HEART-SHAPED SKULL

SR 1 PAGE TWENTY-NINE Have you ever seen the video for the song “Lick It Up” by the band KISS?  You haven’t?  OF COURSE YOU HAVEN’T. That thing came out forty years ago! It’s not even a famous videos like “Thriller” or “Take On Me” or the one where clay trains drive over Peter Gabriel’s…

SR 1 PAGE TWENTY-SEVEN “Note: Serenity is not a teenager.” Everybody thought Serenity was a teenager. She’s not, but the assumption isn’t crazy. In the first issue we see Sera’s a college student, but she could theoretically be 18 or 19. (In issue four she mentions she’s 22.) People think Sera’s younger than she is…

SR 1 PAGE TWENTY-FIVE “Only Happy When It Rains.”  For years in my cubicle at CalArts I had pinned up a drawing of Sera smiling blissfully in a rainstorm, no umbrella. Right near a photo of legendary rain enthusiast Shirley Manson, actually. One of the visual inspirations for Sera, along with Siouxsie Sioux and Battle…

SR 1 PAGE TWENTY-THREE CRICKET! It’s Cricket, everybody! She’s awesome! I’ve known many a Cricket in my days. Good people! I thought about bringing Cricket back several times throughout the series, but it never seemed right. She works better as this burst of positivity that lifts Sera up for a moment then vanishes forever like…

SR 1 PAGE TWENTY-ONE Ha ha, I forgot Wiccan is pulling a knife from her own skull in the first panel there. You know, comics really are capable of such grace and delicacy. We take that for granted sometimes. I think I read pretty much every review of Serenity Rose #1. It was my first…

SR 1 PAGE NINETEEN Hey, this page looks kinda cruddy, huh?  I don’t mean the drawing is bad (MUST RESIST URGE), I mean it’s kind of low-res and blurry, just generally unsuitable for human eyes. That’s because the proper eye-appropriate version was lost. I have like a dozen copies of this page on various CD’s…

SR 1 PAGE SEVENTEEN Can’t say how long it took me to put all those fussy little textures on this page… Back then I think it took me at least three or four days to draw every page. Which is horrifyingly long! But remember, at this point I was still working a full-time day job…

SR 1 PAGE FIFTEEN IT’S TESS! TESS RUBIKOV! CONTESSA NATALYA “TESS” RUBIKOV IS HERE! I think a lot of people like Tess even more than Sera. Definitely more dynamic, at least. (Best name I ever came up with for sure.) The contrast is the point, just basic story-generation stuff. Every classic duo has contrasting personalities.…

SR 1 PAGE THIRTEEN Not to brag, I spent a preeeeetty significant portion of my 20’s and 30’s at goth/industrial shows. Mostly standing in the back, holding up the walls, quietly taking in all the outstanding haircuts and sensual taffy-pulling dances. Just loved those spooky vibes. Still do, whenever there’s a band I just have…

SR 1 PAGE ELEVEN It’s a miracle I never slept through any classes in college. Throughout my CalArts career I regularly went to bed around 4AM, but always managed to be at least mildly conscious in time for Life Drawing II.  You know who DID sleep through classes at CalArts, though? Tim Burton (allegedly). The…