Part Two - character Sheets
Starting The Comic
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firstly, we should probably meet the writers of the comic haha. Meet Olivia and myself (apparently we look similar, I'm her British equivalent to her being my American equivalent.) We have been writing this comic together for the past two years so it's been this massive ongoing thing.
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Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum
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I finished scripting the first volume of the comic just before this current semester started, just so I had my body of text to go ahead, if I needed to cut it down later, I would cut it down. Here is the actual script in its fullness if anyone wants to read it (would not recommend, its 50 or so pages long)
After some deliberating and after starting storyboarding and realising just how much work nine chapters was, I cut it down from nine to 7 (cutting out chapter 3 and 5, which go into a separate side stories which is not relevant to the main story until later) So those were not necessary to fulfilling the story. It was more realistic to go for 7 chapters than 9 for me at the start of me doing the storyboarding. |
Character Sheets
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I created some character sheets which were inspired by Scott McCloud's guidance on creating character sheets for any comic characters. These include mannerisms, any design details to be considered, body language, facial expressions, characterisation etc.
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Ricin/Riley Vondrasek
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Ricin is a character that actually Olivia conceptualised from her own (slightly deranged) brain. Don't worry, she's not a cannibal (at least I hope not). He started as a sort of persona for her, coming from her own angst with dealing with dysphoria and conservative parents at home. Obviously, he's evolved a bit since then, becoming his own character. Ricin is trans, this is an important core aspect of his character, though it isn't something that's necessarily shoved down anyone's throats, it's just a part of who he is and an aspect to why he's initially driven to murder in the first place. He is good at faking confidence though is mostly an anxious wreck who's survived for so long without being caught on pure instinct. He is someone who believes he's above everyone else though those he believes he is on equal standing on he can start to show his true colours (literally about to crumble from nerves, that's it that's his true colours).
In the first chapter of the comic, he's wearing a suit which he stole from one of his victims, his suit is slightly too big for his frame, thus the kind of funky fitting on him. It's intentional, he looks slightly androgynous while still being more masculine. |
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Here is a variety of concepts of Ricin, on the left is Olivia's work from 2017 to now and the right is my own art of Ricin. This was the original Ricin before I came into her life and decided to get my filthy mits on his character and use him for my nefarious means. It was almost funny to see him back then vs now, and how much he changed. Mostly his personality, most of his design has stayed the same.
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Ricin is obviously inspired by Hannibal, both the series, the books and the films have been an inspiration towards his character. He even keeps a copy of Silence of the Lambs in his suit pocket at all times, like some kind of holy Bible he uses as his guidance. His fancy suited up look is inspired partially by NBC's Hannibal and feels natural for his character to have this look.
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A quick note about guns: Not personally a gun enthusiast, I had to ask my friend about them especially Ricin's gun which is supposed to be a custom one, instead of the engraved one above which is called Maria (From Fallout, fun fact) we decided instead to go for Michael the archangel, both as the symbol of the one who thwarted Satan (this is relevant for later) and also known as God's healer (This is also for later and also kind of ironic in some way, though it's relevant towards Ricin's god complex)
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Rudy Flowers
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Rudy is my modern twist on a 1940s femme fatale. The twist being that they are neither male nor female. Rudy presents as female, but is AMAB (assigned male at birth). His character has always been super fascinating to me, he is dainty and demure but also strong and threatening. I try not to disguise his masculine form, though he does still throw people off, his face is quite feminine, larger eyes, his dainty upturned nose. The makeup is probably a large part of it as well as the dress.
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Rudy has a very vintage appearance and aesthetic, definitely like a 1920s mafioso but if the leader was female not male. He likes to appear more elegant and like a damsel in distress almost, but it's all a ruse to put his enemies in a false sense of security. Basically, his design is all intentional.
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Claudius Hreow
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Claud is a character I came up with in 2012-2013? Of course he's changed a lot since then, but he's been some weirdo I keep in my head for when I'm bored, often the topic of my doodles. He's influenced by a lot of different things, partially by myself, some parts of him are based off how my brother behaves
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I would say Claud's influence design wise is more based on a trope of a British man abroad, combined with his longer hair, he gives the vibe of a guy who doesn't really care about himself. He looks like a tourist and that's intentional, this is because of the way he feels about himself in the story. He is a tourist on Earth, never settling down anywhere, constantly moving to the next place. He is carefree yet complex, hiding a lot of his trauma beneath a thin veil of being a party lad.
Fun fact: Claudius = lame Hreow = old english for falling/tumbling down |
Sabra Zoheir
**NOTE**: this concept art was done by Olivia, this is just what I use as reference when drawing Sabra.
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Sabra is an Egyptian demigod, he serves as the deuteragonist to Ricin. He has big plans and big ideas and he won't stop at nothing to achieve it. During his chapter, he is seen as a child, teen and adult. It made for something interesting which was coming up with designs for all three of his ages and how he changes from childhood to adulthood. I struggled with drawing him as a child initially, this was because I lacked experience more than anything else. I don't think I had ever properly drawn a child character before, so it was really interesting.
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Here is the reference I had for drawing children, it helped a lot actually, especially for later when drawing teenage Sabra.
Sabra below is also drawn by Olivia 
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