Shadowgirls

Interestingly, she was 20 when she was created and now she's 30. And somehow she's still not aging real time. Huh.

Ten years ago Charon McKay was born.

I don’t mean in that ‘in-story continuity twist that I’ve just spoiled and now D.Rod is going to kill me’ sort of way. I mean, ten years ago I created Charon McKay. How do I know it’s ten years to this date? Because while digging though some old files, I came across the very first script I ever tried to write for her, and it was dated October 28, 2000. I had character designs floating about here and there for a while, but this was where the defining elements that made Charon “Charon” came about: the glasses, the “pseudo-goth” black clothing, the cross necklace. But then I always had a thing for Lynda Carter, so the fact that the heroine ended up having black hair, blue eyes, and fair skin was probably no accident either. (Nor was the fact that the first time you see Charon as an adult, she’s in a pair of Wonder Woman Underoos.)

The story wasn’t great. Hell, it was horrible! I went through various story ideas and concepts and all of them never quite got very far. But Charon… She didn’t go to the wayside like others. Even though the Charon today is so very different than the character that was created all those years ago, the soul is still the same. Her mannerisms, the look in her eyes, the slight smirk to her smile… I see it every time I draw her. (I see it in Becka too.) When I wrote that stupid little story about some college co-ed fighting a werewolf, I had no idea that she would still be so prevalent in my life today. I’ve discussed a bit about Charon’s history here before. (Of course, as luck would have it, the information about it seems to have been lost during the site upgrade last year.) A lot of the characters who were around from before the Pre-Rebecca days are drastically different now. (Seriously Mistletoe Snow from before and after will make you do a double-take!) Even the characters who aren’t even IN Shadowgirls have changed. But even though Charon’s a totally different character now, she’s still that same quick thinking, smart mouthed girl from a decade ago. (Though her boobs did get bigger.) There has always been something about her that makes her more than just a bunch of lines on a piece of paper. Something special that made me unable to toss her aside and start over. Even when I scrapped everything and came up with brand new story ideas, I couldn’t dismiss her. There was something about this fiery girl that kept her in my life all these years. I know it’s silly to refer to a comic character like they’re a real person, but she IS a real person to me.

Charon went through a lot of changes, but all that constant flux of character stopped as of FIVE years ago today. In an awesome bit of coincidence, five years ago, October 28, 2005… I received the script for Shadowgirls Issue #1 from D.Rod. Five years ago, Charon became the girl we all know and love today. She became a mother, a fighter, a rival, and a smart mouth bitch with a matching set of brass knuckles. We also got Becka, Chrissy, Lindsey and the rest, but screw them. This is Charon’s day, dammit!

When I approached D.Rod at Wizardworld 2005, it wasn’t supposed to be much more than a three or four issue miniseries. Not as a web comic, and most certainly not as an ongoing series. Yet, here we are, five years later, still working away on the book, with each other. And I see no end in sight for it… And nor do I wish for one. It’s just one of those things that snowballed and you’re goin’ along, working away and the next thing you know “Oh shit! It’s been five years now!” I’ve mentioned many times before that while I have made many mistakes in the past that I wish I could redo over again, the choice to approach David at that convention was not one of those regrets. I would do it over and over again. Except next time, I think I would have held the fart in a little longer. (I’ve seriously got to stop eating Burger King.) It’s a pleasure and honor to work with my friend here. Where he’s brought the series and these characters is something I, nor anyone else could have done. Even if we finished Shadowgirls, I can easily see us going “Okay, so what do we work on now?” It’s pretty freakin’ awesome, if I do say so myself.

So, let’s see if we can get Charon to drinking age now.

And all because I have a Lynda Carter fetish. (But then again… Who doesn’t?)

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P.S. By the way, the Halloween contest winner is Charon and Chrissy as Inigo Montoya and Westley, the Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride. Seriously, some of you reeeeeally wanted Ghost in the Shell.