Graphic Storytelling: Final Project!

For my project, I've decided to create an original story and draw only the first chapter, as the entire story would be far too long to complete by the end of the semester. I plan to create my comic by drawing images with pencil and paper, scanning them, arranging these pencil drawings in panels using the Manga Studio program, and finishing with lineart and shading in either Manga Studio or Photoshop. The comic will be black and white, styled similarly to Japanese manga (which makes it very interesting to draw pages, as the right-to-left format of manga has become second-nature to me and I have to concentrate on remembering that English goes from left-to-right). I was originally aiming for approximately 20 pages (around the length of a manga chapter released in a weekly magazine), but after sketching some pages and seeing how the story progressed, I believe the total page count may be closer to 25 or even 30.

The story opens by introducing one of the two main characters--an 18-year-old by the name of Juno Alexander. While walking home from work one night, Juno discovers a young girl out by herself, and attempts to help the girl get back home. But "home" for this child is a laboratory that she has just escaped from--she is not human, but a highly advanced robot called A.L.I.C.E., the Artificial Learning Intelligent Child Experiment. After hearing Alice's tale of torturous experiments and dreams of the outside world, Juno decides that no matter what, she cannot send the girl back to her creators. Juno's older brother James, however, has other plans; he believes Alice was stolen and fears that it would jeopardize his plans to become a detective if Juno refuses to return Alice and ends up with a criminal record. He calls the police, but before they arrive, Juno and Alice escape.

I will be the first to admit that writing is definitely not my strong point; I chose to use this idea because of the smaller cast of characters (Juno, Alice, and James) and the limited amount of time to complete the project. The names "Juno Alexander" and "James Alexander" have not been definitely decided on, they may still change before the project is finished.

Characters

Juno Alexander: 18 years old. High school graduate, failed to get into any colleges. Recently moved from her parent's home in a city suburb to her older brother's apartment in the city. Intelligent, but slacked off in high school, resulting in very poor grades and nearly dropping out. Loud, kind-hearted, doesn't always think things through before speaking or acting.

A.L.I.C.E. (Alice): 4 years old, appears to be 10 or 11. An experiment to test the limits of artificial intelligence. Impossible to tell at first glance that she isn't human. Programming has not yet been completed, she is using the first prototype of her software and still has much to learn. Created by very nerdy engineers, her database contains a rather large amount of information about video games and comics, but her social skills are somewhat lacking. Shy, naive, very trusting of others.

James Alexander: 21 years old. College student, studying criminal justice. Plans to join the police force after graduation, wants to be a detective someday. Likes teasing Juno and pointing out her mistakes. Hard-working, stubborn, very strong sense of justice.

Sketches

Juno