As I have been telling anyone who will listen, the story in Rapid City is based on the years I spent in and out of the music scene in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Kalamazoo is a really great town, exactly half-way between Detroit and Chicago. It seems to have a very special allure for those who have spent time there. If you pay close attention to Rapid City, you will see my own theory as to just what that allure is.

Bryan  Charles, one of my K-town homies and a brillinat writer, just published his first novel. It is called “Grab Onto Me Tightly As If I Knew The Way“, and it is just fantastic.  Go read a review for the details, or just trust me that it is incredible.

There are several Kalamazoos. Readers of super-hero comic books should be familiar with this kind of thing.

There is the real one. The one that is actually on the ground in Michigan. Then there is the romanicized, slightly fictional, one that exists in memory. Then there is the one that Bryan has written about, where the street names of the streets and the places are the same, and the people and events are just one or two details removed from the actual.

Then, a few steps down the ladder, is Rapid City. My very fictional version of Kalamazoo.

It is really cool for me to see the differences and similarities all of these versions.

And this is the part that I thought was really cool. One of the big revealing moments in his book is a confrontation with a certain character at a rock club in downtown Kalamazoo. The big climax of issue one of Rapid City is based on a confrontation that I had in a rock club in downtown Kalamazoo. It’s the same club. And, I suspect, that antagonists in each version are based on the same person.

Wierd how things work.

And, congratulations Bryan

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Caleb is a minor character in the first story arc. But he still plays a part in the story. So here’s a quick sketch.

Enjoy.

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I created the character of Red Lion to represent all of the good stuff that Viper encounters when he leaves Rapid City. He is big and fun and a little bit tragic.

He was one of the first characters that Jason sketched out when I told him about this project. One of Micah’s very first sketches was also of Red Lion.

They each drew the character in their own way, but the basics remained the same. And one other thing. Red Lion looked like the artist. Micah’s drawing of Red Lion looks like Micah, and Jason’s looks like Jason.

Maybe his non-human nature makes him easier to project your own personality on to. Maybe he just resonates with artists. Who knows?

On that note, it is interesting to see that when Jason has been having a rough few days, the sketch that comes out of his pad is a distinctly frustrated Red Lion.

Jason, here’s hoping that your next sketch will be of Red Lion calm and relaxed and kicking back for a well deserved nap.

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Kind of beat lately with all that’s been going on personally and this is all I could sketch out today. Hopefully it’s something to enjoy and hold you over until next time (more coming real soon).

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Josh will be attending the “New York City Comic Book Spectacular 3 Summer Blast!” this coming Sunday, July 30th. Be sure to stop by and talk with Josh, he might even do a sketch for you! How about that a writer willing to do a sketch, that doesn’t happen often. A real treat.

Micah and I will be at Wizard World Chicago, starting August 4th (I might be there on the 3rd, not a 100% sure yet) through the 6th. So be sure to drop by and say hi and ask either Micah or I for a sketch or just to talk about the Rapid City project.

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It was great to meet so many of my fellow Bean Towners in a non-shoving-for-space-on-a-train setting.

I really had a great time and met some super-cool people who also seemed to be having great times of their own.

If you are one of those visiting this site because you met me on Sunday, please say “hi”.  I would suggest that you tell us what you thought of the teaser book and our presentation at the show, but everyone knows that New Englanders (especially Bostonians) are shy and do not readily share their opinions.

I suppose the folks I meet at the show next weekend in New York City will be more forthcoming.

Thanks!

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then Manhattan, and then…

THE WORLD.

Well, probably Chicago, THEN the world.

This Sunday I am going to be working the MONOLITH table at Boston’s coolest regional comics show. It is this Sunday at the Radison downtown.

So, this afternoon I went to the movies as a “chaperone” with a group of the teens I teach. While I was watching “Lady In The Water” I was missing a call from Jason. Turns out that some of our booth supplies aren’t going to be able to make it here in time for the show. So now it is my turn to assess what resources are here at my disposal, and think about how I can turn that into a convention booth.

Man, I love stuff like this. When the “chips are down” and the clock is ticking away. I love solving these problems like this, when they have to be solved because there just isn’t any other option.

That’s one of the things I love about the public side of making comics, it is always full of situations like this. Do or die.

In fact, marshalling non-existant resources to solve problems on the fly is probably the thing I liked the most about promoting punk shows back-in-the-day. Those days, those challenges, that crazy-fun…that is a lot of what inspires the stories in Rapid City.

So, who knows, maybe we’ll be writing a new one this weekend.

See ya there.

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