Like Allies in the Alley.
I’ve had this little behind the scenes story in my head for a couple months. It really could have been left alone but I thought it would be a cool idea to make it a reality, if for anything, an exercise. Since I began this series I have created it between the cracks of any free time I might have. I’ve never treated it with any deadline in mind. I think the fastest book I’ve created was the Halloween Special and that was two months.
With everything going on in the world, my freelance design business has slowed a bit. Hence, the focus I’ve been able to put on the series as of late. I felt if there was any time to try to put out a short story while creating it daily, now was the time.
it’s a pretty simple story. One month after the end of the graphic novel and a few months before the beginning of issue 1, Tommy is just getting used to wearing his pop’s mask. Even though for years, he was running around Millerton, he was hiding as best he could, trying not to be seen or identified. This adventure puts him directly into a confrontation between two men. One who is the obvious victim, the other the antagonist.
i get to introduce a new street level bad guy in Thadeus Wulf and his sons as well as some motivation Gwen’s Uncle Felix has in my series as he becomes kind of a touchstone for Tommy.
if you read the graphic novel, you can see Tommy gained a mask by the end, but lost some things in the process. Felix and Colt’s Corner factor into Tommy rebuilding his foundations. A city is a big place. And for one masked hero, it’s good to have a smaller piece of the real estate to start with. Felix gives Tommy a home base to be able to stretch out but close enough to have a stake in what Felix envisions for the Corner. And by doing so, Tommy is reminded of the sense of community that his Pop was instilling into him about the mask.
I am very proud to say I did do this story in 8 days like I wanted. I penciled and inked in one day, Aiden colored and then I would letter. I’m pretty happy with the results. Usually I plan everything out too much. Sketch model sheets of each character layouts etc. I did everything on the paper this time. Even the designs of the Wulf family. It was a exciting experience to say the least.
I tried to put action into it as best I could, but at the heart of the matter, I’m more a character guy. I like trying to make my guys as human and relatable as possible. And in that respect, I think I did it for this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it.