…and they all look vaguely murderous because you woke them up at like, 3am to hunt down a damn deer in the woods.
Okay, so this page took me about a million times longer than anticipated, especially seeing as it clocks in at four whole panels and two whole words! And here we discover that Aubrey has not just Connie in her life, but a whole pack of weirdos as well. Also, tomorrow’s page has so many panels and so many words, so I had to take it easy somewhere.
I don’t mean to spoil anything, but it’ll be awhile before we learn anyone’s name in the actual comic, so skip this part if you’re not interested! I had thought to do those little boxes that introduce characters like you see a lot of times, but I don’t like that it distracts aesthetically from this page.
Left to right: Ginger is the very small one, Marcus is the very tall one, Aubrey obvs, Harvey in the hoodie and Uggs combo, and…Tim. Tim the werewolf. Tim is an interesting guy.
I figured I should take a minute to talk about character design. I know some people are traumatized about starting a comic or any other media project because they’re determined to sit down and draw all the turn-arounds for every character, and analyze everything they’re wearing…and that’s fine, but when you’re one person, you might as well just make the thing you’re planning to make and worry less about prep work. It’s good, if you’re questioning who a character is, or if you just want to push your designs farther than you normally do, but you don’t have to endlessly plan to make something good. Minimal planning, whatever you need to get by, and then shove the thing out the door into the world. Your drawings and characters will evolve as you evolve as an artist, and there’s not much you’re going to be able to do about it in the end. I design most of my characters on the fly, which I know ruins the mystique a little, but basically, once they look like who they look like in my head, I stop there and roll with it.
That being said, here’s how I designed these folks:
Ginger is based off this girl I work with who has an interesting face. I decided she should be small because I’m small, and I like to draw tiny characters who look like myself. I wanted her to have a more feminine style, to contrast with the whole werewolf salt-of-the-earth thing.
Marcus is based off this other guy I used to work with, and also a photo I liked from Humanae. He’s lanky and tall because most of the dudes I draw end up being some variation on that. I should probably draw some not lanky tall dudes.
Aubrey…I don’t really remember where she came from. I just sort of started drawing and she showed up. I wanted someone as opposite looking to Malaya as possible, so heavier build, sort of punk/utilitarian style, short hair, blond and pale.
Harvey just sort of came to me this way. I wanted one character who seemed no-nonsense and sort of tired looking.
Tim was one of the wolves I had planned from the get-go, just a matter of shoving him in here somewhere. I wanted a werewolf who was almost crazed from the transformation and only a little human still.
Oh boy lemme just tell you, knowing me the way I am, I’m gonna absolutely frecking love Tim. I assure you. I can already tell, I’ll be all over that boy haha
He’s pretty cool. Doesn’t really say much, doesn’t really have a sense of boundaries, just as werewolfy as it gets, but all the time.
Can we at least hope they have some kind of plan this time? Better than, “yell at this person until they follow us”?
Yeah, I’d love to see someone with perhaps a bit more persuasion in their skill-set than Aubrey. 😉 Then again, as stubborn as Mal is, I’m not sure it’s going to do much good.
Also, I think this is the first full werewolf pack we’ve seen in the comic. How exciting!
Therein lies the problem lol. I wanted Aubrey to be the obvious antagonist, but with the whole “how to be a werewolf” theme, she’s just as clueless as Malaya, though she doesn’t really recognize that she is, which is going to make changing or improving even harder. And her pack isn’t exactly a happy, cohesive family, but we’ll see more of their dynamic in the next chapter.
The main idea I’m going for is that everyone has something to offer, but no one’s going to figure it out on their own. So Malaya’s got the instincts and more skill than she thinks, but has no practical knowledge. Elias has all the knowledge, but hasn’t ever had a reason to apply it (and I’ll get to his back story eventually, but a lot of it comes in pieces). Marin is loyal to the people she’s closest to and has a mix of ability and knowledge, but hasn’t been a werewolf all that long. Aubrey has a little bit of knowledge and a little bit of skill, but it’s all self-acquired, so she doesn’t know what she doesn’t know. And then all that jazz leads up to the whole thing with Connie, and then into part two of our very very long plot lol. I’m playing a long game here. So no one knows how to get anyone to join a pack, but Connie is damn determined that Aubrey makes it happen anyway.
Hahaha no, not really. That’s going to be a reoccurring theme in this comic, and everyone’s complete lack of plans will be addressed briefly in…chapter 6, I think?
I don’t mean to be racist or anything but why did Marcus have to be a misled antagonist doesn’t he know we always go first in like every movie ever made? It’s why I stay in a padded room when a monster is about LOL
I imagine he’s been trying to find a werewolf-sanctioned way to get the hell out of dodge since childhood, at this point 😉
I find it amusing to think that this pack of weirdos, in their attempt to act all serious, may in fact have no clue what they’re doing.
That is….very possibly totally accurate 😉
They see me rollin’…
They hatin’…
You can clearly see how happy the emotional abuse has made them in the final panel.
They’re not well adjusted, that’s for sure!
Squad looking fresh af
And only slightly unhinged!
You just came to the wrong neighborhood motha fawka
Their neighborhood is mostly trees, which at least makes for quiet neighbors when they aren’t leaving deer on your porch.
I really enjoy your panel layouts and designs. You have a knack for composition.
Thank you! I struggle with layout a lot, but mostly because I’m hard to please XD
Ginger looks just so done with everything that I just want her to have a cute GF and be happy.