Living Forever

+Bonus alt ending.

Based on a true story.

As in I too once got a pistachio ice cream that had raisins in it instead of pistachios and let me tell you, that was messed up. Even worse, it was an ice cream cake I stood in line for. 5 mins of my life and like $50 pesos completely gone to waste. I still ate it, but picking the raisins made the whole experience less enjoyable.

When I drew Zara driving the van I mentioned that the doors had to be changed due to RJ's ex's fault. And finally here's that story.

So I guess it's time for a little bit of OC lore as I don't really get too much into RJ's past before the band.

During high school RJ had a bit of a reputation as a bad boy after he ended up sending some bullies to the hospital in the last year of middle school. That didn't help him to make a lot of friends but it did get him a girlfriend, Laura, who had heard the (exaggerated) rumors and liked what she heard.

He thought he could fix her, she thought she could make him worse. In the end it was a tie, but in the end they still had fun together.

They were in an on and off relationship during most of high school and a bit after that until she finally left town to join a biker gang that she later also left behind.

I've had this idea for a comic for a long time now. And it took me a long time because at the beginning it was going to look way simpler, it was going to be on Black and white and then with flat colors but turns out I have no self control and ended up doing the whole lighting thing. Then, right in the middle of the whole thing my computer decided to die on me and I lost pretty much a week as I got behind in commissions and my job but after all that it is finally here. And I think it came out ok, could be better I guess. Lol. Actually You can tell how the colors change a bit starting in page 3 due to the color profile.

The final page and its alt version were both alt versions, in the original ending I had in mind RJ would say "She must be off her meds again" but in the end I scraped it as I didn't like the implication. Someone being crazy is fun but being meds taking crazy not so much. I don't think she's actually crazy, I just think she's a vandal, And I love her. She's more like a spy movie villain's henchman or something, she just hasn't found her villain.

The phrase "I'm gonna live forever" is a reference to an oldish, actually good, SNL sketch with Melissa McCarthy playing a politician that attacks a reporter and then goes on a rampage campaign and terrorizing the cops they sent after her. In the end she steals a cop car and laughs maniacally saying "I'm gonna live forever". I quote this sketch often. Sadly it has been pulled down since then. That's more or less the energy I had in mind for Laura. (Edit: I found it) 

While making this I also thought for a moment. Wouldn't it be funny if she was actually immortal for some reason. With her as with some of my other characters I'm recycling the design of old characters of mine. In this case two, and one of them had a super natural connection so who knows.

But I don't think so, I just thought it could be funny.

This is the first of at least 4 comics I've had in mind featuring "The Boys" . I've had their dynamic in mind for a while but I hadn't really done a lot with it. I hope I don't wait too long before making the rest. For the next one I'm thinking about doing it in Black and white, it would be faster, but it also features some "Dynamic shots" so it could help to make it feel a bit "manga-esque"