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Unfinished, unnamed hillfolk comic

So I've had this comic idea that I've wanted to do for a few years now, but I can't seem to get it started. I have the three main characters more or less figured out, but I can't seem to get the story or style nailed down.


If this comic actually existed, it'd be about three girls living in the Appalachian Mountains, sometime around the year 1900. I guess it's kind of inspired by all the things that they sing about in old country songs...religion, heartache, murder, mental illness, etc. All my favorite things.

There's Cora, a fire and brimstone fanatic who cuts her own hair and sometimes does bad things, like set fires to stuff. She's basically good though. And the most fun to draw.


Her "friend" is Shah, who lives alone in the mountains making moonshine and fighting off the inbred cannibals who live nearby. Shah likes animals and shooting people.


The third character is a mysterious girl with no memory of her life before being found on a riverbank by Cora. She goes by the name Everlovin' and has a sweet and naive personality, but also some pretty weird habits that suggest her life before half-drowning was shady.


It feels a little foolish to even share this stuff, since I haven't done anything besides doodle the characters. I have a very convoluted outline written out, but it's definitely not really a real "thing" yet. But I guess I'm sort of attached to the characters anyhow, since I've been drawing them for a long time now. And maybe sharing stuff will inspire me to get off my butt and make something.



The style I draw the girls in keeps changing every time I draw something new. I don't know which direction to go. The ones above are only a month old or so, and this one below is a few years old.



Teeny little sketchbook hillies.



The story I want to tell is a little darker than I'm used to, but I also like light-hearted things, so for a while I played with the idea of doing separate little comics that had the same characters, only as possums.


I like how ugly they are. I did some of them as different types of animals too, but I like the possum ones better.


So, that's all for now. I've got tons more drawings hidden in boxes all over my new apartment, so maybe if people are interested in this idea I'll get them all scanned and maybe talk about the characters a little more. I'd love feedback on this. I'm really not sure if this is the sort of thing that only appeals to me, or what. I still want to make this a finished thing, even if it is.

Thanks for coming back! 2012 is the year for getting back into drawing! A two year break is too long. No more lazy drawing for me. I hope.