case, however, the creator wants to pull the reader out from that realm and remind them that the text is an artificial construct. Snyder is thinking about his audience and how his story affects them, certainly aware that the comic relies on the participation of his readers as co-creators of meaning.

He blatantly offers demystification of his comic at the end as well, depicting potential scripts and alternative options in the construction of Wytches, revealing the mechanisms of production responsible for creating his work.

Since this was his first issue of the series, Snyder kept a lot of questions unanswered and constructed this issue like a very brief introduction. Although his intention was likely to keep the reader wanting more, I regrettably feel that he did not necessarily offer enough to get attached to. I would still be interested in reading more of the series, however, in hopes that his next issue will include more answers to the many questions he left open.