Jason presents new character renders for Lil' Hero Artists -- (Follow-up to post on 04/17/26)! ✏️💫

[jasonderoga86]

What is up, Dreamwidth Family?

This here is a sort of follow-up to my earlier post about finding an archive at the website Comic Vine that displayed the original Alterna Comics' Alterna Tales Anthology Issue #3, which featured the debut of my webcomic series Lil' Hero Artists under the Alterna banner. The debut was a preview of the series after it won a runner-up digital publication contract for both myself and my collaborator/co-creator Nick Vollmer. Along with that post were two images of the characters Katy Richardson and Jamie Warren Deroga, with a little bit of background for both of them. 

I recently just rendered four characters from the series, which is part of the OmniLegend Tales franchise that now exists on both Comic Fury and GlobalComix as well as on Amazon.com and through the indie storefront Bookshop.org. On the Amazon front, as of this writing the first three volumes -- Lil' Hero Artists: The Original Series, and Curse of Creation: Lil' Hero Artists, Vols. 1 & 2 -- are no longer being offered at a discount by the Amazon.com vendor. They are priced correctly, meaning any purchase won't undercut any earnings or manufacturing costs. Here's hoping the prices stay as they are. 

Anyhoo, here are the first four character renders of the series as a whole:

Artilouix of the Pencil - Jason Warren Deroga:

If you recall from a much earlier post, Jason Deroga was initially designed as an unnamed young White boy with two pencil arms; the result of an assignment in one of my high school Graphic Design classes which prompted creating an everyday object that integrated pencils. It wasn't until I started college and revived the character that I named him Jason Warren Deroga -- with his last name "Deroga" meant to imply the Ticonderoga brand of classroom pencil -- in fact, that's why the spirit Jason channels at the climax of the Original Series is named "Ticon Deroga". As the sequel arc Curse of Creation begins, it's soon revealed that Ticon Deroga is an actual person; a legendary Artilouix warrior bearing an uncanny resemblance to Jason, who meets with and empowers Katy and Ted in a pocket dimension on orders from the Artilouix Elder Daikonru. The connection between Ticon and Jason will be explored fully as the sequel arc reaches its climactic peak.

I also stated in the past how when I revived the concept for Lil' Hero Artists one last time, I changed Jason's appearance completely; he was now a young Black boy with dark brown dreadlocks and a superhero-like mask to conceal his eyes once his latent powers awakened. The change in aesthetic was due to noticing a lack of Black heroes in online webcomics at the time -- that, and I just found Jason to be much cuter in this design, evoking some of the jive-talking, mischievous Black-centered animated shows such as the Kids' WB series Waynehead (I always pictured Jason being voiced by Jamil Walker Smith, who portrayed the character Gerald Martin Johanssen in Season 1 to the first feature film in the Nickelodeon TV series Hey Arnold! It just sorta fits to me). In the original series, he, Jamie, and their friends Sally Yola and Ken Sable are entering middle school at 6th grade. When Curse of Creation begins, about three years have passed and the four friends are now freshmen at Cyana Senior High School, with Katy and Ted three grades ahead as juniors. The four pals and the two teens share a healthy, competitive rivalry that Qwill unwittingly exploits when he employs Katy and Ted as his enforcers to track down Terry the Professional upon learning of his betrayal. As such, Katy sadistically referred to Jason as "Jay-Jay" throughout Chapter 4 of the original series, during the confrontation between her and Ted and Jason and Co.

Jason's journey in the original series is really one of self-discovery and his bond with his twin sister, Jamie. He is revealed as a "defeatist artist", reminiscent of myself at the start of college when I became consumed with perfectionism on how to best create my first full comic book. His persistence in improvement is exemplified in Chapter 4, with the blessing of Jamie as she awakens as the Artilouix Princess and subsequently awakens the essence of Ticon within Jason. Jason's suit of armor that follows is loosely inspired by the "Ultimate Armor" from the Mega Man X series and the "Sirius" character from Bomberman 64. 

