Welcome back, friends. I have more pencilled comics pages this week. We start to take a look at the reasons why Mr. Jakes has fallen behind in fixing the townspeople’s appliances. Rolf is ready to offer some insight.
Roger seems to know quite a bit of Mr. Jakes’ history.
It was quite fun to come up with a younger version of Mr. Jakes and his wife Betty. The inked version has their fur as being black – their fur is hatched with pen marks to show them greying when they are older.
Oh yes, Rusty’s off-color comment there is not in the final inked version. I changed his line to “I bet they saved a bundle on babysitting costs.” Some people didn’t like the off-color joke of Rusty’s and some even suggested that would alienate some readers.
Rusty’s dirty joke gets a very nasty scolding from Sam and Margaret. I definitely emphasized pointy shapes on the usually sweet, nurturing girls to emphasize that they were angry with Rusty and that he went too far. From here on, we learn some more about Mr. Jakes and his past.
That’s one of the keys to making believable characters – don’t think of them as characters. Think of them as ACTUAL beings. Give them a backstory. What job do they have? What was their childhood like? What was the best thing that ever happened to them? What was the worst thing that ever happened to them?
This is the last of the free previews I’m giving for the fourth episode of Sunnyville Stories. The final inked copy will be available soon on Indy Planet and Comics Monkey. The proof copy is on its way to me at the time of this writing – plus I have to start work on the fifth episode. The thumbnails are being made at present. Maybe I’ll even have a few of them up next week.
And so, that’s it for this week, friends. Watch for more comics and more neat blog posts. Subscribe via RSS and email if you haven’t already. You can drop me a line at info@sunnyvillestories.com – I’d like to hear your feedback on my work. Plus I’ll be attending Rocket City Furmeet in Huntsville, Alabama this Memorial Day Weekend. I’ll have more details on that soon.
Till next time, loyal readers!
