Since I was in high school, I was fascinated with Goth culture. It somewhat frightened me, spooked me, but I have since gotten over the darkness of it all.
While living in New York, like many of my other passions, I began to look into them since it was much easier to locate them. I am referring to comics, magazines, and whatnot. One of this was Goth culture. I would go to Goth shops and buy the music and stuff. I just never wore them.
When I came across Serena Valentino and Ted Naifeh's Gloomcookie (yes, I have it), I was intrigued. A Goth comic? Why not?
Not soon after, I began jotting down ideas for a story that would eventually become Dez. After a couple of stop-starts, it's finally happening. And I guess, I needed to get the right artist in Ronzkie Pacho Vidal who creates the incredible Sulsi and Karit komiks. When I first saw her work that wasn't only highly imaginative but also deep, I was blown away and wished I'd get a chance to work together one day. That happened recently after Indieket.
And what you see are some of her initial sketches of some of the characters who will make up Dez.
Oh, Dez is like a Goth version of Archie except it's weird. School life and young adulthood for Goth kids.
Dez is short for December because her mother thought she would be born on the 12th month except she gave birth to Dez in November. Naturally, Dez hates the name December and she gets cross at anyone who calls her by her real name. She has an Alaskan Malamute named "Fondue" who can get real grumpy when there are others around Dez. Think of Muttley minus the deviousness. But if you miss Muttley's "sassafrassum" expression... well, it's here!
For this first time in all the different komiks I am doing there's a tie-in. Turns out that Dez is Dante's half-sister!
Her best friend is named Ioalana who is in a band. Iolana is patterned after former X-Mal Deutschland singer Anja Huwe. Naturally, Iolana is in a band with "X" who is this tall waif of a guitarist.
Jimmy (named after Jimmy Olsen but instead of being a photographer, he writes a blog about aliens and vampires who he believes will destroy the world). One of the school snoops who believes Dez and Iolana to be vampires and are ready to turn their fictional town into something akin to Sunnydale (my tip of the hat to Joss Whedon’s most excellent Buffy the Vampire Slayer) into the mouth of hell. He may be a pest but he isn’t a bad person.
Ulf is the school jock who has to maintain a cool veneer as the King of Cool and the Big Man on Campus but has a crush on Dez who he thinks is weird. We only know he is a jock because he wears letterman jackets.
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