NOTES FROM RANDY
We’ve finally arrived to a pivotal scene. One that if I am recalling correctly, Jason and I had discussed numerous times over the years. I *think* the scene changed a handful of times as the story changed, but Jason really knocked the writing out of the park with this page.
So…the glasses are gone. The big thing is, will Harker ever be able to find “the path?” In most stories with questions like that you’d assume that “yes,” he will, but just remember what comic you’re reading. We literally just showed you a huge pit of bodies a couple weeks ago, and I promise that this story only escalates from here.
Okay, without continuing to give anything away, I want to touch on this page’s art a bit. I had a lot of fun with the shadows. I hope that’s apparent.
Yet I’m most excited about the introduction of the rest of the Ministry team; Ministers Gradenko and Richwine. Two people who have only been mentioned in passing within the story, finally getting their time to shine…in the shadows I guess. Don’t worry, tomorrow’s page will give you a better look at them both.
While I’m not sure where Jason got “Gradenko” from, I do know that “Richwine” is a very specifically chosen name after our mutual, childhood friend, Garry. There’s a lot of that in this story. Instead of going too far out and selecting a bunch of random names, we just used our friends and family. Maybe Jason can elaborate on Gradenko for you all tomorrow. And just to be clear, the characters named after people in our lives resemble those people in name only. Garry and Minister Richwine do not share anything more than that.
And to clarify why I thought this was important to The Jacket; Garry may just be the entire reason that this comic exists at all. Jason and I met as a result of Garry being friends with us separately. Then when all three of us ended up in the same classes in 7th grade, that’s when Jason and I officially met. From there we all started eating lunch together, hanging out together, and then by the time we graduated, Jason and I were always talking about stories. I couldn’t think of a better person to be represented by a character in this story than Garry.
-Randy