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Redux - Comics Process: Characters

So I've been doing a lot of thinking in my little brain. Thinking about my noir/zombie/scifi story, that is. My problem is this: I'm bored with my main character. I simply don't find him compelling.

So here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to make Hal Dunlin female. I don't know what the "Hal" is short for; frankly, I don't care that much. I just want a character that's interesting to me, and fun to draw.

I'm going to make Hal short, and kind of punky - think "Hopey" from the Hernandez Bros. Love and Rockets. For some reason I see her wearing a pinstripe suit. It just seemed cool and kind of badass. This, for me, sucks out some of the depressing grimness of the story, and makes it stylish, almost in a Sin City kind of way.

I'm going to change the original female character, too; I feel like a louche millenial wouldn't play off the new Hal too well. Instead I imagined her polar opposite: big and athletic, kind of a lummox. Not a forceful personality. Where Hal is sharp like a diamond drillbit, this woman is vague and fearful. I think she's still the Governor's daughter, but part of me is doubtful. Stories are like that: change one element, and a bunch of different elements start to ring false notes - you have to get all the bells tuned correctly.

And who knows where this story might go? That's the fun of it.

Rick Out.

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