Full-color four-page comic, titled “The Guardian.” Description below written more for narrative than exact panel-by-panel specifics.
- A terrified child runs through the streets, holding some type of gem close. They turn into an alley—and notice something. A monster is eating the trash.
- The monster (the eel-horse-raptor, henceforth “ehr”) is surprised and snarls. The child, though surprised, is unphased and reaches out playfully; ehr shrinks back, not sure how to handle the situation. Then the kid reaches for some food in the trash, shoving the ehr aside.
- “Oh, there you are!” An adult stands in the alley now, arms outstretched. “Come back now, child, I won’t hurt you. You know it’s not safe to play with monsters like that.” But the kid, suddenly scared, hides behind the ehr.
- The adult raises his chin. He’s wearing a belt with slots for three colorful stones; one is missing. “Step back, creature,” the adult says. “This child is a thief. He’s under my protection, and I’d hate to take him back—forcibly, that is.”
- The ehr glares back at the child. “Besides,” continues the adult, “who’s to say he’s not trying to steal from you now?” Teeth bared, the ehr swings its head towards the child, who cowers—
- —but the child is placed on the ehr’s back. The adult reaches for a gun but is swiped back by the ehr, who rears like a horse.
- With the child safely on its back, the ehr gallops into the night.
- The child is uncertain. “He’s— he’s right, you know.” They’re holding tight, but looking back. “I shouldn’t be out here on my own, I’m just some stupid little—”
- The ehr glances back. Sympathetic.
- “Thank you…” And with that, they disappear into the darkness.
four-page comic
August 21, 2017
Assignment: four-page comic, completed over several weeks at the end of the semester. Related: the thumbnails, a full-page version of a panel, character design concepts, and some works in progress.