Itchius Spellius

#29 Art & Comics, #29 Itch, New Content, The Regional Review / By
Mitch Hearn
Mitch Hearn is a queer animator, illustrator and avid snack eater living on Kaurna Country (Adelaide) who uses all kinds of mediums in his practice. He has made work for Adult Swim, CityMag, and TED-Ed and, when he isn’t making art, he enjoys Dungeons and Dragons and cheese-flavoured foods.
All black and white, with varying panel sizes and shapes. Page 1 Panel 1: Above the panel, text reads, “ITCHIUS SPELLIUS by Mitch Hearn.” In the panel, a small fluffy animal stands on two legs. They wear a striped scarf, boots, jackets, shorts, a wizard hat, a necklace with a skull pendant, and hold a scepter. More text reads, “EVEN THOUGH I’M AN ADVENTURER FOR HIRE.” Panel 2: The text continues, “I’ve never much enjoyed conflict or hurting anyone (intentionally or not)." The adventurer holds out their hand to a small bug flying toward them. Panel 3-5: Zoomed in, a lady beetle flies in and out of the adventurer’s hand, unharmed. A ribbon underneath the three panels reads, “So, after years of searching, I found a way to do my job - non-lethally.” Panel 6: A thick, open book shows the text, “A high level ITCH SPELL” on the first page, and “found in a tome of lesser known magicks” on the second. Panel 7: An arrow pointing to the book says, “PG. 185.” It comes from a large ripped page with more text, “ITCHIUS SPELLIUS. EVOCATION LEVEL 4. 1 action, 50 ft, instantaneous. Components: V,S, M: 1 dandelion head, & carrying the Tome of Tingles. Cause one creature in sight to *itch* uncontrollably, due to a new allergy. Lasts 1 hour. On a 19 or 29, the creature is paralyzed from the itch, unless they take a vow of peace.” Panel 8: The adventurer looks empowered. They hold the sceptre above their head. Stars circle it. Panel 9-12: Ripped-page panels stacked on each other read, “you wouldn’t think something as insignificant as a little itch,” above varying sketches of monsters and other idiosyncratic creatures.
Page 2 Panel 1: Above three panels, a large arm with a boxing glove is labelled with the words, “COULD PACK A PUNCH.” Panel 2: A spikey panel with distressed-looking monsters at the bottom and an image of dice shows text, “GHASTLY COUSINS. AC: 15, HP: 255, 45 ft.” A small image of a skull follows with, “incapacitated from full body eczema rash.” Panel 3: Similar style to panel 2, the text reads, “MEOZIUS PAW. Ac 21, HP: 105, 60ft.” An image of a sword follows with, “Forever itching a severe case of psoriasis.” The monster under the text has horns and a grizzly expression. Panel 4: Similar in style to panels 2 and 3, text reads, “BLEARSCHT. AC: 18, HP 97, 20 ft. Too embarrassed to leave their case due to face dermatitis.” The monster at the bottom covers its face with its 6 hands, distressed. Panel 5: A monster lies in the grass. It wears shorts and has a pillow under its head. Text circles their body, “BUT HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO SLEEP WHILE COVERED IN BEASTBUG BITES?” Panel 6: The adventurer stands at the edge of a cliff, sceptre raised. They are small in comparison to the monster they encounter. It has a skull face, a chain around its neck, and other features reminiscent of trees and brick buildings. A ribbon at the bottom of the panel reads, “...unfortunately.” Panel 7: A ribbon crossing the panel reads, “Sometimes, the easy way doesn’t work.” The adventurer looks worried, raising their scepter toward the monster. Panel 8: With an intimidating pose, the giant monster towers over the adventurer on the cliff. Text on a ribbon reads, “and you must confront the thing.” Panel 9: The adventurer launches from the cliff, against the clouds in the sky, toward the monster. The monster screams and raises its hand. The final ribbon at the bottom of the panel reads, “Head on.”

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