Author Archive: GirlHero

24. Amazing. Hails from the glistening shores of Salt Lake City, Utah. I like indie comics, webcomics, all things DC and many things Marvel, and I think designing thirty characters will be a great exercise for me! Who's ready to get rolling?

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#14 – Magpie

| November 14, 2011 | 3 Comments

I asked Kim if designing Mercy’s teenage form was legit as another character and she said it was, since Magpie was basically a different person, so it is. Magpie was pretty young compared to the rest of her team, second only to Owen, and she was a foolish girl. Brilliant, fast, graceful and confident, but foolish. Her shield and flight powers made combat a laughably easy affair, and she slacked on physical training as a result. She grew overconfident, and when she was stabbed, abducted and lost her powers forever, it was partially her fault. Her sense of invincibility did her in. Three years later she would emerge as Mercy, a powerless woman more powerful than she ever was. Also, she went through a super, super unfortunate goth phase. SORRY WORLD.

#13 – Owen MacMaster

| November 13, 2011 | 0 Comments

Owen, codenamed as yet undetermined! The youngest on Mercy’s team, he’s always been quiet, sensitive and less impulsive than his teammates. He had a silent crush on Mercy when she went by Magpie, and spoke (softly) against her rejoining them in her depowered state. This is less because he doesn’t believe in her and more because he fears for her safety, but it was the cause of a rift between the two that sparked a deep stint of depression for Owen. He’s an art student that frequently dyes his hair ridiculous colors. Also, borderline hipster.

#12 – Thunderclap

| November 12, 2011 | 0 Comments

Shauna Jacobs, codename Thunderclap, 31. Shauna’s the powerhouse of her team and a single mother of two darling children. With a bit of a wild streak, she’s seen a lot of the world and done a lot with her life already – ask her for stories about the Peace Corps – but if it seems like having kids would make a super settle down, Shauna sees things with a new resolve. She was a dangerous hero before, but now she has something to defend, and she is positively fearsome. Funny, strong, warm and occasionally short-sighted, she’s Mercy’s best friend and spoke up for her when she wanted to rejoin the team without powers. Shauna’s powers include pressure control and the mom stare. You know the one I’m talking about.

#11 – Keirie

| November 10, 2011 | 0 Comments

Keirie Dickerson, 44. Sometimes funny, sometimes horrible, suffering from severe bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms, Keirie is a good woman that doesn’t know how to let anyone in. She’s struggled with her disease all her life and relies on two things for survival – the emotional support of her daughter and lithium.

 

 

#10 – Mercy

| November 10, 2011 | 0 Comments

Nora Campbell, codename Mercy. As a teenager, Mercy went by Magpie; possessing powers of flight and shield abilities, she fought crime as part of a superpowered team. An enterprising villain permanently stripped her powers, and though he was defeated, Nora had to face the world as a normal person. But she had earned her place on her team and loved them like a family, and it was beyond her to sit on the sidelines while they risked everything, so Nora did what any girl would do: she went to med school.

Now she works as a medical intern by day and her team’s personal doctor by night. She trains in martial arts for self-defense, but took a vow to do no harm and as such spends her time sewing her friends back together, curing whatever weird illness or state of weakness their enemies might come up with and administering life-saving medical aid to bystanders at the scene. She risks her life every time she goes out, but Mercy can’t sit idly by. She’s a hero. Not a civilian.

(Still fiddling with her design. Her costume needs work.)

#9 – Adelaide

| November 9, 2011 | 1 Comment

Adelaide, the girl with a thousand problems. 22. The seamstress for Deep Mountain Sideshow, Addy is both talented and skilled, and though she originally hooked up with the circus as a palm reader, Maeve, the matriarch, took pity on her and instated her as official maker-of-costumes. This was a relief, as Addy has something of a curse. The instant she makes skin to skin contact with another person, she knows their every thought and every secret, everything they’ve ever done or wanted to do. She hasn’t willingly touched another person in more than seven years. Her parents couldn’t love her, not really, and she has very few people she could consider close friends, one of which just dropped dead under mysterious circumstances. Addy is gentle, sensitive, introverted and carefully controlled, but Maeve’s death lights an unfamiliar fire in her and she cannot let it pass. Enter Noah.

#8 – Noah Hillard

| November 8, 2011 | 2 Comments

 

Noah Hillard, 29, American mutt. The youngest of seven children from a God-fearing family in Iowa, Noah was born sickly and weak, prone to illness and badly asthmatic. He couldn’t keep up with his rougher siblings but he had more spunk than any of them, so he sank into fantasy books and made entire worlds of adventure. Blessed with a shade of sixth sense – or maybe just looking for the unusual things other people gloss over – Noah saw things his siblings couldn’t dream of. He was a brave child, enthusiastic, lively, clear-eyed and valiant, and he dreamed of bigger adventure all the way into college. He studied anthropology, dreaming of distant jungles and zombies and mystical animals, but was never cleared for field work. Too sickly. So he went back for a master’s, then a ph.d, and now he lives in a haze of depression working as a post-doc. Noah was never, never meant to be in a windowless TA office. He was born to be a hero. Part of him is dying away, and that spark might go out if something big doesn’t happen soon.