Artilouix Princess - Jamie Warren Deroga:

Jamie undergoes a maturation of her own throughout the series: in The Original Series she starts off as a victim, kidnapped by Terry the Professional for a latent power she was unaware of. As the arc progresses, Jamie becomes defiant and distrustful of Terry's motives until the latter reveals his plot to defy Qwill's dark ambitions and discloses Jamie's identity as the Artilouix Princess -- a backstory that will be fully revealed in Volume 4. Jamie's acceptance of her role bestowed her with a new outfit; admittedly, her costume was heavily influenced by the "Sailor Guardian" uniform of the Sailor Moon franchise (which was my first anime from childhood). Her wisdom had matured as well, helping her brother Jason to see the inherent uniqueness in his art skills and don a special suit of armor once worn by Ticon Deroga (the armor's origins will revealed in Vol. 4). 

After the Original Series, Jamie has yet to don her princess digs again; throughout the Curse of Creation arc so far, Jamie still wears her civilian Winter clothes (Vol. 1 starts off during the holiday season on Cyana Island) whether in human form or her Artilouix form. Displayed here is an image of Jamie with smooth line work and now proper shades/tones. She came out better than I thought. 

Reformed Genesix Heroine - Katy Richardson: 

I never really created an image of Katy Richardson that featured sharp, clear colors and smoothed ink linework since the cover of Curse of Creation, Vol. 1, and even then, that cover was intentionally made with colored pencils as a personal design choice. But here, Katy is rendered in sharp form with more vibrant colors. 

I'm sure I made this statement many times before, but Katy Richardson turned out to be a stellar character; initially a snarky, sardonic classmate and friend of Teddy Sanders with an attitude to boot, Katy took on a slightly more sadistic personality after Qwill bestowed her and Ted with dark Genesix powers and dubbed them as his personal elite "Artilouix Rogues". She displayed this in full after she and Ted defeated Scorpionib and confronted Jason and Co.; at the time, Jason and Co. were in the sixth grade while Katy and Ted were in the eighth grade. As such, a rivalry of sorts existed between the two 8th grade teenagers and the four 6th grade pre-teens; Katy displayed this to a personal, bullying effect by taunting Jason, calling him "Jay-Jay" to mock his youth. 

As Katy made the transition to protagonist in the sequel arc Curse of Creation, I wanted to give her and Ted new digs for the new adventure. Katy's design came out different than I expected -- and over time, I came to like it. Her appearance gives the air of a no-nonsense, morally clear lady who cares deeply for Ted and the Lil' Hero Artists (at this point, she no longer talks down to Jason and Co. as she has matured and learned from her experience under Qwill's influence), but at times she's also playful and even flirtatious (as shown in Curse of Creation, Vol. 2 when she surprises Ted with a quick lip-lock after they and Viper defeat the double-agent Nightshade). Didn't expect a combo of both moral clarity/conviction and cuteness/playfulness with Katy, but it really works for the story arc.

Reformed Genesix Hero - Teddy "Ted" Sanders:

Teddy Sanders is designed as a sort of foil to Katy, the lighthearted counterpart to Katy's more serious, calm, and focused personality. When we first meet him in the Original Series, he is an 8th grader and buddy/classmate of Katy. My late friend Steven once told me over the phone how much he enjoyed the synergy Katy and Ted displayed at the start of Chapter 3, citing he found the chemistry between them enjoyable before and after they were transformed by Qwill. He mentioned how during the earthquake rocking Cyana Middle School, it was Ted who displayed a sense of seriousness and slight panic while Katy was more self-absorbed and sarcastic; Ted's exasperated statement, "You expect me to be quiet at a time like this? We're in an EARTHQUAKE! C'mon, get serious! We need to hide somewhere!" was met with a deadpan response from Katy, who responds, "Okay, smart one. Where do we hide?" Ted points out the nearby empty Audio-Video room, responding with his own deadpan tone: "Um, maybe that room behind you? ...And I think it'd be smart to go there before the next tremor." Katy is left dumbfounded, and can only answer, "Good point." 

