Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, Down Town, Dresden Files, dynamite, entertainment, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher Takes Us Down Town With His Dresden Files Notes

Published Sat, 07 Feb 2015 14:30:40 -0600

Ever wonder what an author sends a publisher when a new comics is in the works? Here we get to see what Dresden Files author and creator Jim Butcher sent to Dynamite Entertainment when they began working on the latest miniseries Down Town. Here we have Butcher's brief outline, setting and a description of each character… excluding Harry Dresden of course as if you are working on this project you should probably already know who he is.

Outline:

When a mad sorcerer begins to carve out his own kingdom beneath the streets of Chicago, Harry Dresden and his apprentice, Molly Carpenter, set out to put an end to the havoc—but will they succeed when they find themselves pitted against not only The Sorcerer, but will and resources of notorious Chicagoland mob boss, Gentleman Johnnie Marcone?

Setting: Modern Chicago, mid-February. Lots of grey and dreary in the outdoor palette.

Characters

Mouse: Mouse is Harry's Foo-dog, a giant shaggy grey giant of a dog who weighs in at nearly 200 pounds. He is a people person who might be a shade smarter than Harry in many respects, and has a number of supernatural abilities that make him a formidable protector and defender of the home. He is also goofy and loveable and thinks Harry is the greatest thing since chicken jerky..

Molly Carpenter: Molly is Harry's apprentice. At this point in the story, she is twenty years old. Molly is tall, leggy, and gorgeous. She has blonde hair, but she colors it more often than is probably good for it, and it can be just about any color the artist would like, at this point, as long as it isn't normal. She dresses somewhat Goth/punk/alternative, and has a number of tattoos and piercings. Her magical abilities are very different than Dresden's, and at this point not very well refined or reliable, except for magical veils. She is a conscientious student who works very hard to learn more and apply herself to her studies.

Henry Rawlins: Rawlins is a large man, with coffee-colored skin, in his late fifties and with greying hair. Harry describes Henry Rawlins as a blocky man, comfortably overweight, in his mid-fifties, has a frosted grey beard contrasting with his dark skin and looks about as soft as a Brinks truck. He wears a weather-beaten overcoat and an off-the-rack suit. He is Karrin Murphy's partner in Chicago PD's Special Investigations Unit. Rawlins almost always has a little smile on his face, has a sly, quiet sense of humor, and is the only man in the world who can get away with calling Murphy "Karrie."

Mister: Harry's bobtailed grey tomcat, and utter, unchallenged lord of the apartment.

Miss Gard: Gard is a hired gun working for John Marcone, a literal Valkryie from Valhalla. She is blond, muscled like a superheroine, dresses in impeccable suits and fights with an axe inscribed with glowing Norse runes. She has superhuman strength and durability, and is a savvy operator and mercenary soldier.

The Sorcerer: The Sorcerer never gives a name. He is a vast, bulky man in a long tattered coat and ragged clothing, with wildly unkempt hair, bulging eyes and a fanatic's beard. He has come to Chicago to carve out his own domain, and is perfectly insane—not just divorced from reality, but dodging the child care payments too. He has considerable magical talent, but most specifically he is good at creating and controlling Golems.

The Slime Golem: This creature is a humanoid form about nine feet tall and weighing nearly half a ton. It is made out of animated mucus and slime—think Swamp Thing, if he'd been made of snot instead of vegetables. It is almost continually losing mass as it drips slime behind it, which dries to a crusty, durable resin, but replenishes its mass through absorbing magical energy from its creator, the Sorcerer. It is as powerful as a freaking grizzly bear, practically invulnerable to harm while its creator feeds it energy, and feels no pain or fear—only rage. Slimy, slimy rage.

Undertown: Technically, this is a setting, but Undertown is something of a character in itself. The name refers to the network of forgotten tunnels, unmapped service passages, abandoned subway routes, and tunnels other Things have dug that runs like an enormous rabbit warren beneath the city of Chicago. It is always dark and cramped and post-apocalyptic down there. Everything is blackness except for what is revealed by the light sources of those who are foolish enough to travel there. Undertown is always full of supernatural predators and threats and weirdness.

For more on Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Down Town, click here.

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