#7 – Dante

| November 7, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

Alex Feldstein, stage name Dante, 27, Jewish-American. The acting ringleader of the Deep Mountain Sideshow of the Mystic &Macabre. This is a bit of a misnomer, though, as ringleader is only a part he plays in the show. He’s not the actual leader of the circus, and in fact is not much of a leader. A chubby drama kid from Wisconsin, Dante has a very big personality and craves the spotlight, but he’s not very good at making decisions and doesn’t want to carry the fate of others on his shoulders. Which is a shame, as when the circus matriarch dies under mysterious circumstances, it becomes his responsibility to step up.

#6 – Lenore

| November 6, 2011 | 2 Comments

 

Birth name Jennifer Davis. Breaking from the troll universe for a bit, Lenore is the most popular act in the Deep Mountain Sideshow of the Mystic and Macabre. Her stage persona is a sorrowful gothic princess who lilts through the show, fleeting and beautiful, to dance on broken glass and razorblades, fall asleep on a bed of nails and ultimately fall to her death each night. In reality, she’s a smart, vain, confident woman addicted to the freedom the circus provides her. Lenore grew up in a stifling Mormon household that told her – in the gentlest, friendliest way possible – that sex was shameful and she was nothing without a man to define her. It was especially hard given a rebellious nature, sharp tongue and the knowledge that she was beautiful in a different way – a sort of beauty not praised in Provo. So instead of going to BYU, marrying at 19 and having three children, Lenore ran. And she never stopped.

#5 – Daniel Hwang

| November 5, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

Daniel Hwang. 25, Korean-Polish-American, Kenna’s brother. Daniel is a kangshinmu – a shaman in the practice of traditional Korean folk magic, Muism. If Kenna had to work for every scrap of power she has, it came naturally to Daniel. He underwent the ordination ceremony at a young age and experienced his first full possession not long after that. He’s always been more deeply spiritual than his sister, but he suffers more from insecurity as well. He doesn’t know himself as well as she does, and he doesn’t trust himself the way he needs to.  He’s less creative than she is, less adaptable, more rigid and calculating, but more sensitive as well. He also has a bitter streak of vanity he struggles to control.

#4 – Troll Prince

| November 4, 2011 | 4 Comments

 

 

“I picked these for you!”

The young prince of the forest trolls. Maybe 8 or 9, developmentally, more in troll. Though they sound fearsome, they’re actually a fairly peaceful clan and the prince exemplifies their culture; sweet, gentle, thoughtful and warm, but not much of a leader. He’s not terribly smart, emotionally and physically dependent, clingy and a crybaby. He is VERY fond of his babysitter, Kriff – maybe a little too fond, all things considered. But they’re very close, and Kriff confides in him as she would a brother.

Plus, he brings her mushrooms. It’s very sweet.

#3 – Kriff

| November 3, 2011 | 2 Comments

Finally! I’m loosening up and my stuff is getting a little more dynamic. 30 Characters, you’re already working your magic!

Kriff, 19. The human child Brynn replaced. She was kidnapped as an infant and spent her life with a colony of forest trolls, cut off from all human contact. As such, she is as feral as any of her adopted family, often moreso due to a deep insecurity stemming from her unnatural appearance. Kriff is very sensitive to the fact that she herself is not a troll but isn’t sure she’d ever leave the only home she’s ever known. Fierce, hostile, mistrustful and coarse, despite her gentle human origins, she’d fight to the death to protect her clan.

#2 – Brynn Bennett

| November 2, 2011 | 3 Comments

 

Brynn. 19, American mutt, changeling. Brynn was never aware of the fact that she had been switched for another, but she did grow up acutely aware that something about her wasn’t right. Was it the subtle barrier between her and other children? Was it the call of the forest? Maybe it was the really obvious super strength, who knows. Point is, she is biologically a forest troll. This is a source of shame for Brynn once she discovers her heritage, compounded by the fact that the trolls took her mother’s real daughter to compensate. She’s a gentle, loving soul, though, shy and warm, wishing for a life of quiet mediocrity that will never be hers. She has a hard time accepting her extraordinary fate, but Kenna helps her feel human again.

#1 – Kenna Hwang

| November 1, 2011 | 4 Comments

 

Kenna, 24, Korean-Polish-American. Witch. While some people stumble naturally into power, Kenna has always had to work for it. She’s not much of a natural for anything, so every talent and skill has been hard-won. The upshot of this is a controlled confidence and self-containment; where many women her age struggle to accept themselves, Kenna is intensely comfortable in her own skin. Saving the world is a pressing concern, but she’s really more worried about impressing the pretty blonde girl on the team.

Let’s get this done!

| October 30, 2011 | 0 Comments

Hey guys. 😀 First year participant, checking in!

I’m a horrible tumblr addict, which is how I stumbled over this in the first place. Anyone want to form a little tumblr-support-network? Let me know! I was thinking about attempting a 30 page comic in 30 days, but this sounds a lot more manageable. Hopefully after this I’ll be looser and in a better place to start working on a more adventurous piece. Ready? I’m ready!