Character Concepts

 In not really a story if there aren't any characters. So far I have a few ideas. 

Saffi & Partisan 

The two main character whose backstories I sorta have fleshed out. 

Saffi, the totally not an elf and Partisan the Golem

Saffi Wade

Young Adult, Human

Saffi is a young practioner who wishes to one day to become a well a magi. Essentially a wizard. She was rescued by a dragon slayer and his golem from a dragon when she was a child and the event left quite the lasting impression. Ever since she wasted to a magi and create golems and construct which can help people. However she is unfortunately, very poor but she's also very stubborn. A chance encounter with a broken silver golem (Partisan) within a dragon lair finally gives Saffi the break she was looking for. With a golem on her side she manages to slay the dragon, acquire enough gold to relocate to Harckumchor, City of Embers where she can train at a Magi academy. Although lacking a formal foundation in magic, Saffi is creative, smart and determined but incredibly stubborn and at times self-centered.

Partisan

Silver Golem, Age ??? at least 50

Partisan is a unique golem, Made by an automated forge which created the first truly autonomous golems. Saffi found Partisan in a pile of refuse within a dragons lair. She managed to partially repair him to somewhat working condition. In the beginning of the story he doesn't really have much of a personality but later develops one. He's surprising patient, a very dry sense of humor, and is loyal to a fault. As with most constructs he finds most humans to be confusing. He's really the muscle of the story and is Saffi's close friend and protector. 

An Experiment in Hybrid Novels

 So I've been thinking of shifting my initial idea for a web comic into something that's a bit more like a hybrid graphic novel. I don't think it'll make making this story particularly easier but I am hoping that at the very least more likely to actually finish it. So while I work on drafting and concepting my story I've been looking for an example that can act as my basis for this hybrid novel. 

Cassandra Darke by Posi Simmons

This is sort of a hybrid novel that leans a little more towards the comic side. I've yet to read the story yet, I've mostly been looking for examples and came across this after someone mentioned it on reddit, (I really should read it though it looks interesting) and here there's blocks of text  written along side illustrations. From what I tell the story is written in a more personal anecdote or biography which I think matches well with the text. It does feel in many was like a flashback or a memory like your seeing the images appear directly on the page as the words are spoken, but in a more literal sense. 

Then there is of course Zathura, which has a more picture-book  sort of style to it where the text is written in shorter blurbs alongside full page or even partial page illustrations. I particularly like this options as well as i think their are some fairly interesting things you can do with this style as well. Perhaps the text on the page can mingle into the words. 

Other books introduce the occasional picture or illustration interspersed throughout the chapter. Some even have illustrations for a chapters title card. Something I'm kind of keeping in mind at the moment will mostly be how common the illustrations will be within a story. I want a happy medium somewhere between a picture book and a more traditional novel. Either way I am considering paneling the story as as well, maybe not as detailed as a I normally would for a comic, text will come first however during the editing process I'll definitely edit it to better incorporate the illustrations. 

This does of course leave me with another question, where to publish it? 

Well for one, there really isn't a website that's dedicated to something like this. So i think the best option ironically enough would be to treat it more like a web-comic that has considerable amount of text than normal and i think to take the full advantage of the format. I've looked into sites like Royal Road and Wattpad and while they do both allow for the inclusion of illustrations i feel like with their more web based approached (i.e narrow column for scrolling for phones) would present a lot of challenges. The full-page spread for one wouldn't be an option that for sure. 

Alternatively, i can have the story posted twice, one form in full text and the other in its more natural state on a web comic site (comic fury maybe?) It certainly worth a try.