Page Four Done!

Page four is complete!

This one took the longest because it's the most complex, with the most objects, lines, areas, etc to be colored and inked in the first issue. So not only did the coloring take awhile, but it required lots of touch-ups, since this page was a bit too much for a novice inker back in the day. It's good to finally see Stick's redecorated room in all its emerald glory.

The scene is inspired by the advice "experts" on cable news shows gave parents after Columbine about going through all their kid's things, reading their journal, etc. to see if they were under any negative influences or were disturbed in some way. So this is basically what would happen if parents actually listened to all that nonsense and acted on it. Lots of 90's references in the dialog: The Crow (one of my favorite movies), Rob Zombie (who's still going strong today) and the early Spawn figures (which I never owned, but thought were cool).

I used my own parents as a starting point on the design for Stick's parents, but like most things they ended up becoming their own unique, distinct design. One notable inside joke is the inclusion of  a Chiggy doll in the fourth panel, which is based on another character I created, which I'll get into next post.

And why is Stick's room green? Because my childhood room was green, of course. I was a big Incredible Hulk fan as a little kid. As I grew older I liked other heroes with predominately green colors like Martian Manhunter, Spectre and the original Green Ranger (from Power Rangers), so it turned out to be a pretty good choice.

The next page will be much easier to do and will feature the first appearance of Psychoboy.  I won't say the rest of the pages will be a breeze after page four, but it does feel good to finally have conquered the toughest page.