I wanted to do a long-form story that, while it ties in to the larger Tom Hells story, does not feature Tom Hells or his immediate circle of associates. Obviously, Comfort Travel takes place within Balewind City and environs, primarily in the town of Thrapp Valley, some 2 hours to the northwest. If Balewind City and Whisper City are vaguely-analogous to the Cleveland/Akron metro area, Thrapp Valley is a stand-in for Ann Arbor. I don't mean to replicate these places exactly, but once I finish this big map I've been drawing, you'll see the similarities/differences.
Likewise, Cray Artley is not supposed to be me, nor are Heck and Egan supposed to be caricatures of anybody I know, specifically. These three characters are just amalgams of me and people I know. Cray doesn't necessarily act the way I would act in every situation.
All of that said, Comfort Travel is about people like me and my friends having an adventure that we would have had, or at least one we imagined having, when we were in our late 'teens and early twenties. I want it to feel, to the reader, the way being that age felt. To that end, it is scripted in total, but I am molding and changing it as I go along. I don't want it to feel formulaic, or staid, and I don't want it to progress in a way that is predictable. I am keeping the drawing light and spontaneous where I can, particularly the drawing of the people. The backgrounds can be sculpted and drawn meticulously, but I want the people and the action to be present and vibrant.
I'm not throwing anything out, either. What I've drawn and written is what you will get. I am not abandoning any pages, not making any major edits to any panels, once they are drawn. Little mistakes will get corrected, but a poorly-drawn arm or dog is staying as-is. I don't want to apologize for any of the drawing, understand. Instead, I kinda mean this to be some sort of "thesis" for the project. the way I'm drawing it has a lot to do with what I am trying to "say," if anything.
Thanks for paying attention!
Teddy
