STANDARD ATTRITION

[ryankelly]

Ah, Merissa. My favorite. I know, when all is said and done , she's my favorite character. Now, If only she can graduate!



I can't find the first drawing I did of her. Although it was pretty close to the final, it just gave off a wrong "vibe", clothes and all. I was originally drawing her more as Indian descent, or something i think. But then I saw Brian named her Vasquez or something in the script so i just rolled with it. This was all good. I need practice drawing different types of people. New York is the melting pot of the world, or so the say.

As I said, these drawings are awful and I promise I'll never draw awful again, I'm sorry, I'm better than this, my fault. Merissa was my first stab at drawing a female character that was, hmm, well, how should I put this gently...hot. Well, but, ok , if you read the book, you know it's for a reason. It's a story plot. The point is, when Merrisa walks into a room or a party, she commands attention, while Lona or Riley will sink into a corner and be introverts. She's bold and forceful and loud and uses her powers to manipulate. But there's much more to her underneath that, yes, don't you think?




The other girls look great, but Merissa needed to be something all together different. I figured she should look like she could be a model. I had to think, "hmm, how would Terry Dodson draw Merissa?". Yes, I made her taller. More legs. With a smart fashion sense but not like Lona who is in an altogether different realm. We even tried her with glasses. I guess to separate her visually from Lona but who knows. I do want her putting on glasses from time to time, when she's studying. When she does study.



Old drawing here. Anyway, obviously you can see I'm getting better at drawing these four. Merissa became my favorite character to draw. I REALLY started pushing her exaggerated facial expressions towards the end. So much, I even think our editor, Shelly, told me to tone it down! I was really using Merissa for comic relief. And you can see it when you see all four characters together.



So. I don't think it's a secret that The New York Four Part 2 is a go. I have one more issue of DMZ to draw and then I'm going to start work on this. I can't explain in words how excited I am to be working on this second volume. Due in part to this being one of the few, active, creator-driven books I have left after LOCAL. It's a blessing. I can't wait. I hope you're excited too! If not, I'll keep posting art like this to force you to like it. More non-crappy sketches to come when I start drawing it this Fall.
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funrama.blogspot.com

[Joshua Jones]

Wait, what? NY4 2 is a go? Is Minx coming back, or is this being published inder the Vertigo banner?

[ryankelly]

[Joshua Jones]

[The Unholy Dragon]

Really looking forward to this. NY4 was one of those books I loved a lot but felt had more story to it. Plus I liked the characters a lot.
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My daddy's got a gun.

[dina]

One of the great things about NY4 is that every girl can see some part of herself in at least one of the characters. The girls are three dimensional, and real-unlike most female (or any) characters lately.

[Joshua Jones]

I wouldn't even limit it at that. Every person can see some part of themselves in at least one of the characters.

[brianwood]

A second volume of The New York Four was announced eons ago, but it went into limbo when Minx ended, while we talked about what was best to do. It's coming back via Vertigo, with details on format and any changes to story tone to come.

b
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“I wish I had eight pairs of hands, and another body to shoot the specimens.” - John James Audubon