When I first started creating The Becoming, I honestly had no idea what it would eventually turn into.
At the time, it was simply an experiment. Could I tell a long-form horror story online? Could I create something atmospheric, cinematic and genuinely unsettling while using AI-assisted artwork as part of the process?
And perhaps most importantly… would anyone actually care about the secrets hidden inside Merfill Town?
The answer to that final question is yet to be answered, what with the release date a few weeks away.
But one thing quickly became obvious while creating the early chapters of The Becoming — the visual style of the series was evolving almost as fast as the story itself.
THE EARLY CHAPTERS
The first chapters were created during a period where both the technology and my own understanding of the world were changing rapidly.
Some panels were rough. Some characters looked different between chapters. Certain scenes leaned more stylised while others felt more grounded and cinematic. At the time, I was still discovering what The Becoming actually was.
What started as a horror experiment slowly became something much more ambitious:
a mystery – a supernatural thriller – a story about legacy, fear and transformation and ultimately… the mythology of Merfill Town itself . As the tone of the story became clearer, the artwork naturally began evolving alongside it.
One of the biggest turning points came when I stopped trying to make the comic look “perfect” and instead focused on making it feel believable. That changed everything for me personally as now while I am currently writing Chapter Seventeen – I have realised that the world of The Becoming has slowly shifted towards many different looks from documentary realism, to comic book style panels to then heavy film grain and now a widescreen presentation.
USING AI AS A CREATIVE TOOL
Like I said in a previous article, there’s no point pretending AI wasn’t part of this project. It absolutely was
But AI doesn’t create The Becoming on its own. The story, the characters, the pacing, the dialogue, the mythology, the shot selection, the atmosphere and the direction all still come from me as the creator.
If anything, AI became the camera — not the storyteller.
Sometimes the technology worked brilliantly. Sometimes it fought against the exact vision I had in my head.
There were scenes that took minutes to create… and others that took endless revisions just to get a single expression or lighting choice right. It became a strange mix of filmmaking, comic design and trial-and-error experimentation.
And honestly? That unpredictability somehow fits the uneasy atmosphere of The Becoming perfectly.
WHY I DIDN’T START OVER
Right now, I am currently in the process of finishing a two episode special in which we dive into the mystery lore of Merfill Town by heading back to the year 1944. No spoilers of course. These episodes will not be released until next year and even now these chapters and characters are very different to the very beginning of chapters one and two. I honestly don’t think the story and look really hits its stride until Chapter five, as before then I was still learning and getting to know these characters that have been in my head for many of years.
Now as the release date gets closer, I could have gone back and completely rebuilt the early chapters.
Part of me was tempted to. But there’s also something fascinating about seeing the comic evolve naturally over time.
The early roughness is part of the project’s DNA now. You can actually watch The Becoming finding its identity chapter by chapter — almost like the story itself is becoming something darker and more confident as it moves forward.
That felt more honest to me than pretending the project appeared fully formed from the beginning.
Officer Lewis is one of the best examples of how The Becoming evolved visually over time. While the rendering and cinematic style became more refined, the character’s identity and grounded realism remained intact – hence why she looks different on her entrance in Chapter Five to later episodes. – see image above.
THE ROAD AHEAD
The truth is… I am only now getting started. The original idea was of a simple slasher, the likes of Sheriff Harrison and even Officer Lewis were never part of the plan. The hitchhiker only formed into my brain when I was creating chapter two and now all of a sudden I have written this huge lore in which without spoilers I am now deep into the origins of Merfill Town, the mystery surrounding the Sisters, and the horrifying chain of events that ultimately lead toward The Becoming itself.
And visually, the world will continue evolving too. That’s part of the journey.
Because much like the characters inside this story… The Becoming is still transforming.
And some things are only just beginning to emerge from the shadows.
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