So it’s been a little bit, but I’m still continuing the series of Kalwa in Anime illustrations. The previous illustrations were Kalwa if she was in the Dr.Stone world and Naruto world, this upcoming one will be the One Piece world. Here’s a little preview of whats to come.
So I know there isn’t really that much going fun in seeing screenshots of this, but I’m just letting everyone know that writing is officially underway. We are getting back into gear for next month!!!!
Of all the stories we’ve done in Kalwa, the story with the most backstory is the Whitechapel story arch, which had been a long planned story arch from the day this comic started. Over the course of time, I’ll start sharing all the backstory about this story. Right now, I’ll start of with possibly one of the more vital characters in the arch Gerald Butler, who can be considered the tertiary antagonist of the arch. Racism was actually a major part of the story, as historically there may or may not have been prejudice agains the jewish community at the time of the Whitechapel murders. Gerald Butler was meant to represent that racism, but he also took several other cues from historic Whitechapel locals.
Of course the first thing to note about Gerald is that he is butcher, which is actually a suspicious, yet easy to escape occupation during the murders. Butchers were often time covered in blood, which actually them the perfect cover up for crowds. In fact historically the actual “Jack the Ripper” may escaped into the crowd after killing one of the “canonical five,” yet was able to escape as he wondered through a part of town where many butchers worked, thus blood on his clothes would not be unusual. In fact the scene where Gerald is walking with a bloody knife is actually a reference to this.
Design wise, Gerald came out very different than what I originally envisioned. I had intended Gerald to look much more slick possibly with some characteristics of what I would consider french looking (small mustache, thin neck). However these characteristics made the character look far too young, especially given that he was meant to be the father of full grown woman. So the character went through a couple of revisions, he was given a much more gruff appearance and more wrinkles under his eyes to represent both his malice, his age and at the same time his very unstable mind. Gerald I think is probably in my opinion the definition of continued to design, to keep designing and don’t go right away with the first look. As horrible as his character is (moral wise) he actually is one of my favorite villain designs in the series so far.
Straight from the sketchbook this is the first sketch of Orestes, the first enemy that Kalwa encounters on her travels. Mostly the character went unchanged from the initial design, the only real details being his footwear and his toga being made shorter mainly to accommodate him running. The wrinkles under his eyes were also added later, though they were purposely held back until after his true nature is revealed. As the character was meant to be very minor, his design was meant to be somewhat unique from background characters, though a little less detailed than more important characters. When he was first introduced, there were no plans to have the character return, this was added later to give the character closure. The return actually gave me a chance to redesign the character to look much more villainous than the first arch, which couldn’t initially be done as we were trying to make the character look innocent until his ultimate reveal.
Just some updates on the upcoming publication plans, chapter 1 has been mostly finished aside from dialogue changes, chapter two is now underway. I actually just finished cutting panels to fit in the template, now I’m starting to work on some slight redraws (see screen caps below), to better the illustrations and make a bit more impact. Looking to have the first vol finished by June!!!
So this idea just came to me yesterday and I just had to make it a reality. This is a revers role illustration of what the series would look like if Reko was the eccentric one with the phone and Kalwa was the head smart tech girl with the glasses. Actually kinda liking the glasses Kalwa quite a bit, she was actually based on Barbra Gordan as she appeared in Arkham Origins! Reko kinda came out looking a bit like Sora from Kingdom Hearts, though he was actually based a bit more off Yoshimori from Kekkaishi, a show I’ve only watched a few times.
Chapter 10 was designed as a “donut break” as the title of the chapter implies. While the Western arch was designed to give readers a taste of what the adventures what Kalwa’s adventures would be like, this chapter was meant to fill in some much needed explanations, namely on how the phone works. One such question that had been asked very early on was language and how Kalwa is able to communicate with people she’s traveled with. Little did readers know that this question had an answer from the very beginning of writing, and we were just waiting for the right moment to answer it.
Other elements worth noting in this chapter is the locations and layouts. Kalwa’s house is actually based off the townhouse that one of my high school friends stayed in (albeit many differences). I almost feel very limited in this regard as I have not stepped foot in very many town houses or apartments, so every time I think of layout all I can imagine is this one single house, so I try my best to take that concept and then add some original touches to it. The Supermarket meanwhile was based on a Dunkin Donuts in the town I grew up in, though most everyone there did speak english properly.
Chapter 10 also served as the start of Kalwa’s “tense” relationship with her mother. Initially when the story was being written this story line was not in the original plan, however I felt it would ultimately give Kalwa some flaws and a bit of realism to have a bit of tension with her mother. This particular plot line was actually drawn from my own mother who actually had tension with and occasional arguments with her mom. I personally believe in most teenagers, tension seems to be great in the parent of the same gender as my own teenage years had a bit of the same backstory. As time went on this tension actually developed into an entire plot line with the mother in many ways acting as Kalwa’s personal own antagonist, biting down on limiting her activities. This plot line has since played out and has underlined many of the more recent chapters.
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Next entry in the “Kalwa in Anime” series, now we just got three more to go. Yes, I will be altering between her two hairstyles in these projects.
Stay safe out there, wash your hands and keep your loved ones protected. This is a very uncertain time I would be lying if I myself said I wasn’t scared. But America has faced uncertainty before and we’ve always come out in the end, and above all, don’t let it impede your ability to laugh and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Stay Strong!!!
An adventurous manga series about a teenage girl and her time traveling cell phone 