It is implied at the start of the Curse of Creation sequel arc that Ted finds Katy somewhat attractive, particularly mentioning how fetching she looked as an anthropomorphic cat during their first rodeo with the Lil' Hero Artists. So far, he's made this comment twice; once during an evening winter stroll during the start of the holiday season on Cyana, and a second time after he, Katy, and Viper successfully defeat the double agent, Nightshade. The second time was Ted's flustered response to a surprise act of flirtation on Katy's part when she suddenly embraces and gently kisses him while he reminisces about being seduced and passionately kissed by Nightshade moments earlier. Katy's coy smile causes Ted to blush and remember how pretty Katy looks with cat ears and a tail before Viper reminds both of them of the mission at hand. It's still too soon for me to say whether or not there's a romance between Katy and Ted -- Katy's flirtatious moves toward Ted after Nightshade's fall certainly give that impression, but nothing's confirmed yet. Stay tuned...

One thing about Ted that sets him apart from Katy is how fast he adapted to his anthropomorphic Genesix form. When he confronts Artilouix Jason for the first time, Ted takes his rivalrous side and immediately ups the ante by drawing a sleek bow with fountain pen-shaped arrows. In one sequence, Ted lets loose a rain of arrows as Jason dodges each one, only for Katy to telekinetically seize the last one and redirect it at Jason. As we see in the sequel arc, Ted retains his archery marksmanship but switches to a more compact wrist blaster loosely inspired by the thermal blaster Robin wore as Slade's apprentice in the Teen Titans (2003) Season One finale, "Apprentice Part I-II". 

When both Ken Sable and Sally Yola take him on in Chapter 4 of the original series, Ted is not only able to hold his own against them both, but he dispatches Ken easily before attempting to humiliate Sally by revealing Ken's secret crush on her. Unlike Katy, who was more focused on trying to physically and emotionally break Jason, Ted attempted to take both Ken and Sally down by revealing Ken's affections for Sal -- a real "kill two birds with one stone" tactic. Which, of course, backfired tremendously and aroused the rage of a very POed Ken.

More renders to come soon...

Until then, peace and love to you all, and good night. 

Nana

--"Jason Deroga"

Comments

[matt_zimmer]

I love learning all these details.

[jasonderoga86]

Thanks. More renders are on the way soon.

As Lil' Hero Artists is chronologically the first half of the OmniLegend Tales franchise, it carries the bulk of my memories as a professional artist.

I say "professional artist" after the editor-in-chief of an Austin, Texas-based small press publisher deemed me as such after reading "Chapter 1: Heroes Within" of the original series before offering a publication contract. The E-i-C, first name Carlos, recognized that I saw myself as a beginner, yet insisted: "You ARE a professional artist. You did all of this on your own, and you are committed. Never tell yourself otherwise."

Even though I ultimately turned down the offer, Carlos made another unrelated offer in an email reply: if I were ever set to appear at a comic-con and he was exhibiting for his company, he'd pay for my table and space; all expenses paid, no strings attached. Whether or not that sounded like a stretch was irrelevant to me. The thought of such generosity from a fellow comics enthusiast and editor-in-chief of a successful small press publisher that ran a great "reading is fundamental" campaign for several schools in Austin and around the nation told me the guy was sincere. Carlos has now expanded his creativity to the independent film market and has done pretty well there.

Add to that how Lil' Hero Artists: The Original Series also serves as a loose autobiography of my own personal journey from perfectionist to a content and accomplished artist in my own right, and I'm on Cloud Nine with this series. Your friendship has bolstered that appreciation while simultaneously inspiring me to check out new stuff -- and most of all, it led me to Gilda and Meek and the Un-Iverse, which has only proven to be more and more exciting and fresh with each episode (not to mention a cast of characters that despite their adorableness each carry a special uniqueness that adds to the amazing experience). I'll be diving back in VERY soon.

[matt_zimmer]

Can't wait!

[jasonderoga86]

☺️