Posted by David Duarte on July 31, 2009 at 10:58am
One of my goals as a christian cartoonist is to create a comic that will change how Christian comics are seen. People read the stories, relate to them, and even atheists who may not get saved from reading them, will at least respect my work because it was very entertaining and gave them a different perspective of being a Christian.Though I really hope I am not copying anyone elses work when I go for it.One of the cartoons I want to create has a group of Christian teens mostly boys. They go through high school and deal with both the difficulties of being a Christian and being a teen.They can all be considered heroes sometimes, but they are not the usual kind of people anyone would expect to be heroes.All the characters are based on some aspects of me or they are the kind of friends I sometimes wished I had growing up. I want almost every personality type used for my characters so everyone can relate to them. The stories will be based mostly from my life experiences and other's life experiences.Theres humor, drama, happiness, sadnessMy main inspirations will be mostly from my favorite anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, not only my favorite anime, but considered one of the best anime to exist. I even plan to have some situations, character thoughts, jokes and character ideas that come from the show, but of course they will be changed so it doesn't look like I am copying from them. Other inspirations will be from the life experiences of me, friends, family and others I have read about.The main characters are not the usual Christians though. Here's some character descriptions:David: The main character of the comic who is somewhat based on me. He's serious and a bit on the shy side though not as shy as me. He tries to live morally right and be there for his friends and family and anyone else who needs help. He's mostly calm and cool about things. He really loves his girlfriend Sally.Mike: A very friendly and talkative "loudmouth", Mike tends to say a lot on his mind without thinking much. He's mostly happy go lucky though he does have some disapointments though. He likes to joke a lot and is willing to stick up for his friends and isn't afraid to tell someone off if they mistreat his friends. He likes checking out girls, flirts with them and hopes for a girlfriend.Joe, Joey, Joesph?: Not sure what his final name should be. Joey plays football for the school and is a sports fan. He's pretty overweight but has a good heart. He takes some of his work seriously. He's somewhat popular at his school for helping his team out but he doesn't really enjoy the popularity. He stay mostly positive about things. I feel like I should develop his personality more.Randy:I felt theres not enough shy boys in American comics or entertainment so here's Randy. Randy is very shy and timid and worries about pleasing everyone. He has struggled with loneliness most of his life, especially at church. He wants to do God's will but is also afraid of being hurt by others. His confidence is somewhat low but I am hoping with the series, it grows. My inspiration from him comes from some of my shyness and what Shinji in Neon Genesis Evangelion has went though. I even want Randy to somewhat look like Shinji too, but not sure if I should!Rob or Robert: Rob is very confident in his work but also somewhat negative. He has a bag covering his head to hide his acne which he is ashamed of. He feels the need to get out there and accomplish his goals as soon as he can. He can appear to be "grouchy" at times but still is positive at times.Scott: Not enough asians in American entertainment, so I created Scott. Scott is Korean and teaches the Christian club at the school and is good friends with the other characters. He's somewhat serious but still very outgoing and friendly. He enjoys anime and manga, even though he's not Japanese. He struggles with his parents at home who are from Korea, who are not Christian and they are very traditional. They pressure him to get only A's in school and to become a doctor, while he rather work to be a missionary.John: John is similar to Mike but goes farther. John is very friendly and very humorous. He's not as strong a Christian as the others but he feels he's doing God's work by helping students around the school getting even for someone bullying them with the help of a couple of his buddies. He's the class clown and enjoys being around the group every so often though he has some struggles. He flirts with some girls like Mike and jokes about everything and is more than happy to put people in their place if they mess with him or his friends. Some of the others question his ideas but he's willing to defend them and claim why he thinks God is okay with his work.I called this cartoon "Life with David Spencer" but feel it needs a name change, since although David is somewhat of the focus of the comic, the other characters are just as important.I have other characters planned out but still feel the need to develop them and create even more characters. I have some story ideas but still need more. Tell me what you all think!
The Joey/Joseph character could have a really unique nickname. If his real name was something like Joseph Bodone, his team mates might call him Jobo. When I was in high school, many of the "jocks" has funny nicknames like that.
You could call the strip by the high school name– Life at (St. James) High.
Yeah thats possible that Scott could like Manhwa. Maybe I should since I do want him to be proud of his Korean heritage. And Korean culture doesn't seem to be put in public as much as Chinese and Japanese anyways.
maybe Scott could be a fan of Manhwa (the Korean version of manga)? Maybe it would give a little exposure to the distinction of his comic cultural heritage?
Comments
You could call the strip by the high school name– Life at (St. James) High.
Good ideas. Thanks for sharing.