Welcome back folks.
Last time, in the first step of our journey to build a brand spanking new comics series Griffin's Way, we got the basics out of the way. We established the type of story being told: a crime/noir tale set in a sword and sorcery world. We decided on the format: an ongoing series of 'singles', geared towards eventual collection in a trade paperback. We learned that our lead character, Griffin, is the prodigal leader of a guild of thieves who has returned home to find his old gang scattered to the four winds. His chief rival, Bragg, is married to his old flame and using the guild for nefarious purposes that Griffin never allowed when he was the man.
The next step in development I always take at this point is figuring out who my lead is. I determine what the lead wants, who or what is working against him, and what unique tools or skills he has to deal with the obstacles set in the path to his goal.
I like to get a picture of the character in my head,before I go to work on their specific nuances as far as motivation and personality. I usually 'cast' them, not necessarily as an actor, but any celebrity that I can build a distinct look from. Our boy Griffin is in his early to mid thirties, good looking and charismatic in a tough, athletic kind of way. He has a lot of self-confidence, tempered with a sarcastic sense of humor. (I'm brainstorming here, best thing for it when I'm putting a player together.) He has a hapless distaste for physical violence, even though he can take care of himself. "You six guys want to stomp me into a mudhole? Can't we talk about this? No? Your call then." Five minutes later, there's six bodies out cold in the mud and Griffin's walking away dusting his hands off, shaking his head in exasperation. Are you getting a good idea of who he is? Hokey as it sounds, he's already talking to me, telling me which direction he wants his story to go in.
So what does this guy look like? Hard as I try, as deep as I've scoured the pop-culture cluttered recesses of my stunted imagination - the best match I can come up with is Russell Crowe. Superstar, yes, but also a very versatile actor. It's just a starting point anyway. By the time our as yet undetermined artist gets through with Griffin, he may look more like Steve Buscemi. These things never, ever go as planned.
So we've got your basic Russell Crowe model playing the part of our hero Griffin. Time to figure out what he wears, how this boy cuts his hair etc.
I think one of the reasons that super hero type characters are much more popular than other genres, as the comic book medium goes, is that with their costumes/uniforms etc, it's very easy to tell one from the other, no matter who happens to be drawing them. You put Spider-Man, Superman, Batman and Captain America in a line-up, distinguishing who's who is a breeze. But, if you round up Yorick Brown (from Vertigo's excellent Y The Last Man), Jack Herriman from Scene of the Crime, Marvel's Rick Jones and DC's Snapper Carr and stand them up side by side, I daresay even the most seasoned comics reader will have to look twice to put names to faces.
In a perfect world, where I would have the drawing chops of someone like Mike Oeming (Powers) or Steve Rolston (Mek), this wouldn't be a concern. I'd be a crazed auteur, chained away in my study cranking out page after page of hard boiled western comedies which I'd self-publish and mail out to my three faithful readers like clockwork. However, I was and am a lazy bastard, and almost always choose reading comics over practicing towards drawing my own.
So, we need for Griffin to have a striking, memorable look, despite the fact that he doesn't wear day-glo tights. Unique hair colors and style are easy ways to set a non-super hero character apart from the crowd-Spider Jerusalem's chrome dome, John Constantine's almost-punk spikes, Jesse Custer's bushy black coiffure from hell, etc. I don't recall seeing a whole helluva lot of redheads in comics recently, males anyway, so Griffin has a short, Clooney style 'Ceasar' cut (easy on the artist), red as the burning bush.
I see him wearing his world's answer to our coat and pants. Maybe a little longer cut, natural colors; deep green, almost black. Also, laceless, buccaneer style boots, a dark cloak, short sword, pouch etc etc. This guy steals for a living. He buckles swashes when he has to. He likes nice things, and takes pride in the way he looks. He also likes to be free to move when he has to. His look, in a high concept nutshell is Snatch meets Lord of the Rings.
Now that we know what Griffin looks like, and what his basic problem is, we'll get down to the business of putting him through his paces and telling his story...next time.
Marc Bryant is the writer of the acclaimed graphic novel Overtime. Each month, he'll discuss a work in progress here. You can learn more by visiting his website at 
Welcome back folks.
